PM critical competency index: IT execs prefer soft skills

The maturation of the project management discipline, coupled with collapsing project budgets, shortening of project deadlines and the increasing risk of costly project failure, has led industries and academia alike to investigate and identify sources of project success. This research focuses on investigating the human characteristics necessary to achieve such success, through identifying and rating preferred IT project management competencies across US industries. This 2-phased study first sampled IT recruiters nationwide to determine which characteristics were valued in the hiring of project managers. The resulting Hiring Criteria Index, a list of 15 of the most valued project management competencies, was then sent to IT executives nationwide, whereby they were asked to rank their preferences in terms of importance, on a 7 point Likert Scale. Results indicated that respondents were able to clearly identify six critical core competences: leadership, the ability to communicate at multiple levels, verbal and written skills, attitude and the ability to deal with ambiguity and change that were indicative of characteristics important to successful project management.