The project manager core competencies to project success

Purpose The past few decades have produced a number of investigations into the correlation between project managers' competencies and project success. As a result, competencies lists have become extensive shopping lists. The purpose of this paper is to define the most important competencies to project success and investigate their correlations. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed project managers on the importance of 28 project manager competencies to project success. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate procedures. Findings Data show that communication, commitment and leadership appear as the three most relevant aspects. Multivariate analysis identified seven groups of competencies: leadership, self-management, interpersonal, communication, technical, productivity and managerial. Originality/value Project manager competencies lists have become too extensive, and the field is in constant change; therefore, this study updates the discussion and downsizes the number of competencies to fewer, more relevant items.