Are you considering making a career change and looking for information on how to craft your career path to become a project manager? With so many opportunities in the project management field, it’s no surprise that the uptake in project management courses and resources is at an all-time high. Read on to discover how you can get involved in this exciting career.
It’s an ever-evolving, fast-paced, people-focused, results-driven position with many ups and downs; every day comes with its own unique set of challenges and ways to solve them. It is the perfect career path for those who eat, breathe, and sleep organisation and those who can solve problems without breaking a sweat.
What is a project manager?
A project manager is an individual who facilitates the execution of projects by overseeing the various teams and resources involved and by creating workflow processes that will help enable the success of the projects by providing clarity on each individual’s task. A project manager also motivates and communicates with their teams throughout the project in order to ensure that everyone is on the same page and delivers their part of the work on time and with as few setbacks as possible.
The role of a project manager is to create custom workflows that optimise their team’s performance, define goals and milestones throughout the project, keep oversight over projects, communicate with the stakeholders involved, and ensure deadlines, budgets, and business goals are met in a timely manner. Project managers are responsible for every stage of the project, from project planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closure. This means that it’s their job to oversee and initiate the entire project scope, from the initial concept right through to the final delivery of the project.
Skills required of project managers
With so many moving parts involved in a project, it’s of vital importance that project managers not only have the correct technical skills, such as industry knowledge and a good grasp of the systems and processes currently used, but they must also have the correct soft skills in order to get the best out of their team. Having both sets of skills will enable a project manager to successfully execute projects.
Below are the most sought-after skills needed in order to be a successful project manager:
- Ability to foresee future problems
- Accountability
- Adaptability
- Budget management
- Clear and concise communication
- Decisiveness
- Delegation
- Forecasting
- Interpersonal skills
- Leadership
- Management
- Organisation
- Problem Solving
- Strategic Thinking
- Stress Management
How to craft your career path to become a project manager
Since project management is such a diverse career path, there are a few ways in which to break into the field. You can opt to study further and get a relevant degree, start working in the industry as a junior or intern project manager, have solid work experience in another field and adapt your career from there, or you can even get an online certificate to help enable your career change.
Whichever path you choose, whether it’s getting a degree or starting with experience in the workplace, you’ll need to continuously upskill regardless of your chosen path. This is because project management is an ever-evolving field that requires individuals who have a hunger to learn and continuously look for new ways to improve both their performance and their team members’.
Here is a closer look at how to break into the project management field below:
Develop your skills
When it comes to developing your skills in order to become a project manager, you’ll need to first start looking at what skills you already have and which skills you need to improve upon. Start by working on your soft skills, as these take time to develop, and you’ll need to refine your approach to working with an eclectic group of people in order to get the best out of them if you want to become the best project manager you can be. You can learn the technical skills on the job, through online courses, or by getting a degree, and they are more easily picked up than the soft skills as those take time to refine.
The importance of soft skills
Communication, patience, leadership, adaptability, accountability, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills are the main soft skills required for project managers. This is due to the nature of work which involves inspiring and motivating team members and resources in order to achieve the goals you have set out. Without efficient communication, it’ll be nearly impossible to successfully execute projects as no one would have clarity on what is needed of them. This has got to be the number one skill, out of both soft and technical skills, for project managers to have.
Soft skills such as patience, leadership, adaptability, accountability, problem-solving, and great interpersonal skills will help you not only to lead your team to success but also to help in the day-to-day operations of putting out “fires” when they arise; and arise, they will. This is just part of the territory and one aspect that keeps project managers coming back for more!
As the leader of the troops, you’ll need to possess a calm and collected way of working as you’ll be the one in charge of dealing with any and all problems that arise before, during, and after the execution of the project. Having the necessary soft skills will enable you to better deal with problems and help to keep the boat sailing even when you hit an iceberg. Creativity is also a required soft skill as it pairs hand in hand with problem-solving new ways to overcome obstacles in order to lead the project to a successful outcome.
As you can see, soft skills are a major requirement in project management because it is a largely people-facing career and getting the best out of your team will depend on you as the project manager. These soft skills can be acquired over time by working with different individuals which allows you to refine your approach and see what leadership style best suits you.
The importance of technical skills
Without an informed working knowledge of the systems and processes in the project management field, you’ll struggle to implement effective plans and protocols, let alone come up with better ways of doing things. In order to be an effective project manager, you’ll need to either learn or brush up on workflow processes and the tools used in the industry to ensure that you are able to do your job effectively.
These skills can be acquired through getting a degree, a certificate, or even on-the-job training. Though technical skills are, in theory, easier to learn, don’t make the mistake of disregarding their importance. Utilising industry knowledge and then applying it in the workplace is a must for project managers.
Final words
Whether you choose to gain your project management skills through a university degree, a project management online short course, or gain work experience on the job, you’ll be better equipped to craft your career path in the project management field through that. Regardless of the approach you take, you’ll be glad you did so as you enjoy the new career path that you chose.
