Issue 6 – Choosing the RIGHT Project Manager
The best project managers are those who consistently deliver, on time and within budget, projects that meet or exceed stakeholders’ expectations
This is no surprise. This, of course is a given and doing so is merely meeting expectations. If you want a Super Project Manager that can exceed expectations, you will have a number of attributes listed here. Nonetheless these characteristics do not help you choose the right project manager but rather guide you through the process.
In my humble opinion the top skill for a project manager is effective communication.
Communication
What is effective communication for a PM?
Successful project managers effectively use e-mail, meetings and status reports to communicate their ideas, get decisions made and resolve problems. They also understand that they need to discuss their project in the context of whatever is most important to their audience.
Communication skills are an essential competence required in almost all jobs today. The project manager should be able to demonstrate that they have the experience to communicate clearly whether speaking or writing. When interviewing PMs to determine if they have effective communication skills it’s essential to ask for specific stories in their work history of how they interacted and influenced others. A common job interview mistake is to think that how you communicate in the interview itself will be enough to demonstrate your ability to communicate. It isn’t!
The candidate should draw on their work experiences and come up with at least two examples contrasting to show the depth of their communication skills. Again, simply telling you what mediums they use to communicate will not suffice. Without asking directly they must show how they interacted and influenced others during critical times on a project. It should also go without saying that all answers should follow the STAR method. I suggest cutting the interview short if the candidate does not follow this method.
The STAR system is a highly recommended as a way of responding to structured interview questions common in competency based interviews.
- Describe the Situation you were in
- Outline the Task that was involved
- Describe the Action you took (remember to use ‘I did this’ rather than ‘we’)
- Explain the Result
Leadership
Since many project team members don’t usually report directly to the project manager, the project manager has to find ways to motivate team members over whom they have no direct influence and who can make or break a project. Project managers also need to be able to inspire the confidence of stakeholders and sponsors in the event the budget or timeline needs to be renegotiated or additional resources are needed to complete the project.
Asking for experiences in how the candidate encouraged and motivated the team are clear examples of leadership
Here a few high impact leadership-related questions. Again, notice if the candidate provides an example of project management history in a structured manner.
Tell me about the hardest obstacles you faced in building and growing a team.
Tell me about a time when you had to be a “hands on” project manager. That is, a time when you had to perform team work as well as manage and lead the team. How did you manage your time?
Describe a leadership role outside their professional work. Why did they commit their time to the example ”project”
Technical background
The project manager should have had hands on experience with the project work. If it’s a software development project, they should have coded in the past. Developing software via linear languages won’t suffice for an object-oriented language-based project. If you need a process optimization project manager, ensure they know how to map processes. Even if one has the distinction of being a black belt in Six Sigma be sure to ask questions. If the interviewer does not have the technical background they should have a senior team member to also interview the project management candidate.
To be a good project manager, one “must have solid knowledge of the platforms, software and programs that your company regularly works, even if your job is not actually technical,” says Joel Gross, the founder and CEO of Coalition Technologies, a Web design and marketing firm.
Uber-Organization
Organization is a too obvious characteristic of a star project manager, but it manifests itself in a variety of ways, including in an ability to stay focused on the big picture and to prioritize competing responsibilities. There are so many activities that have to get completed on projects. It’s difficult to stay focused and in control on everything. Having the ability to prioritize, plan, re-prioritize and re-plan the work is an essential characteristic in a star project manager.
Pragmatism
Project managers can have a tendency to be too analytical. I’ve worked with project managers that spent so much time analyzing a single activity. As a result they became paralyzed and unable to move the project forward. Super project managers are decisive and keep their eye on the big picture.
Risk Anticipation and Management
The ability to anticipate and minimize risks that can jeopardize budgets, deadlines and user acceptance is a sign of a good project manager.
Project management is a high profile, high-risk job that requires multitasking ability, analytical thinking, and excellent communication skills.
Breaking the Rules…Intelligently
Call it what you will, project managers with chutzpah bring an additional essential skill to the table. This is not to say that project managers should rub others the wrong way or not follow the project rules.
Breaking the rules intelligently means holding ground when someone in higher authority instructs to press on when you, the project manager, know the mandated approach is contradictory to the project objectives. It means understanding the corporate politics and stealthily moving around the rules that can diminish the project and its value to the organization. It means taking leadership seriously, it means having courage and fortitude, and being committed to doing the right thing for your team and the organization. Quoting from a previous blog in this series, “it is imperative for the project manager to ensure the alignment of projects with their organizational objectives.”
Sharing the Vision
It is vital that effective project managers have a vision of where the project is going and the ability to articulate it to the stakeholders. Visionaries thrive on change and being able to draw new boundaries. Visionary leaders encourage people to feel that they have a real stake in the project. They empower team members to experience the vision on their own. “They offer people opportunities to create their own vision, to explore what the vision will mean to their jobs and lives, and to envision their future as part of the vision for the organization.” (Bennis, 1997)
Empathy
Not to be confused with sympathy, empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person’s feelings or difficulties. Empathy is a key component to Emotional Intelligence, yet another characteristic of a stellar project manager.
Project managers rely on the project team to be successful. Project managers cannot effectively influence others if they don’t understand what inspires these people. Project managers need to understand others’ concerns about a project, take those concerns and address them.
I cannot take credit for this quote. I’m not sure who wrote it but I must say they did so put it eloquently: “It’s nice when a project leader acknowledges that we all have a life outside of work.” I DO agree.
