What do you think makes an excellent project manager? A degree? Well yes. But just a degree won’t take you a long way on this path. What really makes a great project manager is the project management skills. A degree is the mark of the education and training you have received. It will help you to land that dream job of yours. But to excel in this role, you will need several soft project management skills. 

We have come up with a list of skills that are highly desired in a project manager. Take a look.

Leadership

It is a no-brainer that this is the most crucial skill of them all. As a manager, you will be handling different teams. And to get the best performance out of each member of the team, you will have to motivate and mediate them. Now you also have to keep one thing in one mind that every member of your team is not the same. The definition of a good leader varies for each of them. So you will really need to understand their needs and act accordingly. That is what will make you a great leader. 

Communication

Leadership and communication go hand in hand. You cant be an effective leader without being a good communicator. Your team members cant deliver you the desired results until and unless you clearly tell them what is that you exactly want. This also applies to the other people like vendors and stakeholders, with whom you will be working while managing a project. 

Task Management

If the project is a big jigsaw puzzle, then tasks are the little pieces. When put together in the right order these small pieces are what creates the beautiful picture. As a project manager, you will have to see that no task is overlooked. With the help of some tools, you will need to prioritize and assign each task and also make sure that they are completed in time. Even if one task goes wrong, it brings along the possibility of ruining the entire project. 

Cost Management

Needless to say, projects come with a budget. And usually, your organization will keep the rope tied tightly on this. The first step that you need to take to ensure proper cost management is making a budget. The step that needs to follow is sticking to it as much as possible. Although these two steps may sound very simple, they are actually not. There are many factors at play when it comes to sticking to your budget plan. And unfortunately, most of them will not be under your control. But, with time and experience, you will start getting an idea about how to predict and control these factors. 

Time Management

If you want to be known as a great project manager, you will need to get your hands on this skill well. Throughout your project, you will have several deadlines to meet. Missing even one may prove to be fatal for your project. Therefore, just like cost management, for time management too, you will need to create a timeline and adhere to it. 

Risk Management

Risks are like uninvited guests at a dinner party. They will visit your project uninvited and unwanted and ruin it for everyone. So before you start your dinner party i.e. your project, you need to identify potential risks and be ready with a plan to mitigate them. Now there will also be times when the risk would appear completely out of the blue. You will need to keep your calm and work on ways to control it in such a time. 

Quality Management 

This is a skill that you won’t find on most of the lists. But it is indeed a crucial one. Quality management is looking after the quality of the tasks that are completed. Project managers often are busy meeting deadlines that overlook the process of checking the quality of the tasks. While meeting deadlines is important, maintaining quality is also equally important. 

Critical Thinking

Although it is a very common term, but only a few of us know what critical thinking actually means. Throughout the journey of your project, you will face multiple conflicting situations. These situations would need you to think clearly and come up with solutions in an unbiased manner. It may sound like a very different skill to possess. But don’t worry, you will slowly pick up on this skill as you face more difficult situations. 

Negotiation

Some people will put these skills under communication skills but not us. We think that it needs to be mentioned separately. Being a project manager, you will have to negotiate not only for prices but also with the demands of several people. You will also need to use your negotiation skill if and when a conflict between your team members arises. 

Problem Solving

Even with years of experience at your feet, there will be situations wherein problems will arise out of nowhere. no amount of planning and preparation can control these. In these situations, your only savior will be your problem-solving skills. 

Project Recovery

Project recovery is jumping and acting efficiently to save a project that has little left to it. Although with the kind of technological tools available, the rate of project failure is really low nowadays. But still, the skill of project recovery is much sought-after. 

Technological Skills

Technology is a boon to us. All of these tasks that we have been talking about till now require the use of technology in some form. And the more tech-savvy you are, the easier every step of project management will become for you.

Some people hold the opinion that skills are something people are born with. But we believe that skills can be acquired too. And that’s the basis of the Project Management MSc course that we offer. We at Lincoln University of Business and Management focus on delivering technical knowledge but also honing soft skills. Under the guidance of an exceptionally experienced faculty team, you will learn how to be an exception in the crowd. So go check out our course now and start your journey of building a fulfilling career. Feel free to connect with us.