Project Manager Competencies for Dealing with Socio-Technical Complexity: A Grounded Theory Construction

Abstract

An ongoing question is what constitutes the characteristics of a project manager. This is the subject of many studies. The characteristics, skills, abilities and knowledge of project managers—essential factors in a project’s success—describe their level of competency. This study aims to assess the relationship between project manager competencies and project complexity in the information technology (IT) sector. In total, 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior practitioners associated with complex IT projects in the private and public sectors. All transcripts were analysed through grounded theory and content analysis, with experts approving the results. Our study identified 41 competencies within project complexity, with these grouped under the following 10 dimensions: project management (PM) knowledge; management skills; interpersonal skills and attributes; professionalism; expertise; emotional skills; contextual skills; influencing skills; team working; and cognitive skills. According to this research, leadership is the core competency of a project manager, while project management knowledge is the most essential of these competency dimensions. This study’s findings can assist both academics and practitioners in simplifying the complexity of projects and helping to achieve a project’s objectives.

A systematic review on the roles of knowledge management in public sectors: Synthesis and way forwards

“…This theory is important for leader how to management the knowledge in the organization. [ 42 ]. Resource-based view (RBV) theory [ 53 , 12 , 46 ] Groups and organizations This theory promote how to manage rare and difficult to imitate resources for organization improvements in the public sectors and assist how to make a decision within the sectors [ 29 ].…”

Reframed Design Thinking and Feasibility Analysis of UX Journey: Integrating User Experience and User Requirement for Solo Software Development

“…The useful developer's soft skill is to grasp the success characteristics that help the developer to increase the success of software products or services. Four primary feature that determines the success of the software product is a socio-technical skill [10][11][12], an important soft skill that determines to understand what users need from a more human point of view. This expertise complies with the principles of user-collaborative development appropriate in modern development methods.…”

Revealing contribution mechanisms of project managers' technical competencies toward success in oil and gas projects

“…This is consistent to Takey and Carvalho (2015), and reflects the relatively low appreciation towards TCs in general. On the contrary, Eftekhari et al. (2022) stressed the importance of TCs for IT related projects where uncertainty associated with managing IT technical tasks, technologies and products is inevitable.…”

“…Competencies are the hallmark of distinguished performance of project managers (PMs). Appointment of competent PMs is considered as a key success factor for projects' delivery (Eftekhari et al, 2022), as project managers' competencies (PMCs) influence project success (PS) through different means such as possessing specialized knowledge, demonstrating behavioral capabilities, and through conducting tasks professionally (Crawford, 2005;Zdonek et al, 2017). Technically complex projects require competent PMs who act as a source of competitive advantage to their respective organizations, where technical competencies (TCs) are paramount for PMs to excel in execution of their projects.…”

“…Competencies are the hallmark of distinguished performance of project managers (PMs). Appointment of competent PMs is considered as a key success factor for projects' delivery (Eftekhari et al. , 2022), as project managers' competencies (PMCs) influence project success (PS) through different means such as possessing specialized knowledge, demonstrating behavioral capabilities, and through conducting tasks professionally (Crawford, 2005; Zdonek et al.…”