6 Traits of a Successful Project Manager

David Banks
Authored by David Banks
Posted Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - 6:01am

Being a project manager is not an easy position to be in. To be truly great at your job, you need to be a strategic business partner who is willing to invest their time into organizational success and to be able to deal with foreseeable setbacks. Every project manager must know how to accomplish a project on time and on a budget. They need to be consistent and willing to make changes to ensure this. If you want to stand out and be a particularly effective and successful project manager, then here are the six traits required. 

Be Strategic

If you can offer a high-level of strategic skills when it comes to leadership and technical management, then this will provide a number of advantages for businesses of all sizes. There are many internal and external factors that can have a negative impact on projects, but these are issues you must be able to deal with as an effective project manager. 

A Good Communicator

Having good communication skills is an extremely important quality of a good project manager. You need these communication skills to connect with people on different levels. A project manager must explain the goals of a project clearly, as well as everyone’s responsibilities, tasks, feedback, and expectations.

Have Empathy

You need to have the ability to understand and care for people and you need to be grateful for any help you receive. These are just a handful of things that an empathetic leader will need to show to their members. Your remit includes having the ability to understand the requirements of the project, the team, and its stakeholders. 

Cool Under Pressure

As a project progresses, you will face incidents that have the potential to take a toll on the momentum of the project and it will certainly test the patience of a project manager. A project manager must be able to keep their calm during these times and be consistent to ensure they don’t lose themselves because this can affect the team, including relationships and motivation. 

Technical Expertise

There are many types of project management tools and software, which are essential when it comes to accomplishing the goals of a project. If you want to stand out, you need to have a good amount of technical knowledge in order to understand any problems linked to the technical aspect of a project. Being aware of and having a thorough working knowledge of the best project management tools currently available will be extremely useful in this field.

Effective Negotiation Skills

Being a good negotiator is an essential quality if you want to be a good project manager. It is required for successful management and to get the most out of your budget. Sometimes, conflict can arise due to different opinions within the team. A project manager will need to have an effective set of communication skills to sort out the problem and to maintain good relationships. 

As a project manager, you need to know exactly what you are doing, how to instigate new projects, and how to deal with the disputes that will come with them. You need to be versatile, good at making decisions and work well as a team. If you have the attributes listed, success will definitely be in reach. 

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