One day you’re a rookie, straight out of college and all of a sudden, you find yourself handling responsibilities and tasks on your own.
Becoming an executive is great, but it is a serious role that requires you to be fully prepared. Fully prepared, how? If you’re qualified to do the job you’ll obviously do it well, right?
Wrong.
There is more, so much more, to managing a team and successfully executing a project. Here are 5 project management skills that will help you to sail through projects that much more easily.
#1 Prioritizing Tasks
There will always be some other task (or more) vying for your attention. You need to understand what needs to be prioritized and completed first. Remember, you are not putting off work, but are scheduling tasks so everything gets done without you or your team scrambling between multiple tasks at the same time, giving each project its due time and effort.
Learn to make proper to-do lists, or better still, put your smartphone and work computer to good use.For instance, Mac loyalists can opt for a mobile app like SnoozeMaster for setting reminders for impending tasks that need to be completed within a wide span of time, ranging from a couple of minutes to as long as several months. Android users too are not left behind in terms of tech tools that enhance their project management skills with apps such as Calendar Master (in the image below). They enable professionals to activate a wide range of customized snooze options depending on the software service being used for the reminders.
When you choose the right people, it is like getting half the task done already. They already possess the skills and acumen to accomplish the project goals.
However, also remember that when you put together a team, it is not just for the professional skills that they bring to the table. Are they all compatible? Do they share the same goals, overall? If there are conflicts, being able to handle them efficiently is also a hallmark of a successful executive.
#3 Try And Test
Learn, if you wish, from your previous experiences and case studies, but you must also understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. There are many factors at play and each project must be handled according to its individual requirement, whether it is the client, the end-user, the market, the working team or even the top management’s say.
Innovate and be willing to try new things rather than force-fit a previously worked solution onto the current project.
#4 Time Management Skills
If you let it run, a project can run forever. Or it can refuse to stick to your expected timelines. You are the leader and you must anticipate and plan for each phase, backtracking every detail from the expected time of delivery to the day you start the project.
Try and plan well in advance what are the key elements of the project, if possible allot the most time to them and work your way down to the less important elements.
#5 Making The Most of Technology
Even though we have a dedicated team and each one has a role to play to ensure that the project gets completed on time and the desired results are achieved, it pays to have a little help if not assistance from technology.
We all are already slaves to technology, but in the professional world, it helps to have technology at your beck and call.The tech world is filled with project management tools like Trello, Wrike, and Evernote, to name just a few, that can help you mark your progress and keep you in check if you are faltering.
