Talent Triangle - How it Benefits Project Managers
A skilled project manager will help teams keep up with updates, follow procedure, use proper resources and ensure they finish project before a deadline. But there’s more because helping teams meet deadlines is not the full job description.
The demand across industries for skilled project managers have increased. It is important to have skills across a diverse spectrum including project management, strategy and leadership, the three streams which form the three arms of the Talent Triangle designed by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The Talent Triangle concept helps project managers develop their skills in three key areas namely, technical project management, leadership, and strategic business management.
Let’s look at these three areas:
Technical Project Management
A successful project manager will have a technical know-how to do their job, which includes knowledge about their industry and project specific abilities. Technical skills a project manager will need are project lifecycle management, schedule management, cost and budget estimation, risk management, performance management, etc.
If you lack the above mentioned skills and the knowledge of the industry you work in, you may have problems with understanding project details, let alone finishing it.
Leadership
“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” says Murphy’s Law. Only a leader will lead a team through all stages and see a project through.
A leader will apply technical project management skills and he/she must have enough competency in areas like coaching, mentoring, communication, team building, negotiation, conflict management, and the ability to inspire and motivate. He/she must know the concept of design thinking and must get acquainted with digital business leadership. Good project managers will inspire his/her team to embrace innovation.
PMs must help teams and its members understand their roles and tasks. They must teach, mentor and demonstrate by example. They must be proactive and have problem solving abilities.
PMs must build a relationship with all teams and its members. Ultimately they are responsible for the teams’ success and failures.
Strategic and Business Management
The third arm of the Talent Triangle helps project managers align their plans and actions to business decisions. At the end of the day, project managers must work to meet the company’s goals, develop innovative strategies and negotiate powerfully to create win-win situations
Strategic and business management skills they must have are cost benefit analysis, strength and weakness analysis, legal compliance, market awareness and conditions, and customer relationship management.
When project managers align their plans and actions with the company’s greater goals coupled with applying their technical knowledge and using leadership skills, they can infuse energy into company’s projects daily.
Benefits of Talent Triangle
Successful project managers must do everything including demonstrating technical and business management skills. They are someone who has all these skills of the Talent Triangle.
The benefit of learning all these traits of the Talent Triangle is manifold. It will make a project manager a powerful professional.