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TRN01 : People are Central to Project Delivery – So Let's Understand Them Better
Speakers:
Terence J Cooke-Davies;
Scott Patton
Monday, 12 October
10:00 AM–11:15 AM
1 hour, 15 minutes
As PM has evolved, the focus has been on technical aspects. This is “necessary but not sufficient,” while developing
leadership and inter-personal skills–the softer side of change–has been underplayed. Drawing on research and benchmarked best practices, this presentation will provide practitioners and heads of project management with practical steps they can take to improve the balance.
Learning Objectives
- Articulate the need for balance between the technical and the human aspects of the management of projects.
- Identify a number of relevant significant trends in project management practice across different industries and recognize appropriate
new and different approaches to be adopted.
- Identify practical steps to develop new project management behavioral and relational competencies for themselves and for the project
management community in their organization.
As PM has evolved over the last 50 years there has been a marked tendency to focus upon the technical processes and related competencies. While such developments were all desirable, this paper will suggest that they were &ldlquo;necessary but not sufficient” and that there has been a matching lack of focus upon the human side, such as leadership and inter-
personal skills. Now it is time to redress the balance.
Drawing upon both new and previously published research, this presentation will show that regardless of whether process maturity is strong or weak, the level of leadership and other
soft skills possessed by the project manager, program manager or sponsor will always have a critical impact when it comes to successful delivery. This has implications not only for practitioners who find themselves having to manage projects and program with a significant “change” element, or high dynamic complexity, but also for the development of sufficient practitioners with the right level of skill in an organization's project management
community.
It is currently reflected within the most mature organizations during the selection of more senior project managers, program managers and sponsors which does not depend upon the demonstration of technical skills or qualifications, but is based almost exclusively upon their ability to display and exercise strong soft skills. The presentation will outline practical steps that can be taken by any practitioner or organization to “raise their game” in this critical aspect of project management competence.
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