Four Things Every Project Manager Must Have

John is Manager of Community Initiatives at City of Hamilton in Ontario.

  Career Development   Estimating   Stakeholder Management  

I regularly provide career advice to several aspiring project managers. A question that always and most prominently comes up is: What or who makes a good project manager? Recently, I took some time reflecting deeply on this question.

As a starting point, I journeyed down memory lane to when I was a much younger social science graduate, before I ventured into project management. I thought about all the most inspiring and successful project managers that I have met or worked with. I thought about some of the best project managers I have had the privilege of hiring, and what made them stand out from the crowd. I thought about all the lessons that I have learnt from many successful and unsuccessful projects.

And the best reminiscence of all, I thought about my intelligently curious 10-year old daughter, Abigail, who often asks me: “Daddy, what is it that you do at work?” I have come to the conclusion that there are four things that will forever define a good project manager:

1. Knowledge: What You Know
Knowledge is the “subject matter expert” in you. When one is hired as a project manager in any given field (immigration, economic development, planning, construction, arts, facilities, recreation, environment, seniors, health), some knowledge of the field will always be helpful.

I have seen many project managers working in a field that they don&…

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