Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Next Generation of Project Managers

So what makes a successful Project Manager? My search on this topic led me to come across an interesting article on CIO.com (CIO Magazine) – “The 10 Key Capabilities of Next-Generation Project Managers” This article provided a different perspective than the many other standard articles that I found which talked about traditional Project Management (PM) skills, people skills, and technical skills. This article focused more on the soft skills required by next generation PMs due to the changing nature of the PM role itself.

Business conditions are changing, which in turn are changing the role of PMs and the required skill sets. According to Mary Gerush of Forrester Research, “Organizations are striving to achieve faster [software] delivery without diminishing quality or increasing.” As a result, there is an increasing shift from traditional software development to Agile development methodologies. This is a new development approach which is more iterative in nature. Requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. In this environment PMs serve more as a facilitator role where their focus should be on improving collaboration between these cross-functional teams and removing obstacles to allow team members to get their work done. The traditional control and command approach of PMs is not suited for this environment.

Another changing business trend is companies are driving to make business and IT processes leaner. Companies are looking at ways to streamline their processes to focus on delivering value. This means that PMs must be flexible enough to adapt their approaches to changing business needs. Also, in this increasingly challenged economic environment, resources are getting scarcer and organizations are really starting to scrutinize how every dollar is spent. Therefore, there is an increased focus on the business value that a project delivers. The PM’s role is not only delivering projects on time and on budget, but also ensuring that projects delivers value for the business.

With such changes to the business environment and the changing nature the PM role, this article goes on to provide a list of 10 core capabilities of a next generation PM:

1. Emotional Intelligence: the ability to pick up on interactions (verbal and non-verbal) and events and manage them in the context of the project plan.

2. Adaptive Communication: the ability to articulate ideas (verbally or written) to others using the most effective communication technique for each group. The communication is delivered in the context of whatever is most important to their audience.

3. People Skills: the ability to quickly build and maintain positive relationships internally within the team as well as external stakeholders. The PM needs to know how to lead with influence rather than authority especially since most project members do not report to the PM.

4. Management Skills: the ability to serve, motivate and focus a team, and to foster collaboration among team members. The PM needs to be able to stay focused on the big picture and to prioritize competing responsibilities for the project team.

5. Flexibility: the flexibility and ability to change PM approach or course of action in response to changes in business needs.

6. Business Savvyness: being familiar with the organization’s business, strategy, and industry. The ability to comprehend the strategy and align tactical work around that strategy. The PM should also have to gift of foresight – to proactively anticipate and prevent problems that can jeopardize the project.

7. Analytical Skills: the ability to logically thing through problems and decisions.

8. Customer Focus: the ability to understand the customer’s needs and ensure the project delivers to fulfill those needs.

9. Results-Orientation: the ability to get things done efficiently and effectively. The PM should be pragmatic and focus on what they can get done with what is available to them.

10. Character: the PM should have an appealing personality with a strong and moral character. This is critical especially since the need to engage and communicate with others becomes even more so important.

To succeed as a next generation PM, one will need to flexibility to change with business needs, the ability to deliver on business value, and also these capabilities listed above.

Sources:

  • Levinson, Meridith. " The 10 Key Capabilities of Next-Generation Project Managers" Oct. 21, 2009.
    Website -
    http://www.cio.com/article/505594/The_10_Key_Capabilities_of_Next_Generation_Project_Managers
  • Levinson, Meridith. “Six Attributes of Successful Project Managers” Sept. 03, 2008
    Website -
    http://www.cio.com/article/447182/Six_Attributes_of_Successful_Project_Managers
  • Agile Software Development.
    Website -
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

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