Project Management Nasa Lessons Learned

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- What are the key competencies of a good project manager according to the NASA managers?

The key competencies of a great Project Manager, according to the video are: being passionately attached to his/her mission, committing to accomplish successful goal, surround themselves with well qualified people, and also those who are passionate about their roles, and a high level of communication. They also mentioned the more knowledgeable and informed a PM is about his/her projects, the better they will be. Additionally, conceptual development, overall planning, placing the correct employees with the correct projects, proposal planning, risk management knowledge, development of budget, cost estimating, envisioning the end goal/product of the mission and clear-cut plans on achieving these goals are all core competencies to being a good Project Manager not only at NASA, but every industry.

- Is “leadership” the same as being a good project manager?

Being a good project manager may help to equip a person to be a leader, however I don’t believe they are the same. A project manager ultimately works to ensure a project is completed successfully, usually in the most cost effective, timely and resourceful ways. The video in this article spoke more towards the leadership qualities good team members should have: passion for the job, good communication skills, listening to your team members, higher level is also understood that NASA PM’s must be of a very high caliber within their field due to the sort of missions they undertake. NASA would like their PMs to also exhibit excellent leadership skills.

- What does leadership integrity have to do with the success of a project?

Project managers should demonstrate the qualities they look for in their team members. According to the NASA website, they boast that their leaders lead by example. If this is true for NASA’s business model, leadership integrity is vital in the success of good project management. If team members see less than adequate qualities coming from their direct reports, it may influence them to act with less integrity, thereby compromising the integrity of their projects, work relationships and morale. Practicing leadership integrity has a top-down impact and should be a constant reminder to a Project Manager that their team members look to them for guidance.

Lessons Learned:

This case study made mention of how important people were to NASA’s missions; equally important is that people are often the source of problems. A good Project Manager can delegate which tasks are to be done by which team member(s) based on their skillset and expertise. An important lesson learned is that a good PM must understand the strengths and weaknesses on his/her team. Collaboration is key in successful management, also. The more communication between team members and upper management, the more successful the outcome will be because it gives notice of trials and errors. Being honest and transparent with each member is also a key part of having a thriving PM enterprise.