A new report suggests you can train your brain to think like a great project manager. so start at the top - with your little grey cells.
Are good project managers born or can they be created?

The CIOB's recently published Code of Practice for Project Managers will take you through the eight stages of a project from inception to post-completion. But is that enough? Can you learn how to be a project manager from a book?

A survey of 112 project managers (from a wide range of business sectors) by business improvement consultancy Cobalt in late 2002 showed that most of them lack 'soft skills'.

"Look at training your project managers in creative, right-brain thinking," advises Cobalt's report which accompanies the research. "This will help them to anticipate problems, find innovative ways to solve them and foster an emotional commitment in the team."

So Construction Manager asked men who really know about project management what they think it takes to be a good project manager:

Geoff Wright, director at developer Hammerson
Wright is renowned for being an exacting client and will be CIOB president from August 2004

Howard Lawrence, Defence Estates
Lawrence is responsible for project management policy at Defence Estates, which, with a yearly construction budget of £1.4bn is the industry's biggest client

Alan Moore, director for project management
consultancy firm Trench Farrow. Moore has been a project manager since 1987 and works for big-name financial institutions

  • To buy the Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development, price £39.50, visit www.ciob.org.uk or call 01344 630810

  • If you want a free copy of Cobalt's guide, call Anthea Mercer on 0113 2515111

The Client

The ideal project manager will devote a large proportion of time and effort to the client. “50% of my effort is client-facing: getting decisions and helping the client to make those decisions,” says Moore. “As a project manager you work with the client to create an environment in which the team members can perform.”

The Soft Bit

You need ‘soft’ - or people - skills galore to excel. Communicating with, motivating and understanding all members of the team is key to the project manager’s role. “You have to be able to get on with a really wide range of people, to get the best out of them, to lead them, to listen to their concerns,” says Moore. Within this section comes leadership, “first and foremost,” says Lawrence. “For some people it’s a skill that develops naturally. Others can acquire it but have to go through development themselves.”
In order to develop leadership, work on self-awareness: “It’s very hard to see yourself as others see you,” says Moore. “The more self-aware in terms of knowing your own strengths and weaknesses you are, the better your people skills will be.”

The ‘It’s fantastic’ gland

Moore: “You have to enthuse people.”

Innovation gland

“We are looking for innovation,” says Lawrence. “We want to work with organisations that can operate in a different culture and can be open.” And his project managers have to adapt too.

Lawyer

As a project manager, it will benefit you to have a small part of a lawyer’s brain embedded somewhere in the vicinity of people skills and experience. “You have to listen to people’s concerns,” says Moore. “Sometimes you have to be an advocate or you have to be an adjudicator.”

Risk management

Some project managers may be getting away without much knowledge of risk management. Mastering this complex area is becoming more important as clients look to ‘share’ more risk ‘appropriately’. Aspiring project managers should work on this part of their brains. “Skillsets in risk management are fundamental to the successful delivery of projects,” says Lawrence.

Experience

In the private sector, this means years under the belt. In the public sector it means getting the right skillsets. Private sector: “Most have a construction background,” says Wright of his project managers. “80% are CIOB-qualified. Most of my guys have been in the industry for 10 years. To be effective you need experience.”
Public sector: “We put our practitioners through two- and three-day training courses with an examination at the end of it. “You cannot teach people in three days to become project managers, but you can advise them of the skillsets they need.”

Bullshit-o-meter

This should be finely tuned to go off in the event of porkies. A common trigger is unrealistic estimates from contractors. “Everyone is over-optimistic. They make promises they can’t keep. I would much rather have a date further on than one that is unattainable,” says Wright.

Focus

For Lawrence, a good project manager is “focused on the project objectives and outcomes that the project seeks to deliver”.

Pressure spot

This absorbs pressure and stress, allowing you to continue to work efficiently. “I don’t think you come into project management if you can’t deal with pressure situations,” says Moore. “And you don’t deal with it by dumping on the rest of the team.”

Source

Construction Manager