I've never really understood how anyone can expect a person who is trained as a programmer to suddenly be able to manage a project. It takes years and years of specialized training to become just a good project manager, much less an excellent one. In fact, I would say, having managed my own share of projects, that this is one of downright hardest things anyone can do.

Think of skills needed to understand a project - this means project manager must have enough programming, analytical, design and engineering knowledge to be able to scope out what is needed to get it done. Now, of course, comes an even harder part - project manager must estimate when it will be done (and God help him if he's wrong). He must then manage all of other people and resources involved, keeping them on correct track toward reaching target. If anything crops up, project manager must troubleshoot and correct it, quickly, before things get out of hand.

So what are things that make for a good project manager?

Takes Responsibility - A good project manager completely understands that he is responsible for project. You will not hear things like "that's Joe's problem" from him.

Responsibility means to be accountable for something. The best project managers have no problem with saying "I made a mistake". The poor ones are always looking for who made mistake. The worst project managers find anyone they can who can take blame.

Is in Control - One of absolute worst things that you can hear from a project manager was "you were supposed to ...". Whenever I hear this from a so-called project manager I want to scream, "but you are project manager - it's your job to be in control".

That's probably key point of project manager and his key duty. He or she must be in control of project. Everything must be known at all times. Delays are understood and handled before they have a major impact. Weak areas of plan are firmed up with additional personnel or resources.

Has a large variety of skills - Good project managers have an understanding of all of components of their project. If programming is involved, then they can program. If it's an engineering project, then best project managers understand engineering. This does not mean they are excellent at those tasks - it means they understand skills, know language of technicians and have a working knowledge of fundamentals.

This is absolutely necessary because without that knowledge, a poor project manager will make stupid errors and ask people to do things which are not possible or practical. This is, in fact, a fundamental reason why many projects fail - project manager does not understand project which he is managing. This causes his people to lose respect for him, and sooner or later project spins out of control.

When I drive down to see Sally, I have to drive through Washington, D.C., area, head west on Route 66 in Virginia, and then head south down Route 81 through Valley. Somewhere a little west of Manassas, Virginia, there's a definite change in scenery. The "big city" feel is gone, 4-lane highway in each direction narrows down to two lanes each way, and there's actual land space between communities.

On one trip down to Valley, I had a horrible time trying to get out of Washington, D.C., area. The Beltway around D.C. was plagued with construction zones and at least one accident. By time I made it west of Manassas, I needed to take a road break. I drove for several miles looking for a place to stop, and I finally saw an exit off highway with a McDonald's.

I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings as I entered McDonald's (I had other things on my mind), but I did take a look around me as I left. I saw that McDonald's is in middle of nowhere. As I pulled out of parking lot, I noticed that majority of traffic on two-lane road was due to McDonald's. I thought, "What a great location McDonald's picked!"

Think about it. Before McDonald's was built, I'm sure there were people who just saw a wide open space of land out in middle of nowhere. The land probably didn't show a lot of promise. However, person(s) who built this McDonald's saw an exit on and off a major east/west highway that was well-traveled. They saw only means of refreshment for miles around. They saw guaranteed traffic. They saw possibilities.