SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGERS - CHARACTERISTICS AND SKILLS

Project Managers interact with  different types of people at different level s within the organization and outside the organization. Since their responsibilities include directing and coordinating various resources through out the life cycle of the project, it is important the Project Managers  have certain characteristics to ensure project success. There are five main characteristics they are

1.       Flexible – Flexibility is required for a PM especially when dealing with new team members who may need specific , firm direction to get started. PM should be able to adopt various styles of leadership (Authorative, Colloborative etc)  with various people.

2.       Credible – PM  should be Trust Worthy , Competent, Dependable and honest.

3.       Tolerant – Considering the fact that the Resources, Goals and Objectives  are  often vague, PM Should be tolerant . A Non Tolerant Project Managers  becomes stressed when working with ambiguous projects . While dealing with varied group of stakeholders  having different objectives and opinions , Project Managers should be able to approach each group with understanding and Tolerance for successful project completion

4.       Innovative -  PM should be innovative with solutions as the Resources and capabilities needed to complete a project may be scarce.

5.       Available  - As there are many aspects of managing a Project Managers must be available to spend time with various people involved in  the project for ensuring project success.

There are eight skills a project manager require to ensure success they are

1. Technological Skills – Effective project manager should be familiar with degree of technological knowledge to complete the project. This will help identifying Alternative solutions and communicating  risks associated to technology to various stake holders and to route the problems to the right SMEs for solution
2. Organizational Skills – Although you may not need  intense technological skills but it is important that  PM has  a deep Organization skills  ( Organizational policies, procedures & Planning)  This would help in analyzing the Scope, Time, cost, quality and risk.
3. Communication Skills – This is the most important skill that a PM should have.  This deals with keeping the stakeholders well informed by Timely distribution of project data and updates to stakeholders
4. Team Building -  PM should be proficient in Facilitating team meetings, conflict resolution and handling diverse team. Should ensure motivation and empowerment of team members by encouraging the Suggestion and recommendations of the team and allowing the team share their opinions
5. Coping – This implies Project Managers should be creative with solutions and flexible with results and they need to Patient and persistent with stakeholders. Coping with stakeholders is necessary for successful solution.
6. Negotiation – Since there are varied stakeholders with varied objectives , It is important for a Project Manager  to persuade and negotiate  the  terms of Project , Resources and results
7. Content -  Project Managers should be knowledgeable in the subject matter . Knowing the subject matter without having to consult with SME  would reduce  project duration time. UnInformed project managers have to prolong tasks by days to wait for responses from experts
8. Leadership -  Project Managers should be positive, decisive, motivating, empowering and energetic.