INTRODUCTION

In the past, the primary requirement for the person in charge of a project was technical competency. A typical title was project engineer, lead systems analyst, or chief scientist. Their responsibilities generally were not defined as overall for the project; thus, they tended to emphasize the technical aspects of the project. While they may have had inherent leadership skills, they were seldom trained or educated in this area. They may have demonstrated some administrative skills, but probably had little interest in performing them. Therefore, many aspects of managing the project were either not attended to or were given less than optimum attention. In many instances, the OC has observed projects managed by a committee or by an executive who could not give the project the required attention to tend to the full range of issues required today.

Today's project manager requires a balanced capability in all three areas: 1) technical, 2) leadership, and 3) administrative. The career path for development of project managers can be through demonstrated competency in any of these. Nevertheless, demonstrated technical competence is most often the primary path.