What to Look for in an Ideal PM

Traits of Successful PM

A successful (T)PM has:

• A “get stuff done” attitude for all the tasks.
• A thick-skin and can take a stance on the decisions.
• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to balance different tasks and manage them well.
• An open-mind, so that learning and growth are fast.
• A willingness to take any challenge which is needed to solve for the success of the program.
• Strong communication skills.
• A drive to make tools more efficient and cut down the manual work.
• The ability to think ahead. Also, it is critical to think about how to increase the productivity of individual thought automation and cut some toil.
• The skills to write in-depth documentation. One of the key traits of good program managers is that they document everything from the project plan, roadmap, milestones, to charter, etc. They make sure everything is accessible from one place so that it is easy for anyone in the organization to find and learn about it.
• Data analytics and tracking abilities. One of the responsibilities of the program managers is to check if the program is on track or not. They should use different skills like SQL, sheets, excel and represent with their data representations skills.

Influence without Authority

Program Managers have to influence without authority, because they need to influence others to do work but may not have direct authorization to get the things done. So we always have to strike a tricky balance to see how much we can push others to get work done. There are many ways successful PMs do this.

Expertise

If we want to influence others in the organization and motivate them to listen to us, one method is to have expertise in the area. This way, our knowledge and work speaks for itself.

Also, we need to know the details of our program. This helps in quality decisions and influences others because of our understanding of the different parts of the program.

Relationships

Relationships are impactful tools. However, it takes time to build them. When we have healthy relationships, we can influence others to trust our decisions.

Corporate and organizational understanding

Knowing something well can make us experts. However, getting work done may not be simple in big organizations. This is because there may be a lot of checklists or reviews before approval. Program Managers can easily get work done and influence others if they have a deep understanding of their organization.