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The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management summary
Zachary Wong
Solving the Most Common People Problems for Team Leaders
27 mins
Brief summary
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management by Zachary Wong is a practical guide that provides project managers with essential skills to handle people issues. It focuses on developing interpersonal skills to manage and empower teams effectively.
Table of Contents
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management
Summary of 9 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 9
The role of team leaders has changed as companies have become less hierarchical.
Whether it’s a general casting his eye over the battlefield or a manager analysing the business environment, successful leadership is all about adapting strategy to the facts on the ground. And when the facts change, it’s vital to change your approach. That also goes for project management – after all, the world of business has experienced dramatic changes in recent decades.
In the old days, corporations resembled pyramids. At the top sat a small number of powerful executives. Below them were the senior managers who relayed instructions to middle managers, who, in turn, oversaw the largest and least powerful group: employees. It was a top-down model; responsibility, pay and prestige increased the further up the pyramid you went. Rising through the ranks was a steep and difficult climb.
Today, that model seems increasingly passé. The idea that the workers at the base of the structure are laborers requiring an autocratic, command-and-control approach is outdated. Modern businesses are increasingly becoming more democratic structures. The contemporary workforce is more educated, skilled and tech-savvy than ever before, and employees expect to see that reflected in their roles. What they want, in other words, isn’t just a paycheck but an opportunity to realize their potential.
Businesses have responded to this new reality by shifting from a pyramid model to a wedge structure. Imagine cutting a pyramid in half and laying it on its side. It now looks like a doorstop-shaped wedge with three sections interacting on a horizontal rather than a vertical axis.
At the smallest end are individual contributors – employees whose unique contributions are essential to the organization’s overall success. In the middle are work teams – groups of contributors working toward a common goal. Finally, there’s management. The size of their section doesn’t reflect their absolute numbers, but rather the amount of power and resources at their disposal.
This model requires project managers to play a new role. As a team leader in this structure, your job is to work fluidly between all three sections, connecting individual performance to your organization’s strategic aims. Call it organizational alignment, which is essentially about understanding the way the small details of managing relationships with individual contributors affects the success of the company as a whole.
In the next blink, we’ll look at the first key skill: using the wedge model to manage performance and people problems.
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What is The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management about?
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management (2018) is a hands-on guide designed to help team leaders diagnose and solve people problems in today’s increasingly horizontal workplaces. The fruit of years of first-hand experience, Zachary Wong’s playbook for effective leadership is packed full of actionable advice on how to boost motivation, confront underperformers and push through fear of failure.
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management Review
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management by Zachary Wong (2014) is a valuable book that provides practical advice on developing essential skills for successful project management. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- With its focus on practical tips and strategies, it equips project managers with the necessary tools to effectively communicate, collaborate, and lead.
- The book combines real-life examples and case studies to illustrate key concepts, allowing readers to easily understand and apply the skills covered.
- Through insightful insights into interpersonal dynamics and effective leadership, the book manages to engage readers, making it an interesting and engaging read from start to finish.
Best quote from The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management
Be friendly, not friends, at work.
—Zachary Wong
Who should read The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?
- Entrepreneurs
- Leaders and managers
- Anyone fascinated by workplace psychology
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The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management FAQs
What is the main message of The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?
The main message of The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is the key interpersonal skills needed for successful project management.
How long does it take to read The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?
The estimated reading time for The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is a few hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management a good book? Is it worth reading?
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is worth reading for its practical insights and tips on improving interpersonal skills in project management.
Who is the author of The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?
The author of The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is Zachary Wong.
What to read after The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?
If you're wondering what to read next after The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers by Anthony Mersino
- Transforming Project Management by Duane Petersen
- Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager by Kory Kogon
- Strategic Project Management Made Simple by Terry Dean Schmidt
- Scrum by Jeff Sutherland
- The Skills-Powered Organization by Ravin Jesuthasan
- I Never Thought of It That Way by Mónica Guzmán
- Interviewology by Anna Papalia
- Team by David Allen
- Outlive by Peter Attia