Attempt to answer this question carefully: “Which position has become crucial for a company’s survival in the 21st century?”. One may argue that several jobs – including HR management, accounting, and marketing – have become essential for every company’s long-term growth.
Among these positions – you should notice – project managers are the people considered some of the most important individuals today. Interestingly, CNBC calls project management the quickest way for non-technical people to make lucrative salaries.
This popularity can be explained by the fact that all major functions/departments in an organization depend on people with project management skills. What are project management skills, though?
How To Become A Project Manager?
Since you wish to create a career out of project management, it only seems reasonable to consider what one means by it. Experts describe project managers as people responsible for executing projects from concept to delivery while facing financial challenges and other restraints.
Whether your title states you are a “project manager” or not, many employees assuming leadership positions must go through project management at some point in their careers. Thus, learning this skill should never be neglected.
Search on LinkedIn, and you’ll find several companies looking for either project managers or someone with relevant skills. Moreover, PMI claims the global economy will need 25 million new project professionals – or project managing graduates – by 2030. In light of this, this article explains how you can prepare for a career in project management. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Obtain Essential Certificates
Full-time employees can leverage distance learning opportunities and enroll in a project management online short course to become certified project managers.
Many courses are available for professionals in project-oriented roles who aspire to build a career in project management. You can take advantage of these courses to hone your skills, efficiency, and competency in this role.
These courses provide the foundational knowledge necessary to manage successful projects and make you a valuable addition to your company’s staff.
Adding relevant credentials to your resume also makes you more sought-after by employers. With more value to your expertise as a project manager, you gain credibility and open several career opportunities in the industry as a certified project management professional.
Moreover, extra credentials can boost your earning potential and promise a heftier paycheck after completion.
2. Maintain Your Qualification
Are project management certificates a one-off thing? Professionals should realize that certificates are hardly permanent. They require constant renewing to ensure certified project managers are always updated with every recent development in this area. For this reason, maintaining your qualification has become vital.
You can see that most project management certifications expire after two years. Retaking the test can increase your chances of keeping your job since employers are convinced you know the best practices and standards. So, remember when the time to retake the test is nigh.
3. Listen And Engage
Effective communication has become inseparable from productivity in modern-day business. Unless you learn to communicate with everyone involved in the project – your employees, colleagues, superiors, and customers – it’s difficult to become a successful project manager.
Hence, learn to listen to what others have to say. Attend to their opinions, appreciate their efforts, and keep yourself available for feedback. Also, teach yourself how to read people effectively.
4. Read People Properly
Statistics have indicated that 90% of companies consider project managers essential to high-quality business performance. This means that project managers can influence the productivity of their organizations, and it is up to them to keep this impact as positive as possible. There are a few tricks to get this result.
As mentioned just now, project managers must listen to their clients actively. Know your customer, learn what an audience wants, and find out how to communicate with them more efficiently. Grow your emotional intelligence since it helps you find everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.
You can assign a teammate a task that is most suited for them based on their strengths & weaknesses. Assigning the right person to do the right job can make your projects finish much more efficiently.
5. Update Your Knowledge
Even after gaining the required certificate, never cease learning if you wish to grow professionally in this job role. Learn about the latest tools, trends, and methods in project management to obtain the skills necessary to excel in the workplace.
Fortunately, most of the information you require can be tracked down on the internet. Project managers have social media groups dedicated to discussing the latest changes in project management methodologies.
Subscribe to journals and magazines to bolster your know-how while following online blogs or articles published by experts covering diverse aspects of an industry as advanced as project management. Keep updating yourself and improving your career.
6. Gain More Experience
Normally, online articles on project management suggest that non-certified project managers gain more experience to educate themselves.
However, this tactic works for certified managers as well. A project manager – whether certified or non-certified – should never ignore honing their experience to prepare for a glorious career in project management.
Remember, experience is your #1 priority in any industry. It clears your pathway to advancement. More experienced project managers are more likely to undertake challenging projects and earn more.
7. Know Your Tools
You should prepare for a career in project management by getting the tools needed for this job. These tools come in many shapes and sizes, such as software, apps, and dashboards that permit effective collaboration among employees and teams working together on a project.
Find digital platforms where everyone can share documents relevant to the project and keep you posted about their progress. These tools allow project managers to monitor the project’s progress in real-time. So, find the best software programs available out there for your success.
TL;DR
Project managers have now become in-demand professionals everywhere in the business industry. You can make yourself successful in this field by doing the following:
- Do some project management courses online and obtain the required certificate. Renew it after it expires.
- Know your tools, update your knowledge, and get as much experience as possible.
- Communicate effectively with your team, and learn how to delegate tasks properly.
- Learn how to use the latest project management tools to your advantage.
Ella Marcotte
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