Top 10 Key Project Management Skills Required In 2024 [Updated]

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Do you feel that project management is important for any organization?

Before knowing its importance, let’s understand what is project and project management. Well, a project is an activity to create unique product or service.

Projects are about innovation, diversification and transformation and in this changing scenario we are experiencing a lot of change. Today’s businesses are more complex, fast and competitive. Therefore, it is important for an organizations to have managers with business management skills which are goal oriented.  

Project management certification is the planning and organization of resources to achieve a specific task, event, or duty towards completion of the project. Project management is the application of skills, understanding, tools, procedures and processes to perform activities to meet the project requirements. There are various processes involved in project management processes like initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing. 

If organizations wish to improve their performances, in sales, relationship with customers, product quality and cost effectiveness, it is significant to have project managers with these key project management skills.  

There are various fields which are associated with project management like engineering, construction, health care, information technology and others. Industries which complex requires project management.

Well, no matter which industry is associated with project management, the job of project manager will be same. Project managers have to achieve the goals and objects of any project given to them. Further, they have to create a quality products or services to meet certain standards.

Therefore, project managers should have key project management skills to achieve their goals and objectives. Now, let’s discuss various skills required for a project management.

1. Communication and Technical writing

Well, communication is one of the key project management skill, required in project management. Project managers should know what and how to be communicated. Project managers should know to how to develop good relationship with colleagues, seniors as well as with clients.  

They should be able to effectively put their points across. They should have an ability to communicate their vision, goals, as well as objectives. They need to be simple and directive and effective in communicating.

Further, do you know technical writing is an important key skill for project managers? Well, technical writing is one of the important technical skill.  Project managers should know how to deliver effective high-quality content to get things done on time.

2. Digital and Computer savvy

Do you feel that competency in computers is required for project managers? Well, yes! It is very important, these days’ that project managers should be competent enough to handle computers.  Project managers have to write business plan, give presentations and make budgets.

 Therefore, it is required that project managers should have literacy in MS-office. Power point for their presentations, excel to make spreadsheets to deal with numeric and MS word for writing.

Project Managers may not require to know the working knowledge of programming or maintenance of websites. But having basic understanding of digitalization is always useful. This may include a technical skills for project managers like general understanding of web design and search engine optimization. They should be aware of Wi-Fi, internet, emailing, downloading, mobile messaging, mobile apps, video conferencing etc.

3. Statistics and Data analysis

Enroll in our PMP Certification today and develop a strong foundation in the principles of project management.

Well, data analysis is another important technical skill for project managers. Data analytics refers to the skills, technologies, practices that are useful for deriving the perceptions that can be used for future business planning. It is a field that is now applied across all domains and industries.

Business analytics is used by companies committed to data-driven decision-making. It can be used to automate and optimize business processes.

 In other words, querying, reporting and alert tools can answer questions such as what happened, how many, how often, where the problem is, and what actions are needed.

Business analytics are a vital part of any business and important in the current scenario. In order to find flaws in existing processes and focus on meaningful data that will help an organization, prepare for future growth and challenges.

Data analytics are an essential part of any business. Business analytics make up continuous improvement programs, a large portion of decision support systems and many of the other techniques used to keep competitive in business. Business Analytic tools are now vital to succeed in your business and best part is that these tools can be connected on a single computer for small applications or in server environments for enterprise-wide placements.

Once they are up and running, managers with less specialized training can use them to produce reports, charts and web portals that track precise metrics in data sets. Further, managers should have other business management skills like knowledge of basic statistics. Now, why statistics?

Well! To understand every business process, project managers should know about the mean, mode, median, standard deviation, and probability. As these statistic tools will help the project managers to understand the variation in processes and take right decisions.

4. Cost Control and Budget Management

Do you feel that budget management is important technical skill of project managers? Yes! It is. A project manager needs to have knowledge about money and cost control because any management job is to allocate resources like money, people, machines or time.

 Project managers make arrangements to put people on tasks, money into investment which is an allocation of resources. Once the resource is allocated, then measuring performance is significant to understand your return on investment (ROI).

5. Expertise in subject matter

A project manager should know enough about his subject. He should be aware of what’s going on and how it’s going to be done. Project managers should have sound knowledge of their subject which allows them to communicate effectively with the team as well as with their seniors. They should be aware of current trends of the market and tries to implement in their project at right time.

6. Leadership and team management

Another key project management skill is leadership.  It is one of the most important project management skills that they need to possess. They should know how to lead, motivate a team and how to align people to achieve goals of a project.

Further, he should be able to analyze the situation and take right decision at right time.  He should be supportive, understanding and accountable to his project requirements.   

Project managers should also how to delegate tasks, handle conflicts, and evaluate performance effectively. Project manager should evaluate each and every team member and helps them in improving their skills. Bringing a team on common goal is important key skill for a project managers. An effective project manager moves the entire team in one direction in an effective manner.

7. Coaching and Mentoring

Coaching and mentoring is important aspect of team management, as it leads to productivity. Project managers should mentor their subordinates and developed the culture of coaching others to perform well. Therefore, project managers should have skills like tutoring, mentoring and counseling which leads to productivity among team members.

8. Organization and Time Management

The organization is another important technical project management skill required by project managers. Managers should know how to organize and prioritize complicated tasks and execute them smoothly.

As a project manager, you should make sure that your projects do not create chaos among your team members. An important aspect of being organized includes documenting everything for future reference.

Time management is a key project management skill which many people do not possess, but it’s considered to be one of the important technical skills for project managers. Every project has a due date and there are various tasks that is required to be done within a short period of time. Therefore, it is significant that project managers should know how to do task prioritization.

Project managers should follow project timeline, and make sure that these deadlines are met throughout the project lifecycle. Good time management leads to productivity, improved efficiency and team’s performance.

9. 5s and Kanban

Project managers should have knowledge of 5s and Kanban.

5S is the tool of continuous improvement. It helps to keep the workplace organize and clean.

• Sort (eliminate that which is not needed)
• Set In Order (organize remaining items)
• Shine (clean and inspect work area)
• Standardize (write standards for above)
• Sustain (regularly apply the standards)

Kanban is process to identify bottlenecks in process of project and fix them so work can flow through it cost-effectively.

10. Six Sigma

Another important technical skill for project managers is process improvement. Every business can make profits by increasing customer satisfaction and improving quality of their products.  Well, Six Sigma training is the method which can be used to help businesses to run better than ever before.

No matter what your business is, chances are that six sigma can help. Six sigma concepts can be applied in every department. It can be used in production, sales, marketing, design and administration and service.  

Project managers can learn and apply it skillfully to their jobs, costs will be reduced by 50% or more. It will also help you to understand your customer’s needs better and more efficiently. It improves performance and delivery and will make great internal improvements. Project managers are learning about lean six sigma– a key project management skill and using in their own companies because of its high success rate.

Apart from above key project management skills for managers, they should know how to negotiate well and manage the risks. They should be able to how to negotiate with suppliers, clients, and stakeholders so as to ensure a win-win situation. They should know how to identify risks in project, control them to increase the success chances of project. Project managers should have critical thinking and know how to solve the problem.

Project managers should know how to dress appropriately, eat properly and work well with others. Project managers should exhibit social/telephone/e-mail etiquettes as they have to interact with different people like customers, colleagues and others while travelling to far off destinations.  Project managers should maintain the balance between soft skills and project management technical skills.

Recommended Reads:

• Top 9 Project Management Courses in Kolkata
• PMP certification exam cost
• TOP 20 PMP Exam Questions and Answers
• Is PMP Certification Worth It in India?
• 10 Best PMP CERTIFICATIONS IN SINGAPORE

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FAQs

Q-1. What are skills required by the project manager?  

Ans :Key Project Management skills include technical, management and soft skills. He should know how to communicate, delegate, plan and make right decisions for an organization at right time.

Q-2. How do I prepare for a project manager’s interview?  

Ans :  You can keep these points in mind when preparing for an interview;
–        Leadership
–        Know the Company’s Needs/goals/objectives
–        Understand Strengths and weaknesses
–        Know your subject well
–        Team management
 

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