It’s tough to be a project manager, isn’t it? To be able to keep your clients happy, your team motivated, your workflow aligned, your budgets, and your deadlines met. Well. Here are some pro-tips from the best in the industry to make your life as a project manager better.
Plan Ahead, Be Agile
Being a PM is all about planning and execution. But plans don’t always work especially with a team involved. Be agile and expect surprises. Use tools and preset sheets to plan.
Knowing Is Owning
Prepare a questionnaire for every project. Dig your clients for as much information you can get before you start – Budgets, Scope, Deadlines, etc.
It’s Not a Hurdle Race.
Unlike a hurdle race, you don’t have to resolve every issue then and there to move forward during a project. Learn when to temporarily drop an issue. Blocking yourself until you resolve something incurs time loss.
Be The Tool & Technique Master
Every project is a craft and every craftsman needs tools. Team Gantt, Scoro, JIRA, Basecamp are some of the top tools used by successful PM’s. Also Project Management Training available from various Institutes online& offline to use the technique effectively.
Prioritize
As a Project Manager, you are well aware of your tasks and deadlines. Prioritize your daily targets and avoid anything that can hurt in achieving it.
S.W.O.T Analysis
Work on the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats of all team members and use it in your project plans. Create learning opportunities for your team if the timeline permits and consider threats like physical illness history, etc. to plan.
Well Informed Is Well Prepared
Keep yourself and your team well informed of all aspects of the project. You can’t always be prepared for unforeseen issues. Keep yourself updated with effective communication skills through Project Management courses.
The Human Error
Planning a workflow is eminent but humans might tend to make errors in the best of systems applied.
Personal Touch
Though there are standard processes and workflows for most projects available, life is still unpredictable. Use your personal approach to your projects. Intuition used with common sense gets the work done.
Keep Track
Document your progress step by step for every project. Keeping track can be useful in numerous ways may it be resolving issues, knowing your dos, and don’ts for future projects?
Ask Questions
You don’t have to be a know-it-all just because you’re a project manager. You’re someone who is orchestrating the musical. You can say “I’ll get back to you” to your clients and “I need to understand this” to your team.
With 7.8 billion people, there are new ideas and techniques for improvements coming up every day. Dedicate some time of your week to learn through some PMP certifications and online courses. Effective communication is required everywhere but as a project manager, it is one of your most important assets. As a project manager, you are a bridge between the client and your team.
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A great way to learn is from a third-person experience. Many successful project managers have started organizing their online courses, certifications from institutes are also available online. Short breaks every day will help your brain relax and do its job better. Being a project manager involves a lot of stress in planning, documentation, and teamwork.
