How to Become a Good Project Manager – A Complete Guide
Project managers are an inevitable part of the organization and play a pivotal role in making every project successful. They are leaders who organize, plan, execute, and monitor steps undertaken by employees to successfully complete a project. Project managers are result-oriented; therefore, they encourage and motivate their subordinates and colleagues to do the same. Here is how you can become a good project manager.
How to Become a Project Manager?
Project managers are hard workers and multitaskers. In addition to having the relevant degree or pursuing a certification course in project management, you need appropriate skills to become a project manager. These skills can be acquired during the course. Here are some steps that you need to undertake to become a successful project manager.
Analyze skills
Every job requires skills specific to the field. Having relevant skills enhances your efficiency and productivity. For instance, for becoming a content writer, one needs to have a knack for words. Similarly, to become a project manager, you need skills in budgeting, scheduling, documenting, and others. So, before deciding to pursue a career in product management, analyze if you have the required skill set. Even if you do not have the same, you can easily develop the required skills by pursuing a course in project management.
Build managerial experience
Many project managers start their careers in non-managerial positions to understand the nitty-gritty of the business. For instance, many marketing managers start their careers as management trainees. They learn administrative work, gradually acquire managerial skills, and become successful managers.
Take up certificate courses
Certificate courses help develop technical skills like risk management, budgeting, leadership, and others. You can take an online project management course from Emeritus India. It offers a world-class educational curriculum. Such certificate courses enhance your resume and highlight your specialization, giving you a competitive advantage.
Look for entry-level positions
No one is a born manager; everyone works hard and puts in the effort to become one. Many managers start their careers with entry-level positions to gain industry knowledge and develop relevant skills over a period of time and then eventually become managers. Here are some job titles that would prepare you for the role of a project manager:
- Operations Coordinator
- Operations Associate
- Project associate
- Administrative associate
- Associate project manager
- Junior project manager
Enhance your resume
Follow the above-mentioned process to enhance your resume. The more experience you have in the field, the higher will be the chances of getting a good job. Besides gaining work experience, you can pursue a course in project management which will significantly increase your chances of getting a lucrative job.
What Are the Skills Required to Become a Project Manager?
Project Management Institute (PMI), a leading global institute in research, predicted that the demand for project managers is expected to increase by 2027. According to the study, an ideal project manager should have a mix of technical, leadership, strategic, and business skills. Let’s skim through the skills required to become a project manager.
Good communicator
Project managers need to communicate constantly – from team meetings to town hall conferences. Therefore, project managers need to be masters of words. According to Cesar Abeid, a public speaker, project managers spend 90% of their time communicating in some way or another. Therefore, project managers need to be good communicators. Otherwise, poor communication can lead to inefficiency, losses and inadequate use of resources.
Effective negotiator
As project managers are a front face of many business functions, they need to be effective negotiators. From managing resources to engaging with suppliers, project managers have to be skillful negotiators to keep both the parties happy and involved. Depending on the situation at hand, project managers can choose to apply different negotiation styles.
Time Management
Ideally, time management and scheduling are the primary functions and responsibilities of project managers. They are largely responsible for the timely completion of business goals. Therefore, project managers need to be efficient at time management and scheduling to avoid roadblocks that may lead to missing a project’s deadline.
The crucial step to effective time management starts with creating a well-defined project plan as the most common cause of project failure is poor planning.
Critical thinking and Problem solving
Critical thinking is an essential skill for project managers. Good project managers need to be proactive and use their critical thinking skills to solve tricky business problems. They should have the skills to state facts, analyze the situation, and find a solution.
Leadership
As project managers manage and lead a project, they should have strong leadership skills for completing the project successfully. Strong leaders foster efficiency and productivity, thus, facilitating timely completion of the project.
What Are the Advantages of Efficient Project Management?
Project management is about using specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to successfully deliver a product or service that adds value to the customer. Project management deploys a team, strategy, and innovative methods to deliver value to the customer. Here are some of the advantages of project management:
- Project management enables efficient communication between managers and their teams. Since each manager has one project in their hand, there are fewer chances of miscommunication. Proper communication increases efficiency and productivity. Project management deploys a team for a project, and their collective effort leads to producing desired results. It increases customer satisfaction and builds brand loyalty.
- Project management enables in setting clear goals. These goals are achieved by project managers and their teams.
- Efficient project management helps in reducing the risk of failure.
- Project management enhances the skills of project managers as every project brings new challenges on board. And, while tackling such challenges, people in the organization learn new things and contribute to personal and professional growth.
Careers in Project Management
A survey conducted by Anderson Economic Group revealed that there are excellent job opportunities for project managers. Interestingly, by 2027, the number of project management job roles is expected to increase by 33 per cent. Interestingly, the report states that India will generate 21.7 million project management jobs in 2027.
Even in the present day and age, many multinational companies are offering lucrative pay packages and reputable job titles in project management. So, now is the best time to make a wave in the project management industry. Emeritus’ comprehensive short-term project management courses will ensure that you make a splash in the professional spectrum.
