IT Project Manager: A Fraud, Hero or Scapegoat
I recently came across a Project Management article by Anna Possek on Dice.com. In her article, she describes project management in a unique way. Here is Anna’s take on what qualities are required to be a project manager:
The project manager must be:
* a diplomat to deal with conflicts between different stakeholders
* a psychologist to keep morale of the team high
* a merchant in negotiations
* an engineer to verify designs and quality
* a passionate leader to keep everybody focused
* a scapegoat if this will calm down unnecessary blamingThe most important quality for a project manager is verbal and written communication skills…
Have you ever heard that before on HR Think Tank? Of course… Communication Style Bias. Managing Scope: It’s Really About Trust, Communication, and Delivery. No shortage of communications articles here.
What’s missing though? Here’s something that should be a part of every project management job description – Great project managers should be able to excel and move forward in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. You need to be able to chart a course. Tolerate ambiguity. Make decisions.
I think Anna Possek overreacted with the skills of a Project Manager. I don’t think you need all of those, but you do need to be able to manage people in stressful situations and to make decisions of greater importance. A Project Manager should be the hero everyone is expecting to be…