10 TIPS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGER

10 TIPS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGER

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams, Late President of the USA.  

Project managers are the foundation of successful project implementation of any scale, in any industry, at any given time. We have put together some tips for being a successful project manager based on our experience and communication with others in the field. I hope they will be of use to you in your career journey. 

Also Read: THE ULTIMATE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST

Here are our suggested top 10 tips on how to be a successful project manager: 

Share Project Data With Clients – Transparency is the key to being a successful human being let alone a good project manager.  Keep the client in the loop at all stages; create trust with all the stakeholders. Provide the clients access to all data, issues, and progresses made through various mediums or channels such as emails, dashboards, automatic reporting, and so on. 

Oversee Team Time Management – In all projects, each team member is allocated tasks and usually, time spans are allocated for completing those tasks. As a project manager, it is imperative to keep a strict vigil on performance and timelines. This was you can negate inefficient duties and haul up errant team members. 

Risk Management Time Allocation – Schedule time for yourself to review project(s) you are managing. Take feedback from team members and delays in tasks, these will help you deal with issues or challenges before they arise and act as barriers in the timely execution of the project. 

Create Repeatable Templates – If you have noticed that your projects have a pattern, then take proactive steps to create templates for workflows, data, tasks, and project types. This will save you a lot of time and energy in the long run which can be constructively spent elsewhere. This is where project management software comes to the aid of businesses and project managers. 

Daily Budgeting – All projects come ideally with strict budgets. As a project manager, it is your duty to remain on top of the daily financial spending. Set aside time daily to review the same, make it a habit. Every day review the budget, the expenditure so you know you are not overshooting the same. 

Workflow for Unseen Roadblocks - A successful project manager with rich experience behind him/her creates action plans for unexpected issues and challenges based on previous projects.  Share it with the team members and avoid last moment stress and meetings. Pre-empting unwanted scenarios and situations is the hallmark of a good manager. 

Visual Goal Setting Format – Visuals always achieve better results than written text. Hence take the aid of visual aids (charts, graphs, and timelines) to describe and showcase the project goals. These visual aids must be easy on the eye and to understand for all.   

Allocation of Team Tasks – Allocate tasks for team members with small deadlines which are achievable and boost morale. However, each team must also have deadlines just as the project has a completion date to be considered successful. The PM is responsible for the time spent by all team members and their adherence to timelines. 

Personal Learning – A human being needs to evolve with time so does a professional. Therefore, make it a habit to keep upgrading skills which will hold you in good stead over time and open up new opportunities. 

Schedule Reviews – Make reviews of projects on a weekly basis second skin. Keep aside time to review projects, schedules, improving systems and generally being proactive and head of the game always. 

About the Author

RS Maan

RS Maan is a Salesforce certified business consultant with 18 years of experience in Business Development, Account Management, Market Research, Sales & Strategy Development, Leadership & Operations in the IT software industry.