An investigation into the competencies required of an effective project manager: A Web-based Delphi study

Jennifer M. Brill, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
M. J. Bishop, Lehigh University
Andrew Walker, Utah State University

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The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com in the Educational Technology Research and Development journal.
Publisher: Springer
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Abstract

This study explores the competencies required for a project manager to be effective in the workplace. We used a Web-based Delphi method to lead experienced project managers through an anonymous consensus-building process consisting of two rounds of surveys. The Round I analysis of 147 respondents, all with 20 or more years of project management experience, yielded 117 project management success factors, 78 of which were identified as “trainable” competencies. The Round II analysis confirmed 42 of the 78 competencies (53.8%) as “very important” to “extremely important” to project manager success. Important contributions of this study include: (a) reporting on project manager competencies that can inform the literature and guide the development of educational programs for instructional designers and other professionals and (b) demonstrating the Web-based Delphi technique to be an efficient methodology for conducting a front-end analysis, a core process of instructional design work.