Seven skills that make you a good project manager

These are some really important skills that you need to be able to succeed in project management. It is important that if you want to be successful then you will need to make sure that you are able to understand and be competent in all of the seven skills. Once you have mastered them, let them become second nature. Then, whenever you are addressing a project, you will know that, whatever the challenge, you are already a long way to being able to deal with it.

1.    Organisational skills

You will need to be able to organise the work load, the people and the project. Being able to sit down and plan how you will make a project work, organising the different parts of the project and the different team members and making sure that they are all actively doing the required work will help to make the project run smoothly.

2.    Time management

You will need to learn how to manage time effectively and to make sure that you allocate adequate time to the team members to be able to work towards the end goals of the project. Knowing when different milestones need to be completed and keeping the team on track is important. Being able to create individual schedules for each project that you manage and to keep them in control is an essential skill that will enable you to manage the project to the end. But if you need to transfer control of a project, having all this information to hand will greatly assist the person taking over.

3.    Product Knowledge

If you are going to manage a project you need to be aware of the product or the end result of the project and what it will look like. You cannot lead a team without a strong general knowledge of the product or deliverable – a lack of this will result in poor decision-making, sub-optimal planning and could affect the morale of your team.

4.    People skills

You will need to be able to deal with people and encourage them to get the work for the project completed. You need to be able to let them do the work themselves but you also need to be encouraging and make sure they understand all of your instructions. Keeping the office joker on track with the assigned task can sometimes be challenging but, with good people skills, it is possible.

5.    Leadership

You will need to be able to lead the team and the project pro-actively – there is nothing more annoying than having a project manager that does nothing while other members of the team doing the work and yet the project manager is the person who gets the praise.

6.    Adaptability

Being able to adapt and to help out in different areas of the project will mean that you will earn the respect of the team. They will then look to you for leadership but also, knowing that you are prepared to roll up your sleeves and help out if the need arises, will build the team spirit.

7.    Decisiveness

Knowing how to make decisions with regard to the project and avoiding indecisiveness is critical, even when the information available is incomplete. Project managers that cannot make decisions and change their mind frequently will simply be seen as annoying and obstructive.
Being a project manager means being in control of the whole project and overseeing all the different aspects, while granting other team members the space and authority to do their job and to develop and to become a part of a successful project management team.

This article, written by Sharon Rowe, explains some of the benefits of being a great project manager and the skills that you will need and can learn on a PMP course. Having these skills and being able to use them will benefit your career.