Excerpt: In this chapter excerpt from his book, The Art of Project Management,
Scott Berkun recounts what it took for him to be successful at Microsoft as a project
manager. (16 printed pages)
This ability to drive is so important to some that it’s used as a litmus test
in hiring project managers. Even if PMs can’t precisely define what the ability is
without making at least some references to other skills, they do feel that they can
sense or measure it in others. For example, an interviewer needs to ask herself the
following question about the candidate: “If things were not going well on some important
part of the project, would I feel confident sending this person into that room, into
that discussion or debate, and believe he’d help find a way to make it better, whatever
the problem was?” If after a round of interviews the answer is no, the candidate is
sent home. The belief is that if he isn’t agile or flexible enough to adapt his skills
and knowledge to the situations at hand, and find ways to drive things forward, then
he won’t survive, much less thrive, on a typical project. This chapter is about that
ability and the skills and tactics involved.
The
Art of Project Management: How to Make Things Happen (Longhorn Technical Articles)
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