How to enjoy a successful career as a project manager
Project managers are responsible for leading a project to create positive change in an organization. As a project progresses, they will come up against various large and small obstacles and challenges, which they will need to overcome to reach their goal.
As the entire task is on a project manager’s shoulders, they might feel overwhelmed at the large task ahead of them. Therefore, it takes a certain personality, knowledge, and skills to lead a team of professionals and execute an important project.
If you are looking to enter the occupation or expand on your existing skills, read the following advice on how to enjoy a successful career as a project manager.
Enroll in a masters in leadership program
Poor communication skills and an inability to inspire and motivate a team can negatively impact a project. To lead a team, you must gain their trust and focus on clear, inspiring language that helps you establish a vision for a project. What’s more, you must work on your problem-solving skills to overcome various obstacles you might encounter.
If this sounds easier said than done, it doesn’t need to be after enrolling in a masters in leadership program. The flexible course cannot only help you use more commanding language and improve your problem-solving skills to affect change, but it will improve your cross-functional awareness while learning about potential legal, ethical, and political issues. Learn more about a masters in leadership course, which could provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to guide a team to success.
Encourage collaboration
Many hardworking professionals can become wrapped up in their to-do lists, and they may forget about the importance of face-to-face collaboration. To enjoy success as a project manager, you must schedule regular project meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal.
Again, this is where a masters in leadership will come in handy, as you will improve your communication style to help command attention and inspire a team. Encourage the project team to communicate with each other, discover problems, and ask questions. If they can’t meet face-to-face each day, set up a routine virtual call with the team on the likes of Microsoft Teams or Zoom to discuss their task lists and the potential problems they might encounter.
Improve time management
Successful project managers understand the importance of good time management. Ensure you hit a deadline by setting strict timelines for each team member’s role on the project, which you must also connect to weekly or monthly goals. By doing so, you can improve clarity on their tasks, as they will know what they need to do and when they must do it. Also, it can help to monitor a project’s lifecycle with ease and identify and mitigate a potential challenge if a team member doesn’t hit their deadline.
Develop exceptional organization skills
You must work on your organizational skills to enjoy a rewarding career as a project manager. You will need to organize your calendar with your key delivery dates, team days off, personal commitments, etc.
While some project managers prefer paper calendars, others use digital calendars to send reminders before a deadline. You can then follow up with a team member or stakeholder to identify if they will hit their deadline on schedule or have encountered any problems that might slow the project down.
Of course, your team members may be working on more than one project, which is why you must factor their responsibilities into your calendar. If you don’t, they might struggle to reach their goals on schedule. Again, this is where a masters in leadership program can add to your skill set, as you can learn how to quickly solve a problem using strategic, technical, or analytical techniques. Plus, when you take a masters in leadership course, you will learn how to use the correct language to convey the importance of a team member completing their tasks on schedule.
Learn how to say no
Most project managers will receive a stream of requests from across the business and clients. However, if you have various time-sensitive tasks to complete, you must learn to say no in a respectful yet firm manner. If you take a masters in leadership course, you will learn how important it is to use the correct language to communicate professionally and clearly with others.
Of course, before you say no, you must review your schedule to identify if your team has the time to complete a task. You must have a firm understanding of your team’s capacity to avoid overloading them with work or prevent a bare schedule.
It is your job to manage realistic expectations while caring for the entire team’s wellbeing to prevent burnout. It will not only ensure they remain in good health under your watch, but it can avoid expensive, unnecessary delays.
Saying no to requests might not feel easy, but it is essential to prioritize tasks. You must identify work that provides the business with the highest value and only pick up important, urgent, and expensive tasks.
Write clear, friendly, and informative emails
Communication between a project manager and client must be clear, friendly, and informative. When emailing a client, you must start with a friendly greeting, address them by their name, and end the email in a polite way, such as wishing them a good day or a great weekend.
Pay close attention to the email’s structure, too. Clarity is essential. Place questions and their solutions in a separate paragraph, and underline or bold sentences that need addressing. It can result in smooth, clear communication. If you are attaching documents, highlight a document page number in a paragraph for their reference.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
If you have any doubts regarding a client’s needs, the delivery format, or specialism, you must ask questions. Once you have the information you need, you can quickly scratch a task off your list, which will push you one step closer to completion.
Keep learning throughout your career
Remain at the top of your game with constant learning. For example, you could familiarize yourself with new translation tools, explore new features on Microsoft Office, learn how to use CAT tools, or complete a masters in leadership program. A larger knowledge equals a wider skill set, which can help you become an asset to a business. The more you learn throughout your career, the more doors you can open.
Manage the workflow
As you will want every project to be a success, you might feel tempted to micromanage your team. However, a lack of trust in your team can prevent a project from succeeding.
Standing over your team members’ shoulders will drain them of morale and slow down productivity. Every professional secured their role for a reason, which is why you must trust in their ability after delegating one or more tasks. Instead, you should be on-hand to provide support, coaching, and training opportunities when needed.
Remember, it is your responsibility to manage the workflow, and micromanaging can take you away from this task. Focus on prioritizing tasks, preventing obstacles, and developing a smooth workflow with zero delays.
Avoid overtime unless necessary
There is a misconception that you must stay late at work to hit a project deadline. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to work many long hours to be good at your job, and you are not lazy for going home on time.
If you and your team are working extra hours to reach a deadline, there is no wiggle room in your day to resolve potential problems that arise, which is when projects can become delayed. Effective project managers understand that overtime is there to resolve obstacles, if necessary. Setting realistic expectations for the working day will ensure your staff can leave the office at 5 pm over 7 pm, and they can stay a little later if an issue occurs.
Adopt a big picture mindset
Experienced project managers look at the big picture. For example, they can look ahead, anticipate their team or customer’s needs, and have a firm understanding of a business environment and how the project fits its goals. If adopting a big picture mindset proves a challenge for you, you could benefit from enrolling in an online masters in leadership course.
Try to keep stakeholders happy
There is more to project management than creating a project schedule and delegating tasks. You must become a facilitator of other’s ideas. What’s more, you must ensure the project isn’t only on time but that it is within budget, doesn’t compromise on quality, and satisfies the stakeholders’ needs.
To keep stakeholders happy, you must determine their requirements and include them in a project. Also, you must guide and influence them during a project to achieve your team’s desired outcome.
Accept you don’t have all the answers
Even if you have many years of experience in project management, it is unlikely you will know every single answer to a question or how to solve each problem without others’ help. A good project manager is willing to ask questions, learn from their mistakes, and admit when they don’t know an answer or when they are wrong.
Don’t be stubborn and ask a client to clarify a point or reach out to a team member for assistance to move a project along. It can help you develop a reputation as a competent, honest, and fair leader, which can serve you well when managing a team and help you advance your career.
Connect with people across the business
Aim to form connections with hardworking professionals from across the business. While powerful figures in the company are an asset, you shouldn’t be afraid to form friendships with people on much lower salaries. In most cases, they will be many intelligent, ambitious colleagues at an organization who are happy to share information to grow in their career and learn from an experienced manager.
By doing so, you could learn about different departments and even receive information you might never have known without their help. For example, a connection in another department could inform you if a project is being discussed behind your back, or they could provide a warning about another project or business change that could disrupt your project. This informal network could prove invaluable throughout your career.
Offer feedback to your team
Feedback can help your team members learn and grow, which can help them develop in their careers. As a project manager, you cannot be afraid to provide constructive criticism, and you must aim to be clear and positive. Also, you should praise a team member publicly when warranted, which will make them feel like a valued employee.
Conclusion
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to project management, as each organization will define the role differently. Yet, there are various shared qualities and tactics that can ensure your success, such as exceptional organizational skills and a friendly, professional communication style.
If you want to flourish in a role, you must be open to continual education, from reading about your industry and the latest project management tools to taking a masters in leadership program to expand your skillset.
Of course, a masters in leadership program can provide you with the knowledge and skills to solve problems and use the right language, but it is up to you to execute this information in a professional setting. So, you must maintain a big picture mindset, form friendships with professionals at all levels, and strive to motivate a team each day.
From time to time, you may need to set your pride aside to ask questions, request help, or admit when you are wrong. Also, avoid micromanaging your team members, focus on managing the workflow, and consider the potential challenges that could thwart a project’s success.
If you follow the above advice, you could enjoy a long, rewarding career in project management and develop a positive reputation with senior management and your subordinates.