Table of Contents

Ready to become a project manager but don’t know where to start?

Images

I am here with the comprehensive guide to serve as a starting point and a reference point for your career path and job search as a project manager. You can now begin to be part of that job role immediately by reading the basic abilities of each aspect of the career growth of a project manager

Here are the things we go through in this Article…

What does it really mean to be a project manager?

The fundamental personality features of a good project manager.

The skills of a project manager – Find out if you have the skills to be part of the project management industry.

What is really a project manager need to do?

An analysis of the most common responsibilities of project management in the current job market.

What is the secret to a career at project management?

Jobs and tips to change in the Project Management field.

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

How to become a project manager?

Preparation and the most valuable Project manager certificates that you can get out there.

Project manager pay– know how much to ask based on the level of experience.

Project manager job challenges – Find out how project management experts tackle challenges when they were beginners and are prepared to address any problems you may face successfully.

Ways to organize projects and produce products – Agile, Waterfall, PRINCE2, PRiSM, Six Sigma, Critical Path and much more.

Tools for project managers – Tools for partnership, video chat systems, project management software and other applications that project managers need to start a project.

What does it really mean to be a project manager?

Are you always your group’s leader who likes to keep things organized and everyone in mind, with a goal?

If your answer is YES, you could be on your way to a Project management:

As job career…

  • Management of projects is one of the most dynamic areas of work out there. Get ready for a true adventure that you will never get tired of. This profession has no room for dullness. A project manager (PM) is responsible for initiating, preparing, conducting, overseeing and completing an entire project.
  • Project managers consistently work in a team. Most frequently, they ‘re sociable and fantastic team players. You will need to adapt to various people, cultures, environments and situations as a PM.Being flexible is essential to team communication because you are going to be the team’s manager and controller.
  • To be a better Project Manager you need to be simultaneously a team leader, co-worker and boss. This is one of the most difficult careers because no day is going to be the same and all of your project management skills are required to solve any problem.
  • They might expect you to keep the answers to any enquiry. But this is what makes the career path of project management interesting.
  • You will deal with both formal and informal interactions. If you’re a person who knows people well from the moment you meet them, this could be the right career path for you. Project managers are basically similar to psychologists. They know exactly what the staff and customers have challenges, aspirations and ambitions. Yet despite being a citizen of the people,The PM is not going to get emotionally involved in their projects.
Body speaks

Knowledge of project management is also not enough to make you a great Project manager..!!!

So here… are some the skills of a Project Manager

Skill of Communicating:

  • Communication skills and technical knowledge walks hand in hand.
  • Effective communication should be the priority of every project manager.

Effective communication is must,it starts from the time of project kick-offs to the meeting of stakeholders.

Time management and Scheduling:

  •  If you ready to deal with roadblocks before they occur, you will increase your chances of doing successful projects.
  • Effective time management  creating of well-defined project plan.

Skills of Leadership:

  • Strong leadership skills when managing the team or Project.
  • For positive results in team needs proper guidelines and motivation.
  • Leaders are those who helps their team to develop project management skills.
skills of PM

Expertise in Technical skills:

  • Gantt charts helps to provide quality Output
  • Project management tools are frequently used in the process of planning, organizing and communicating to team managing resources, budgets, and schedules.

Risk Management:

  • Risks are uncertain events
  • Risks or problems may derail any project.
  • Impacts like positive and Negative happen on projects risk  occurs, the Project manager can plan and make the processes of project to run them in more smooth way.

Critical Thinking and Aim to solve:

  • Critical thinking is a skill that benefit project management disciplines.
  • To use their critical thinking skills to solve tricky and ambiguous projects.
  • Complex Problems to solve by Analyzing the facts, evaluating process without being bias and remaining goal oriented.

What is really a project manager need to do?

Depending on the industry in which you work, your duties may differ.

Analysis of more than 200 LinkedIn worldwide job postings and collected this list of important project manager duties:

  • Direct all phases of project management
  • Determine and manage project expectations with external and internal stakeholders
  • Coordinate and track various projects throughout the life cycle of the project.
  • Develop a detailed project plan to track progress of the project
  • Mentor, motivate and oversee project team members
Checklist
  • Developing professional business relationships
  • Determine the project scope.
  • Create and continually update project documentation
  • Create accurate forecasting of revenue and resource requirements
  • Partner with all departments to ensure that work is done as required
  • Establish effective communications
  • Ensure that team members have all the information they need
  • Track times of work and maintain accurate daily time sheets
  • Ensure that project tasks are carried out and reviewed within the framework of the organisation.

Here’s a look at what’s needed in some of the most common career paths for project management

Project of Construction

From setting up new shopping malls to repairing the nation’s aging infrastructure, an abundance of construction projects means that professional project managers are needed. Such professionals break down what needs to be done at every level and work with customers, architects, engineers and subcontractors to make it happen — including compliance with protection, zoning and legal regulations.

Project of Energy

Project managers in this area work to create new energy systems or enhance existing ones for public and private entities involved in them. For example, a project manager on a wind power plant project may be responsible for choosing and clearing a site, receiving contractors’ bids, keeping track of materials and equipment and ensuring a safe environment.

Project of Engineering

Companies hire engineers from aerospace to engineering to design new products or find better ways to do things (faster, cheaper, safer etc.). Project managers in engineering work closely with these engineers as they decide how to create something new or solve a problem.You also pay careful attention to engineering projects’ business side, such as allocating money, maintaining of budget and keeping customers informed.

Software manager

Software project managers use their strong technical experience as well as their ability to articulate concepts to the laypeople to make ideas a reality. After having a clear understanding of what the consumer actually needs, software project managers collaborate with tech workers to find out the measures required to make that happen and the tests needed to ensure quality.Along the way, they remain aware of deadlines, budgets, and future issues.

Consulting Firms

Often, both big and small organizations require assistance with such projects. Perhaps an insurance company needs to revamp their record-keeping program or a major city is updating their public works equipment.

Project managers consultancy have the management expertise and follow-up necessary to get results. They use their talents to identify goals, plan specifics in terms of time and money, hire and monitor employees, update everyone involved and solve problems when situations arise.

Health Care

While the number of people with medical conditions continues to grow and the age of baby boomers, healthcare project managers in the years ahead expect to have quite a lot on their plates. For example, a healthcare system might decide to open a new hospital wing and need someone to supervise every stage of its growth.

Such an undertaking includes cooperation with doctors, heads of departments, sponsors, members of the hospital board and vendors — each with their own preferences. Excellent interpersonal skills thus serve a project manager in the healthcare sector well, as does the ability to juggle various roles in a high pace setting.

Pharmaceutical Ventures

They keep a keen eye on factors such as updates, security, different departments requirements and cost-effectiveness, new equipment delivery, as well as meeting suppliers to negotiate specifications and make deals. Medical advances and medical therapies play an important role in improving health and quality of life.

 Managers of pharmaceutical ventures oversee new innovations from creation to sale. They work closely with physicians, researchers and advertisers on tasks, such as evaluating new products, record keeping, tracking risks, ensuring compliance with medical and legal requirements and getting the word out about new products.

Project management in marketing

A competitive global marketplace requires companies to carefully think about getting their goods and services heard. Project managers responsible for marketing take over brand awareness campaigns.

We work with marketing strategists to build a strategy to meet the target demographic and how it can be implemented. They create timetables and supervise the work of writers, designers and others.

Where do you actually begin your training to become a project manager?

You need to see if that career is right for you before you continue your project management journey. View other project managers accounts, reach out to them, ask questions or seek an internship in project management.

Moreover, you can take some online introductory courses to get your first look at this topic. Such courses typically have activities and assignments designed to get you to engage with this division of business to see if you can manage its responsibilities.

Below are several websites where you can find resources for online project management training: Alison, Simplilearn, Coursera and Udemy.

Alternatively, you might look at some of the most widely used concepts applicable to project management.

  • PMP
  • Certification with PRINCE2
  • PRINCE2
  • Certifications on Scrum
Rresponsibilities

Remember this :

See how project management works in real life, before settling on a degree. Activities at the college do not let you see the real results of your decisions. Operating with a real project will teach you all about transparency and the management of performance.

Find out the best project management courses you can take, or other educational options, for further learning opportunities like these:

Tools for project managers

Sometimes it takes more than a great project manager to complete the project on time and on budget. Times changed. Project management tools can now ease your work and eliminate the burden of working with paperwork that can be lost forever.

Let’s start with the basic tools…

What all of your team will need is a full documentation system for project development. In this case the Google Suite is your best free choice. Google Papers, Boards, and Slides will all work together. In this way, even when working remotely, you’ll be able to work effectively with your team members.

Also, by using Google Drive you can ensure the safety of your data. Microsoft One Drive, Dropbox and Apple iCloud Drive are all popular file-sharing programs. Remember to always link your files to cloud storage providers so that you don’t lose any of your documents.

What is the secret to a career at project management?

Effective teamwork is essential to ensuring each mission is completed according to the client’s requirements.

you’ll need a place to pose questions, share news, plan meetings, clarify tasks, and get feedback. There are a lot of collaboration tools in this context, like Slack, to which you can link your entire team. You may also use services that include video chat, if you prefer face-to – face contact. Slack also acts as a video calling system in this case but you can opt for other alternatives like Skype, Google Hangouts, or Viber.

You shouldn’t neglect the efficiency component of the whole project development process. For this reason, you can organize your papers, notes, and even documents using Evernote, Wallet, or Google Keep. And if you want to keep track of the time you have spent on a job or project, you can also use time tracking tools for this.

Forms of project management and product creation

The project management process, and its techniques, methodologies, or structures, have many different approaches. Things are changing forever. New structures and developments in PM are emerging all the time. You ‘re mistaken if you think you can get away with learning just active for the rest of your life.

We summarized a list of ways you could plan a project to make it easy to understand. You’ll also be able to figure out which ones are ideal for the way you operate.

Agile 

It is a set of best practices and principles for products and initiatives which face different changes throughout their progressThis mentality is focused on fast development cycles (called sprints) and a collaborative work culture that encourages ongoing collaboration between teams.

The Agile competency relies on the team leaders and their daily suggestions that can reshape a project’s direction

Scrum

Scrum is primarily used in software development or product creation. Small cross-functional teams operate with a Brand Owner who is in charge of the management

Kanban

Kanban is a tool by which you can get a visual description of your activities. The system consists of a three columned physical or digital screen (To Perform, In Step, Done). These involve tasks written on cards which can be transferred from one level of progress to another until they have been completed.

The PMBOK

With this guide, project managers can divide the projects into the following five selected Project Management Institute (PMI) Process groups:

  • Initiating
  • Scheduling
  • Executing
  • Monitoring
  • Close

The PMI standards are primarily found in the USA, Canada and the Middle East and it includes the processes and procedures used to complete projects. I

Project manager pay or salary?

The salary of the project manager varies based on the location in which they work and on their previous experience. Despite this, Project Manager annual income will vary from $50,000 to $112,000. According to Glassdoor, the average project manager salary in the United States is $75,475, while extra cash rewards can vary from $1,540 to $19,754.

But this project lead salary may be either lower or higher, depending on the abilities, experience, and awareness. Project management jobs are still in high demand and annual wages are projected to rise at all project management levels over the next ten years.

If you’re not sure if project management will still be needed in the future, here’s a PM Work Growth report.

Challenges and here how to deal with them in …

  • Career opportunities in project management are really not ideal. Like any otherjob, this one has its drawbacks. The actual fact is that it can be a hard job and you’ve got to be the appropriate candidate to do it and manage all the challenges of project management.Some Project manager can even spend long shifts of stress to ensure that a project is on track and delivered before even in the timeframe.
  • Timeline. More than this, you can’t expect to just go home as a project manager and disconnect completely from your work. Many Project manager keep track of their tasks, respond to emails and stay linked even after work or on holidays.
  • This means you have to handle various different projects and allocate just enough daily time to monitor and control them all. If you’re barely at the beginning of your career, this could be difficult as you still don’t have the necessary information to manage your time accordingly.
  • On the other hand, you may not be able to select which project you are going to be working on. That means you are going to get small tasks that could waste your time. This is one of the factors why a project management framework in an organization where the general managers and project managers have similar powers is so difficult to enforce.
  • People often do not like project managers, either Employees like good project managers because they offer comprehensive and precise assignments, they ‘re considerate and can lead by example
  • To gain the team’s confidence and avoid needless debates, learn to listen effectively to others, concentrate on team cohesion, interact freely and strive not just for statistics and progress reports but for actual project results. Understand how you can to be their mentor and make sure that the way you guide them is as helpful and specific as possible.
  • Accept people, and value them. Always see the leaders of your team as simple tools or computers that can perform any mission instantly. Listen, learn and adapt to your own needs. You might not be a good fit for this role if you don’t like dealing with people and you’re bored while waiting for colleagues to finish their duties.
  • When you work for a smaller organization where you are the only project manager, you may be responsible for all duties.

What’s next for you?

You don’t have to end your career journey at becoming a project manager. You can go on to become a program manager and manage multiple related projects. The option is in the role of portfolio manager. It is up to them to select and prioritize future projects according to the rules and strategy of an organization.

Finally, you will become a director of a project management office. This job helps to ensure project management for the entire business. You can always apply for an executive role or start your own business if you have higher expectations from your job.

The reality, though, is you depend entirely on what your clients want. Don’t be mistaken. You can make your own suggestions, but you also need to be flexible to make any last-minute changes without complaining. Often, top management gets to make the final decisions.

Now it’s your spin…

Teaching yourself on managing projects will be the first step in determining what your company needs in terms of the position, process and everything else that has been tied up in project managers. Taking this knowledge and applying it to your situation is the best thing you can do. One way of making sure that you are going in the right direction is to question yourself always.

Recommended Reads:

Also Check this Video

Recommended videos for you

Interested in Henry Harvin Blog?
Get Course Membership Worth Rs 6000/-
For Free

Our Career Advisor will give you a call shortly

Someone from India

Just purchased a course

1 minutes ago
Henry Harvin Student's Reviews
Henry Harvin Reviews on Trustpilot | Henry Harvin Reviews on Ambitionbox |
Henry Harvin Reviews on Glassdoor| Henry Harvin Reviews on Coursereport