The document explores the differences between soft skills and hard skills for project managers. Soft skills include communication, conflict resolution, and problem solving, which are important for managing people and relationships. Hard skills refer to technical abilities specific to an organization. While hard skills can be taught, soft skills are more difficult to measure. The nature of a project determines whether it requires more soft skills or a balance of soft and hard skills. Both skill sets are important for project managers, though soft skills may be more essential for leadership roles and achieving project goals that rely on teamwork and collaboration.

1. We will explore the
differences between
Soft skills and Hard
skills of a project
manager.
We will also find out
which skill set is
more important to
the project manager
in achieving his/her
project goals.
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4. Hard Skills
 Technical and Specific abilities
 Relate to the core business of an organization.
 Writing skills,
 Networking skills,
 Machine operation,
 Business analysis,
 Design,
 Construction, etc.
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5. Hard Skills(Contd.)
 These types of skills are easy to teach and
quantify.
 Often involves the learner learning or improving
a skill without having to unlearn a previous skill.
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6. Soft skills
 Subjective and undefined.
 Deals with our relationship with people such as:
 conflict resolution,
 communication,
 listening
 problem solving, etc.
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7. Soft skills (contd.)
Subjective nature of soft skills makes it difficult
to measure.
 Results are eminent from final output
such as:
 the effectiveness of
 communication in an organization,
 relationship among team members,
 problem solving skills, etc.
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8. Project Management
The project manager’s skills
Soft skills required for successful project
management
Balancing soft and hard skills
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9. Project management skills
 Characteristics of a project manager is flexibility.
 A project manager who understands the processes,
tools and techniques of project management should
be able to easily adapt and manage any type of
project.
 You do not need technical knowledge to
effectively manage a project, technical project
managers perform better in their field than
general project managers.
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10.  Project management skills are
necessary for a project manager to
excel;
Technical skills can be seen as
an added advantage.
The absence of the technical skills does not
mean the project would fail.
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11.  Technical skills are also referred to as hard skills
and can be easily developed through training.
 In getting the right project manager for a
project, it is therefore imperative to find a
project manager that has the right combination
of both hard and soft skills.
 It is important to know that the degree of hard
to soft skills required by a project would vary
according to the nature of the project.
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12.  For example,
While a construction project manager might
require an almost equal mix (50 – 50) of both
hard and soft skills,
A staff development project would require more
soft than hard skills.
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13. The result of a
construction project
is a building, a bridge,
or whatever was
constructed and this
can be easily
quantified. These
outputs are also the
primary measurement
for success of the
project.
Whereas, a staff
development
project would be
measured by
improved efficiency
among staff,
improved
relationship, better
communication,
etc. These in
themselves are
abstract and vague
to measure.
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14. .
 This only justifies
our earlier assentation
that while the two sets
of skills are required,
the project determines
the ratio of the skill
combination required.
 Soft skills required
for successful project
management Hard skills can be easily
learned and defined.
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15. The nature of the project would determine the hard
skill is required.
General hard skill required by a project includes:
Ability to use project management software,
schedule planning,
effective documentation (chats, technical writing,
sketching), etc.
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16.  Hard skills are defined and almost straightforward,
 Let’s focus on identifying the most common soft skills
required for effective project management.
 As managers, we spend about 90 percent of our time on
communication.
 If this 90 percent is not spent efficiently and effectively
then we have already failed.
 Here’s a little exercise. Without reading – further write down
the top 5 things you talk about as a project manager.
 When you check your list, you would realize that you are either
solving problems, resolving conflicts, negotiating, planning,
organizing, correcting people, preventing errors, etc.
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18.  Some people are naturally more efficient and achieve
greater results when communicating.
 These can be attributed to the advanced development of
soft skills within them.
 Here’s the good news: While soft skills are difficult to teach
and measure, they can be learned and developed.
 However it requires conscious evaluation of one’s self
and discipline.
 This is because naturally we human beings find it difficult
to unlearn or change a habit that is already inherent in us.
The following are the basic soft skills that are required of us as
project managers:
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19.  Problem solving: This is the ability to look beyond
an immediate problem but rather understand the root
cause of the problem and proffer permanent
solutions bearing in mind that we are not just solving
the problem but also making sure that people
involved in solving the problems are happy
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20.  Conflict resolution: The primary function of a project
manager is to manage and coordinate resources. Human
resources are; however, the most difficult resource to manage
as humans have a mind of their own and are also emotional.
When resolving conflict, we should ensure the problem is
tackled without any favoritism. We should also take out time in
studying the emotions of the parties involved, understand how
sensitive they are and communicate your solution in the
appropriate manner. We should understand that while we can
use scientific ways (hard skills) in realizing the solution, mode
and manner of communication (soft skills) is equally very
important to achieve the proper solution.
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21.  Negotiation: We often need to negotiate for contract and projects.
 More often than not, after we have proven that we have the required
technical skills to handle the job, our negotiation skill is what fetches
us the project.
 Clients often want to be respected, be in control and have a detailed
understanding of what is going on even when they have no idea of
the technicalities involved for the realization of the project.
 When negotiating, we should know our worth but understand that this
is not an excuse to step on our clients’ ego. They really hate it.
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22. Motivation: It is important for us to ensure that the morale
of our team members is always high.
Knowing the various motivation factors is a must for all
project managers, but understanding how and when to
apply them is more important.
Since most projects require team effort, motivation
techniques that promote teamwork should be prioritized.
 Individuals with outstanding ability should be recognized
and rewarded to ensure continuous performance.
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23. 
 Leadership: A popular argument in today’s
management world is the difference between leaders
and managers. Although a lot of theories have been
postulated trying to distinguish a leader from a
manager, there is no clear-cut difference between
these two as most of their duties are often
interrelated. A good manager should have good
leadership skills and be able to create a balance
between leadership and management.
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24.  Balancing soft and hard skills
 As earlier mentioned, there is the need to create the right balance
between hard and soft skill in a project. While both are important, the
nature of the project and the organizational matrix type (functional, mixed
and projected) would determine the type and level of skill mix that is
required.
 Some project managers believe that hard skills are required for junior
project managers, but soft skills are required to be a senior project
manager.
 Soft skills can be directly related to leadership style and we as project
managers often have a variation of leadership styles.
 While some leadership characteristics are innate, we can always fine
tune them, learn, unlearn and relearn in other to achieve the project goal.
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25.  Conclusion
 Today, we analyzed soft skills and hard skills and their use in project
management.
 We were able to identify their characteristics, establish the difference between
them and determine in which aspect of a project or type of a project they would be
required.
 We also explored the 5 basic soft skills that are required by a project manager
and discovered that these were all related to communication as this is what an
average project manager spends more than 90 percent of his or her time doing.
 We conclude by saying the primary function of a project manager is to deliver the
project within the agreed project constrain and the organizational goals.
 While hard skills are always attributed to technical duties and soft skills
attributed to leadership roles, these roles are often interrelated and it is impossible
to separate them.
 Neither hard nor soft skills are more important, but we should have a
full understanding of both skill sets and know when to use either of them
in other to achieve efficiency.
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