To be a successful project manager has taken a new meaning amid the pandemic. Since Covid-19, project management has not been the same. Everything went remote; the collaboration went down the drain, and project delivery got delayed drastically.
When businesses were shut down and the economy went off the rails, only the project managers who were fully vested in organisational success are the ones who survived.
So let’s take a chapter out of their book and learn about the qualities they possess apart from pursuing PM certificate programs online.
Qualities that Define a Competent Project Manager
- An Excellent Communicator
Communication plays an imperative role in managing projects, teams, and stakeholders. However, anyone can speak or present him/herself in front of an audience.
So what makes an excellent communicator?
Active listening is what makes an excellent communicator. It does not just mean being a stellar facilitator, speaker, or writer; it also means possessing the ability to listen. Listening to others’ views and factoring in their perspective, experience, and knowledge helps reduce potential conflict in the workplace and avoid blind spots, ultimately increasing the likelihood of project success.
- Integrity
Everything never goes as planned, especially while managing projects. Mistakes are made, and corners are cut, which is why project managers need to be accountable for their decisions and send a strong message to the team.
Integrity, decisiveness, and sound judgement — these are the three pillars of being a successful leader. Without the ability to think beyond your own benefit, you cannot become a highly-effective project manager.
And no amount of PM certificate programs online or leadership training can help you develop this quality. This is the one trait that comes from within and cannot be inherited.
- Leadership
As a project manager, you cannot please everyone. Having an established relationship and reputation typically means you’ve worked hard to get where you are. If you are a novice, becoming a leader will take time. It requires hard work, perseverance, accountability, integrity, and vesting in the success of your stakeholder, among other things.
Moreover, you need to be a team player and possess the right knowledge as well as a skill set to lead a team. This is where project management professional certification from XLRI comes in handy. By helping you understand why project management matters, this course can enable you to lead projects and teams more effortlessly.
- Stakeholder-focused
Covid-19 has left the world hopeless and depressed, making it highly challenging for people to focus on the stakeholders rather than personal and family hardships. Nonetheless, as project managers, professionals need to separate their individual needs from the stakeholders. They need to deliver results at all times regardless of the situation.
This is the level of focus companies expect from project managers. Are you up for the job? Pursue PM certificate programs online and make your way to the top.
- A Strategic Business Partner
Project managers don’t just offer technical management skills; they also boast of high-level strategic leadership behaviour. And since the beginning of Covid-19, there have been far more complex factors, both internal and external, having a negative impact on projects in every industry.
Such factors include economic, ecological, social, legal & legislative restrictions, remote project challenges, and international transactions — not to mention significant resource constraints and transport delays.
However, if you don’t have a strong acumen of how your project fits with the overall organisational objectives, you can end up hampering your chances of successful delivery. This is where the project management professional certification from XLRI can come in handy. By exposing you to every facet of the domain, not only can this course help you make the right choice between project management and operations management career, but it also allows you to increase project success rates.
- A Skilled Motivator
It’s a well-established fact that a project manager’s ability to communicate with and influence stakeholders are paramount to any project’s success. After all, you need to find ways to motivate everyone on the team, no matter how big or small their role is in the project.
And not just that, as a project manager, you also need to instil confidence in the minds of stakeholders, especially when there is a need to approach them with changes in the scope of the project. And all this can only be achieved if your team is motivated to work towards the common goal of the project.
- An Agent of Change
If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that change is inevitable and can be highly disruptive. Even the most highly effective project managers have faced the conundrum of change. Understanding it, embracing it, and preparing your team to get through the uncertainty.
They have also recognised that being an agent of change is imperative to help stakeholders adapt to it and be better prepared for future contingencies.
- A Great Problem Solver
Competent project managers work with a team of experts or consultants from several departments who use their expertise to carry out necessary tasks. However, conflicts and problems arise. As a project manager, this is where you need to showcase your prowess and capability to produce a collective response to any problem you experience while delivering the project.
By providing you exposure to common challenges in this domain, the project management professional certification from XLRI can help you acquire this skill set.
Showcase Your Unique Identity to the World
Every project manager has different characteristics, expertise, and skill set. Own up to it, yes. However, don’t limit yourself to what you have in your skill kit. Expand your horizons, think beyond merely delivering the project on time, and approach each project differently.
With this rising demand for project managers, the above-mentioned qualities can help you gain a grip in today’s fast-paced business world. And pursuing PM certificate programs online is the first step towards it.
One such PM course you can rely on is the project management professional certification from XLRI. This project management course comprises every intricacy of the domain ranging from basic concepts & applications, project modelling, financial risks to project governance and final delivery.