What are the key project management skills?

Whether you are working full time as a project leader or you are just about to be promoted to a better position, understanding and developing project manager skills will help you make every project successful. Although all projects are different, any successful project manager has to own an identical set of skills, including developed communication skills and the ability to run the project team.

How does project management affect the business of a company?

“Every project inside a company requires equal dedication, creativity and persistence to be successfully finalized. That is exactly why a successful project manager has to have developed critical thinking abilities, punctuality, precision, and flexibility.“

Project management is an essential part of the business on all company levels, from procurement, creating marketing campaigns to developing internal processes of advancement.

It is much easier to optimize all business processes if you have a plan you will follow even when problems occur.

Regardless of the size, every project inside a company requires equal dedication, creativity and persistence to be successfully finalized.

That is exactly why a successful project manager has to have developed critical thinking abilities, punctuality, precision and flexibility. To achieve good results, a project manager has to know how to run a project, but also how to manage a team of people working on the project.

Key characteristics of a project manager

A successful project manager has to have skills necessary for the successful realization of a project and lead by example, inspire others by his behavior and actions.

Motivated by his example and leadership, all other members of the project team will finish even the most complex tasks more easily, with much less effort and invested time.

Regardless of his function or the department he is working in; every project leader will benefit from the following skills:

Skilful critical thinking

In a perfect world, the project plan would never change. The whole team would just simply follow it to its completion, without too much effort and unnecessary frustrations. Of course, things are never perfect in real life.

Problems can occur in any phase of the project and that’s why it is important to objectively and efficiently analyze the situation and form a quick and unbiased opinion.

Thus, a successful project manager has to have a developed ability for critical thinking. It helps in seeing problems from the right angle and react to them based on logic and available information, instead of emotions.

Although sometimes very hard to learn and perfect, this skill is essential for successfully running a project.

Creative and inspiring leadership

On one hand, critical thinking requires a certain emotional detachment from the situation. However, to assume creative and inspiring leadership, a project manager has to also have well developed interpersonal skills, empathy, and a good sense of humor.

Let’s say you have decided to compose a team of people that will work on a certain project and you’ve chosen professionals from your line of business. But regardless of the experience in their work, they may not have experience in working together on projects.

In order to create an atmosphere where every member of the team will have no difficulty in accomplishing their tasks, a successful project manager has to combine formal training with an individual approach and open communication.

A working atmosphere where questions are answered openly and problems are directly dealt with helps every member of the team to reach his maximum in order for the project to be successfully finalized.

Communication skills

The more information a project manager can share with the members of the project team, the better. Therefore, it is necessary for every project leader to use as much available communication tools as possible. That includes emails, social media, virtual and real meetings, and all other ways necessary information can be shared with team members so they could do their job successfully.

Reducing risk

“Project managers have to also be well acquainted with other software solutions and tools that enable them to run the project successfully, without any delays.“

By reducing the possibility of risk, a successful project manager ensures that the project realization is in favor of the whole company. One of the ways to achieve this is with the help of business process automation which removes all problems and shortcomings in business processes inside a company successfully.

Project managers have to also be well acquainted with other software solutions and tools that enable them to run the project successfully, without any delays. One of the best examples is an ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics NAV that turns business into a unique business-information system.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is integrated with other Microsoft tolls – Outlook, Office 365, SharePoint, CRM, Power Bl, etc. In simpler terms, it means that by using this system, you can manage all data regarding business (production process, inventory, storage and delivery, client communication, project management) from one place.

Managing quality

If a project manager is at any moment able to create and deliver top quality of products and services for each dollar or euro invested in the project, he is not only benefiting the company but also simultaneously helping in achieving more complex business goals set by the financing department, procurement department and higher management.

Versatile negotiating skills

A successful project manager has to know how to communicate and negotiate with the procurement department, the financing department and legal services in order to ensure the necessary resources for realizing the project. However, having negotiating skills doesn’t just mean having only the ability to discuss contracts and expenses.

Being resourceful when dealing with human relations and approaching limited resources is also necessary. When dealing with these issues, versatile negotiating skills ensure that the project realization will run without delays.

Managing schedule and project tasks

When working on projects, it is also important when something is being done, not just what is being done.  A project is successful only if set quality norms and time deadlines are being honored.

Various applications and other available schedule creating tools will help in creating short-term and long-terms time course for each project phase and prevent missing deadlines.

A project manager has to successfully manage time but also has to know how to motivate each team member to complete his/her tasks with minimal help and supervision. It is also useful for team members to compile their own lists of tasks, which will help them to stick to the plan.

Successful managers aren’t born, they are created

Successful team management requires a lot of work and persistence. However, through developing managing skills, constantly training project team members, inspiring leadership, and using the right software solutions, project management becomes an important part of the successful business of every company.