100% competency

This note will endeavour to define what I mean by 100% competency or what I mean when I say I aim to establish myself as a competent PM by 40 years old. Since I use it as my main goal, having it clearly defined will help me to navigate towards it, assess the distance to it and recognise when I reach it.

Confidence & directiveness

100% competent PM ALWAYS knows what to do. He knows what to do even when he doesn't know what to do. He is able to instantly orient themselves in any situation and even though the information is not complete, a project manager knows what direction to take, what questions to ask and who should do what in order for the project team to navigate the hardship and for the project to stay afloat.

Strong knowledge of the contract

A competent PM will neve find themselves in a situation where they don't know what the contract prescribes to do in any particular situation. While anyone might have a need to refer to the contract clause time to time, I expect of myself by 40 years old to be ever needing that to clarify details of HOW to proceed in order to satisfy the contractual procedures. As a competent PM I should have sufficient knowledge of the contract to be able to respond on the spot what will be happening next.

Developed charisma

It is important to know what traits are off-putting and what traits are attractive.

It is important to know how your voice sounds and what you mimics looks like in the moment of pressure or stress or lack of confidence.

It is important to feel how the conversation flows and be able to retain the control of the conversation without making other people feel suppressed.

Staying calm and collected

As a competent PM you will have a control over your steam valve. Coupled with a nuanced feel of the human nature and the conversation flow, a competent PM will know when and how much to raise the volume, when to voice frustration and when to apply a stern look. Most importantly, they will know how much of this reagent needs to be added to the conversational mix to achieve the right effect. They will time and dose it precisely to stir the conversation without coming across as edgy or nervous or lacking confidence.

Specialty knowledge

No matter what some PM say, I am sure it is very important (and for me it is critically important) to have enough technical knowledge to be on par with your project team. While it is not expected from a PM to debate and direct subject matter specialists, it is paramount to make them feel they can speak freely with their manager without a need to dumb stuff down and expect them to make informed decision, which is going to lead them away from the troubles and not the vice versa. It is so demotivating for specialists to realise that a person they report to has no grasp on what's happening.