TABLE OF CONTENTS Making decisions is a key skill for leaders. Most project managers face a flurry of activities that constantly pressure them to make decisions that have considerable impact on the execution of their projects.
Leadership theorists in project management now recognize the importance of decision making by project managers. Jurgen Hauschildt, Gesche Keim, and John W. Medcof conducted a study on selecting and developing project managers. They identify a classification of project managers who are known as "stars," with above-average ability in decision making. [1]
Greg Skulmonski, Francis Hartman, and Roch DeMaere also conducted a study on the competencies of project managers and came to similar conclusions, observing that what distinguished superior project managers from participants was the former's competencies of decisiveness and delegation. [2]
[1]Jurgen Hauschildt, Gesche Keim, and John W. Medcof, Realistic criteria for project manager selection and development, Project Management Journal, p. 30, September 2000.
[2]Greg Skulmonski, Francis Hartman, and Roch DeMaere, Superior and threshold project competencies, Project Management, 6(1), 14, 2000.
Despite this recognition of decision making by project managers, many project managers often make poor decisions. "Poor" decisions by project managers often share characteristics.
A failure to consider the behavioral consequences of their decisions. When they do, they take inappropriate action to mitigate the consequences. For example, some project managers decide unilaterally to change a course of action. Under certain circumstances, making such a decision may be appropriate. In other words, it can cause people...
