Essential Soft Skills for the Project Manager

1
Essential Soft Skills for the Project Manager

• Project Management Institute
• Otowi Bridge Chapter
• October 18, 2006
• Mark B. Gamble , PMP

2
What are Soft Skills?

• The collection of personality traits, social
  graces, facility with language, personal habits,
  friendliness, and optimism that mark people to
  varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard
  skills, which are the technical requirements of a
  job.
• Wikapedia

3
Project Success Model
Effective Interaction
Sound Strategy
Superior Execution
Source Procter and Gamble Corporation
4
Effective Interactions Depend Upon Effective use
of Soft Skills

• Can you learn them? Yes
• But they are generally not taught in school
• Where?
• Workhard lessons
• Books
• PMI Activities
• Family
• Friends
• Team sports
• Church activities
• Community groups
• Volunteer activities

5
Assumptions/Prerequisites

• Without basic integrity none of the rest of this
  discussion will matter.
• Honest
• Truthful
• Ethical
• (no lying, cheating or stealing)

6
Soft Skill Relationship
Effective Interaction
Soft Skills
Hard Skills
Basic Integrity
7
Common Failures of Project Managers Related to
Soft Skills

• Failure to establish and lead an effective
  project team
• Failure to treat others with respect
• Failure to develop trust
• Failure to identify and address stakeholder
  issues
• Failure to establish appropriate consensus
• Failure to align with management goals
• Failure to seek timely help when problems arise
• Failure to admit a mistake and make changes
• Failure to delegate and utilize team members
  effectively
• Failure to solicit input before making changes
• Failure to understand the impact of your personal
  style

8
Correct View of People

• How we view others determines how we treat
  them...otherwise we are just acting
• The first person we must examine is ourselves
• Everyone has influence (Positive or Negative?)
• Job of the Leader is to work through others
• Motivate
• Coach
• Model

9
7 Essential Soft Skills

• Effective Project Team Leadership
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Effective Communications Skills
• Sound Work Habits
• Ability to Persuade
• Ability to Resolve Conflict
• Understanding of Informal Networks

10
Effective Project Team Leadership

• Why teams?
• Leverage the ability of individual skills
• Complexity of projects
• Concept of Synergy
• Understanding the stages of Team Development
• Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing
• A project team is more than
• A group of people around a table
• Leaders job is to develop the team

11
Problem Solving and Decision Making

• Collect the facts
• Define the problem
• Look at potential causes
• Evaluate the options
• Consult with others
• Select an approach
• Plan the implementation
• Communicate
• Implement
• Validate
• Adjust/correct/changeif necessary

12
Effective Communications Skills

• How
• Listening
• Email
• Letters
• Presentations
• Conversations
• Elevators speeches
• Casual
• Formal presentations
• Telephone
• Note
• Bulletin Board
• Newsletter
• Fax
• Website
• Non verbal

• With Whom
• Team Members
• Superiors
• Stakeholders
• Peers
• Subordinates
• Regulators
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Safety/Security Personnel
• Construction Trades
• Auditors
• Project Support Staff
• Government Officials
• Executives
• Engineers
• Scientists
• Review Teams

13
Sound Work Habits

• Industrious not lazy
• Persevere
• Conscientious
• Organized
• Strong values
• Sense of conscience
• Prudence (wisdom, common sense)
• Positive attitude
• Proper time management
• Flexibility/Adaptability
• Willing to play any position

14
Ability to Persuade

• Importance of persuasion (selling)
• Who?
• Management
• Stakeholders
• Team members
• Suppliers, contractors.
• A place for passion
• Sincerity
• Avoid unethical persuasion
• Against conscience of either party
• If you do this.then Ill do.. (bribe)
• If you dont do this..then Ill do..(coercion)

15
Ability to Resolve Conflict

• Not all conflict is bad
• Sometimes destructive (hurtful/de-motivating)
• How to disagree without being disagreeable
• Learn to listen
• Avoid going auto biographical
• Try to understand
• Defusing hostility
• Empathize

16
Understanding of Informal Networks

• What are they?
• Friends
• Family
• Colleagues
• Everyone uses them
• We all belong to one
• How to recognize them
• How to use them effectively

17
Others Soft Skills

• Critical thinking skills
• Listening skills
• Coalition and team building skills
• Commitment to organizational goals
• Enterprise mentality (opposite of stovepipe
  thinking)
• Self motivation skills
• Willingness to receive criticism
• Ability to accept criticism positively
• Facilitation skills
• Ability to mentor and motivate others
• Client/customer focus
• Innovation and creativity
• Ability to forgive and move on
• Proper use of influence

18
Recommendations

• Perform an individual gap analysis on your skill
  set.
• Develop a personal action plan for development.
• Perform a project team self-assessment.
• Develop a plan to improve how your team
  functions.
• Identify excellent strengths in others and model
  their behavior in those areas.
• Read

19
Additional Resources

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleCovey
• Principle Centered LeadershipCovey
• First Things First.Covey
• 21 Laws of Leadership.Maxwell
• Becoming a Person of Influence..Maxwell
• Developing the Leaders Around You..Maxwell
• Team Building for PMs.PMI
• Management Mess-upsEppler
• Harvard Mentor on line.LANL Website
• Crucial Conversations.. Patterson, Gremy,
  MacMillen
• Crucial ConfrontationsPatterson, Gremy,
  MacMillen
• 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life
  Management.Smith
• Emotional Intelligence at Work.Weisinger
• First Break all the Rules..Buckingham, Coffman
• Developing the Project Team..Verma