Voices on Project Management

Dave Wakeman

I recently wrote about a podcast I listened to that shared key qualities project managers have. This month, I return to the topic and share the qualities I think the best project managers have.

Here are the nine qualities I look for when I think about great project managers:

1. Business acumen: This is my first key because I recognize that a project doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The best project managers recognize that and can frame the project in a way that highlights the impact and the potential opportunities that the project creates. All in the context of the world around your organization.

2. Negotiation skills: Getting people on the same page, winning the resources you need, and overcoming objections are key to any project’s success. That’s why negotiation skills are right up there when I look for great project managers.

3. Communication skills: Spoken, written, physical…all of them. They matter to the modern project manager because there are so many ways to communicate, and getting your point across can make the difference between success and failure.

4. Empathy: Life is tough. Your job is tough. The world is tough. Having empathy can uncover a layer of the team you are working with that can help you get the project completed.

Don’t confuse this with not being driven. Knowing how to deal with people is a key driver of a PM’s success, and not recognizing the human element and pushing through no matter what is likely a reason you are struggling to get results.

5. Consensus building: I’m mining a similar vein to communication and negotiation skills, but to me consensus building is about pulling those two things together and having everyone involved in the project recognize that this might not be the perfect solution, but it is a workable solution.

That’s key because too much communication is one way, “my way or the highway” communications. And too much of our negotiation can feel like having to “win” every point.

Building consensus is a recognition that you must try and find the “win-win” more often than folks let on.

6. Calm under fire: I had a boss in my 20s that would come to me and say, “Dave, it seems like the more pressure we are dealing with, the easier things come for you.”

I agree.

This skill can be hard to train for, but being able to not get flustered or freaked out by the changes and pressure that come during intense moments of a project can be a key to your success as a project manager.

Where do you start? Planning as much as you can.

7. View PM as a key job: Some people fall into the role of project manager, and it is just a job that doesn’t carry much importance in the grand scheme of their thinking.

To me, the best PMs look at the job as a key role in the organization. You can be successful just doing the job, but the best PMs look at the job as a key role that deserves respect and expertise.

8. Broad knowledge, not just skill knowledge: Again, this runs next to business acumen in my thinking, but it is different.

To me, broad knowledge allows you to make connections from different parts of the world around you. In my strategy work, I might pull an example from watching sports to illustrate an idea to a pharma company.  I might use my experience in politics to show a sports team how a concept applies to them. Or, I might use an example from a novel to make a larger philosophical point.

The key is that you want to be gaining ideas and perspectives from as many points as possible.

9. A desire and willingness to learn: Desire and willingness are two different things.

A lot of people want to learn, but they don’t follow through.

A lot of people are willing to learn, but they don’t receive the opportunities.

You need to combine the two, because one thing that dominates modern project managers’ lives is that things are constantly changing.

You have to be prepared for that—and you can only do that by learning.

What do you think of my list? Have I missed something obvious? Are you going to put some of these things to work from this month’s list or last month’s list? Let me know in the comments below.