The World's Greatest Project Manager

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

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Every now and then I receive comments about how wonderful a specific project manager is because of the way that they handle a specific situation. In truth, this is a bit of a stretch. Just because they were very good at handling a specific situation on one project doesn’t mean that they are always a great project manager. But I have heard it often enough to realize that there is probably a profile that can be built of what makes a great PM, perhaps even the world’s best. Whether this person actually exists is debatable--at least on a consistent basis--but it’s a fun exploration.

Knowledge and skill
The two cornerstones of strong project management have to be a strong set of project management skills and a comprehensive knowledge of the specific project being managed--and how it fits into the overall organization. Without this foundation, we have little hope of building a great project manager. These are the basic entry requirements for consideration.

From a skill set standpoint, the project manager has to understand all of the various project management skills and abilities that a project requires, but I don’t believe that they have to be an expert on every discipline themselves. Rather, they have to understand what expertise looks like. That’s an important distinction, and I really think that it sets the great PMs apart from the …

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