Although this isn't directly a follow-up to an article I wrote about why end-users matter, I think it might be relevant to the issues we were discussing about ease of use and engaging end users in the process. You might need to squint your eyes a bit to make the connection, but here are my thoughts.

I think it is universally understood that a project manager's job includes the following three mandates:

1. Manage project scope, costs, scheduling, and product quality

2. Identify and mitigate risks, manage project issues, and generally keep project teams on track

3. Manage the team, often a diverse group of individuals, to achieve the goals of the project

Project portfolio management software has the potential to make a number of these challenges easier for project managers. The right software, as we discussed yesterday will make it easier for project teams to engage in the process and hence easier for PMs to accomplish their objectives.

With that said, the next generation project manager needs to be an exceptional communicator. As organizations expand globally, I speak regularly with customers who are managing teams all over the world. With language, cultural, and time zone challenges, today's project managers need to overcome a lot of barriers to team collaboration and communication.

The most important skills aren't the ones taught in preparation for an exam. The soft skills of managing people are every bit as important as managing practice and process. In fact, the project manager who understand that driving business value is more important than simply driving projects to completion is worth his or her weight in gold. It's more than just finishing, it's meeting customer needs by helping the team work together effectively.

Those things that are considered project and portfolio management best practices are evolving. It's not so much about waterfall or agile, but more about making project teams as effective as possible and focusing on projects that drive the most business value.

Although in my opinion, project management software can make this easier, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Who are the most successful project managers in your organization and what are they doing that is different from those who are less successful?