Project Manager’s Competencies

A project is successful, if…

  • It is completed on time
  • Completed within budget
  • Met the scope
  • Achieved the business goal (value) of the project

The project manager is ultimately accountable for the success and failure of the project. Hence, selecting the right project manager becomes very important for the project’s success.

Who is the right project manager?

PMI, talent triangle

In order to succeed as a project manager, one must have the knowledge of the project management best practices. This is referred to as technical project management. The new project manager must also possess good knowledge about how businesses operate. This involve sound understanding of business strategy and management. The project manager is the one who is supposed to lead others. That calls for good leadership skills as well.

The PMI, talent triangle for the project manager was first mentioned in PMBOK#6. It states that the project manager should have good knowledge about;

  • Technical project management (globally accepted project management best practices)
  • Should have good understanding of business strategy and management
  • Must demonstrate leadership skills

Now, managing the business case of the project has also become one of the key responsibilities of the project manager. This makes the project manager’s role more strategic than tactical. To succeed in this strategic role, one must be deep rooted in professional values and principles.

New Project Manager’s Competencies

Here is the list of new project manager’s competencies revised based on PMBOK 7

  1. The one who operates based on the professional project management values
  2. Deep rooted in the professional project management principles
  3. Who has good in depth understanding of various project management approaches like Predictive, Agile & Hybrid
  4. Must have in depth understanding of the project performance domains
  5. Must have good knowledge about the models, methods and artifacts

Values

  • Responsibility
  • Respect
  • Fairness
  • Honesty

Principles

  • Caring steward
  • Nurturer of collaboration
  • Effective stakeholder engagement
  • Value focus
  • Systems thinking
  • Leadership qualities
  • Tailoring capability
  • Proactive quality management
  • Ability to navigate through complexity
  • Effective risk management
  • Highly adaptable and resilient
  • Open to change to achieve goals

Performance Domains

  • Stakeholders
  • Team
  • Development approach and life cycle
  • Planning
  • Project work
  • Delivery
  • Measurement
  • Uncertainty

Models

  • Situational Leadership II
  • OSCAR
  • Communication models
  • Motivation models
  • Change models
  • Complexity models
  • Project team development models
  • Conflict model
  • Negotiation
  • Planning
  • Process groups
  • Salience model

Methods

  • Data gathering & Analysis
  • Estimating
  • Meetings & Events
  • Other methods

Artifacts

  • Strategy artifacts
  • Logs and registers
  • Plans
  • Hierarchy charts
  • Baselines
  • Visual data and information
  • Reports
  • Agreements & Contracts
  • Other artifacts

References

Project Management Body Of Knowledge Version 6 and Version 7