Managers13_26_ch02.fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM

Chapter

2
Basic Skills for Project Managers
Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great; some achieve greatness—others have greatness thrust upon them.
William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night

Introduction
Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of project—industrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation— operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of this book, we focus on the last type of project and its leader—the IT project manager.
Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects.
They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future.
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What Does a Project Manager Do?
Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements:
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Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs.
Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and base lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control.
Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.
Manage the