Project management involves using relevant knowledge, tools, techniques, and skills to accomplish a given goal. Like other forms of management, it primarily involves getting things done through others, which often leads to the misconception that soft skills alone are sufficient. But do you need technical skills to be a project manager?
You can’t be a project manager without technical skills, as they are necessary for success as a project manager. Technical skills make it possible for project managers to do their jobs accurately. These skills include planning, cost management, and using software to manage complex projects.
This article will explore this question in detail, highlighting why technical skills are not only useful for effective project management, but indispensable as well. Read on for more.
Why You Need Technical Skills To Be a Good Project Manager
There is a wide breadth of research dedicated to the question of what it takes to be a good project manager. In his study on project management skills to improve organizational performance, Sunindijo notes that effective project management is multifaceted.
This means that an effective project manager will rely on a set of skills and competencies to accomplish their goals. These involve human skills, conceptual skills, and technical skills. According to the researcher, these skills affect projects in different ways.
For instance, the study found that interpersonal skills were positively correlated with project time performance. On the other hand, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, budgeting, and sincerity were found to be positively correlated with cost performance.
What stands out from this study is that an effective project manager needs to have a firm grasp of both technical and soft skills in their arsenal. These findings are corroborated in other sources as well.
For instance, Project Management notes that technical skills are at the heart of a project manager’s core competencies. This source refers to these technical skills as hard skills. The argument here is that these technical skills enable a project manager to be able to accomplish their deliverables.
It is arguable that soft skills alone will not suffice, especially given the complexities of modern projects and the impact of technological innovation in project management. And contemporary organizations are increasingly adopting project management technologies to optimize efficiency.
Project methodologies are also evolving. It is thus difficult to properly manage modern projects without the requisite technical skills.
To better understand project management skills, go through our article on choosing a career: project or program manager?
Technical Skills for Effective Project Management
Numerous skills fall under technical or hard skills in project management. These are summarized below:
- Effective team management skills. The ability to optimize the human resources involved in a project.
- Being adept at project management methodologies. Project methodologies are processes and guiding principles essential in planning, managing, and executing projects.
- Experience in using project management software. These are applications used to simplify complex technical tasks such as resource allocation, scheduling and project planning.
- Sound project planning skills. This involves using scheduling applications such as Gantt charts to plan and track a given project.
- Time management skills. This is the ability to complete all tasks on time and per the project schedule.
- Task management skills. This relates to the project manager’s ability to organize project activities toward achieving organizational goals.
- Risk management. This involves identifying any risks during the project, analyzing them, and mitigating the impacts of these risks over the project life cycle.
- Project scheduling. Project scheduling involves summarizing all the project activities, milestones, and deliverables and assigning responsibilities for these tasks.
- Project cost management. The project manager should be able to estimate the costs of the project accurately, create budgets and stay on top of the costs throughout the project period.
Impacts of Technical Skills on Project Management
While the bulk of the research on project management skills has focussed on the impact of soft skills on management and the human aspect of project management, it is prudent to explore the role that technical skills have to play as well.
These include the following:
Technical Skills Communicate Good Leadership
Researchers Amollo and Omwenga conducted a study on the influence of technical skills on project outputs and discovered some interesting results. In this study, the researchers asked the respondents if they felt project managers needed to have relevant technical skills.
The results indicate that project team members tie a project manager’s competencies and leadership acumen to their technical skills. The majority of the respondents also agreed that technical skills were crucial for a project manager.
The study results also indicate that project team members believe that project managers can work more efficiently if they have these skills. According to the study, these skills will allow the project manager to manage project resources, monitor and evaluate the project based on objectives and outputs, etc.
Accordingly, this study concludes that technical skills are necessary for a project manager to be an effective leader.
Technical Skills Are Useful in Management of Large Projects
A 2009 study by Sharlett Gillard on soft skills and technical expertise in effective project management appreciates the impacts of the latter on large projects. According to the author, projects vary in scope and complexity. Thus, some projects can be narrow in scope, so technical skills may not hold as much gravity.
However, much broader projects which may or may not involve large teams dispersed across multiple geographical locations have different demands. Gillard draws attention to similar studies which show that technical credibility and the ability of the project manager to use a systems approach to complete tasks are crucial for the timely delivery of a project within the projected costs.
In such projects, technical skills are considered crucial to project success, especially considering the technical aspects of large projects, such as planning, controlling costs, evaluating risks, and budgeting.
But are technical skills alone enough for effective project management? Let’s look at this below.
Are Hard or Technical Skills Alone Sufficient for Project Management?
Prudent project management requires a sound mix of both soft and technical skills. Previous studies have shown that too much focus on technical skills may undermine project success because it risks ignoring the human side of project management.
The study by Sharlett Gillard indicates that there is a lack of consensus on which of the two – technical skills and soft skills, are of more importance. Admittedly, plenty of arguments have been made for both sides. However, an effective project manager needs to have sound technical and soft/interpersonal skills to be at their best.
An effective project manager, therefore, needs to possess hard/technical skills such as project scheduling and risk management, while at the same time have soft skills such as good communication.
Therefore, technical skills alone are not enough to be a good project manager, especially in the contemporary organizational setting.
How Important are Technical Skills for Project Managers in Developing a Strategic Narrative?
Technical skills are crucial for project managers in developing a strategic narrative. Understanding the difference between strategy and narrative is essential. The ability to analyze data, interpret trends, and communicate complex information is key to shaping a clear and impactful narrative that aligns with the overall strategic goals of the project.
Conclusion
In closing, you need technical skills to be a good project manager. The scope and complexity of modern projects and the wide adoption of technological tools in many facets of project management warrant a sound grasp of these technical skills.
Additionally, many core components of project planning, such as risk management, cost management, scheduling, and others, rely heavily on having the requisite technical skills. However, it is essential to note that technical skills alone are insufficient to be a good project manager.
It would be best if you also worked on developing sound soft/interpersonal skills to be all-rounded.
Sources
- Project Manager: Top 20 Project Management Skills for 2022
- ResearchGate: Project Manager Skills for Improving Project Performance
- Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology: Soft Skills and Technical Expertise of Effective Project Managers
- EA Journals: INFLUENCE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER’S TECHNICAL SKILLS
