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assurance; planning; negotiating; solving problems; and more.

Good soft skills are as critical to the success of a project as good technical skills. You’ll
examine many of the technical skills needed as they relate to the project management
processes in the coming chapters, but I won’t neglect to talk about the soft skills as
well. These are skills any good manager uses on a daily basis to manage resources,
solve problems, meet goals, and more.

You probably already use some of these skills in your day-to-day work activities. Here’s

a partial list:

Leadership

Communicating

Listening

Organization

Time management

Planning

Problem-solving

Consensus building

Resolving conflict

Negotiating

Team building

Let’s examine a few of these skills in a little more detail.

Leadership

A project manager must also be a good leader. Leaders understand how to rally people
around a vision and motivate them to achieve amazing results. They set strategic goals,
establish direction, and inspire and motivate others. Strong leaders also know how to
align and encourage diverse groups of people with varying backgrounds and experience

to work together to accomplish the goals of the project.

Leaders possess a passion for their work and for life. They are persistent and diligent in
attaining their goals. And they aren’t shy about using opportunities that present
themselves to better their team members, to better the project results, or to accomplish
the organization’s mission. Leaders are found at all levels of the organization and
aren’t necessarily synonymous with people in executive positions. We’ve known our
share of executive staff members who couldn’t lead a team down the hall, let alone

through the complex maze of project management practices. It’s great for you to
possess all the technical skills you can acquire as a project manager. But it’s even better
if you are also a strong leader who others trust and are willing to follow.

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