Top 5 Skills for Project Managers

Project Management is a complex discipline and requires a project manager to have a range of skills to be successful. The responsibility of a project manager is to deliver projects on time, within budget and to the right level of quality, requiring key skills to be shown and leveraged throughout the project lifecycle. This article will explore the top five skills essential for project managers to succeed.

Leadership

The most important skill that a project manager should have is leadership. Strong leadership skills are the golden thread to ensure all project elements come together to deliver a successful project.

The project manager must advocate for the project - Immersing themselves in the project and the project goals to be achieved. The project manager can guide all stakeholders and the project team by articulating the project vision and goals. To be successful, the ability to bring all stakeholders along the project journey, enabling everyone to work toward a common goal – is a key skill that a project manager should possess.

A motivated project team is a powerful engine that drives the project forward. Therefore, a project manager must ensure that the team working on the project is motivated.

? Creating a psychologically safe space where team members feel safe to be themselves is one way to achieve this. When people feel safe, they are comfortable and can perform at their best.

? A project manager should handle all interactions on a project with empathy. Empathy allows the project manager to understand the needs and emotions of their team members, allowing the project manager to tailor their leadership style to the unique needs of their team members. Managing with empathy can lead to improved motivation and engagement.

? The project manager must also listen actively to the team's needs and obstacles. Providing guidance and assistance to remove obstacles must be the priority of the project manager. This approach will enable trust and allow the team to move forward positively.

Creating a culture that embraces continuous improvement will signal to the team the importance of continuous learning, leading to the team members embracing innovation. Building robust solutions for the future requires innovation and the status quo challenged. Therefore, being a leader fostering this culture will lead to a more successful project that will benefit the organisation for years.

Lastly, leading by example will show the team the type of behaviours that they should exhibit as part of the team. The project manager must show a strong work ethic, attention to detail and commitment to project goals. These behaviours will be mirrored by the team leading to a successful project.

Stakeholder Management

Effective stakeholder management is key to every successful project. It is well known that stakeholders who are not managed or not managed effectively may negatively affect the project. Therefore, a project manager should spend a fair amount of time managing stakeholders. Relationship-building and emotional intelligence skills are required to build bonds with stakeholders.

At the beginning of the project, place effort and time into identifying all stakeholders by recording their details in the stakeholder register. During the project, care must be taken to ensure that any newly identified stakeholders are added to the list. Identifying stakeholders means that strategies can be implemented to manage them effectively during the project.

Stakeholders could either have a positive, neutral, or negative effect on the project. Project managers must place extra effort into building relationships with stakeholders that could negatively affect the project. The aim would be to move the stakeholder from negatively impacting the project to a position of being neutral or positively affecting the project. The use of emotional intelligence and influencing skills are required here.

For big projects, it is impossible to manage every stakeholder due to the large number of generally identified stakeholders. In these instances, the project manager can use techniques such as the power interest grid to categorise the stakeholders. The project manager then manages the needs of the category and indirectly satisfies the needs of multiple stakeholders.

In addition to the above, all stakeholders must receive appropriate communication promptly. When engaging with stakeholders, ensure communication requirements are gathered. These can be used later in the project to ensure stakeholders receive only the required information in the expected time, satisfying the needs of stakeholders.

By spending enough time putting the above measures in place, the project manager will achieve a project environment that is conducive to collaboration, leading to a positive working environment.

Risk Management

A critical element of every project is managing its risks well. A proactive approach is required where project managers anticipate potential issues before they occur with stakeholders and the project team. This aspect is performed at the beginning of a project and at regular intervals during the project based on the Risk Management Plan.

Uncovering risks that will affect the project allows the team to rank risks after assessing their probability and impact on the project. For risks that are categorised as high, risk responses should be drafted. The resources required to implement risk responses are summed to create a project contingency. Associated expenses get added to the cost baseline to obtain the project budget.

This process is very important and must be completed with sufficient detail for the project. Even a light touch effort to this process must be avoided even when projects are pressured to get off the starting blocks due to date constraints and high organisation priority. Contingencies are important due to the following reasons:

? When risks with responses turn into issues, the project manager can put the response into action rather than awaiting the project board to obtain approval.

? In practice, the project board members are generally high up the corporate ladder with diaries that are not conducive to the meeting at the turn of a hat. Which means delays to projects while a decision is being awaited.

? Having a contingency ensures that the project is managed more proactively.

The project management skills of motivation, influencing, and leading by example are all called upon to ensure that Risk Management is treated with the appropriate care and detail.

Budget Management

Creating and managing a budget for the project is another essential skill a project manager should possess. A successful project manager must be able to accurately estimate costs, with the assistance of the project team, and track expenditures throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring that the project is delivered within the agreed budget.

For the above, project managers should be financially astute. They must be able to analyse financial data and use the analysis outcome to make informed decisions. For decisions above the project manager's threshold, the project manager must be able to articulate clearly the necessary information to the Project Board to facilitate a decision.

In addition, budget constraints could be imposed on the project due to changing organisation conditions during the project. The project manager must be able to adapt to changing conditions and adjust the project plan accordingly, guiding the project team on the next steps.

Project managers use various tools and techniques to effectively manage project budgets, i.e., cost-benefit analysis, earned value management, and forecasting. To remain within budget, they must work closely with the project team to identify areas for cost savings and make necessary adjustments to stay within budget.

Therefore, budget management is critical for the success of any project, as it can impact the project's financial outcomes and ability to meet the stakeholders' expectations.

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Conflicts and disagreements are bound to occur during the project lifecycle. Project Managers must have the ability and skills to manage them using their negotiation and conflict resolution skills.?

A project manager should be able to identify potential conflicts and take proactive steps to prevent them. When conflicts arise, they should be able to mediate and find mutually beneficial solutions to meet the need of all parties. They must also remain objective and impartial during the negotiations to ensure that all parties are heard and respected.

Managing conflict is often stressful on projects, and the project manager must work well under pressure while creating a sense of calm for the team to resolve the issues at hand. The project manager must achieve the above while ensuring all resolutions align with the project's goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, project management is a complex and challenging discipline that requires various skills to succeed. In this article, we have explored five top skills project managers need to possess to succeed. These skills include leadership, stakeholder management, risk management, budget management, negotiation, and conflict resolution.

While the above is a guide to the skills that every project manager should possess, projects are unique. Project managers must be flexible and adaptable in applying their skills to suit the project's specific requirements and constraints.