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Article Date: 14/10/2011
Hiring The Right Person As Project Manager
Managing projects at work is a very extensive responsibility. It demands knowledge, skill and time, and includes varied tasks. When a company undertakes a new project, it can either assign it to an existing employee or hire externally for a project manager. And while promoting a staff member to take on the new responsibility can save the company time and money, hiring an experienced person externally has merit as well.
Companies usually trust select employees with bigger tasks like project management because they are already familiar with how the company runs, their products, and the staff. Indeed, internally hired PMs have that advantage over others. However, their knowledge and skill may be limited to their background and training. They may know IT, marketing, or whatever the nature of their job is, but since project management encompasses various fields and requires numerous skills, they may lack the competence and experience required of the role.
On the other hand, an externally hired PM has been specifically trained for the job. He may not know the company and its products as well as the current staff, but they can bring new perspective to the project, which they have acquired through training and experience. Project management requires practical experience more than knowledge of theories. This is why a lot of organizations opt to take a chance with an outsider who has handled projects in the past rather than entrust the project to a known employee.
Skills Every Project Manager Must Possess
Experience can teach a person the skills needed to successfully lead a team to complete a project. They may have tackled these skills in theory during their formal training, but only through opportunity and experience can they truly test them out. First, they must have a knack for problem solving since every project is not without hurdles. They must expect problems to arise and they must be prepared with action plans should these problems occur.
The ability to lead a team, listen to the members, and identify everyone's strong and weak points are also necessary so they can fully maximize all the members' potentials. People management is often overlooked, but definitely essential. One person can lead a company project, but several people are behind its completion. A project manager also needs organizing skills so they can fully utilize the available resources for their needs. |
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