Abstract
Project-based business generates significant revenue for IBM. Project management has thus become one of the corporation's core competencies. To meet the emerging demand for quality and competent project managers, a mentoring guide was developed and deployed world wide in 1997 as part of an IBM corporate-level project management initiative. The author participated in designing the "mentoring" guide, which is available for common usage by IBM's project management professionals. The research team proposed a mentoring approach that focused on a more proactive learning of attitudes and behavior as project manager. This approach was supported by proven track records in several of IBM's organizations. However, the guide was not well accepted by the PM community. The root cause of this was that the team had a different competency model from that of the anticipated mentors. The guide did not explicitly describe what differentiates between them. The non-acceptance of the original guide was the catalyst for this study to produce a competency model for more effective mentoring for project management professionals.
