The Top 10 Skills Every Project Manager Needs

For years I have asked myself, "What are the skills a project manager really needs?" Early in my career I had no idea what I needed to know. And then I discovered the minimum skill-set as defined by the Project Management Institute. Even with some understanding of what skills I needed, I continued to ask, "What else is needed and why?"

In this blog post I answer these burning questions using what I know about project management with support from the internet. Make no mistake; more than 10 skills are needed to be successful! Here's my list of the 10 skills that are most important, in no certain order:

1.  Communication (more)
2.  Leadership (more)
3.  Negotiation (more)
4.  Problem Solver (more)
5.  Proactive (more)
6.  Trustworthy (more)
7.  Risk Management (more)
8.  Flexible and Firm (more)
9.  Integrity (more)
10  Accountability (more)

In summary, throughout the life of the project, I tell my project team that as long as we have consensus on a decision that affects the direction of the project I will always be the spokesperson for the team. Further, I will be the one to have the difficult discussions with management if/when the project gets significantly off baseline. To my credit, I have had few instances where a project was considered to be in trouble. And in those instances, the team has always been able to recover the project successfully.

You might notice some of these skills support other skills and vice-versa. In many ways they are like the bricks in a building: remove one brick and the building could tumble to the ground! I encourage all project mangers, new and seasoned, to continuously develop these 10 skills to ensure the success of their projects and their careers.

PM Skill #2: Leadership

A number of management and leadership publications emphasize that good leaders know when to lead and when to manage.  In general, a leader guides while a manager supervises or directs.  A successful project manager knows when to lead, when to manage, and when to do both.

In his blog post "The Leader Formula: The 4 things that make a good leader", Stephen Covey presents a 4-part formula for good leadership: 1) inspire trust; 2) clarify purpose; 3) align systems; and, 4) unleash talent.  Covey also states that the formula is "based upon principles that build upon each other rather than
techniques or steps that have to be taken independent of each other."

It's imperative for a project manager to have a solid leadership foundation.  Without good leadership, the project team has no direction.

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