As a Project Manager, you will come across many different challenges every day and you will often wonder how you can improve your skills to become more efficient within your role. Below you will see some areas you can focus on to improve your skills.
If you haven’t done so already, get yourself a project management platform to work on that will improve the overall management of the project you have been given. Below you will see 4 platforms that will be suitable for you to use.
1. Trello– Over the last few years Trello has become one of the most popular platforms to use. You can access the platform on your PC and smartphone which makes things easier whilst you’re out of the office.
2.Asana– This app allows you to do the same things as Trello. The app lets you create to-do lists, making sure that everything that needs to be done is done on time and by the correct team member.
3. Evernote– This is one of the most reputable apps for boosting productivity, both on a personal and professional level. While it’s not strictly a full-on project management app, we believe it’s worth mentioning on the strength of being a great companion app when it comes to managing a lot of complex, time-sensitive business projects and tasks.
4. Basecamp– Basecamp is one of the oldest project management tools around. This makes it one of the best to use as a Project Manager, giving you the ability to send direct messages for quick discussions and sending you notifications within working hours. You can even show your appreciation once an objective is complete by applauding your team.
Although this may sound simple to achieve, being firm with your objectives will be key.
You will need to make sure that your team are fully aware of the objectives you have set and which objectives they will need to complete by setting deadlines. This will give them a clear outline of what they’re aiming for.
Let them know what they will walk away from when the project is finally complete.
Keeping an eye on your productivity levels is a good way of determining why the project keeps getting held up.
If the project keeps getting delayed for one reason or another, it’s time to take a step back and monitor what your team is doing. Whether it’s something that they’re ordering from your suppliers too early or not completing tasks quick enough, these could be reasons that are causing the project to delay.
This will also help you determine whether you have chosen the right team member to complete the objective.
Aim to keep morale high throughout every task in the project. Set milestones and reward your team members at each stage of the project if completed on time. You’ll be able to achieve this by doing something as simple as taking them out for dinner or offering an incentive for completed tasks. This will keep productivity levels high and increase the performance of your team which will then produce better quality work.
Good communication throughout the project will be important for you and your team because as a Project Manager you will be communicating 90% of the time, whether it be to your team, stakeholders or suppliers.
It’s essential that you successfully get your ideas, objectives, deadlines and issues across effectively. You can use techniques such as delivering presentations to the team so it will be good to increase your presentation skills.
If you can lead, you can deliver. But most importantly, leadership is often what is missing in the Project Manager’s arsenal of highly developed technical skills.
If you’re a Project Manager, I can guarantee you have felt the need to improve yourself as a leader at some point.
Know what you’re buying and roughly how much it costs so you don’t get hit with a huge bill for something that is worth half the price!
Getting qualified with a professional organisation will make you more desirable to employers and will also increase your wages.
Find more about getting qualified by a nationally recognised awarding body here.
You will come across many different organisations who will be able to help you get qualified but you need to make sure it’s with a professional organisation that has accreditation to deliver the qualification.