The demand for skilled project managers continues to grow at alarming rates. By 2027, employers will need 87.7 million individuals working in project management-oriented roles. Industries including finance and insurance, manufacturing and construction, management and professional services, and others require qualified practitioners to fill the widening gap between employers who seek skilled project managers and professionals looking to fill these opportunities. Interestingly enough, the talent pipeline for skilled project managers is not as plentiful and more challenging to come by. Research conducted by Brandeis University indicates that project failure continues to persist and the number one reason for project failure is “inadequately trained or inexperienced project managers.”

Figure 1: Shown above is a list of the top ten reasons for project failure published by the Standish Group and gantthead.com contributors via Brandeis University.

With project managers at the forefront driving strategy, innovation and change in the workplace, developing skills that satisfy the technical requirements is not enough. In fact, today’s project management landscape calls for skills that go beyond the technical skills and requires a deft combination of technical and business management skills to successfully manage projects and their teams. In this article, I’ve pulled together eight essential business skills that every project manager should have to improve their personal and professional track record and differentiate themselves from the crowd.

Servant Leader: As a project manager, your team looks to you to assemble and guide the strategy and vision of a project while building a framework that integrates the team and streamlines workflow. While leading a project team is core and the very nature behind every project manager, smart project managers know that project leaders serve their team. As a servant leader, it’s your responsibility to support and develop your team’s skill set, help them achieve their project tasks and put their needs before your own. When you enable your team, you shift your focus from leading your team to serving your team, and helping them accomplish their goals. “In [this] situation, they don’t work for you; you work for them,” says management expert, Kevin Blanchard. Serving your team will not only strengthen their skills and propel the project forward, but it will also strengthen the bond between your team and make you a more capable project leader.

Team Player and Benchwarmer: While the role of a project manager assumes you’re always front and center, it’s up to you to balance out your role and determine when it’s appropriate to take the lead and drive, hang back and let a team member drive, and sit one out, be a benchwarmer and support your team. Each project carries its own unique set of rules, values and principles. Knowing when and how to switch gears is a skill project managers develop overtime. Listen to yourself and your project team, and you’ll grow your project management instinct.

Active Listener: The art of active listening is not one that project managers should take lightly. Research suggests that people retain anywhere between 25 percent and 50 percent of what they hear, which means in a ten minute conversation, people generally pay attention to less than half of the conversation. Add yesterday’s worries, tomorrow’s problems and today’s  distractions into the mix and you’ve got more noise that further diminishes the amount of information people retain. To be an active listener, you need to be present and in the moment, concentrate on what the person is saying, repeat and playback what you hear, and actively participate in the conversation. Active listeners are more likely to create a collaborative working environment and leverage verbal and non-verbal cues to better navigate their project and effectively communicate with their team.

Vertical and Horizontal Communicator: A project manager is a strong communicator and a collaborator who at times, is also tasked with playing the role of a traffic manager. This person guides the flow of project information and is responsible for disseminating pertinent information to interested parties while making sure wires don’t get crossed. Project information can come in the form of status updates, details around the contract and project plan, specifics around key deliverables or milestones, and any information related to the project, team and/or customer. It’s no wonder project managers spend nearly 90 percent of their time communicating.

Arbiter and Decision Maker: Part of keeping the project on track and the team on task involves skilled projects managers who are charged with aligning teams, building consensus and making informed decisions for the team. Within in a project, there can only be one project manager and this person has been designated the sole arbiter and decision maker. It doesn’t mean this person can aimlessly make decisions; instead, it this person listens to the project team, manages the team’s expectations and is empowered to make decisions on behalf of the team. Should any conflict arise among the project team and/or stakeholders, the project manager is left with the authority to settle disputes.

Skilled Negotiator: While given the authority to settle disputes and make the ultimate decision for the team, project managers wouldn’t be successful without creative problem-solving and negotiating skills to navigate a project. Recall that PMI defines a project as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. It is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. By being both temporary and unique, a project contains multiple paths to completion. A project team must be able to navigate unforeseen circumstances, make decisions along the way that may have a tremendous impact on the outcome and deal with unnecessary curveballs. While working towards a shared goal, there are infinite ways to move a project forward and oftentimes, we run into conflicts on the approach and how things should be done. As a project manager, it’s your responsibility to define the vision, set the tone and come up with a mutually agreeable solution keeping the customer’s and the project team’s interest in mind.

Political and Cultural Acumen: A company’s cultural DNA, organizational setup and leadership style are just a few of the key factors that influence how people behave and interact with one another in the workplace. Understanding the social and political sensitivities and boundaries is an area that project managers can easily overlook especially if they are caught up with all the moving parts of their project. Taking the time to observe the workplace environment and engage in a conversation with your team outside of the confines of your project will make you a more culturally aware and astute project manager.

Empathy, Integrity and a Moral Compass: As important as it is to develop a thorough understanding of the workplace environment, it is just as important to cultivate a relationship with your team and understand that there is a human factor involved in project management. Developing people-based management skills and investing in the emotional intelligence of your project team will not only help you effectively manage your team, it will also give you confidence on how to influence, guide and motivate your team in even the most challenging situations. And in those situations, it’s even more important to lead with your intuition and moral compass. Doing so will further strengthen the synergy and cohesiveness within the team, and help you make the right decisions as a project leader.

There is no doubt that project management is one of the most challenging careers and one of the most sought after professions across many industries. In today’s job market, understanding  the framework and honing the technical skills is not enough to make you a successful project manager. To distinguish yourself from the competition and give yourself the competitive edge,  it’s essential to balance out the technical skills with these business management skills and more. What are you doing to take your project management career to the next level?