What is the PMI Talent Triangle®? Attributes of a Successful Project Manager

Understanding the PMI Talent Triangle

Introduced in 2015, the PMI Talent Triangle® has undergone several changes, reflecting the changes in the project management landscape. To offer up-to-date and the most comprehensive training for modern project managers, PMI adopts a three-domain approach based on the latest business needs. 

Initially, the PMI Talent Triangle included the following three competencies in its structure:

• Strategic and business management
• Technical project management
• Leadership

However, PMI felt the urge to create a New PMI Talent Triangle® that translates the realities of the current market. Today, project managers are often associated with assessing the needs of the project, the culture of the organization, and the skills of their team. Once these areas have been met, project managers move on to determine the right approach to the optimal delivery of the project. Meanwhile, they are faced with several techniques and tools. 

Enveloping the required approaches to project governance, the New PMI Talent Triangle has the following three legs:

• Business Acumen
• Ways of Working
• Power Skills

Business Acumen

Replacing the Strategic and Business Management standard, Business Acumen appears on the PMI Talent Triangle as one of the three required skill areas. It prioritizes the requirements of the business by emphasizing benefits, market awareness, regulatory compliance, and competitive analysis. These project management skills help a project manager understand the impacting potential of internal and external forces for their project. Business Acumen will prepare project management professionals to keep the project aligned with the strategic goals of the portfolio or program.

Furthermore, it helps strengthen customer relationships and satisfaction, industry domain knowledge, function-specific knowledge, as well as market awareness. 

Ways of Working

A new domain area – Ways of Working focuses on the technical skills necessary to thrive in today’s tech-savvy environment. It is one of the primary duties of a project manager to analyze the project’s unique needs and determine what tools can turn out to be most effective in enhancing productivity. 

With automation taking over every second industry, possessing the right tools helps drive organizational results. Consequently, project management professionals must proactively seek to expand their grasp of in-demand tools and techniques. 

Ways of Working has replaced the Technical Project Management section of the PMI Talent Triangle. It associates with the following skills:

• Agile and Hyper Agile
• Design Thinking
• Hybrid
• Transformation
• Earned Value Management
• Data Gathering and Modeling
• Governance
• Requirements Management and Traceability
• Performance Management
• Risk Management
• Schedule Management
• Time, Budget and Cost
• Scope Management
• Estimation

Power Skills

Replacing the Leadership area on the PMI Triangle, Power Skills are all about personal leadership. It comprises communication, servant leadership concepts, conflict management, interpersonal skills, negotiation, coaching and mentoring, and problem-solving techniques. PMI envisions an ideal project manager with strategic competency in creating a compelling vision and motivating a team of professionals to deliver on that vision. 

Why Is the PMI Talent Triangle So Important?

A well-rounded project management professional exhibits a perfect balance and blend of skills and expertise. The PMI Talent Triangle establishes the same. 

It serves as an important reference for project managers who are dedicated to learning and developing their skills to maximize success. 

The balance of the three legs of the PMI Talent Triangle goes beyond highlighting the complementary skill sets. Rather, they represent all critical areas a project manager must master to explore unprecedented heights of success. 

Project managers must have all three of these traits. While technical knowledge is almost a compulsion in various sectors, soft skills stand no less. Their ability to engage project teams and motivate them is highly valued in every organization. 

What Are the Benefits of the Talent Triangle?

Project management professionals are highly sought after across the globe. The triangle helps them acquire and demonstrate skills and expertise that help land lucrative offers. Some of the key benefits of the PMI Talent Triangle are as follows:

• It makes a person a powerful professional. 
• Organizations report high benefits and better project outcomes when they develop their teams on all three legs of the Talent Triangle. 
• Individuals with all the skills mentioned in the PMI Talent Triangle report a greater salary hike.

Who Is the PMI Talent Triangle for?

PMI Talent Triangle is suitable for all professionals in the project management field. However, certified Project Management Professionals witness an additional advantage of getting PDUs in the three areas covered in the Triangle.

The Talent Triangle applies to all PMI members as well as non-members seeking certification or pursuing a career in project management. 

Which Industries Does Talent Triangle Relate to?

The PMI Talent Triangle is relevant to project managers across a wide range of industries, including 

• IT
• Telecom
• Finance 
• Commerce
• Research
• Business processing
• Services
• Logistics

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