Make Way for the Competent Team Player!
Pure doers are no longer successful as project managers. That is what Mary Gerush of Forrester Research found after surveying numerous industry managers, IT experts, project leaders, and team members from large enterprises and her own organization.
Methodological Knowledge and Emotional Intelligence Are in Demand
The project manager of the future has a profound foundation when it comes to project management tools and the handling of project management software. Project initiation, planning, execution, and successful project closure, risk and change management, the management of human resources: future project managers will be measured more by these skills than by purely technical know-how. Added to this is the increasingly loud call for emotional intelligence: the project manager of tomorrow possesses strong communication and teamwork skills.
Top Project Managers Create Value
Surely, in the future, project success will still be measured by on-time and on-budget delivery. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that companies are quite willing to turn a blind eye here—as long as the customer is satisfied. The project manager of tomorrow is oriented toward business success and thus toward the client’s needs: the customer is king.
Lean Is In
Project team members and clients still feel well taken care of when the project manager also possesses technical knowledge. However, their role in the future will be less about being a doer and more about acting as a facilitator.
The project manager of tomorrow is able to build and maintain teams. They motivate them to collaborate efficiently. Their technical experience enables them to step in when necessary. Lean work with minimal overhead and streamlined processes—what applies to companies also serves as the directive for the “Next Generation Project Manager.” Gerush recommends orienting toward the concept of agile software development and working with lean, cross-functional, and self-organizing teams.
What Skills Will Be in Demand?
Mary Gerush identified ten success factors for the “Next Generation Project Manager” through her research:
- Emotional Intelligence: The project manager of the future is not a lone wolf. They incorporate input from clients and team members in the context of the objective into their work.
- Adaptive Communication: In a globalized business world, intercultural communication is becoming increasingly decisive. The next-generation project manager possesses the ability to convey their ideas to a broad audience—regardless of which department they come from, what educational background they have, or which cultural background they bring.
- People Skills: The top project manager of the future can quickly build positive relationships. This applies equally to working with clients and stakeholders as well as with their own project team.
- Management Ability: The project leader as a team player. They can motivate, focus on the goal, and foster collaboration among their project team members.
- Business Acumen: The project manager is able to look beyond their own domain. They acquire knowledge about their client’s industry and can align their own project work with the client’s strategy.
- Flexibility: Stubbornness has no place in project management. The project manager is also able to revise their approach when necessary—if the project subject matter and business require it.
- Analytical Ability: The project manager can methodically analyze problems and possesses the ability to make decisions based on their analysis.
- Customer Focus: Next-generation project leaders have the desire to satisfy customer needs. They can put themselves in the shoes of the client and end user and align their work with their requirements.
- Results Orientation: The project manager of the future possesses the ability to lead a project to completion efficiently and effectively.
- Character: An appealing personality, strong values, and a morally impeccable character—this is the image Gerush has in mind when she envisions the project manager of the future in times of certainly changing requirements.
On this blog, you will find further articles on the topic of “project documentation and processes.”
Gabriella Martin
Editor and Writer
Gabriella Martin is a Yale University graduate and holds a Master's degree in German Literature from the University of Tübingen. She loves explaining complex things in simple terms.
