Monday, August 5, 2013

Top PM Trends of 2013: Leadership

A project manager’s role on any project goes far beyond task-related deliverables. Although the project manager must be able to manage goals related to time, scope and cost, their work does not stop here since the project manager must also be able to manage numerous issues, and be able to lead the people performing them.

Leadership involves the ability to influence people to take actions toward completing a project. Projects contain components including scope, cost, and time. For the project team to meet scope, cost, and time goals, one must appreciate the impact of positive leadership. It is up to the project manager to manage issues related to scope, cost, and time, as well as to lead the team to successful completion of these goals. As the project manager develops leadership skills and uses them to encourage and motivate the team, a more positive environment will emerge.

According to Mark Bashrum, VP of Strategic Intelligence & Corporate Marketing, ESI International, there are key project management (PM) trends that will be prominent in 2013. So let’s dive in to number one, shall we?

According to Bashrum, organizations should focus on building project leadership skills such as communication, negotiation, organizational change management, and customer relationship management.  But, we don’t think that is going to happen.

It’s unfortunate but true that most companies are more comfortable focusing on hard project and program management skills than they are at examining the underlying people skills required to deliver successful projects and programs. If they don’t want the same year-over-year results, organizations will need to seek out alternatives to develop leadership skills for their project community.

“Hopefully we are wrong, and in 2013 we will see the shift. We will keep our fingers crossed,” said Bashrum.


Check out the full video below:




Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist at IIR USA in New York City, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech industry.  She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc. 
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