Project managers are there to plan and manage the work – NOT to do it!

As a PM you will need to be a Leader And A Manager: Leaders share and communicate a common vision (of some future state); they gain agreement and establish the forward direction. They motivate others. Managers are results driven and focus on getting work done against agreed requirements. A good project manager will constantly switch from a leader to a manager as situations require.

As a PM you will need to be a Team Builder And A Team Leader: Because projects are often cross-functional in that they use people who may not have worked together before. It is up to the project manager to set the ‘tone’ of the team, and to lead them through the various team development phases to the point where they perform as a team. Often, the team individuals have their own line manager, and so the PM has no implied authority – yet still needs to motivate the individual. This is particularly true in a ‘Matrix’ organisation.

As a PM you will need to be a be A Problem Solver: This is a skill that can be learned – it just needs a little ‘detective’ work up-front! You will want to first identify the possible ‘causes’ that lead to the problem ‘symptom’. Now, causes can come from a variety of sources, some are:

• interpersonal problems
• internal sources
• external sources
• technical sources
• management sources
• communication
• opinions or perceptions

and so on. The next step having found the root causes is to analyze possible options and alternatives, and determine the best course of action to take. Take care to agree what ‘best’ really means here!

As a PM you will need to be a Negotiator and Influencer: Negotiation is working together with other people with the intention of coming to a joint agreement. It doesn’t have to be the eye-ball-to-eye-ball power struggle you may be thinking of! For example getting one of the team to work late to meet a deadline when they would prefer to go to the Ball Game. For all these you need to have some influencing skills. Influencing is getting events to happen by convincing the other person that your way is the better way – even if it’s not what they want. Influencing power is the ability to get people to do things they would not do otherwise.

As a PM you will need to be an Excellent Communicator: Being a communicator means recognising that it’s a two-way street. Information comes into the project and information goes out of the project. A good way of summarising this is that all communications on your project should be clear and complete. As a project manager you will have to deal with both written and oral communications. Some examples are documents, meetings, reviews, reports, and assessments. A good mental guideline is “who needs this information, who gathers and delivers it, when or how often do they need it, and in what form will I give it to them”

As a PM you will need to be a Good Organizer: Let’s just think of the aspects you will need to organize; project filing including all documentation, contracts, e-mails, memo’s, reviews, meetings, specialist documents, requirements and specifications, reports, changes, issues, risks, etc.

It’s almost impossible to stay organized without having Time Management Skills – so add this to your list!

As a PM you will need to be a Competent And Consistent Planner: The skill of planning can’t be underestimated (and neither can estimating!). There are known and logical steps in creating plans. As a project manager you will certainly own the Project Plan – but there may be others depending upon the project. Examples are, Stage Plans, Exception Plans, Team Plans, Hand-over Plans, Benefit Realisation Plans, etc.

Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of some of these as they may not be necessary – just be aware that planning should become second nature to you.

Two aspects need to be mentioned here:

• Plans are ALWAYS documents – don’t fall into the trap of thinking that, for example, a Gantt Chart is a plan – its only a schedule diagram.
• Successful projects are delivered by successful teams. ALWAYS use the team to help create the Plan (unless, rarely, there is a good reason why not, such as commercial confidentiality, or contractual conditions)

As a PM you will need to Establish And Manage Budgets: At the heart of this is the skill of estimating – particularly cost estimates. Nearly always the project manager will need certain knowledge of financial techniques and systems along with accounting principles.

Part of the Project Plan will be something called the Spend Plan. This will show the planned spend against a time-scale. The PM will want to get involved in purchasing, quoting, reconciling invoices, time sheets, labor costs, etc.

The project manager then needs to establish what has actually happened as opposed to what was planned and to forecast the expected final costs. Normally accounting and project management tools will help – but remember the garbage in = garbage out rule!

Well, that just about summarises the main areas. If you are new to project management, don’t be too bamboozled by all this – there are well understood methodologies, tools, guidelines, and procedures to help you on your way to developing the important life-skill of Project Management.

Here are the most important skills in detail, that the project manager MUST have:

Communication skills

• These should be both written and oral.
• The project managers communication skills will be summarise in the communication plan:
• Who are the stakeholders both internal and external?
• what are their major interest areas with the project and its outcome?
• what information will be of most interest to each of them?
• Who, and how, will that information be gathered?
• Who will give the information to the Stakeholders?
• When do they want the information, or how often?
• How will the information be given to them?

The project manager should ensure that both information coming out from the project, and information coming back into the project is covered in the above plan.

Organizational and planning skills

There is much organising to do within a project. These will include:

• Organising meetings
• Assembling teams
• Public relations
• Project documentation
• Project reports
• Project registers and logs
• Quotes and contracts
• Meetings
• Requirements, specifications, and project Scope
• Develop schedules

the list is endless...

Organising also needs excellent time management skills.It goes without saying, that planning skills are vital.

Budgeting skills

The project manager will need some knowledge of accounting and finance principles. Of particular interest is budgeting and cost control. These will include estimating skills.Budgeting and contracts will need to be understood by the project manager to remain in control.

Conflict management skills

All projects will have risks, issues, and conflicts. For this reason, problem-solving skills are vital.The project manager will want to develop a structured method for problem resolution.As each new problem arises, the project manager will want to define it accurately, and perform and impact analysis, before determining the correct type of action.

The project manager will also be responsible for either implementing the actions themselves, or escalating the problem is required. All actions should be implemented in a timely manner.

Negotiation and influencing skills

Some people are natural negotiators while others are not. However it can be learned. Negotiation put simply, is getting two sides, with different needs, to come to an agreement. Good negotiation will result in both side's being satisfied by the outcome -- probably with some compromise.

Negotiation will be a continuous activity from the beginning to the end of the project.

Being able to influence others is another key skill: Influencing is the ability to get others to do what you want, even when they have a different opinion. There are two key parts of this:

Politics. This involves getting people with different goals and interests to cooperate

Power. This is the ability to get people to do things they wouldn't do otherwise, by getting them to change their minds.

Leadership skills

Managers concentrate on results and getting the job done, whereas leaders have a vision of a future state, gain agreement, inspire, and motivate others.

Teambuilding and motivating skills

The project manager will often needs to lead teams who have a different line manager, and come from different parts of the organisation. The teams may not have worked together before, and the negotiating and influencing skills mentioned before, will be needed to form the team, and develop them into an effective unit.