Effective project management is no easy task. From initiation to planning, execution and monitoring there
are many different roles involved. So, how do you make sure that you’re performing at your best in a
project management position? These are our tips.
Nurture your leadership skills
Positive leadership is vital in project management, so focus on nurturing the skills and techniques that will help you to motivate, mediate and ensure your team is on board.
Create a clear project schedule
This is an incredibly important starting point - you need to be realistic with timings and managing resources accordingly.
Get really good at managing task
Whether you use technology to help you improve at this or a more manual approach, task management is a vital skill for a great project manager. Creating, assigning and managing tasks is what will keep your project on track.
Communicate clearly with everyone involved
That could be employees, partners or a range of other stakeholders - being able to clearly and concisely vocalise what you need is vital. This may also mean using all the tech tools at your disposal to enable clear communication channels across the project.
Identify, assess and control risk
All projects involve risk and a great project manager knows how to manage this, whether it is predictable or not.
Stop reacting and start thinking
We are all guilty of being reactive, especially in tricky situations where there is a challenge to deal with. If you can switch from reacting to critical thinking mode then you’re likely to be able to make better decisions and achieve more positive outcomes. Try to be objective, evaluate and analyse a situation before you take any action.
Be patient
You can almost guarantee that something won’t go to plan and if you’re impatient then you’re likely to feel frustrated and react badly. Applying patience to hold ups, obstacles and issues will make it much easier to identify a workable solution.
Make sure you’re on top of the financials
Your project will go nowhere if the budget isn’t accurate. Setting realistic financial projections and being able to ensure that you stay on track is going to be crucial.
Be prepared for constant negotiation (and get good at this)
Project management is a process of balancing the interests of all your stakeholders and being a strong negotiator will ensure that you’re able to do this so that everyone walks away happy.
Focus on delivering on quality
It’s not just about delivering but ensuring this happens to the standard that has been set out in the paperwork for the job.
Don’t be afraid to see the funny side
Sometimes, a sense of humour is all that is required to diffuse a tense situation or to re-gain perspective when this has been lost.
Keep on top of the latest technology
There are many different options available when it comes to project management tools and being able to use the most effective can give you an advantage in terms of time, resources and outcomes.
These are just some of the ways you can improve your project management performance. Find out more by booking onto our Practical Project Management training course...