Leadership Qualities to Look for in Project Managers

When hiring a project manager, you need to ensure that they possess a range of leadership qualities. Being effective in the role requires more than the ability to tell someone what to do. Project managers must often nurture team members, make hard decisions, and propel a group toward success.

By focusing on the right capabilities when hiring project managers, you’ll have an easier time securing what your company needs. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are leadership qualities to look for in project managers.

Attentiveness

Project managers need to stay on top of not just the project but the progress, well-being, and state of mind of the team members working on it. Without exceptional attentiveness, remaining on top of everything is challenging, to say the least. As a result, they may struggle to keep everything headed in the right direction or address issues before they cause harm.

Finding attentive project managers isn’t tricky if you ask the right questions. Asking them to discuss times when they acted proactively to ensure the success of a team or project can be a great way to begin, as attentiveness often creates opportunities for proactive interventions.

Detail-Oriented

In a similar vein, being detail-oriented is essential for any project manager that’s going to lead effectively. It’s their responsibility to stay on top of the nuances of the work and the impact of changes. Additionally, they’re often the ones to gather requirements, create schedules, identify needed skills, and otherwise ensure the team has everything they need to succeed.

In many cases, you can assess a candidate’s attention to detail in several ways. First, a lack of spelling or grammar mistakes on their resume is a good sign. Second, data-supported interview answers that are highly relevant to the role are another.

Goal-Driven

For a project to succeed, a specific target must often be achieved. That’s why goal-driven project managers are typically the best fit. They’re motivated to excel based on reaching the objective. Additionally, they’re often eager to motivate others, as their desire to hit the goal makes them enthusiastic team leaders and coaches.

In some cases, you can determine if a project management candidate is goal-driven simply by asking about their motivations. However, you can also gather insights by observing how they talk about successes and failures.

Delegation

Even the most adept project manager will struggle if they’re reluctant to divvy out tasks to subject matter experts on their team. Trying to operate as a one-person show won’t work in the long run, especially if they have to oversee multiple projects simultaneously.

With delegation, they’re able to divide the workload efficiently, a move that increases their odds of success. Plus, by delegating and offering a degree of autonomy, they show trust in their team, which can boost morale, productivity, and overall performance.

Asking candidates to discuss their delegation approach can help you assess their capabilities in this arena. However, if you want to be less straightforward, you can also ask them to describe how they work through projects from start to finish, as that overview will include details about engaging team members if delegation is a skill they use.

Contact the Tekcom Team Today

Ultimately, all of the leadership qualities above are essential for project managers. If you’d like to learn more, the team at TekCom wants to hear from you. Contact us today.

 

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