The Alpha Project Manager Revisited
CIO.com p
ublished 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.
Sep 19th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Great post. The title caught my eye. I caught a presentation on Alpha project managers a few months ago by Andy Crow, and it was one of the best presentations I’ve seen on project management. I believe the traits the author of the Alpha book are similar (but still different) than the ones the CIO article identified. I think soft skills get a bad rap in project management.
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Oct 31st, 2008 at 10:27 am
Yes – good post…
I’d like to throw in a critical 7th item, for my .02cents…
*Tools and technical knowledge (as best possible)* – or at least resourceful to go find some answers , regularly, through so many available resources (WWW, among many other), to understand the environments, challenges, or day to day efforts of their teams at a technical level (not only for credibility with the team, but also for making wise strategic choices as it affects the team at large).
Soft skills are the skills that enable you to rally a team to collaborate and get things done (with and for the team).
With technical (tools or underlying technology), it enables you to get things done with respect and credibility.
In today’s fast-paced competitive world, it cannot be underestimated. (Even for non technical projects.)
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Jul 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Hi Josh et al,
Not to disagree with any of the six attributes, but how are they different than the attributes required for ANY management position?
Assuming that project management is somehow different than management in general, (which I don’t believe, but let’s play along on the basis there is) what attributes are there which can separate PROJECT managers from product, operations or asset managers?
I think if we can answer that question THEN we are making some real progress along the learning curve.
BR,
PDG, from LA, on our way to the Systems Dynamic Society Meeting, Albuquerque, NM.
http://www.getpmcertified.com
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