Top 3 skills project managers need to succeed

A project manager’s job consists of bringing an eclectic group of individuals together in order to accomplish a common goal, which is the successful delivery of a project from start to finish. In this line of work, you’ll be required to possess a myriad of different skills as it is a fast-paced, dynamic industry that rapidly evolves It is the project manager’s job to ensure that the companies evolve with the times in order to thrive and continue delivering successful projects.

What does it mean to be a great project manager?

It’s not all about degrees and qualifications in project management, especially because it involves working so closely with people. Of course, having a qualification or degree in the field is always a plus, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. This is due to the nature of the job, working so closely with an eclectic group of individuals in order to accomplish the goals you have set out before them and yourself to bring a successful project to fruition. This requires a large set of both technical and soft skills to accomplish.

 Take a look at some of the skills required of a successful project manager below:

• Communication
• Leadership
• Interpersonal skills
• Organisation
• Negotiation
• Team management
• Time management
• Risk management
• Problem-solving
• Budget management
• Project management methodologies
• Policy knowledge
• Conflict management
• The ability to stay calm under pressure
• Adaptability
• Technical skills
• Reporting skills
• Active listening
• Research skills

Depending on your style of project management and what industry you are in, your project will require a different approach which in turn will require a different set of skills. Although the list is long, these are the 3 most essential skills needed in order to be a successful project manager, no matter your style or industry.

The top 3 skills project managers need to succeed

As you can see, there is a large set of skills required in order to become a successful project manager, ranging from technical to soft skills. Having skills from both sides will enable you to carry out your roles and responsibilities as a project manager with ease and foster a work environment where team members feel seen, valued and heard, which will encourage them to work harder and take pride in their work. This will lead to greater project success rates where everyone involved can benefit from the efficiency and ease of the workflow as everyone is on the same page and able to deliver their best work.

When looking to refine your project management skills, these are the top 3 that you should focus on first.

Communication and interpersonal skills

This should go without saying, but you would be surprised at how many projects fail due to a breakdown in communication. Open and honest communication from the beginning of a project is essential for the teams involved, stakeholders, and clients. Overpromising to either stakeholders or clients and under-delivering is a major pitfall in many a project manager, and this could all be avoided if proper communication had taken place beforehand.

When pitching ideas to clients, it’s important for the project manager to speak to his resources before agreeing to any deadlines to ensure that what the client wants is in fact feasible. This will help avoid any missed deadlines in the future but also show that the project manager is a team player who respects his or her  resources and understands that this is why they are employed  to provide valuable insight that a project manager may not know.

As the project manager, it is your job to ensure that all team members and resources are aware of what is expected of them, and this comes in the form of constant communication. From conveying messages to clients and team members to effectively sharing their vision, goals, ideas and issues with all parties involved, a project manager’s job consists of 90% communication. But this does not mean that it is the project manager who is doing all the talking, but rather they are doing a lot of listening to ensure that any issues or problems that arise are swiftly taken care of so that your resources may return to a smooth sailing project completion.

By utilising effective communication tools, you’ll be able to keep everyone involved in the project, including resources, stakeholders, and clients on the same page  to ensure that the project can be successfully completed on time and within budget.

Leadership skills

You can be great at communicating and possess outstanding interpersonal skills, but if you haven’t got the leadership skills to complement them, then it’ll be to no avail. A project manager is the one responsible for overseeing projects through to completion, from the initial concept right through to delivery.

When working on projects, a lot can go wrong and when it does, there needs to be someone who takes control and gets things done! This falls on the project manager as they are the face everyone is going to turn to when things go wrong. This is why it’s of vital importance that they possess great leadership skills in order to rally the troops when times get tough and inspire and motivate an uninspired team to continue working.

Utilising your leadership skills as a project manager is an everyday occurrence that involves leading your team, delegating tasks between resources, foreseeing any problems before they arise, and putting out “fires” when they do. As the one in charge, it’s your responsibility to make sure everyone is working towards the same common goal and are able to produce their best work with little to no interference.

Organisation skills

To ensure that the processes within the company run smoothly and that all teams and resources are in line with a common goal, a project manager needs to have strong organisational skills to keep it this way throughout the project lifecycle. As it’s the project manager’s duty to oversee projects, they need to possess outstanding organisational skills in order to keep everyone on track and deliver the project on time and within budget. This takes a large amount of planning and organising of a myriad of factors to ensure that the project can be successful and that no missing pieces arise later down the line.

Organisational skills that project managers need include the ability to multitask, prioritise tasks, compartmentalise projects so that you and your team can focus on what needs to be done first, and document the entire process for ease of access for future reference. Having everything organised and in its place leads to a better working environment not only for the project manager but for all the teams involved as they can just focus on their job at hand instead of worrying about the paperwork side of things because they know that their project manager has got them covered.

Final words

Project managers require a large set of skills in order to successfully bring a project to completion with efficiency. Regardless of the industry, by improving your project management skills, especially the top 3, you’ll not only be upskilling yourself but will also have a direct impact on your team’s ability to successfully complete their tasks. Upskill today with a project management online short course designed to give you the tools necessary to lead your team to success from day one.