8 Skills That Define a GREAT Project Manager

I have been a project manager for over 18 years. Recently I have had the chance to step away from day to day project delivery and reflect on the profession. I have come to the conclusion that being a GREAT project manager is incredibly difficult. Excelling at project management requires a ton of hard work and dedication to learning many different skills.

The project manager gains valuable experiential knowledge through actually managing technology projects. However, they also need to devote substantial time to understanding the finer points of project theory, learning project and general management frameworks and developing the all important “soft skills”. I believe there are eight areas of competence that differentiate a good project manager from a GREAT one. In the spirit of David Letterman’s Late Show Top 10, we’ll address them bottom to top.

#8 Negotiation. Understanding that every day is filled with small and large negotiations is a must. A GREAT project manager invests the time to understand the art and science of negotiation. A great book to read on the subject is Getting to Yes.

#7 Conflict Management. Projects have conflict for a variety of reasons. It arises as a result of structural issues within a project or when there are two competing points of view on how to solve a problem. Regardless of the origin, a GREAT project manager knows all conflict is harmful unless a resolution is facilitated.

#6 Problem Solving. Project managers face problems on projects. GREAT project managers take an active role in facilitating the problem solving process and in certain cases provide solution level expertise.

#5. Industry and Solutions Knowledge. Modern day project management requires industry and solutions knowledge. The project manager doesn’t need to be a solutions architect but she does need enough working knowledge to keep the project moving. GREAT project managers are insatiably curious about the technologies, solutions and industries in which they work.

#4 Relationship & Team Building. The project manager’s ability to work with individuals and optimize the project team are big indicators of project success. GREAT project managers know how to do both. Two great resources are How to Win Friends and Influence People and Bruce Tuckerman’s phases of group development model.

#3 Leadership. Project managers manage documentation, record meeting minutes and track the artifacts of a project. Project leaders motivate, inspire a vision and rally the team during difficult times. GREAT project managers are skilled at management, leadership and know when each is required.

#2 Coordination & Organization. Leading projects can be a lot like herding cats. The project manager is COO of the project and responsibility for great communication and organization rests squarely on his shoulders. GREAT project managers keep things coordinated and organized.

#1 Communication. Communication excellence is critical to project management. Project communication is the ability to translate between technology and business, tailor messages for the intended audience and be a world class listener. Exceptional communication is a required skill of a GREAT project manager.

Executing on all eight of these attributes consistently is virtually impossible for any project manager. That said, true dedication to the profession requires attention to all of them.