A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Project Manager
Project management Definition-
In todays dynamic world of business, many companies are seeking trained professionals with relevant knowledge and skills to manage projects for them. This is why the role of project managers is highly significant today. The following article will discuss about how to prepare to be a well-versed project manager. Let us take a look at what it takes to reach this level.
Skills and Education
If you are an aspirant student thinking of venturing into the domain of project management, you must groom yourself at first. All professionals require a certain set of skills and strategic business techniques to be able to supervise projects in an organization. Project Management courses will help you gain a fresh perspective of this leadership role and aid in managing in a more structured manner.
Students who wish to receive hands-on knowledge, training, and awareness related to this industry should seek admission to a project management course. Pursuing a project management program will help you learn all about the elements most significant to be a project manager, such as Planning and Scheduling, Tools and Applications, Business Principles and Requirements Management, Project Risk and Quality Management, Project Estimation and Cost Management, Procurement and Contract Management, International Project Management and Professional Responsibilities and Project Management. Many institutes also offer special courses. Certain Project Management courses also entail hands-on integration of technological tools like Microsoft Project.
An educational background in project management will help you train for the middle and upper management positions in an organization. A course in project management will cover fundamental topics like dealing with employees, how to serve as a link between entry-level labor and upper management, and how to communicate with co-workers. You will also be taught how to create memos, be diplomatic while choosing words and highlight the achievements of your team. Under-graduate courses include Project Planning Management Concept (PPM), Microsoft Project Planning Management (MSP) from CADD Centre Training Services, while post-graduate courses include PGD in Project Management + MBA in Project Management from MIT School of Distance Education. By the end of your course, you would also have learned practical concepts like contacting clients, performing internships and managing time.
Let us now understand what it takes to serve a company as a professional Project Manager.
Mantras For Excelling as a Project Manager
? Communicate well
Any project will bomb without a successful communications plan. So the first step is to document everything. Create status reports and make calls whenever required. You need to keep track of the project status, risk and the steps that will follow. So stay transparent by making a weekly status report related to the processes and budgets. This way you will never be face an awkward situation where you have to go back on your word or request for more money or time to wrap up your project.
? Keep the expectations real
You must set and control the expectations from you and the project. This should be defined by a descriptive document that every team must use to set the point for what will be delivered when. This will help keep processes in check. Even when you take stock of the situation with the client, review the scope with reference to the project timeline so you won?t have to explain why two weeks will be needed to set up basic concepts. The answers will be in front of you and in your defense you may also present similar processes from the past that took this long.
? Know when to include the team
Building a website is a creative process and requires teamwork, but there is also a managerial front to every project. You may have to keep a tab on the speed and progress through meetings and phone calls. During your meetings with the client you would exchange ideas one on one while the team remains out of focus. Your responsibility is to make sure the team is involved when the client comes up with new ideas which the team will have to execute. This will ensure that the client?s ideas are incorporated in the project requirements. A project manager must not set design-related or development-specific benchmarks unless documented earlier.
A good project manager must also know how to manage the stakeholders and finally, he must support and encourage his own team and processes.
Author bio: Devika Arora is professional writer who writes informative articles and blog posts after analyzing the current trends pertaining to educational courses, job scene, about SAP courses and careers. The above article discusses about the realm of Project Management.