Some say they are born, others will say they can be ‘made’. But what are the qualities to look for in a good project manager? Not long ago I was recruiting a team of several project managers for a new team. On paper they all looked very similar. All were qualified to the same level, and they all appeared to have a good degree of experience.

I was looking for a good combination of team members. The set of projects we were delivering ranged from a commercial building, to services improvement, and also organizational cost saving projects.

In the end I recruited an exceptional team of very dedicated and very different project managers. Here’s what to look for so you can do the same:

1. Expertise

Can they talk the talk? Whether you are running very formalized projects with a recognized methodology or are just setting out in project management, your project manager must know what they are talking about. It doesn’t have to be jargon (and indeed it shouldn’t be), but they must at least show some understanding of the globally understood stages, and the recognized tools and standard templates that any project should be using. If they can’t demonstrate that, that should tell you they will need extensive training and you won’t have time for that.

2. Experience

Now, it may be that you want to give someone a development opportunity by running a project that they can learn and grow from. Whether that is that case or you absolutely need someone who knows exactly what they are doing, they must be able to demonstrate results.

Can they walk the walk? What have they actually delivered? Try to get to the bottom of their actual roles in previous projects, and the demonstration of actual results and success. But think laterally here. Experience of making things happen is what you are looking for – can this person effect change?

3. The Management Skills

Project management is as it sounds – management. That means systems, procedures, checking and reporting. All of these are essential aspects of successful projects, and your project manager must have aptitude and enthusiasm for all of this.

So - are they good at process? Effective project management relies on great planning, effective systems and a proper performance monitoring system. What can your candidate demonstrate to prove their ability here?

4. The ‘Softer Skills’

Don’t be fooled by the term ‘soft skills’. There is nothing soft and fluffy about influencing and negotiating. What makes a good project manager a great project manager is often how they interact with teams of people who, strictly speaking they don’t manage but who are in the project team. Project management falls into the management bracket of ‘matrix management’. What that means, is that the project manager will have the job of motivating people who are on the project team, but who still remain in their functional management structure, with their own line manager.

You should therefore find out what their so-called ‘soft skills’ lie Do they understand human nature? How do they deal with managing organizational change? How will they tackle the inevitable resistance to planned transformation? All projects are about ‘change’, so the ability to deal with this is paramount.

5. Personality

Project managers often have to play both ‘good cop bad cop’ roles. On the one hand they should be personable; they must be able to get along with people – there’ll no doubt be a fair amount of cajoling and prompting to get people to move forward in the project. On the other hand they will also have to be the ‘police’ of the project – to lay down a heavy hand when not much is progressing, to push people forward in a no-nonsense way when necessary.

So assertiveness, tenacity and endless good humour are essential credentials.

Remember my recruitment scenario? Each project manager had all of the qualities and abilities I have just talked about, albeit in different quantities, and different combinations. But they had them all the same. I had a wonderful team of highly diverse yet equally well equipped individuals to tackle the wide-ranging nature of our project portfolio.

We had a winning team, and we all learned from each other in the time we worked together. So what you need is skill, experience, but almost certainly great personality – that is truly what makes a good project manager.

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