5 Project Management Skills to Boost Your Career - CareerAlley

5 Project Management Skills to Boost Your Career - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Managing business projects is a skill that spans a number of career paths and demands a wide range of talents and aptitudes, underpinned by experience and wisdom. To complete projects to a good standard, within budget and to schedule, you require expertise across an array of areas, such as budget and time management, customer relations, prioritization and team leadership to name but a few. However, by taking note of a few sensible tips, the results seen from your project management efforts can be significantly bettered and your business and career will be greatly improved. These are the recommended 5 points to consider: Ensure That You Fully Comprehend the Task This might seem like stating the obvious, however many people plunge headfirst into projects without spending the time to comprehend the project brief properly. Make room in your schedule to look through the information provided by your sales team. Note down any queries you have as you read. If you are not sure about any areas, or have any specific worries, be sure to express these early on, to prevent later confusion. Only once you have fully examined the brief, should you pass the details of it onto your team in a concise and clear manner. Tackle Each Project in an Original way Although you might have to work within a particular framework for a project, you should not forget that each project has its own characteristics. Team members, budget considerations, and time constraints alter should be considered and you need to adjust your modus operandi appropriately. You might have to change your style of leadership to make sure you meet tough deadlines, or alter your method of communicating to suit the different people in your team. Whatever changes you enact, try to retain a flexible approach. Test and Tweak Should your project start off in an encouraging manner, do not automatically think that it will carry on like this. Always monitor the status of your project, to ensure that you are providing what was initially requested in the customer brief. A few styles of project management, like Agile, have scope for customer engagement, usefully checking that their wishes are being fulfilled as you progress. This can save you money and time, by circumventing the requirement for major adjustments, in the event that one crucial missed step is revealed at the projects completion. Express Your Worries Although you are the manager of the project, your role does not extend to conflict resolution. Should one of the members of your team develop a negative attitude and fail to deliver work to a satisfactory level, it might be best to ask his or her supervisor to tackle this, rather than wading in yourself. Disciplinary procedures do not fall within your jurisdiction. Similarly, if you are encountering a high level issue, you should convey this to your supervisor. The more communicative you are, and the more skillfully you raise legitimate issues, the simpler you will find it to address problems as they appear. Theres no Substitute for Experience Irrespective of the amount of time you have worked as a project manager, you can always learn more. Each project you complete will teach you something new, so make the effort to improve. Whether it is feedback for management, opportunities for training or fresh communication methodologies, spend some time reflecting in a positive manner, and create your own personal development action plan. By taking these 5 points into consideration, you should find that the educational process is quicker, and that you progress further as a professional project manager (while delivering great projects at the same time). Wisdom, experience and qualifications are important, however these 5 easy tips will allow you to witness improvements straightaway. Book Corner [easyazon_link asin=1118497236 locale=US new_window=default nofollow=default tag=caree07-20 add_to_cart=default cloaking=default localization=default popups=default]Project Management For Dummies[/easyazon_link] Author Bio Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he offers a few tips for successful project managers and aims to encourage further study as a master of project management online This is a Guest post. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ Job Search job title, keywords, company, location jobs by