Project managers are the backbone of any successful company. They are in charge of getting things done and seeing that the project stays on track, which is why they need to have the right skillsets.
However, considering today’s highly dynamic and uncertain business environment, staying up-to-date and acquiring such skills has become challenging. This is where an online certificate in project management from India can help. These courses can help you get a leg up on your career as a project manager!
6 Essential Skills for Project Managers
But before that, let’s explore these skillsets and understand how an online certificate in project management from India can help.
Also Read : Phases of Project Management
1. Leadership (in a Pandemic) Skills
If you would have read this blog a year ago or if it was written a year ago, this skill may not be on the list. However, since 2020, the world has witnessed a pandemic, due to which companies were unable to stay afloat or complete their projects. As a result, project managers found themselves in a difficult position to manage their teams.
This is why the need for leadership skills in a pandemic-like situation arose. In a situation like this, it becomes essential for project managers to motivate their teams and inspire them with hope. They need to provide stability in such times when everything around them can fall apart at any moment.
Project managers also have tough decisions to make:-
- Do they prioritise their team or the organisational goals?
- Do they offer comfort to their employees or focus on the ongoing project completion?
To make these tough decisions in a pandemic situation, they must have good leadership skills.
2. Communication While Working Remotely
Communication has become a real pickle since remote working became the new normal.
However, you cannot be an effective project manager if you can’t articulate what you need your team to do. The challenge here is that earlier; you could stay on top of your team and the project’s progress. However, everyone working from their home, reporting, collaboration, and teamwork has gone down the drain.
So you need robust reporting tools that can help you establish clear communication with everyone related to the project, from vendors, stakeholders, customers to your team members.
An online certificate in project management from India can help you do just that. It exposes you to the widespread communication and management tools that allow you to foster effective communication in your organisation.
Also Read : 7 Skills to Become a Successful Project Manager
3. Effective Scheduling Skills
Until now, you’ve explored only the soft skills you need to thrive as a project manager. Now, let’s get into some of the hard skill sets required of project managers – how to create a project schedule.
The ideal way to achieve this goal within the given timeframe is to break down the responsibilities into smaller tasks and fit them into the project’s timeline. That’s scheduling. And it is the heart of what a project manager does, so you need to acquire this skill set if you aspire to thrive in this domain.
Here are some ways to ensure proper scheduling:-
- Know when to use time tracking software.
- Ensure that you’re realistic about the resources at your disposal.
- Develop an understanding of how best to allocate workers across tasks and projects.
Effective scheduling is not just a matter of mastering certain skills; it’s also about being clear on what you want from different people so they can produce the desired result in the time allocated. So, you need to express your expectations clearly and concisely through a project plan that includes deadlines for each deliverable.
Also Read : How to Build a Thriving Career in Project Management?
The more detailed your schedule is, the better off you’ll be in managing tasks and people’s workloads-especially if they have multiple assignments at once.
4. Risk Management Skills
Whether you are planning a project, looking for a job, or thinking about pursuing a new career line, everything you do in life is a risk.
And planning a project is inherent with risk. As a project manager, it is part of your job to identify and address these issues before they become problems. Therefore, you need to put in the work to identify, assess, and mitigate risk.
The more you manage the risk, the more likely your project will succeed.
Of course, you can’t anticipate everything that may happen over the project’s lifecycle. However, you can be prepared and have a process in place to handle these contingencies if they occur.
The XLRI project management program online can help you do this. One of the significant benefits of this certificate program is that it teaches you to handle and anticipate risk through various topics, including:-
- Project Planning
- Risk Management Tasks
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
All these skill sets can be used in your professional life as a project manager or in any business profession where managing risks is essential.
Also Read : Traits that Enhance the Performance of Project Managers
5. Budgeting and Cost Management Skills
You can’t take the project forward without money. This is why budgeting and cost management skills are critical for project managers. Project managers need to know the available budget and how those funds will be allocated to keep the work progressing smoothly.
A good understanding of a company’s financial objectives can help you figure out where your money is best spent, whether it’s on labour costs or materials purchases. You can pursue an online certificate in project management from India if you need expert guidance. Or you can refer to a case study on project management professional certification in India to understand the need and importance of one.
6. Critical Thinking And Not Just Reacting
Critical thinking is a skill that can be applied to any situation. It means you need to ask what-if questions and challenge the status quo while applying critical analysis skills and being creative in your problem-solving.
Critical thinkers are able to look at problems from multiple angles and identify risks before they happen. They also have excellent decision-making skills. This is where the need for project management comes to light. Managing a project proactively and identifying the project’s needs can serve as an essential skill for any successful project manager.
Over to You…
Now you know the skill sets you need; all you need is a credible project management program. A project management course entails practical training in critical parts of project management, including planning, execution, monitoring and control, closure phases and risk management techniques.
The XLRI project management program can help you acquire these skills with ease so that you are ready for any challenge.
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