Institute for Supply Management - Publications - NAPM InfoEdge - Skills Required to Lead a Successful Project

NAPM InfoEdge
October 1998, Vol. 4 No. 2

Skills Required to Lead a Successful Project

A project leader, in order to have credibility among team members, must have a strong working knowledge of the technical aspects of the task. Technical expertise alone, however, is not a guarantee of project success. In fact, real-world experience suggests that more projects fail due to lack of proper leadership than a lack of technical expertise. A supply management professional who is asked to lead a project should be able to develop a realistic process flowchart and timetable that meets stated strategic and cost objectives supported by upper management. This individual must be a good negotiator and consensus-builder: many projects are destined to fail due to a lack of negotiating final objectives, timing, and/or cost concerns up front. Likewise, lack of strong communication and people skills on the part of the team leader can be a sign of early doom. As an example, see the box below.

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