I hate the terms ‘hard skills’ & ‘soft skills’. I dislike them because they imply a hierarchy where hard, technical skills are considered more worthy than soft, people ones. That by being hard, technical skills require more investment & effort to master than their soft equivalent. All of which implies that learning to upskill in technical matters is more worthy that learning to work with people.
For Project Managers, this could not be further from the truth. As Project Managers we have to master our soft skills if we are to help the people in our teams succeed. Of course, we need to have solid & reliable technical knowledge, but a large part of our value comes from leading the team & helping them work together. Especially within the context of artificial intelligence and automation where technology is taking over some of the technical skills that have formed part of the Project Manager’s role in the past. Our job is to keep a project on track, and to do that, we need to be able to keep people on track. Keeping people on track requires advanced soft skills. And as we advance through our careers and up the Project Management ladder, this becomes more and more important.
Why Project Managers are generalists, not specialists
A common misconception amongst those looking to procure Project Management services is that they need to hire someone who is an expert in their field - academics seek those who have worked within the higher education sector, doctors seek those with research or medical backgrounds etc. But as Project Managers, our role is to be generalists, not specialists. We need to be able to rely on others in the team to provide those technical insights. Our value comes in being able to step out of the detail, asking the difficult or obvious questions & keeping things moving. Our role involves creating a safe, creative & innovative space where the expertise of others can be bought to the fore.
Our team members are responsible for designing, engineering, calculating & forecasting. They produce the outputs. Yes, we have our own tools like producing the brief, the programme and the risk register – but all of these are tools to manage the team. They require input from the team & they are only useful if adopted by the team.
The case for a specialist background, & its caveats
Of course, some projects are more technical than others and therefore a Project Manager with more experience in these areas can be useful. In some cases, an ex-Nurse turned Project Manager, or an ex-lecturer turned Project Manager can bring knowledge & rationale that helps us challenge the teams decisions. But only if done with caution.
Firstly, and most importantly, we have to assume that this individual has had proper Project Management training. Too often people end up in Project Management by accident or as a career pivot. The desire to move into Project Management is admirable - but like any profession proper training is needed to support that person in their career transition. They need to learn, refine & define this new trade so they can apply different methodologies and know what to anticipate as we move through the project lifecycle. Training teaches a Project Manager the tools they need to steer a project to excellence, rather than defaulting to repeating past experiences (and often past mistakes).
Do not accidentally disempower your team
Secondly, we have to make sure that we do not accidentally end up disempowering the team. As a Project Manager we have to remember that we are paying for a team to bring their knowledge, training and expertise. Stepping in micro manage or do a team’s role for them creates the illusion that you do not trust them. This can cause frustration and resentment & result in a disempowered individuals. Plus, by taking on the teams work, you are likely to end up neglecting your own project management duties, or at the very least increasing your workload significantly. And lets not forget that liability issues can also be created if we are not clear on scope.
As Project Managers we need to be aware of all of this, and that means developing our soft skills, emotional intelligence and leadership skills. No matter your background or experience, you need to be able to ask strategic questions that can take the team out of the detail to focus on the end goal.
What the best Project Managers do differently
The best Project Managers that I know are the masters of ‘soft skills’. They are natural leaders. They know when to sit back and observe and when to step in and steer. They know how to communicate with their teams for maximum impact. They can spot conflict from a mile away and help assertively navigate a team through or around dispute. They actively listen, passively observe & are not afraid to delegate and keep individuals responsible.
As Project Managers, our role is to deliver a project to a desired outcome. The best Project Managers know how to do this by unlocking the potential within their teams. They do not feel the need to step in, because they trust that they have hired the right people for the role & they know when & how to have the difficult conversation if things start to go awry. They create teams where high performing is not just expected, but normalised. They are able to work with people, rather than against them, and encourage others to do the same. And all this is done through the mastery of soft skills.
Soft skills need training too
Remember, soft skills take time to learn, practise, develop and master just like hard ones do. We need to understand the context, methodologies & strategies for employing soft skills in the same way that we do with hard skills. Learning environments create safe spaces for Project Managers to test new ways of implementing soft skills so that they can develop & refine their skillset outside of their projects. And importantly, they bring Project Managers together so that they can learn from each other and bounce ideas off each other.
Next time you are assessing your learning and development needs, consider investing in developing your soft skills so that your team can help their team succeed better.