Project manager is a professional who is leading the project with his team in name and on behalf of investors. He is managing director of the project who has authority to manage the project and the greatest responsibility for the project’s success or failure.

Emphasis should be placed on the competences of the project manager which include knowledge (stakeholders, risks…) and skills (using a variety of programs, preparation of reports…) and finally the ability to apply them in the right place and at the right time. Of great importance are special characteristics of the project manager:

Several special characteristics of project manager are of great importance: he has to be decisive, able to motivate, flexible – behavioral competences, but his success is measured by factors that are classified in the technical competences; quality (good and durable product), time (compliance deadline) and costs (to be within the budget). It is also important that the project manager always takes care of the company, protection of the environment and people and that he have respect for the legislative framework – contextual competences.

By taking care of every area of our competences we take things into our own hands and we can become successful project managers.

Here is an example 🙂

For years project managers of General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler have expressed a high level of competence and their cars (projects) dominated the US market. New cars of their project teams were typically of very high quality, within budget and the deadline (technical competences). However, their dominant position was lost to Japanese manufacturers Toyota and Hyundai thanks to a constant focus of their project managers on the global market and the achievement of results in such a complex market (contextual competences). Besides that they frequently reported to senior management on the implementation of their projects and maintained communication with ordinary customers worldwide (behavioral competences). This approach has enabled the development of the car required throughout the world and because of that they ensured a competitive advantage and long-term success for their companies.