The skills and career path of an effective project manager

Abstract

This paper evaluates how project managers and functional managers differ with respect to the attributes, skills and experiences they associate with successful management performance and careers. Instruments to evaluate these differences were based in part on responses to open ended questions of project managers, and in part on the management literature. On the basis of these two sources (the literature and the data), this paper concludes with a conceptual framework for enhancing the selection and performance of effective project managers, and offers suggestions for those whose careers are likely to emphasize assignments to projects that require crossing functional and technical conventions. The findings of this paper show that the selection and training of project managers could be conducted with greater reliability.