Project Management is the research and fine art of harmonizing the hard skills with the smooth skills to deliver a successful job. Hard skills or the technology of task management are referred to the technical aspects of a manager in undertaking the operations, tools and techniques in the job. Soft skills or the imaginative aspect of the project manager identifies the interpersonal skills or emotional intelligence necessary in working with people. Corresponding to a study from the School of Arkansas, they discovered it companies now know that very soft skills are essential for tasks success. The finding is indeed true because companies like "Polaris, Sun Microsystems and Mastek" (Sukhoo, 2005) included interpersonal skills in their training curriculum.
This paper will identify the key delicate skills for the job supervisor that will contribute to the success rate of computer projects. It will also present training opportunities where a manager can enhance the smooth skills brought up in this paper.
Background
The Standish Group International shared an article about Chaos: A Menu for Success pointed out that in the us, companies spend more than $275 billion yearly for IT projects. A lot of the projects "will are unsuccessful but not for insufficient money or technology; most will fail for insufficient skilled project management" (Standish Group International, 1999). The group introduced 10 success factors. The very best three success factors are; Consumer Involvement, Exec Support and Clear Business Goals. These three factors "account for 50% of an project's chances for success" (Standish Group International, 1999). Out of the three success factors, two are in the skill of soft skills. In order to take this out, a job manager will need to have the excellent interpersonal skills to effectively talk to the Users and Professionals for their participation and co-operation in the job.
About the Study
It is of no debate that hard skills are an essential part in task management. The manager's technological skills provides him/her with the framework of generally accepted processes, tools and techniques to carry out the project. The authors, Mantel and Meredith, expect that the success in project management is because of the "technical reliability and the capability to use a systems procedure (Mantel and Meredith, 1986)".
However, in the scenario of controlling the opportunity without clear communication with the team will surely doom the deliverables and requirements that will lead to the client's disappointment. Doing the operations, using the tools and right techniques in job management but "without displaying leadership in delivering the end service or product will lead to failing" (Belzer, 2001).
This is where the missing link comes in which is the Soft Skills of the Project administrator.
An Overview of the Soft Skills
The tender skills are non-technical skills but "it is one of the cornerstones of successful jobs" (Standish Group International, 1999). Sampson (2007) writes, "The skills required for task management are actually often divided 50/50 into traditional 'hard' skills, such as risk management and scheduling, and 'smooth', people-oriented skills, such as interpersonal communication".
An article about Psychological Skills for the Work place discussed that gentle skills are the human romance skills including: "emotional consciousness and management of spirits, the capability to create an atmosphere of trust and expansion, taking activities that result in a deeper level of dedication and integrity, and sensing the ability to hook up to others effectively". Tender skills help the project administrator to get their meaning effectively to the team member, stakeholder and other intended listeners.
Discussion
This section will not discuss all the gentle skills in IT task management but gives focus on the five soft skills that are necessary for the project manager.
Communication
Communication Skills refer to the ability to speak thought or ideas effectively. Effective communication is crucial for every project administrator because if the staff under him/her doesn't completely understand their process and how to perform it then the complete project is in danger. If the project manager does not communicate obviously with the clients on its expected outcome then the job will be of no value or become a failing. Buehring (2009) said that, "retaining open, regular and correct channels of communication with all levels of project staff and stakeholders is vital to ensuring the smooth circulation of instructions from customer to stock floor and sufficient of risks and changes to enable early assessment of preparation".
Communication skills increase success. Authors Johanson and Fried in Coaching of Mindset Journal did a study on graduate students and discovered that communication skills added with their success in studies and tasks. Furthermore, Brian Tracy the world renowned personal business specialist said that the highest paid people in america are people that have good interpersonal cleverness or effective communicator. Tracy said, "A person with such intelligence understands people's emotions and dreams - and employers pay big bucks for someone with these skills" (Uebergang, 2008).
Better communication rises success rate irrespective of geographic located area of the teams. To be able to ensure effective communication, the task administrator must utilize any form of communication, e-mail, mobile phone, face to face chat, and other programs of communication. The Cornelius & Associates (2004) suggest a Job Communication Table as one of the tools of defining who's liable on what, where, when and exactly how in understanding their communication obligations as shown in Desk1.
Table 1
Item/Delivery
Accountability
Objectives
Recipients
Frequency
Detailed Project Position by Email
John Doe, Steering Team Sponsor
To review successes, improvement and the short-term future.
Steering Team Members
Monthly
Leadership
Posner (1987) made an observation and observed "that the essential problems confronting a task director are related to management of individuals, never to the technical troubles". In the effective management of people, management skills of the manager are needed. Command is an art that relates to a person's ability to make people move to attain a certain goal. Based on the PMBOK Guide it is, "the ability to get things done through others concentrating the initiatives of a group of folks toward a standard goal and allowing them to are a team. " An excellent leader is tantamount to the success of the business enterprise plan but a poor leader "can destroy even the best plan" (Mills, 2005). Leadership offer with people with their ideas and personalities. Different personalities are dealt with with different style of command. Hersey and Blanchard (1981, 1988) "accepted the efforts of leadership style to management performance and known that subordinates and the task place situation are key factors to consider when selecting appropriate command style". Utilize the styles at the right time depending on situation.
There are different theorists on management style and one of these is Daniel Goleman who unveiled the six specific leadership styles in task management. Harris (2009), White (n. d) and Scheid (2010) presumed and wrote articles about the Goleman's command style:
Coercive - requires an immediate action or compliance from the team. The director is offering a route on how to proceed.
Authoritative - the leader has a eyesight, shares it in the team and allows collaboration of ideas within the team. In this kind of style the director is "project-knowledge-full and their teams notice and value that knowledge" (Scheid, 2010). The founder of Apple Pcs, Steve Jobs, do this type of command "to make his eye-sight come to real life" (Harris, 2009) by recruiting people who are wanting to make the technology possible. His employees take the sense of take great pride in for being part with the improvements.
Affiliative - a One-For-All and All-For-One authority. There is overall flexibility on how to handle the project as long as the deliverables are met accordingly and on time.
Democratic - team participation is prompted as well as participation in decision-making. The team members are allowed to give their inputs which will encourage and strengthen the team's determination to the job.
Pacesetting - some sort of leadership expects the highest standard performance and minimizes the poor in the team.
Coaching - They may have the encouraging personality and good in risk management.
Team Building
Team building is the power of the director to, "set up a team with a proper mix of skills to ensure the successful completion of a job" (Sukhoo et al, 2005). It really is a self-control in psychology as organizational psychology wherein associates will be given the sense of possession in the work through well-planned activities in the job that are motivational.
It will boost self confidence and more job duties can be given to a person. The psychology of team building is "with positive opinions pursuing positive action; an even more efficient way to possess efficient workers" (Donaldson, 2009).
Teamwork is very important in job management since it will promote relationship among members doing different deliverables for a goal. If the people involved with a project recognize that they are part of the process they will have a feeling of worthy of that will drive them to work on the cause.
Stress Management
There is good stress and bad stress. Good stress also called eustress which gives the person the sensation of contentment, excitement and drive to work. In psychology, it is just a positive trend which changes the attitude of your person to problems regarding them as troubles with eagerness to solve. It gives "one a sense of fulfillment or other positive emotions because it is an activity of exploring potential increases" (Wikipedia, 2010). However, when stress is high it will cause distress and problems to the project.
Stress management is a soft skill that the task manager must have because without it, the progress of the job will be jeopardized. Corresponding to Chapman (2001), "stress victims can lose up 50% of their aptitude to perform their jobs". Smith et al (2009) stated a listing of the indicators and symptoms of distress:
"Cognitive - Storage area problems, incapability to concentrate, poor judgment, witnessing only the negative, anxious or racing thoughts, regular worrying
Emotion - Moodiness, irritability or short temper, agitation, inability to relax, feeling overwhelmed, sense of loneliness and isolation, depression or basic unhappiness
Physical - Pains and aches, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, breasts paint, rapid heartbeat, loss of sex drive, frequent colds
Behavior - consuming more or less, sleeping too much or too little, isolating do it yourself from others, procrastinating or neglecting duties, using alcohol, cigarettes or drugs to relax, anxious patterns like nail biting".
Conflict Management
Conflicts are, "serious disagreements that emerge within the project team through the execution of the project. They may arise due to disagreements over priorities, allocation of resources, quality of work or other reasons" (Sukhoo et al, 2005). A issue resolution skill is vital to avoid the turmoil getting worst. Regarding to Kerzner (2001) there are five modes of approaching discord resolution:
Confronting -face-to-face meeting of both gatherings. This should be utilized when: time is sufficient; trust is present; and learning is the ultimate goal.
Compromising - "Give and take" style where both parties bargain. Maybe it's used when: situation is a deadlock; time is not sufficient.
Smoothing - one party may sacrifice his concern to meet the other party. Used when: create obligation for a trade-off at a later time; one party wish to create good will;
Forcing - One party wins while disregarding the matter of the other party. It ought to be used when: "do or pass away" situation is present; relationship among functions is not important; and quick decision must be produced.
Avoiding - postponement of the challenge or known as drawback style. Used when you are not prepared to face the situation and maintain neutrality or reputation;
Moreover, active hearing resolve turmoil is a successful technique matching to Lloyd (2001). This is reechoed by Van (1999) that whenever the manager listens he/she can understand the concerns of both people and produce an acceptable quality. "Because of this process, trust and a marriage relationship will form setting up individuals to listen also to the needs of the director" (Truck, 1999).
An Action to be Taken
Now we know that the stated soft skills are essential to a project director. The question now could be how and where to train and equip them for such skills?
The Training Opportunity
There are several training providers on the smooth skills. The MMM Training Solutions (2010) provides executive coaching and delicate skills training where they can deliver working out through workshops, webinars or custom-made training material that will suit the need of their customer. The Cor Consulting (2010) in Canada provides one-to-one trained in their office or on-site training that works with client's timetable. In Australia there is certainly Brainpower Training that offers workshops Australia-wide to 10-16 people or offer Movie trainings in case for individuals. Another group is the
There are various other categories also that the project manager can become a member of besides from its membership in the project managers professional group. An example of this is the ToastMaster where a person can boost its communication skills. Signing up for local or international clubs like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis would improve the leadership or social aspect of a manager because he/she will interact with people from different walks of life. At the same time he/she gain systems for future job clients.
For the job managers who would like to do a self applied analysis as a start then he/she may use the Free Management Catalogue which discusses about Soft Skills and how to effectively utilize it that can be found in this hyperlink http://managementhelp. org/.
Conclusion
It is of no debate that hard skills are an essential part in project management. The manager's technical skills provides him/her with the platform of generally accepted procedures, tools and ways to carry out the job. Those methods were developed in an attempt to improve and increase project's success rate, however, according to Standish Article some IT jobs do not meet up with the expected end result satisfactorily. Furthermore, companies and other professionals in the project management field assumed that the project's success is not mainly due to technical skills but it is greatly added by the manager's social skills. Research unveils that the delicate skills straight impact the outcome of the job. Working out institute found the demand of delicate skills for project managers because companies want for this managerial trait. Because of this they provide delicate skills training for the professional progress of project supervisor pointed out by Belzer as "the missing link".
