3 Tips for a booming career in project management

As they say, practice makes a man perfect. We have always been practicing the golden rule of challenging work ever since the idea of personal growth and overall success have been introduced to us in our youthful years. By default, we learn to complete the assigned tasks at hand – end-to-end – all by ourselves and ensure to keep the expected quality and deadlines in check.

However, in the pursuit of managing all the tasks and the related components, we end up compromising on the critical aspects of running a successful project – research, problem-solving and reaching consensus between the interest of team members and stakeholders.

To ensure that a project is not off target, over-budget or past schedule, the project manager must not only be well-versed with the project management skills & tools but also have a prudent approach while managing a project.

Focus on being purposeful and not tactical

Usually, project leaders constantly find themselves in the pursuit of perfection by finishing details and specifics to ensure that the deadlines are adhered to. However, in the long-term, the tactic approach never meets the stakeholders’ expectations.

It is the strategies that help in setting the priorities right and thereafter achieving the right milestones. A thoughtful purpose helps you identify the core responsibility areas and makes trade-offs easy. When there is so much to do in a fast-paced business environment, the stakeholders need to focus on critical areas only.

Normalize talking about what could go wrong

Most business owners and C-suite officers choose to spend their time in the formal discussions where their accomplishments are being celebrated. Appreciating the triumphs is great but talking about the “red“ could be more advantageous than talking about the “green“. This would require changing the perception of failure.

If setbacks are seen through the lens of shame or disgrace, people will not feel comfortable flagging the challenge areas. This further discourages the potential achievers from coming forward and asking for help.

We need to agree on the fact that – highlighting cases of failure in a negative light is highly discouraging for the concerned individuals or teams who were, otherwise, entrusted with the responsibility of that “failed task” in the first place.

Understand your team’s driving forces

As project managers, we must recognize the pattern in the phases of our team’s peak performance and struggle. As somebody who is supposed to manage a project, 90% of the time must go into communication. As much as it is important to keep the stakeholders in the loop, it is equally important to be in touch with the team members for the smooth and successful completion of the project.

Every team member seeks direction and recognition for his responsibilities to be conducted with a sense of enthusiasm and faith in himself. Be familiar with their aspirations and their challenge areas so that it is easy for you to keep their motivation intact and mentored in accordance with the overall goal of the project.

Being the project manager, you want to have a clear idea of what are the vital areas that you would be required to be aware of in and out – the team’s motivation, the key objectives and an inclusive culture that embraces failures.

If you believe that this is something you are cut out for and need 360° career assistance from a globally renowned institution, then you want to have a look at our PG Diploma in Project Management provided by Edology in collaboration with GISMA, Germany.