GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis Key Competencies for Project

GRAD 699 – Graduate Thesis Key Competencies for Project Managers: An Empirical Study Sahil Sandhu June 17 th, 2018

Key Competencies for Project Managers Acknowledgements I am grateful to all project managers who gave interviews that helped design the survey instrument for this study. I am also grateful to all the 88 respondents who have filled the questionnaire. Last, but not the least, I am extremely thankful to Professor Tom Sheives and Professor Karen Lubrecht for their invaluable suggestions, comments, insights, and guidance during the course of this study. Thank you! GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -2 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Problem Statement and Objective of the Study The present study aims to develop a detailed list of the traits / qualities of a project manager crucial for project success GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -3 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Introduction and Rationale for the Study Under Researched Area The influence of traits, leadership style and competencies of project managers on project success remains an under researched area (Turner & Muller, 2005) Relation to Org. Success Evidence from the field of general management establishes a relation between organizational success and the behavioral traits of managers (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991) Call for Additional Research Project management literature is replete with call for research that develops a typical competency profile of a project manager (Turner & Muller, 2005; Ulbrich, 2017) GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -4 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Methodology 1 2 Theoretical Grounding Questionnaire & Data Collection § Key variables shortlisted based on relevant literature § Key variables augmented based on practitioner interviews § Questionnaire design and data collection 3 Data Analysis § Identification of suitable technique for data analysis § Presentation of results 4 Generating Conclusion § Identification of practical and theoretical implications of results GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -5 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Literature Review 17 existing studies were reviewed to examine the key traits of successful project managers. The chart below highlights the summary of the review: Key Competencies of Project Managers Effective Communication 13 Ambiguity Acceptance 4 Ingenuity 3 Emotional Intelligence 3 Ability to build trust among team members 3 Team Spirit 2 Supportive 2 Honesty 2 Ability to manage conflict 2 Self-Confidence 1 Self-Belief 1 Ability to deal with change 1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Frequency in reviewed literature This literature review helped identify twelve key competencies of successful project managers – effective communication has the highest frequency, followed by ambiguity acceptance, emotional intelligence, ingenuity and ability to build trust among members GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -6 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Questionnaire Development (1/2) s stu from die rel ev s a nt 01 At trib ute 12 attributes identified from relevant studies Project Manager interviews 02 Conducted interviews to further augment the relevant attributes for questionnaire Based on the output of the interviews, two more variables: technical competence and negotiation skills were added to the list of variables. This final list of 14 attributes became the basis of the questionnaire used to collect data. GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -7 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Questionnaire Development (2/2) Final Questionnaire Key Competencies for Project Managers – A Survey Dear Respondent, This is a survey for research work “Key Competencies for Project Managers”. You are requested to provide factual information and oblige. All the information disclosed by you will be used for academic purposes only. - Sahil Sandhu Kindly go through the following list of competencies for project managers and rank the first five competencies in the order of importance (give rank 1 to the most important competency): 1. Effective Communication 1 2 3 4 5 <Other 13 attributes> Demographic Profile (mark √) Gender Age Male Female Less than 20 years Less than 1 year 20 -35 years 1 -5 years 35 -50 years 5 -10 years 50 -60 years >10 years Above 60 years Thank you for your cooperation GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers Experience as project manager / team member -8 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Data Collection A google document based on 14 attributes was created and shared with people with relevant work experience. The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. 1 2 3 1 Google document 1 A google document was created and respondents were asked to rank top 5 competencies for project managers Link sent to relevant population The google document link was shared with people with relevant work experience. Convenience sampling method was used Data received Data from 88 respondents was received which formed the basis of data analysis and results document link: https: //goo. gl/forms/X 1 c 4 Dj. N 7 pvy 6 Pn 1 C 2 GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers -9 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Respondent Profile An analysis of 88 respondents is highlighted in the charts below: Gender Age Experience 5% 6% 9% 22% 11% 28% 57 % Men 43 % Women GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers 50% 24% 45% Less than 20 years Less than 1 year 20 -35 years 1 -5 years 35 -50 years 5 -10 years 50 -60 years More than 10 years More than 60 years - 10 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Research Method Weighted simulation was used to rank the competencies of project managers. The goal of using this method was to make incomparable variables (competencies of project managers in the present case) comparable and establish priorities. Assign weights by rank Since, rank 1 was the most important rank, it was assigned a weight of 5. Rank 2 was assigned a weight of 4 and so on. Score for each attribute Weighted Simulation Calculate weighted score Ranks were multiplied with their weights and the scores for a particular variable were added to arrive at the final summated score. GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 11 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Data Analysis 1 Assess data The first step in data analysis was to exactly assess the number of respondents who had allotted a particular rank to a particular competency 2 3 Calculate Score Rate attributes The second step was to calculate weighted score for the attribute The final step was to rate the attributes to determine the most critical traits of project managers Illustration Effective Communication No. of responses 23 16 10 7 1 2 3 4 6 No of time rank 1 received = 23; weight for rank 1 = 5; score = 23*5 = 115 § No of time rank 2 received = 16; weight for rank 1 = 4; score = 10*4 = 64 § No of time rank 3 received = 10 ; weight for rank 1 = 3; score = 10*3 = 30 § No of time rank 4 received = 7; weight for rank 1 = 2; score = 7*2 = 14 § No of time rank 5 received = 6; weight for rank 1 = 1; score = 6*1 = 6 5 TOTAL = 115+64+30+14+6 = Rank GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers § - 12 - 229

Key Competencies for Project Managers Results (1/2) Calculated scores by competency Competency Weighted Score Rank Effective communication 229 1 Emotional intelligence 221 2 Team spirit 189 3 Ability to deal with change 141 4 Ability to manage conflict 138 5 Ability to build trust among team members 100 6 Ambiguity acceptance 84 7 Ingenuity 83 8 Supportive 61 9 Self-confidence 52 10 Self-belief 34 11 Technical competence 24 12 Negotiation skills 21 13 Honesty 15 14 GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 13 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Results (2/2) Key Competencies of Project Managers 229 Effective communication 221 Emotional intelligence Team spirit 189 Ability to deal with change 141 Ability to manage conflict 138 100 Ability to build trust among team members Ambiguity Acceptance 84 Ingenuity 83 Supportive 61 Self-Confidence 52 Self-Belief 34 Technical competence 24 Negotiation skills 21 Honesty 15 0 50 100 150 200 250 Weighted Scores Based on analysis of 88 survey respondents, effective communication is the most critical attribute of a successful project manger, followed by emotional intelligence, team spirit, ability to deal with change, and ability to manage conflict. GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 14 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Discussion – Benefits of the Study 1 This study has the potential to help practitioners – 1. Understand key traits of successful project managers 2 This is likely to positively impact the success rate of projects 2. Choose the right people for the role of project managers GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 15 - 3 The study is also likely to contribute to the field of project management at a theoretical level

Key Competencies for Project Managers Discussion – Comparison with Existing Literature Comparison with existing Literature Rank Current Study Literature Review 1 Effective communication 2 Emotional intelligence Ambiguity acceptance 3 Team spirit Emotional intelligence 4 Ability to deal with change Ingenuity 5 Ability to manage conflict Supportive / Ability to build trust among team members § Effective communication has been rated as the most important competency based on current study as well as literature review § Emotional intelligence is also rated highly in both studies § While the current study exhibits ambiguity acceptance and ingenuity as required competencies of project managers, it does not rate them very high (7 and 8 respectively) GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 16 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Discussion – Limitations of the Study 1 Sample Size The sample size of the study (n=88) may be small and prevent generalization of results 2 Convenience Sampling The sampling technique, convenience sampling, has its inherent limitations where respondents are chosen based on proximity 3 Non-response bias / Unengaged Respondents A reminder was sent to a number of respondents to fill the questionnaire. This could have given rise to non-response bias/unengaged responses 4 Non-exhaustive competencies While care was taken to ensure that all competencies of project managers were included in the questionnaire, there is a possibility that some competencies may have been skipped GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 17 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Discussion – Recommendations for future study 4 3 2 1 Conduct this study devoid of current limitations Examine if the required competencies of project managers vary by industry and gender Use of a qualitative approach to conduct similar studies in the future Undertake a more detailed literature review or conduct more interviews of relevant practitioners to ensure that all competencies of project managers are included GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 18 -

Key Competencies for Project Managers Conclusion 01 02 03 04 In line with the objective, the present study established the key competencies of a project manager A detailed methodology was developed and the data was collected with the help of a questionnaire that included 14 competencies. These competencies were selected after literature review and live interviews The study found that the top competencies of project managers are effective communication, emotional intelligence, team spirit, ability to deal with change and ability to manage conflict The findings of the study have been integrated with existing literature and the understanding is that this study will make a definite contribution to the field of project management GRAD 699 Graduate Thesis: Key Competencies for Project Managers - 19 -

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