What is the most important task of a Project Manager? (makes a great dinner discussion if you want to get rid of your guests :) )
Planning? No!
Control? You wished… NO!
Communication… NO NO!
The answer is… allocation of scarce resources.
Come again?
You have limited time, your money pit is not without bottom, you have only a handful of team members, you have all those elements that you can only deploy in a certain way, and it’s your job to allocate them in such a way that is most ideal in certain circumstances. ‘Allocation of scarce resources” is the name of the PM game.
To be able to do this you need those risk analysis logs.
You need list of requirements that are prioritized.
You need a plan to see how decisions might affect current ideas about the future.
You need a clear goal to have a beacon to steer your project towards to.
You need communication to get the right information to base your allocations on.
You all need that. And more.
Still, on top of all this… allocation of scarce resources.
It is like a game of chess, it is all about moving your pieces.
And before anyone asks… most important PM skill is the ability to negotiate. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
This is an interesting way of looking at things! I'd argue that influencing is a key skill, and if I had to plump for just the one top skill, that would be mine. Saving Changes...
Leadership is the most important aspect of a PM's role. I agree with Elizabeth; leadership is influence; nothing more. Negotiation skills is a close second and goes hand in hand to work with the sponsor on the triple constraint (scope, schedule, resources) Saving Changes...
Leadership and negotiating goes without saying.. both necessary. Half the battle is to be accepted as a Leader and be supported by your team\peers.. the rest is more or less easy !! Saving Changes...
Huw EvansSenior Manager, Projects and Partnerships| Vicinity CentresMount Waverley, Vic, Australia
I don't think you can isolate just one task from others. Project Managers have to complete a range of tasks to be truly effective. It's no good allocating the scarce resources without a way to communicate effectively. You won't be able to allocate the resources effectively without a method to plan. etc...
So, Bas, I'm calling your bluff - project managers can't be one trick ponies, they need to be masterful in a range of tasks. Saving Changes...
Hi Huw, yeah, you got me there :) Saving Changes...
Jeff ArmstrongAgile Programme & Portfolio Consultant| business-docs.co.ukLondon, United Kingdom
I vote for "Leadership" too.
As ponies of many tricks, PMs will need the other important ones too, but this will win out in the long term, and hold kudos in the wider organisation.
Now - do you know many PMs that have become organisation leaders?
...that would be the next good dinner topic... if you were at a PMs' dinner :) Saving Changes...
Shoumik KahaliTechnical Manager| Yash TechnologiesIndore, M.P., India
The most important tasks that could be discussed at dinner table would be:
- Watch the project progress.
- Bill your work on priority... :-)
- Early identification of the person or process to blame in case of failure
- Ensure he is politically correct always...
- Never forget to forward appreciation mail across the board...
- Press panic button in case of any issue and if it is solved ENSURE that everybody knows Your contribution in making it happen...
Rest of the points I would prefer to leave it on Scott Adam for his Dilbert series...
Saving Changes...
Andy RosengardIT Service Delivery | Bowman ConsultingMyrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States
The most important PM task? It's the first handshake. Whoever you are meeting for the first time on the project, those five seconds will determine whether your project is going to be successful or a failure.
How many PM's go through NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) training? You can be the best technical PM in the world, know the PMBOK in your sleep and fill out reports better than anyone, but if you do not connect in the first 5-10 seconds, you will be fighting an uphill battle throughout the project. Saving Changes...
Andrew, i like your suggestion/remark for the NLP training. Thanks. Saving Changes...
Rakesh TrivediSenior Project Manager| IT CompanyIndore, Mp, India
PM task is no Agile Methodology i.e cutting down the things . It has be looked holistically . All the tasks are woven so intrinsically that you start taking any part out whole dimension gets disturbed. So One has to keep eye on all the aspects to have successful project delivered.
Having said that, still I feel apart from other task one point which should be overlooked and taken very seriously is human Management i.e if you can control and understand your team you have won the project delivery. Saving Changes...
