Behavioral Competencies of Effective Project Managers - Part 2

 
This is a two-part series written to help you understand the key personal attitudes and behaviors of effective project managers. In the first part of the series, we covered the first two clusters that concern how the Project Manager views themselves and deals internally with challenges. These next two clusters are based on managing external resources. There is certainly overlap as a Project Manager will be managing themselves, clients and teams.
 
 
Ability to Influence Stakeholders and Team Members
 
All successful Project Managers exert positive influence on both their immediate project team members and external stakeholders.    It is rare to lead a project with unlimited funding and a team entirely staffed with the best technical resources in the company. The common scenario is a tighter budget and a team staffed with the technical resources available at the time 
 
Successful Project Managers use their influence skills to build the team moral and motivate others to support the project goals. Effective project managers also realize when it is to their benefit to help others grow professionally and often share power with other team members. A common example of this would be a situation in which the Project Manager enlists the help of a senior team member to help mentor and train a more junior team member. This allows both team members to grow, and frees the Project Manager to concentrate on other strategic aspects of the project.
 
Frequently, many Project Managers are tasked with delivering projects whereby some of their resources are not under their direct control. At some point in time, it is likely the PM will face the challenge of securing buy-in from a crucial external stakeholder. The Project Manager also has to have enough credibility and power with an external stakeholder to get buy-in at critical times. In a large organization, this could include securing support from a higher-level manager to enlist a much-needed short term resource from another group in the organization or securing contract dollars at a critical time.
 
The key attributes in this area are organization and the ability to influence and develop a team. Here are some questions to ask to determine a Project Manager’s proficiency with this skill:

•  Give an example of a time when you used both formal and informal organizational systems to accomplish your goals
• Tell me about a time you involved team members in the process of planning and goal setting
• Describe a time when you used cross training to develop other team members
• Tell me about a situation when you had to enlist the support of a powerful, but non-supportive individual in order to persuade others. How did you approach this? What was the outcome?

 
 
Ability to Solve System and People Problems
 
This is the universal skill that most Project Managers start their careers with. It is what many of the project management methodologies are based on. The ability to migrate to and from a micro to a macro view is critical. This is also an area where there are many systems and software’s to assist and help the PM.
 
This skill that is easiest for an HR professional to qualify, since it’s more easily quantifiable. There are various tests available to assessing someone strength in this area. Most resumes you will receive from PM candidates will have this skill area highlighted. The most difficult part is finding the candidate that is strong in this area and also has strong proficiencies in the other three attributes.
 
There is an inverse relationship between this skill and the size of the project - the larger the project the less important this skill becomes. The reason for this is that larger projects have bigger teams and more of the team members will have this skill and therefore it is likely to be delegated.   On smaller projects the PM will be doing most of the work in this area since resources are more limited.
 
The key attributes in this area are diagnostic, systematic and conceptual thinking and information gathering. Here are some questions to ask to determine if someone has this skill:

•  Tell me about a time you had to break a complex problem into manageable pieces.
• Describe how you access the strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of others.
• Tell me about a time you had to uncover themes or patterns which solved seemingly dissimilar problems or created an opportunity.
• How do you evaluate consequences of decisions, actions and events?
• Tell me about a time when you had to apply a “lesson learned.”

 
 
Summary
 
As I stated earlier, strategic projects in any discipline cannot be delivered without a very effective project manager. Selection of this critical individual must involve screening for these key behaviors. The sample questions provided are intended to assist our clients as they proceed through their own evaluation processes. You should customize this list for your own organization. You can contact your Partner Account Manager for additional sample questions that were not included here for space consideration.
 
 
Additional Information
 
Many articles have been written about Project Managers and key behavioral characteristics. Most discuss similar behaviors, but may group then into different categories and abilities. Here are some links that may be of interest:
 
PM Management : Art or Skill? PM World Today, April 2007
http://www.pmforum.org/library/tips/2007/PDFs/Kondo-4-07.pdf
 
Information Systems Project Manager Soft Competencies: A Project-Phase Investigation
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5820/is_201003//ai_n53081701/
 
 
By Juli Nimitz, Senior Account Director for Partner Technology