Make Way for the Competent Team Player!
Pure doers have had their day as successful project managers. That is the conclusion Mary Gerush of Forrester Research reached after interviewing numerous industry managers, IT experts, project leads, and project team members from large enterprises as well as from her own organization.
Methodological Knowledge and Emotional Intelligence Are in Demand
The project manager of the future has a solid 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 personnel resources — future project managers will be measured more strongly against these skills than against purely technical know-how. Added to this is the increasingly loud call for emotional intelligence: the project manager of tomorrow has strong communication and teamwork skills.
Top Project Managers Create Value
Certainly, project success will continue to be measured by on-time and on-budget delivery in the future. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that companies are quite willing to turn a blind eye on this front — as long as the customer is satisfied. The project manager of tomorrow is oriented toward business success, and thus toward the needs of the client: the customer is king.
Lean Is In
Project team members and clients still feel well taken care of when the project manager also has technical knowledge. In the future, however, their role will be to act less as a doer and more as a facilitator.
The project manager of tomorrow succeeds in building teams and holding them together. They inspire efficient collaboration. Their technical experience empowers them to step in when necessary. Lean working with minimal overhead and streamlined processes — what applies to companies is also the directive for the “Next Generation Project Manager.” Gerush recommends orienting toward the concept of agile software development and working with lean, cross-functional, self-organizing teams.
What Skills Will Be Required in the Future?
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 relation to the project goal.
- Adaptive Communication: In a globalized business world, intercultural communication is becoming ever more decisive. The next-generation project manager has 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 context they belong to.
- The Ability to Work with People: The top project manager of the future can build positive relationships quickly. This applies equally to working with clients and stakeholders as it does to their own project team.
- The Ability to Manage: The project lead as a team player. They can motivate, keep focus on the goal, and foster collaboration among project team members.
- Business Acumen: The project manager is able to look beyond their own immediate area. 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 capable of revising their approach when necessary — when the subject matter and the business demand it.
- Analytical Skills: The project manager can analyze problems methodically and has the ability to make decisions based on their analysis.
- Customer Focus: Next-generation project managers have a genuine desire to meet customer needs. They can put themselves in the shoes of the client and the end user, and align their work with those requirements.
- Results Orientation: The project manager of the future has the ability to lead a project to its goal efficiently and effectively.
- Character: An engaging personality, strong values, and an irreproachable moral character — that is the image Gerush has in mind when she envisions the project manager of the future in an era of constantly evolving requirements.
On this blog you will find further articles on the topic of “project documentation and processes.”
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.
