The Top 5 Skills of Good Project Managers

I have worked with and managed project managers over many years. Based on my own observations of what I did or did not do well on my projects, and similar observations about other project managers on their projects, I offer my assessment of the top 5 skills of good project managers:

1. Attention to Achieving the Project Goals - In many types of projects, especially technology projects, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the details and the technology and lose sight of the business goals. The focus of the team and the project shifts to a technology goal - for example, building an XYZ system - instead of the goal of solving the business problem. When that happens the resulting system may not meet all of the business expectations.

The project manager and the team need to clearly understand the business goals before detailed planning and work starts on the project. Then, the project manager needs to remind the regularly about the goals and how the project work relates to those goals.

2. Attention to Details - Probably the most-cited skill for project managers is attention to detail, and rightfully so. Projects of any size have hundreds and thousands of little details that must be attended to at the right time and in the right way throughout the course of the project. That's why senior managers should not manage projects... They are supposed to deal with the big picture, not the details.

It is not the job of the project manager to handle every detail, but it is the project manager's job to remind the team or ask the team about the details of the tasks they are doing.

3. Communication and Coordination with the Team - The planning and execution of the project is done in the day-by-day, week-by-week grunt work of the project. And it's done by the project manager working directly with the team to make it all happen... communicating and coordinating about their activities, the dependencies between the activities, the amounts of time to get the activities done, the issues that must be resolved, and so on.

Daily communication and coordination is the core of managing the project. It requires good organization and good people and verbal communication skills.

4. Problem Solving and Communication outside the Team - General problem solving is an important project manager skill because problems and roadblocks must be dealt with frequently. In most business projects, it usually means finding the persons outside of the team whom the project manager or team must work with and taking the appropriate steps to get the problem resolved. It may mean going up the management ladder to escalate the problem and get the necessary attention, prioritization, and resources directed toward the problem.

This particular skill set also involves communicating regular status to management about the progress of the project and issues that might be impacting work results, schedule, budget, etc. It requires excellent people and verbal communication skills and good written communication skills as well.

5. Customer Relationship Management - In business projects, it is important that the project manager maintain a good working relationship with the customer, whether the customer is external or internal. Managing the customer's expectations is a key part of this - not in a manipulative way, but in an honest and relatively open way. The customer needs to know what is realistic in developing the product and what is not, and customers always like to be kept informed about how the project is going and whether you, as the project manager, are responding to issues in the most effective way.

Managing the customer relationship also involves communication with management - keeping them informed about project issues, whether the customer is happy and quiet or unhappy and likely to escalate. Like several others, this area of performance obviously requires good people and communication skills too, as well as good issues management, which is all about tracking customer issues and managing them to the satisfaction of the customer.

Bottom-Line: There are many skills that a project manager must have, but if he or she does these five well, their probability of success with most projects will be high.

Project Managers Need Leadership Skills

Yes - if you are a project manager you really need leadership skills!? Today's project managers must have leadership skills in order to effectively perform their roles in the organization and stand out from the crowd. ??Something must make you distinct from the others - especially if you are currently job searching or worried about your job security given the current economy.

While this has certainly always been the case; it is even more important today in an economy where project managers (PMs) are being asked to do more with less - reduced budgets for their projects, fewer resources available to work on the projects, and reduced timelines to get the products/services to market - in order to ensure their organizations remain competitive in a global economy.?

Without a doubt, PMs who are not well-versed in technical skills (such as Earned Value Management1, quantitative risk analysis or estimating activities) cannot perform their role effectively.? And certainly, without a working knowledge of the Project Management Body of Knowledge2 (PMBOK?), PMs will be unable to acquire their Project Management Professional3 (PMP?) certification.? Additionally, in a world where there are many people running around with the "project manager" title, a PMP? certification is one way to stand out from the crowd. ?However, that alone may not be enough.? Strong project management technical skills and PMP? certification is not sufficient for those project managers aspiring to take on more responsibilities.? Project managers cannot effectively compete with so many other certified PMs unless they have more than technical skills in their toolboxes.? Project managers' long-term success and potential for growth are limited if they do not possess the necessary critical skills.? For example, how effective can PMs be in their roles if they do not possess teaming skills, are not effective at influencing others, cannot communicate or present effectively, or are unable to see the "big picture?" ?Realistically - they can't be very effective.?

Therefore, leadership skills are, without a doubt, a requirement for PMs.? For example, it is difficult to lead global teams comprised of individuals with different personal goals/objectives and varied cultural backgrounds if you do not have essential leadership skills.? Again, I can't emphasize enough that technical skills is not sufficient - it is just not possible for project managers to get the job done solely with strong technical skills.? To progress in the organization - you need to show strong leadership skills also.A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK? Guide), 4th Edition (2008, Project Management Institute), in Appendix G, notes particular interpersonal skills that PMs must have in order to be effective in their role.? They are:

Leadership
Team building
Motivation
Communication
Influencing
Decision making
Political and cultural awareness
Negotiation

And, other skills that are important for individuals leading project teams include:

Coaching
Conflict management
Developing/motivating/inspiring others
Time management/priority setting
Problem solving
Presentation skills
Establishing goals/delegating

All of these interpersonal and leadership skills are needed so that project managers can effectively manage any size project they are leading. ?

Project managers who can demonstrate competence in these skills increase the success of the projects they lead and demonstrate their value to the organization - above and beyond their ability to create a Work Breakdown Structure or a Risk Management Plan.?

One PM I have spoken with commented that his strength in understanding the big picture behind a project and conveying that vision to his project team and others in the organization led to him being involved in the decision-making process around which projects would be completed in a given year.? Here is someone who obviously stood out to the executives as bringing value to an important strategic planning process.

Another PM said her ability to problem solve effectively by really understanding the issues made her a valuable resource within the organization, not just on project teams.? She was often called upon to address complex problems within the organization.

These skills noted above in addition to strategic leadership skills such as strategic planning and change management help project managers be viewed as key individuals within the organization - someone with the potential to move up through the ranks and take on a senior leadership role.?

And let's not forget some other important skills to have, including:


Ability to work with others
Ability to think ahead - foresee potential issues, risks, etc.
A sense of humor (often needed when times get tense and the workload seems impossible!)
Ability to manage logistics
Strong organizational skills

A project manager with a combination of strong project management technical skills and relevant leadership and other important skills will find him/herself in a position of strength within their organization and a valuable resource overall.? These are the project managers you want to work with on projects and the individuals that the executive team looks to as high potentials within the organization.

Are you one of these project managers?? If not, how are you going to get there?? Map out your personal plan for development.?

Definitions

1EVM = Earned Value Management is a methodology for integrating scope, schedule, and resources to measure project performance and progress.?

2PMBOK? = Project Management Body of Knowledge.? The PMBOK? is the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management.? The PMBOK? Guide is the subset of the Project Management Body of Knowledge that is generally recognized as good practice.?

3PMP? = Project Management Professional Certification.? A PMP? is certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI?).

Gina Abudi Blog http://www.GinaAbudi.com

Website http://www.PeakPerformanceGroup.com

Gina Abudi has over 15 years consulting experience in a variety of areas, including project management, process management, leadership development, succession planning, high potential programs, talent optimization and development of strategic learning and development programs. She is Partner/VP Strategic Solutions at Peak Performance Group, Inc. in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She has been honored by PMI? as one of the Power 50 and has served as Chair of PMI?s Global Corporate Council Leadership Team. She has presented at various conferences on topics ranging from general management and leadership topics to project management. Gina received her MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management.

Copyright ? 2009 - 2010 Gina Abudi - All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Project Manager: Roles and Skills

Generally, the project manager is responsible for the overall accomplishment of the project, and accountable for ensuring objectives of the project's assignment.

One foremost responsibility of the project manager is; the very project itself.

The person who takes this ultimate responsibility and guarantees for the desired result to be achieved on time, and within budget is the Project Manager. And his job is to coordinate a project from initiation to completion; using maximum utilization of project management tools, techniques, experience, creativity, and management skills, to reach the predetermined objectives.

In a project as a Role his "Leadership quality" and as a Skill his "Management excellence" is accredited. The role a project manager performs is in many ways similar to those performed by other operation managers; however there are some important differences; as Project managers have a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels and are often "generalists" differentiating themselves from an operational type role to one whom specialized in the respective areas of management. In addition, project managers play specific roles to facilitate the project team rather than supervising them.

Role of the Project Manager:

As a role, project managers must satisfy these sets of needs:

Task Needs + Team Needs + Individual Needs

The project manager role; he should meet his "Task Needs" as follows;

Attaining team objectives Planning work Allocating resources Defining tasks Assigning responsibility Controlling and monitoring quality Scrutinizing progress Checking performance

The project manager role; he should meet his "Team Needs" as follows:

Appointing secondary leaders Building and upholding team sprit Setting standards and maintaining regulation Training the team Setting up systems to facilitate communication with the team Developing work methods to craft team function cohesiveness

The project manager role; he should meet his "Individual Needs" as follows:

Developing the individual Balancing team needs and task needs Balancing team needs and individual needs Performance appreciation and rewards Helping with other team members personal problems
Skills for Project Manager:

Furthermore, in order for an effective project manager, he needs the following core skills;

Leadership skill to arouse action, progress, and change. Contractual skills to organize subcontractors. Legal knowledge. Evaluation of alternatives and ability for decision making. Planning and controlling for necessary counteractive measures. Financial familiarity for budget risk management. High communication skills. Negotiating abilities. People management to motivate them towards the project goal. System designing and maintenance.

Overall, a project manager has responsibilities from the beginning of project initiation, planning, controlling, and executing to both management and to the project team. A project manager must steer his project towards the bigger picture and be responsible for the job, a project manager must be experienced, committed, dependable and flexible, as his position remains in the nucleus of the system and success and failure centralizes on the project manager's shoulders.

Author: Bharat Bista

Resource and Reference:

Surrex Project Management is a premier provider of project management strategies and solutions specializing in IT services for mid-size and Fortune 500 companies, with timely, reliable, high quality Project Management Solutions and Project Management Tools.