Top 5 skills that every project manager must have

Every project manager must possess some specific skills to coordinate with the team effectively. These qualities are sometimes innate or may develop over a period of time. There are a number of soft skills and hard skills that are required, from the inception stage of a project till its completion. Project managers have to do multiple tasks i.e. initiating a project, working over its execution and then put the whole plan into practice. Leadership and communication skills are few of the many knacks which they can either learn from job experience or through training. We will discuss these in detail, so keep scrolling and reading.

Risk and Cost Management

As a project manager, you have to make careful decisions by focusing on maximizing the profits and minimizing the chances of loss. They must also give an incisive thought to how much each stakeholder will contribute towards the accomplishment of goals and their measure of success, while also keeping in mind the resources and projects timeline. Project managers must also be aware of the cost that will be incurred and make sure that their team does not go beyond the allocated budget.

Critical Thinking

On a daily basis, critical thinking is needed in project management to make quick and accurate decisions and there are a set of constraints that should be kept in mind. By analyzing all the given information and data, managers make decisions in the planning stage and that knowledge is applied till the completion of the project. Some conditions might vary during this whole process depending on the nature of the project.

Planning and Forecasting

For successful project planning, one has to gather all the relevant information and make informed decisions on the basis of it. For example, managers will have to determine which project management methodologies will be suitable for each situation or scenario. The goals that you set must be clear and measurable. You must be able to perform data analysis to see whether the past projects went well or not. By using that information, you can deduce or predict the future of the current project. Visual tools such as Gantt and PERT charts are also helpful in project timelines to keep a track of what you have done over a period of time.  

Leadership and Communication

To guide and motivate the team working on a specific project, you require strong leadership and communication skills. Project managers have a tough task of arranging meetings, enforcing and emphasizing upon the constraints and holding the participants accountable. To keep everyone in the loop, you must learn the art of verbal, non-verbal, written and visual communication. Handling conflicts, negotiating with the stakeholders, time and cost discussion, encouraging cohesive teamwork and elucidating the requirements of one department with the other, all tasks demand excellent interpersonal skills.

Time Management and Adaptability

All the project management tools and strategies become inadequate and must be replaced. Your willingness to adopt the latest technologies and then quickly becoming proficient at it, takes you one step closer to success. For example, you can learn how to use a new project management software and encouraging the team to do the same. Other than that, it is essential for project managers to handle multiple deadlines and complex timelines with prudence and without freaking out, otherwise the team might disintegrate.

As a project manager you must master all of the above discussed skills and adopt an agile approach. With time and experience these skills can be enhanced to make sure that every project culminates successfully.