Healthcare IT & Transformation

Project Manager - Charismatic or Controlling?

What kind of people make good project managers? It seems to me the role of project manager is one of the most conflicted and it is no wonder it is hard to find a “good” project manager.

Should your project manager be a task master who controls tasks and has a detail-oriented orientation or should the project manager be a charismatic communicator who can articulate and pave the way for the project team to deploy change leveraged by technology in an organization?

There is both an Art and a Science to project management. One without the other falls significantly short.

It seems that with the growing popularity of project management credentialing programs, the emphasis has changed to the task master model. I am consistently running into new project managers without the soft skills necessary to actually run a project. These project managers use a standardized methodology with common terminology to control projects at a detailed level. The problem is that a project manager must be able to simulaneously see the forest and the trees demonstrating effortless communication and grace under pressure. The credentialing programs are not to blame for this shift in emphasis but many “old-timers” such as myself often roll our eyes when we are presented with a newbie project manager proudly displaying his credentials. As with MBAs and other educational achievements that have evoked eye-rolling in the past - knowing the tools is just one part of the puzzle. Important… yes… but not the be all and the end all.

I am concerned we are losing the “art” of project management. ART is at least 50% of the skills of our best project managers. Over my career I have had the honor of mentoring many project managers in the art and science of project management. I’ve taught many methodologies and even come up with a few of my own. I always choose the charismatic natural leader with good organizational and communication skills… a weakness for people pleasing and beloved by their client. This is the natural project manager.

Often times I would have consultants approach me who felt it was time for them to have the opportunity to manage a project. I always try to find them small opportunities as a testbed but I believe, in general, that if someone has the right stuff for project management the clients already put them in that role.

That, after all, is what happened to me.

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