What makes a good engineering project manager?

Effective Communicator: This can make or break a project. The best project managers are adept at various forms of communication, knowing the most effective means for their teams.

Good Listener: A key component of efficient engineering project management is tuning in to what's going on with your team. Additionally, the project manager may be responsible for keeping client or consultant communications and expectations in check.

Intuition: This is an essential skill for an engineering project manager. Good intuition takes an incredible amount of knowledge and experience and is thus highly valuable.

Persistence: Project management is no walk in the park. One must be persistent and capable of confronting issues as they arise, if not before. Being able to push through tough times with the ultimate goal in mind is more than essential; it's required.

Smart Delegator: A good project manager must know their team and understand each person's capability. That being said, smart delegation is needed to optimize the team's success.

Prioritizer: It can be easy to focus on the little things with many moving parts. However, that can cause the big picture to fall apart. A good project manager understands this and can prioritize accordingly.

Problem-solver: Being a great problem-solver in engineering almost goes without saying. This stands true for an engineering project manager as well.

Able to Know Their Team: A project manager must have the team management skills and perceptive abilities to keep their team purring like a well-oiled machine.