Is Persuasion Skills important for Project Manager ?
If yes,why is it important ? Saving Changes...
Sort By:
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Yes, they are, but I think negotiating and influencing are the terms we would use. Persuasion has an undertone of the outcome not being a win for the other party and there being some reluctance on their part to come to our way of thinking. When you negotiate and influence, the idea is that everyone comes out of the discussion feeling positive about the end result. Saving Changes...
I'd agree with Elizabeth on the subtle difference between influence and persuasion. Regardless of the organizational structure, a PM needs to be able to influence others in order to achieve project goals. Whether it is their sponsor, the team members or other stakeholders, that will be critical to their success.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
One reason persuasion is important is that often PM's don't have formal authority to make others do as they want, so they need to persuade people to come around to their way of thinking. Saving Changes...
Drake SettsuProject Manager / BloggerHi, United States
Yes, the ability to be able to persuade people is important to avoid stalling the project when issues are discovered. You tactfully present your view on a solution to get a buy in from everyone to keep it moving. Saving Changes...
Absolutely. Most PMs should learn more about the "soft skills" including how to influence others. As others have mentioned, being able to influence those who are major stakeholders is key, especially when they have authority over that of the PM. Saving Changes...
