Project Manager Personality as a Factor for Success

Abstract

Much has been written regarding project success, and one of the factors contributing to project success is the role of the project manager. Furthermore, project success can be enhanced by selecting the best project manager, and by assigning project managers whose attributes best align with project type. We investigated the role of the project manager's personality on project success using the "Big Five" personality model. We surveyed United States Department of Defense project managers to determine specific "Big Five" personality traits which were more likely to positively predict project manager success. The findings indicate conscientiousness and openness to experience were both good predictors of successful project managers. The results may be useful as one consideration when hiring project managers, and when selecting project managers to best match certain project types.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA527624

Entities

People

  • John D. Bedingfield

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Applied Psychology
  • Business Administration
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Military Acquisition
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personality
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychology
  • Students
  • Surveys
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.
  • Software Engineering.