If a Company wants a great Project Manager, why not ask for one?

I recently read an article on the Project Connections website by Cinda Voegtli, “The Medal-Worthy PMs Executives Are Desperate To Hire”. She used the metaphor of winning a gold medal at the Olympic to talk about the difference between the Good Project Manager and the Great Project Manager. After looking at recent job postings for Project Managers, she talked with company Presidents, Directors and VPs to find out what skills and abilities they valued the most in the Project Managers working for them. The results were not a surprise to me or most Project Managers. She found that most of the ads listed things such as:

• Budgeting and data analysis skills


• Understanding and experience with related business and development processes


• Goal-Oriented, self-directed, needs little direction.


• Strong communication and customer service skills.


• Excellent documentation skills.


• Team player and able to manage others through teamwork.


• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.


• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.


• Excellent time management skills.


• Ability to work with tight deadlines in an ever changing environment.


• Fast learner with ability to operate effectively in new environments.

While these are important, they are not the skills and abilities that the manager values the most. As she tells us, they want leaders that understand the business drivers.

That got me wondering why the mangers are not asking, screening or interviewing for these. While the basic Project Manager skills provide a baseline, those alone are not enough. In most cases, I think that the hiring manger and the rest of the team have not gotten together and determined what they want the Project Manager to do, or not to do. I have been on and participated in one of these interviews which started with one of these vague ads. Sometime the focus on bookkeeping, meetings, and data collection was due to a lack of understanding about what the Project Manager does (or should do). Sometimes a requirement from nowhere pops up due to a misalignment between the expectations of the interviewer and the manager and the rest of the team. Rarely do these interviews work out.

Where do we go from here? As a hiring manager, make sure you add and ask about the behaviors that you need in your Project Manager. If you are only asking about tools and meetings, then do not be surprised if you get great looking PowerPoint slides that only show what has happened and no recommendations or action plans to fix things. As a person on the interview team, take the time to ask about skills and behaviors that are important to the other interviewers and the hiring manager. As the person interviewing, when I get to ask my question, I always want to know about their expectations for the person in the role. Hiring managers, please take the time to give the candidate an explanation as to why they did not make it. This will help the person applying to improve their search and it will also help the hiring manager to understand if everyone’s expectations are in alignment.

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