Hi,
I have been privileged in my many years of professional activities to meet many project managers both home and abroad. I discovered that we have so many schooled and certified professional but very few real leaders. According to a Survey Carried out by KPMG of 252organisations, technology is not the most critical factor that determines project success. Inadequate project management implementation constitutes 32% of project failures, lack of communication constitutes 20%, and unfamiliarity with scope and complexity constitutes 17%. Accordingly 69% of project failures are due to lack and/or improper implementation of project management methodologies.
The above project failure indices are directly or indirectly the project manager’s shortcoming. The most popular definition of leadership I believe is influence. As a project manager, the ability to inspire the entire project team toward achieving the desired goal and project objective is key to successful project implementation. Some project managers are simply administrators, while some are project coordinators. However, the game of being a ‘leader’ project manager is far more than just administration or coordination. I gave presentations and facilitated workshops on this subject in our numerous professional forums. Many times, beyond the presentation, it was the debate with the novice and the experienced project managers about what are the most important skill set that drives me to further increase my study and concepts in this area.
I made sure that my points are not out of head knowledge or some form of pseudo perception of the ideal. I have carefully studied exceptional project managers and have documented my discovery not just for classroom purposes but for life application.
All the points mentioned below are crucial for superlative project governance:
- Give attention to detail
- Communicate to be understood
- Learn to be a power negotiator
- Be a positive thinker
- Be as flexible as you can
We shall expatiate further next week. Please join us.