Blog: Want to be a successful IT Project Manager? Here are the skills that one should possess!!! 2 Review for xxxxx Blog 4 Review for yyyyy blog 4 References 4 Blog: Want to be a successful IT Project Manager? Here are the skills that one should possess!!! Information Technology Project Management sector witnesses the high rate of project failures. The main culprit for the failure of the projects is lack of Project Management skills. Poor management of the projects results in inevitable rise of budget and time schedule beyond anticipation. As project managers are responsible for the project management, their skills become more critical for the success of the IT projects. Nowadays, organisations have become more attentive in emerging these skills for the productive completion of the IT projects as these skills enhance the information knowledge, creative thinking and innovation (Xxx & xxx, 2011). So, the organisations can gain competitive advantage over the others by possessing project managers with improved project management skills. Project management skills comprises of the hard skills and the soft skills. Hard skills are mainly referred to as technical skills which consist of methodologies, tools and the techniques to develop the projects which may include knowledge to develop IT systems like programming and testing knowledge (Xxx, 2004, as cited in Xxx, xxxxx, Eloff, & Van der Poll, 2005; Xxx, Lee, & Deng, 2013). However, the soft skills are considered to be the art of dealing with people which can be acquired through experience and these incorporate skills like leadership skills, communication skills, team building and stress management etc. (Xxx, 2004, as cited in Xxx et al., 2005) Now, the question arises about which skills need to be focused: hard skills or soft skills? Traditionally, it was only the hard skills which were paid more attention than the soft skills. But, today, organisations have learnt the importance of soft skills, and have incorporated soft skills along with the hard skills in their training programs in order to ensure the effective accomplishment of the projects. Studies, conducted over the skills required for project management, have proposed a number of skills that may assist a project manager to rise in the field of project management. These may include self management skills, relationship building skills, communication skills, delegation skills, team building, flexibility and creativity, conflict management, people skills, problem solving skills etc.(Xxx et al., 2005; Xxx et al., 2013; Xxx & Xxx, 2011) So, the person who considers being successful in the field of project management should try to learn and adopt the following skills (Xxx et al.,2005; Xxx et al., 2013; Xxx & xxxx, 2011): • People skills: Maintaining good relationships with the people who are associated with the project is one of the critical success factors. One should understand the viewpoints of the stakeholders in order to avoid the situation of the conflict. • Leadership skills: One should follow a leadership style which incorporates participation of project members and produce enthusiasm and responsibility amongst them. A project manager should provide a vision and motivate the project team to achieve a common goal of accomplishing the project within the time and budget, keeping the quality of work to be superior. • Verbal Communication skills: Effective communication is the key characteristic of a project manager. Project manager should be able to articulate what is desired from the team and should effectively communicate the different aspects of the project including the status, risks and the issues to all the stakeholders. So, a good project manager will convey the ideas clearly and steer the project team towards achieving the desired result. • Listening skills: In order to spot the problems before they occur and to understand the desired goals of the organisations to carry out a particular project, project manager should be an effective listener. Listening to the team members carefully will also enhance the level of trust within the team which subsequently acts as a catalyst in improving the performance. • Strength at building trust: Trust is the essential requirement for an organisation or a team to be successful. It becomes the responsibility of the project manager to ensure there is existence of mutual trust throughout the execution of the project. Project manager is a bridge between the team members and the other stakeholders. So, it becomes important for the project manager to convey to all the stakeholders that he can be trusted for all the decisions taken to render the project successful and client pleased (Lxxxxer, 1990, as cited in Xxx et al., 2005). • Team building skill: Gary and Larson (2001, as cited in Xxx et al., 2005) have pointed out that “The whole is greater than the sum of parts”. So, team building becomes one of the important skills that a project manager should acquire. Project manager should ensure that the team which has been assigned to a project is a proper mix of all the required skills and competencies to steer the development of the project into the right direction. • Conflict resolving skill: People associated with the projects have different behaviors, attitudes, goals and objectives which may lead to conflict within the team. So, a project manager is required to have the ability to handle such situations in a constructive manner by patiently listening to views of others and try to convince them on the same objective. • Problem solving skills: Project managers must possess the problem solving skill to think about the problem in an analytical manner and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the team and then align the objectives in a way that the weaknesses are conquered by the strengths. In addition to these skills, the project manager should be able to manage the time and scope of the project and should have the capability to cope up with the change that may occur in the team due to unwanted circumstances. As the technology is rapidly changing and each IT project requires a different combination of the components, tools and techniques, it is essential that project manager should be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of the project. So, it can be said that technical skills only are not sufficient to make the project successful. Project manager should acquire other skills in order to satisfy the clients and the stakeholders keeping in mind his relationship with the team members. So that the team may get the motivation from time to time to move the project on to a right path even if the resources available are limited. In the nutshell, project management is all about building a team which is motivated to perform in an efficient manner, building the relationship with the stakeholders, influencing others to take the right path, enhancing the level of trust within the team, and providing a vision which is aimed at producing the desired result. Review for xxxxxx Blog Project management skills are essential for a project manager to lead a project team for execution of the project to satisfy the clients as well as the shareholders. This blog is really informative regarding the skills and the behaviours that need to be acquired by the project manager to be successful in his or her field. Other researchers have also put the emphasis on the soft skills of managing people along with the technical know-how. They have provided a list of skills that are critical for the project management purposes including relationship building skills, communication skills, team building, people skills, problem solving skillset al., 2005; Xxx et al., 2013; Xxx & Xxx, 2011). Organisations are also focusing on the incorporation of the skills in their training programs in order to develop these skills and gain competitive advantage (Xxx et al., 2013). Thus, the concepts provided in the blog are relevant to be learnt to reach the skies in project management. Review for xxxxx blog The blog written by xxxx throws light on the effective project management by the learning of the critical skills including scheduling skills, risk management skills, and leadership skills etc. the blog clearly identifies the need for training to develop such skills. Organisations are also providing the training programs which incorporate the development of such skills as they have learnt the importance of enhancing such skills to be competitive in market (xx et al., 2013). Project managers should possess communication skills in order to convey the idea properly to the stakeholders and also have the liability for the completion of the project in time and within budget. The benefit for the organisation by the possession of such skills by project managers in terms of competitive advantage has been identified by other researchers also (xx et al., 2005; Xxx et al., 2013). So, the information in the blog is relevant to the literature and can offer great knowledge regarding the project management skills. References Xxx, M., Lee, H. K., & Deng, T. (2013). Understanding the most critical skills for managing IT projects:A Delphi study of IT project managers. Information & Management , 50 (7), 398-414.