Top 10 Soft Skills for Project Managers

At times I've taken cuts at what I thought are the necessary characteristics of good project managers.

And some of those are are probably included in this three part series I am presenting now. But I've never looked at it as 'what are my top 10 soft skills that I think project managers should have in order to succeed more than they fail.' I know that doesn't sound overly ambitious, but when studies show that projects fail more often than succeed, then I think it's a reasonable goal to shoot for.
In Part 1 of this three part series on top soft skills for project managers, I'd like to discuss the first three of my list of ten. Please feel free to comment or include other soft skills that you think are necessary for good project management as you are reading and comparing to your own skills and experiences.

Organisation

Organisational skills have to be high up on any project management professional's list. Being organised, being systematic, knowing where important information is stored, who needs it when and even having the skills and knowledge to know how to plan for how, when and where to store it and distribute it is all part of the 'organised' package. Beyond that, the project manager must be organised in his thoughts and processes and understand what's important 'now' rather than constantly trying to multi-task. It's all about succeeding on each important task and moving on to the next...and making sure your team members know what's important and that they are managing their tasks that same way. Getting things done is critical, but not trying to get everything done at once is also critical, and the good project manager has the organisational skills to keep himself, the team and the project on track and focused on the most important tasks today, tomorrow and beyond.

Communication

Communication skills are critical for project managers and many projects simply fall apart and fail because a project manager is weak in this area. Everyone on the team is expecting communication on the project to come from the project manager and the customer is as well. Even the delivery organisation's senior management is expecting this and will be looking to the PM to provide at least high level status and communication throughout the engagement. The PM who is a poor communicator will be misunderstood from time to time and will miscommunicate delegated tasks resulting in the wrong work being performed and the wrong or inaccurate information being disseminated to the team and the customer. This can easily result in missed deadlines, expensive rework and very dissatisfied project customers.

Time Management

Since the project manager must give oversight to his team members' tasks and the customer's assigned tasks as well as be concerned with what he is doing for the project as well as what any outside vendors might be responsible for, time management is going to always be a crucial soft skill that the PM brings to the table. Understanding how his time and everyone's time on the project needs to be managed and how much time tasks should take will go a long way in ensuring that proper task oversight is given to the project. The PM who is a good estimator and can manage the project budget well and hold his team accountable to the effort and time being spent on assigned project tasks will be better able to keep the project budget in line as well. The PM with this skill will be better equipped to stay on top of the hours expended on the project - which ultimately turn into costs against the project budget. The project manager who is a good time manager is usually also a good manager of the project budget and a good manager of resource usage and the resource forecast.

Decision-Making

The project manager must be a decision maker. I'd like to say they must be a good decision maker and that is true...the PM must be a good decision maker. But even more than that, they must just not be afraid to make decisions. Sometimes the PM even needs to make questionable decisions that they may have to stand by because they are the best decisions that can be made on the spot. It's the best decision that can be made when a key decision is called for immediately and there is no more info to go on other than what is on the table at that moment. It doesn't happen often – usually we have time to perform more analysis, seek out another opinion or more advice, and research a few options. But when we don't, we need to have the boldness and...well...guts to make a decision.

Negotiation

Sometimes we must take on the role of negotiator. Just like making on the spot decisions, it takes some internal fortitude to boldly take the reins and negotiate your way out of a tough spot with the project client. You're losing a key resource in the next two weeks just when that resource is needed on some major tasks involved with the next phase of the project? Time to negotiate with the client on shifting that phase to later in the project so that you can get a replacement resource up to speed and productive in order to appropriately handle those tasks. How do you negotiate? That depends on the project. Often times money is a key motivator. After getting the ok from your senior management (who are probably the ones responsible for removing the resource from your project in the first place), offer the project customer a 10% discount on the phase of the project that you're pushing out to later in the engagement. Most customers will agree to that fairly quickly if the change in the project schedule doesn't negatively impact them more than they can reasonably accept.

Optimism/Pessimism

I realise that putting these together is a contradiction of terms...and probably confusing. But I think it's also senseless to discuss one without the other. The project manager must – almost concurrently – be an extreme optimist and an extreme pessimist. And a realist...but that's probably fodder for a different article. We must always be upbeat - especially with the project client - while still being honest and open about the reality of any situation we are discussing.
Can we do it? Well, certainly we think we can...and we'll maintain that perspective till we fail, right? But we also must be aware of the possible outcomes, the possible costs and time lost with even trying and weighing those with our potential for success. And when we are estimating work, we need to be both optimistic that we can accomplish the tasks, and pessimistic that it can truly be done in the shortest timeframe possible. Why? Because it usually can't. So our conflicted perspective must remain and we must come up with something that lands somewhere probably south of the middle. Too much pessimism will never fly with the customer and too much optimism will never fly with the project team. We're not schizophrenic - we're just project managers.

Stubborn/Boldness

Being stubborn is often seen as a negative thing. In terms of project management, I see it as 100% positive. The effective project manager - and leader of any type, for that matter - needs to be bold and be stubborn in their decision-making and direction. A leader who wavers too often is seen as weak and will not be one that the legions will follow. It is very hard to get your project team or your customer to take you seriously as the project leader if you change your mind frequently or seem to have difficulty making bold choices and decisions. Decide - and don't take too long to decide - and move on. Be prepared to back up your decisions and actions.

Resource Management

Project managers often don't have direct hiring/firing oversight and responsibility for their project team members. But that doesn't mean they don't need to be excellent resource managers. Knowing how to help cultivate interests and new skills in what their resources seem to be leaning towards serves two purposes. First, it helps the project team member grow as a skilled and valuable resource to the organisation. Second, it helps the project manager immediately if they find a project team resource who is skilled enough and confident enough to learn something new on the fly and take on additional and unexpected tasks. This can save the project manager - and the project budget - from taking a hit from on-boarding an 'expert' for a short-term need. It's a win-win situation.
Effective project managers need to know how to efficiently use the resources they have for the betterment of the project they are leading. It's good leadership and good business.

Interpersonal

Next up - interpersonal skills. It's a given that you can't crawl in a hole and disappear if you're the project manager tasked with leading teams into productive action. The PM job description should probably read... Attention: non-communicators and introverts need not apply. It's not for the faint of heart and it's certainly not for individuals who have trouble interacting effectively with other individuals. In fact, you're interpersonal skills and ability to affectively communicate and interact with other individuals on the project - the team and all key stakeholders - may be the most important soft skill of my top 10.

Flexibility

Finally, the ability to be flexible is yet another important top 10 skill. It may sound contradictory to the stubborn skill/trait listed early, but not really...you need both. The PM must be steadfast to breed confidence and to ensure that decisions get made so action can happen and the project can move forward. But the PM must be flexible due to the uncertain nature of some of the projects we manage. Change happens...requirements change, new requirements come up, outside vendors have issues, project teams have issues, and customers needs or business processes can change. The project manager who is unable or unwilling to be flexible to some degree during the project is going to experience frequent frustration. Likewise, the PM must be able to manage that flexibility and keep it somewhat in check...there's a time to be flexible and a time not to be - you must recognise the difference.

Call for Response

How about our readers? I've listed what I consider my top 10 soft skills for project managers. What are yours? Which ones on my list would you replace and why? Which ones do you struggle with and which ones are your strengths? I'm looking forward to your feedback and discussions. Thank you!

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