5 top skills required for a Project Manager!

Look at these startling statistics.

The International Project Management Association (IPMA), Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), and KPMG conducted a?survey about project performance,?titled ‘The Future of Project Management: Global Outlook”.

And they discovered that:

• 64%?of?businesses?are?unlikely?to?complete?projects?on?time?and?within?budget.
• Only 19% of businesses complete projects successfully, at least 80% of the time.
• A?staggering?70%?of?businesses?are?unlikely?to?complete?projects?on?schedule.
• The likelihood of an organization delivering?projects that satisfy the original purpose and commercial intent is only 44%.

Can you imagine the kind of damage that failed initiatives are causing in terms of credibility, business opportunities, and money?

The future project manager ‘has to become increasingly strategic and linked, acquiring skills beyond standard project management approaches‘, states the paper.

Project Management is never simple.

However, by acquiring the necessary skills and abilities, a project manager may effectively manage not only their projects but also their own physical and mental health.

In this article, let us see the 5 top skills that a project manager must learn to manage their projects effectively and efficiently. That means overall you’ll be putting in the least effort to deliver within project constraints!

Let’s look at each of these skills you’d require as a Project Manager.

1. Ability to manage Change within the project & organization

An organization must undergo change to grow.

• Changes in business conditions, organizational objectives, and the demand & availability of specialized talents are just a few of the factors that can lead to organizational change.
• An organizational change initiative, a change in design, architecture, or methodology, or even the implementation of a client request, could all serve as project-level change-triggers.

Resistance is a regular problem the PM would run across while trying to implement change.

Because resistance to change is a natural human instinct, regardless of how necessary or beneficial it is.

When the need for change originates at the organizational level, the project manager is typically responsible for implementing changes in the project organization.

Here are a few strategies you can use as a project manager to effectively and efficiently manage change:

1. Instead of concentrating more on WHAT needs to change, share with the team WHY it needs to.

WHAT is necessary, but the HOW to get the group’s support for the change you’re undertaking.

How does this work?

According to?Deci’s (1989) self-determination theory, people value Autonomy, and their need for development determines their conduct.

You can persuade them to adopt the change voluntarily by outlining how the change will help them achieve their own goals of career advancement.

2. Define the change management procedure.

People get?clarity?when processes are defined.

It helps them understand their obligations in bringing about the transformation. Clarity avoids confusion. And helps take action.

The project manager will be assisted in effectively and efficiently managing change by doing this in addition to outlining the WHY.

The most difficult undertaking a manager will ever do is change management. Therefore, it’s crucial that you learn how to handle things in the proper manner.

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2. Ability to communicate effectively

According?to?a?poll?of?employees?conducted?by?Northeastern?University,?28%?of?workers?believe?that?poor?communication?is?the?main?reason?why?a?project?failed.

You already know, as a project manager, why communication is a critical ability for project managers at all career stages.

It makes sense that project?manager spends roughly 90% of their time on project communications, according to the research paper Defining the Future of Project Management.

Effective?communication?is?cited?in?the?research?paper?as?being?“the?most?critical?factor?in?the?project’s?success.”

Poor?communication?during?the?project’s?early?stages?has?a?significant?detrimental?impact?on?the?project’s?later?stages.

This suggests that if communication is ineffective from the start of the project, the project cost could rise dramatically throughout later stages.

Three areas of project communication must be handled by the project manager:

• Communicating by yourself
• Communication between various stakeholders
• Communicating with outside parties

Communicating by yourself –

This includes,

• Meetings with the team for communicating about customers, town halls, and policy
• Facilitated meetings, such as project-related brainstorming sessions, where SMEs were invited.
• Talks that take place one-on-one, such as performance reviews, unofficial gatherings, and disciplinary hearings

These sessions’ success is judged by participants’ body language, speech intonation, and eye contact.

Secondly, the project manager must adhere to the?Communication Management Plan?and?Stakeholder Engagement Plan?established during the project’s planning phase while communicating with certain stakeholders (and periodically refined).

These plans describe numerous communication channels and types, the communication requirements of each stakeholder, and the kinds of information required for effective job performance.

Communication between various stakeholders –

The project manager will find it most challenging to handle this step.

Why?

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