6 skills that every project manager needs to have
The idea that anyone can manage a project team is simply not true. Although you can acquire project management skills quite easily, you’ll need additional skill sets to manage a project team effectively. There are many, many other skills that project managers need but here are six of the most important.
1. Emotional intelligence
Screaming and shouting at your project management team won’t motivate them to deliver on time, on budget, within scope and to the set quality. Without emotional intelligence, you can’t build successful stakeholder relationships, deal with difficult team members, manage conflict or avoid emotional breakdowns.
2. Collaborative communication
This is the ability to adapt the way you communicate to suit the audience in a cooperative way. Remember that communication stretches further than just speaking because as social media continues its meteoric rise the project management profession we will, in time, rely less on face-to-face meetings.
As a project management professional, you need to have the skills to lead phone meetings or conference calls effectively. As companies grow, these interactions will also stretch to other countries, which will require the ability to deal with other cultures, languages and mannerisms.
3. Flexibility
A project manager has to be flexible and able to change tactics/methods in response to what the business needs.
4. Understanding of business
This is essentially the ability to understand what the company’s strategy is and ensure that this is aligned with project execution. A project management practitioner needs to have this skill because the company wouldn’t be around if there were no projects to keep it running. Projects are an integral part of the company, which is why these need to be aligned with the company’s overall strategy.
5. Analytical skills
The project manager needs to be able to analyse obstacles and find appropriate ways for dealing with it so that he can perform his role effectively.
6. Ethical behaviour
The project manager, just as any good manager should, needs to have a strong moral and ethical character and the ability to instil trust within his team.
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Anita Potgieter is the COO at FOXit. She has a BCom in informatics from the University of Pretoria. In addition, she obtained a qualification in advanced business analysis from the same institution as well as a qualification in competitive strategy from LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN. Anita is a Microsoft Certified Professional, a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, a Microsoft Certified IT Professional and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. She specialises in, among others, project management, enterprise project management consulting and requirement analysis. |
