relationship management

CIO.com published Six Attributes of Successful Project Managers this morning, by Meridith Levinson. The six points outlined are focused on general soft skills, which seem to be exactly right in my book. This also reminds me of other posts from the past including Traits of Alpha Project Managers and Master Plan.

Here are the six attributes, with my $ .02 thrown in.

1. Foresight – This is all about effective planning, risk management, and relationship management by anticipating stakeholder reaction.

2. Organized – Able to set priorities for themselves and the team, a project manager who is scatter-brained is unlikely to instill confidence in the team or stakeholders.

3. Leadership – A major point here is that many project managers have very little or no formal authority over the project team members, so other methods of influence are even more critical than usual. Check out a related post by Adam Clark, Project Success: Considering Leadership.

4. Communication – But of course! One point I would like to add is that some people think that over-communicating is a good thing. It’s not. As I said before in Communication on Small Projects, “Communication should be like a laser; focused, efficient, and consisting of only necessary wavelengths (people and content). Instead, it usually turns out to be more like a floodlight; scattered, wasteful (of time), and involving many unnecessary parties.”

5. Pragmatism – Project managers need to be able to make a decision and get things done in the sometimes chaotic environments we are exposed to. In the face of uncertainty, it’s the educated best guess that leads to purposeful action by the project team.

6. Empathetic – Great project managers understand what motivates their project team and external stakeholders, and can communicate the WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) effectively. Michael Wood just posted Managing Project Stakeholders: A Strategic Approach on gantthead, check it out for a rigorous approach to stakeholder management.

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