In the Feb 2011 PM Journal, Starkweather and Stevenson published a study examining the core skills judged to be critical to project success.
I was fascinated to see the results, particularly when it came to quantifying what IT executives value in terms of technical project managers.
While job boards typically list qualifications like PMP, technical skills like that finished DEAD LAST at 15th!
The top 10 skills recognized by IT leaders as critical to project success are:
1. Leadership (94.8 out of 100)
2. Ability to communicate at multiple levels (93.5)
3. Verbal skills (87.2)
4. Written skills (87.1)
5. Attitude (85.3)
6. Ability to deal with ambiguity and change (82.9)
7. Work History (68.9)
8. Experience (67.1)
9. Ability to Escalate (66.3)
10. Cultural fit (57.2)
My question to you is this – as the size and importance of your projects increases, what are you doing to increase capacity of your leaders? Of the top 10, only attitude, work, history, and experience are not things you can teach.
That means that 7 of the top 10 skills are teachable.
When was the last time you sought training in these areas for yourself?
What about for your team?
As Jim Rohn said
“The cost is not the price of the [training.]
The cost is what it costs if you don’t buy it.”
Technical people tend to think in terms of technical skills training. That’s necessary to success, but not sufficient. Technical skills came in 11th!
As you plan your professional development, take a look at how to “Raise Your Game” when it comes to these critical “soft” skills.
We offer seminars and classes, and would be happy to help!
We offer seminars and classes, and would be happy to help!