10 Traits Of A Successful Project Leader

Let’s just stab the part where we discuss the role of a project manager and how crucial he/she is for the success of the project. It’s a no secret the effectiveness of a project entirely depends on whether the assigned manager is good or bad.

Being a project manager in today’s evolving industry is a challenge in itself. As one of the most fascinating and exigent career choices, it requires a certain set of character traits and qualities to be a successful project leader. Now, according to the people at ESI international (world's largest project management training and consulting provider), the most talented project leaders are the ones with integrity, enthusiasm, empathy, extraordinary communication skills, and the ability to inspire a shared vision. But that’s not enough, right?

If you’re someone who admires the role of a project manager and wish to manage a project or a team of his own someday, here are a few details that might help you out. Below is the list of top 10 qualities that make an effective project leader. We’ve listed these qualities in order of their importance in order to help you understand what qualities are the most necessary for your success.

Stay organized, both personally and professionally

Good organizational skill is the first and the most obvious quality that is expected from an effective project manager. Being organized helps to create a productive work environment as well as prioritize tasks and responsibilities among teams as per the big picture. With regard to project management, you should have the capability to put together all the details and keep things on track no matter what.

Be a good decision maker

As a project manager, you are needed to act on critical situations and make decisions that will decide whether a project will reach its desired outcome or not. It is important that you work on your decision-making skills and identify what's best for your projects, your teams, and your business.

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Know how to communicate

Out of all the elements of work life, good communication is the most important one. In simple words, the roles and responsibilities of a project manager call for clear communication at all levels of the organization. According to the PMI status, a manager should ideally spend 90% of his time communicating with the people who are associated with the project. With better communication, project managers can get a clear idea of what's going on and create a thought-out plan to ensure timely delivery of the project.

Show a can-do attitude

People will never accept you as their leader if you constantly try to bring them down. A team prefers to follow a leader with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude, not the one who gives 1000 reasons why a job can't be done. Its plain and simple, if you want to be a great project leader, you will have to show your commitment through optimism. Show enthusiasm and commitment that inspires others to exceed their own expectations.

Learn how to hold the team together

A successful project leader should also be a strong team builder – a person who provides the vision that brings teams together to move towards a common objective. Now, in order to build a productive team from a group of complete strangers, you should have the ability to identify each team members style and strengths. You must also know how you can capitalize each member to reach a common goal or to deal with a problem at hand.

Also Read: How can great leaders help underperforming teams

Understand the difference between sympathy and empathy

Empathy should never be confused with sympathy. Being a project leader means you to have empathy for the people working alongside you. You need to understand the fact that your team members also have a life outside the workplace and that they are not robots without emotions. Try to develop a personal bond with your team members - it will help you achieve better performance and productivity at every job.

Befriend technology

In today's fast-paced, project managers must know how to use technology to their advantage. They should keep themselves up-to-date on the latest tools and apps available in the market. Also, they should possess the ability to identify what kind of product would serve best for their work and workflow - whether its an all-in-one project management software, a Gantt chart software, a time tracking tool, or just an easy online team collaboration app. Befriending technology not only helps project managers to simplify every aspect of their role but also makes them 10x more efficient than before.

Learn the art to delegate

As a project manager, you demonstrate your trust towards your team members through your actions. You delegate tasks and let people participate in a project as per their strengths and skills. Now, those who are unable to show their trust or share roles often fail as leaders. It is imperative that a project manager recognizes the skills and expertise of his team members and demonstrates his/her trust by assigning or delegating the tasks accordingly.

Play cool under pressure

In a perfect world, you might expect your team to complete a project on time, without any obstacle. But we don't live in a perfect world, right? In the real world, your projects have problems and you have no other option than to deal with them. Now, project managers never sweat under a stressful event, in fact, they consider it interesting. They take the challenge as an opportunity and do whatever it takes to influence the outcome in the favor.

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Work on your problem solving skills

Projects are unpredictable - no matter how much you plan, there are times when things don't go as you expect. A project encounters countless obstacles during its life cycle. Although a project leader is said to share problem-solving responsibilities with his/her team, but believe it or not, the team members always trust the leader to solve their problems or at least offer them guidance. That means you have to have excellent problem-solving skills in order to excel as an effective leader.

A good project manager not only concentrates on possessing the aforementioned qualities but also puts them into practice whenever needed. So now that you know what qualities you need to become a good project manager and an ideal leader, it’s time you start doing the hard work. Don’t just wait for opportunities to arrive at your door steps, brush up your skills and be the leader that you always wanted.

Godspeed!

Author Bio:

Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder and CEO of ProofHub — a leading project management and collaboration software. He’s one person always on a lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams, and organizations. You’ll find him saying, “Let’s go!” instead of “Go!” many times a day. That’s what makes him write about leadership in a way people are inspired to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.