How to Be a Better Project Manager: Advice from PM Experts

Project Managers are multi-talented species. They cannot be successful if they are not.

Managing a projects involves multiple tangible and intangible aspects such as

• Leadership
• Communication
• Expectation management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Keeping teams motivated & focused
• Be the go-to man for the team
• Expertise not only as a PM, but end to end understanding of the project
• Managing timelines, budget, quality & deliverables

As is evident from the list, one size doesn’t fit all. And there is no silver bullet that will provide everything on a platter. A project manager has to have a mix of the technical knowhow, empathy, and ability to lead, take the fall if things go bad, and turn the tide in favor of the business.

And, he/she has to do it while keeping the business as well as the customers happy. Not an easy thing to do by any means.

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A project manager must have the capability of keeping a watchful eye on the rear-view mirror while maintaining a very hard look ahead.

While having a project management certification surely adds value, builds your credibility but the practical nuances of running a project come with experience.

You must be a fast learner and quick to adopt skills and ideas in the interest of the project. All of which require a high emotional quotient along with a technical acumen.

Want to be a good project manager? Then only a certification and past experience as a project team member won’t be enough. Here is an article on successful Project Manager Dos & Don’ts.

Who is a Project Manager?

Project managers are the backbone of businesses. They are at the forefront of bringing out the best from the people, process and technology at their disposal. From managing organization resources, defining procedures to keeping them all relevant, a project manager must plan and organize every aspect of the project, while also motivating everyone involved.

A project manager is also a smart worker who learns more about the upcoming new project before hitting the execution floor. Looks for lessons learnt from similar past projects and is adept in bringing in past experience to achieve the project goal.

Here are some tips and advice by PM experts that help you to be a good project manager:

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Conclusion:

As you continue to run from strength to strength with every project, make sure you share the learnings and experience. Maintaining a lessons learnt log is critical for the business.

While you focus on accomplishing project goals, ensure that the teams also evolve with an enriching experience both from a technical and soft skills standpoint. It is your responsibility to improve the overall team quality for your organization.

Ability to collaborate, communicate with precision, setting the right expectations, moving from guesstimates to accurate planning, delivering on time and most importantly – “owning outcomes”.

Remember all actions are worthless unless the “outcomes deliver value”. Hence drive this point home across the project team. Get them to answer a simple question – “will this action help me add value to the business or the outcome?”

And for the tactical aspects of project management you have project, task, time, resource and collaboration tools like Orangescrum to do the heavy lifting for you.

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