The Secret to Successful Projects? Hiring the Right Project Manager

Successful projects don’t just happen. They’re led. Whether you’re launching a new system, adopting AI, or navigating organizational change, having a skilled project manager at the helm is essential. But hiring any PM isn’t enough. The difference between checking boxes and driving real outcomes often comes down to who’s leading the effort. In this article, we explore why organizations need to hire a project manager to ensure focus, alignment, and execution, and we reveal five key traits to look for when hiring a PM who can deliver results and lead with impact.

In brief:

• Why do you need a project manager and how do you hire the right one? Top-tier PMs deliver more successful outcomes by combining strategic business alignment with technical execution, not only task management.
• AI augments but doesn’t replace skilled PMs.
• Five critical traits separate great PMs from average ones: strategic alignment, proactive communication, adaptability, empathy and influence, and executional consistency.
• Poor PM leadership has hidden costs, including employee turnover, lost revenue, decreased productivity, and eroded organizational trust.

The right project manager is a secret advantage. Today, successful projects don’t just happen because of good intentions. They require a mix of clear strategy, smart execution, and proactive risk management — all led by a top-tier PM.

Centric Consulting’s senior manager for our Enterprise Portfolio and Program Management (EPPM) team Rick Morris, says, “Whether you’re launching a new system, adopting AI, or navigating major organizational change, a dedicated project manager ensures that your initiative stays aligned with business goals, stakeholder expectations, and cultural dynamics.”

However, hiring just any PM isn’t enough. There’s a vast difference between checking boxes and driving real outcomes, which often comes down to who is leading the effort. In this article, we’ll explore five reasons that top organizations need a dedicated PM, along with five key traits to look for when hiring one.

5 Reasons Businesses Need a Dedicated Project Manager

Projects don’t fail because of bad ideas. Instead, they fall short due to execution gaps.

An average PM performs tasks, manages schedules, and allocates resources, but the reality is that AI agents can increasingly perform these tasks. AI agents are autonomous, specialized, integrated, and excellent at problem-solving. Plus, they’re capable of intelligent decision-making based on data and patterns.

However, the answer isn’t to staff a PM team full of AI agents. Human PMs are still crucial because they pair their expertise with AI agents to close execution gaps and work smarter. Top-tier PMs work hand in hand with AI to automate repetitive tasks, surface insights, and flag risk proactively. PMs can also optimize AI with continual learning. AI frees the PM’s time to lead cross-functional teams and navigate stakeholder dynamics.

“A dedicated PM is the connective tissue between vision and execution. They bring structure to ambiguity, clarity to complexity, and momentum to strategy,” Morris says.

Top-tier PMs also provide cost savings, an increased likelihood of project success, and more. Here are some of the benefits a PM offers:

1. Saves Money in the Long Run

According to Project Management Institute, organizations waste 11.4 percent of every investment due to poor project performance. A strong PM isn’t an overhead expense. Introducing a top-tier PM to your business reduces project costs far more than the cost of the hire.

2. Increases the Likelihood of Project Success

Research is clear. Projects using formal PM practices are 2.5 times more successful. The best PMs have a mix of leadership, technical project management, and strategic business management skills to hit project goals and timelines efficiently.

3. Aligns Projects With Business Objectives

The best PMs aren’t just executing projects in a silo. They have a deep understanding of the business’s short- and long-term needs and bring strategic alignment across the organization.

For example, when implementing a new sales visualization tool, an average PM aims to deliver the project on time. A top-tier PM works closely with sales, operations, and marketing to drive adoption, improve pipeline velocity, and discover insights to refine the marketing messaging.

4. Automates Consistent, Repeatable Processes

Top-tier PMs build consistent, repeatable processes that exist beyond them. Instead of rewriting the script for every one-off project, they create playbooks, templates, automated workflows, and frameworks to help the entire organization work faster. They’re documenting the process along the way with regular touchpoints on deliverables and any roadblocks that arise.

5. Augments and Optimizes AI Investment

Top-tier human PMs help build, augment and optimize AI processes and investments. Without the right oversight, even the smartest AI tools go unused. The best PMs can continually train team members on best practices, monitor usage, and adjust AI tools as needed.

AI doesn’t necessarily replace top-tier PMs. It augments their strengths.

Now that we understand why businesses need a strong PM, let’s discuss the core traits to look for.

5 Core Traits of a Top-Tier Project Manager

So, what makes a top-tier PM? The answer: Someone who can lead people, drive business outcomes, and build repeatable processes, not just manage tasks. A top-tier PM is a true project leader.

These five crucial project management skills aren’t just soft skills or power skills — they’re the foundation of project success.

1. Strategic Alignment

Top PMs understand the “why” behind the work and connect daily tasks to long-term goals for bigger-picture thinking. It’s the difference between simply checking off a to-do list at the end of the day and actively pivoting resources to keep teams on track.

2. Proactive and Clear Communication

Top-tier PMs translate complexity into clarity, ensuring everyone stays informed and engaged, rather than being reactive. For example, a top-tier PM evaluates risks around summer out-of-office schedules ahead of time and may bring on short-term freelance help to stay on budget and on track.

3. Adaptability

The best PMs pivot when needed, ask the right questions, and stay curious in the face of change. They aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo or help others along the change curve. They’re advocates for improving, iterating and changing — all while empowering and encouraging cross-functional teams.

4. Empathy and Influence

Sometimes, projects get sticky. A top PM is able to influence others and empathize with them to lead the team to success despite the challenges.

Missed deadlines, unresponsive team members, poor-fit vendors, or technology troubles cause frustration and stress. Instead of panicking, top PMs build trust, navigate team dynamics, and lead with emotional intelligence and humility.

5. Executional Rigor

The best PMs bring discipline to delivery, manage risk proactively, and hold teams accountable for outcomes. They’re reliable and competent, and they elevate the work quality of the entire organization.

The best-in-class PMs are a strong mix of technical and soft skills, but it can be hard to find the perfect PM who brings all these skills to your organization. Let’s analyze the risks of poor PM leadership.

The Risks of Poor PM Leadership

On the flip side, the consequences of poor project management leadership are clear.

“The wrong PM — or no PM at all — leads to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and disengaged teams,” Morris says. “But more importantly, it erodes trust across the organization.”

These are tangible consequences because they lead to employee stress, high employee turnover, and loss of morale — all of which have hidden costs. For example, poor PM practices mean lost revenue and decreased productivity that will damage long-term growth. Ultimately, these negative effects will kill a business.

How to Hire a Project Manager for Your Business

“At Centric, we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. Every organization has its own culture, pace, and priorities, and the right PM needs to reflect that,” says Morris.

Centric has staffed numerous top PMs across industries and looks for a cultural fit, not just technical credentials. When faced with a thick stack of résumés, Morris follows an exacting process and clear criteria to identify a great PM:

• Top-tier project managers don’t just take orders.
• Top-tier project managers focus on value realization.
• Top-tier project managers are the first to kill projects that aren’t performing or aligned to strategic objectives.
• Top-tier project managers uncover the ugly.
• Top-tier project managers know that people are more important than process.
• Top-tier project managers feel responsible for the future state.
• Stellar project managers admit when they are wrong.

“Most importantly, we match PMs to your people, pace and priorities — because context is everything,” Morris says.

Now that you know exactly what separates an average PM from a top-tier one, it’s time to hire an expert full-time or part-time PM, or explore options like strategic portfolio management, project management office consulting, or PMO-as-a-service.

Alternative Solution to Hiring a Traditional Project Manager

When traditional hiring methods don’t fit your needs, it’s time to explore new options. Strategic portfolio management (SPM) is a comprehensive solution for enterprises that focuses on initiative formation, governance and oversight, analysis and development, and value management.

However, if your business needs are smaller, project management office (PMO) consulting and PMO as a service (PMOaaS) are cost-effective and efficient ways to organize your portfolio management practice from end to end. Benefits of PMO-as-a-service include:

• Flexibility and speed to scale up
• Senior leadership without months spent on hiring and onboarding
• A curated bench of experienced PMs to fill gaps

With more and more people entering the project management field, there will undoubtedly be an increase in talent, but also plenty of average PMs. This makes it more important than ever to not just hire a PM but hire the right PM. If you’re not finding the perfect fit, explore alternative methods like PMOaaS or SPM.

Don’t Just Hire a PM — Hire the Right PM

Project management trends show that the function is evolving from a back-office nice-to-have to a front-and-center strategic asset. Top PMs tie everything back to business impact, measure success, build trust, and align with internal culture.

Start by evaluating your current PM capabilities to identify gaps. For example, assess whether your PMs proactively communicate risks or wait for trouble to arise. Analyze whether PMs build from scratch every time or using structured frameworks for scalability.

It might be time to rethink your project management setup. Our project management experts are ready to discuss how hiring a top-tier project manager to lead your next initiative. Let’s talk