Chapter 8: Profiling the Competent Project Manager

Lynn Crawford, DBA University of Technology, Sydney

Introduction

A major concern of the field of project management and a recurring theme in the literature is that of project success. There are two major strands to this concern—how success is judged (success criteria), and the factors that contribute to the success of projects (success factors). Closely associated with this is concern for the competence of the project manager. On one hand, the competence of the project manager is in itself a factor in successful delivery of projects and on the other hand, the project manager needs to have competence in those areas that have the most impact on successful outcomes.

The importance of the project manager in the delivery of successful projects has generated a considerable amount of rhetoric and a smaller body of research-based literature dealing with the knowledge, skills, and personal attributes required of an effective project manager. With a few notable exceptions, findings have been based on opinions, primarily of project managers.

At the same time, concern for the competence of project managers has fuelled interest in the development of standards and certification processes that can be used for assessment, for recognition, and as a guide for the development of project management competence. Standards include those relating primarily to what project managers are expected to know; such as A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – 2000 Edition (Project Management Institute 2000), the International Project Management Association (IPMA) Competence Baseline (ICB) (International Project Management Association 1999), and The Association for Project Management Body of Knowledge (APM BoK) (Dixon 2000) and those that address what project managers are expected to be able to do; such as, the occupational- or performance-based competency standards of Australia and the United Kingdom. The process for development of these standards has primarily involved extensive consultation with industry and participation of experienced project personnel in identifying what they think project managers need to know and be able to do in order to be effective in delivering successful project outcomes. Some attempt has been made in the standards (ICB and APM BoK) to identify personal characteristics of effective project managers but this has played only a minor role, with the major attention being given to the required knowledge and skills rather than personality characteristics and behaviors.

This chapter presents a review and analysis of research-based literature concerning the criteria by which project success is judged, the factors that contribute to the success of projects; and the knowledge, skills, and personal attributes of project managers that are expected to lead to achievement of successful project outcomes. Analysis of data on the project management practices and perceived performance ratings of over 350 project personnel from three countries are then presented. Analysis suggests that there is little direct relationship between perceived performance in the workplace and the level of project management knowledge and experience reported against either project management standards (PMBOK Guide and Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management) or previous research findings.