Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

Six attributes of successful project managers

By Meridith Levinson , CIO , 09/03/2008
Newsletter Signup
  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

The best project managers are those who consistently deliver, on time and within budget, projects that meet or exceed stakeholders' expectations. Those project managers understand that leadership and people skills are even more important to good project management than a sound methodology and project tracking tools, says Fumi Kondo, managing director of Intellilink, a management consulting and training company that specializes in technology implementations.

"The more experienced project managers understand that if you don't get the people side of project management, it doesn't matter how good your methodology or your tools are," says Kondo. "If you're not managing your users, sponsor or stakeholders, you could deliver on budget, but you might not meet their needs, and they'll say they're not satisfied."

So what soft skills are necessary to become a top-notch project manager? Kondo's firm analyzed the skill sets of both its own best project managers and those of its clients and came up with the following six attributes.

1. They possess the gift of foresight. Good project managers are able to anticipate and head off problems that can jeopardize deadlines, budgets and user acceptance.

2. They're organized. Organization seems like an obvious characteristic of a star project manager, but it manifests itself in a variety of ways, including in an ability to stay focused on the big picture and to prioritize competing responsibilities. "In most projects, there are so many things that have to get done that it's hard to stay on top of everything and in control of everything," says Kondo. "Being able to prioritize work for your team is a critical aspect of what a project manager has to do."

3. They know how to lead. Project managers have to interact with and influence a variety of stakeholders including their project teams and project sponsors. Since many project team members don't report directly to the project manager, the project manager has to find ways to motivate workers over whom they have no direct influence and who can make or break a project. Project managers also need to be able to inspire the confidence of stakeholders and sponsors in the event the budget or timeline needs to be renegotiated or additional resources are needed to complete the project.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print
Partner Content

Explore the Ultrium Edge

The powerful tape technology can address data security with tape encryption as well as long term data protection.

Find Out More

Disk and Tape Square Off

Discover what disk and tape really cost and which solution provides lower total cost of ownership and optimizes energy use for your organization

Download this White Paper

Don't Fall for the Myths

The Clipper Group explores the truth behind the myths of tape, digging into the misconceptions in the disk vs. tape debate.

Review this information

information examination

An examination of information security issues, methods and securing data with LTO-4 tape drive encryption

Read this analysis

Comments (1)
Login
Forgot your account info?

Great article!By JoshNankivel on September 3, 2008, 11:01 amGreat article! I responded with some comments and additions in The Alpha Project Manager Revisited. A comment on communication, since people tend to sometimes...

Reply | Read entire comment

View all comments

Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed