IT project managers’ construction of successful project management practice: a repertory grid investigation Nannette P. Napier,* Mark Keil † & Felix B. Tan ‡ School of Science and Technology, Georgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, USA, *email: nnapier@ggc.usg.edu, † email: mkeil@gsu.edu, and ‡ School of Computer and Information Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1020, New Zealand, email: felix.tan@aut.ac.nz Abstract. Although effective project management is critical to the success of information technology (IT) projects, little empirical research has investigated skill requirements for IT project managers (PMs). This study addressed this gap by asking 19 practicing IT PMs to describe the skills that successful IT PMs exhibit. A semi-structured interview method known as the repertory grid (RepGrid) tech- nique was used to elicit these skills. Nine skill categories emerged: client man- agement, communication, general management, leadership, personal integrity, planning and control, problem solving, systems development and team develop- ment. Our study complements existing research by providing a richer understand- ing of several skills that were narrowly defined (client management, planning and control, and problem solving) and by introducing two new skill categories that had not been previously discussed (personal integrity and team development). Analy- sis of the individual RepGrids revealed four distinct ways in which study partici- pants combined skill categories to form archetypes of effective IT PMs. We describe these four IT PM archetypes – General Manager, Problem Solver, Client Representative and Balanced Manager – and discuss how this knowledge can be useful for practitioners, researchers and educators. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. Keywords: IT project management, repertory grid, project management skills, project manager skills INTRODUCTION Successful project management skills are needed to combat the trend of failing Information Technology (IT) projects. The Standish Group International (2004) reports that 53% of all IT doi:10.1111/j.1365-2575.2007.00264.x Info Systems J (2009) 19, 255–282 255 © 2007 The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd