(Focus on team leading skills. Is there a wrong or right way to manage people for effective PM?)
As a project manager your role will include managing people as well as projects. You may not be a direct line manager, but as part of each of your projects you will need to manage a range of people, from project resources through to key stakeholders. You’ll be leading a project team, and getting the best out of that group of people will be critical to the success of your project.
So how do you manage and lead effectively- especially when you may be leading a virtual team, in a range of locations and with a wide range of roles?
As a starting point, strong communication is key to good interpersonal skills. You’ll need to make sure that every team member is clear about their role, and has an easy route to feed information back to you. You want people to feel confident in their own communication abilities as well, as this means you’ll receive better information from them. Communication between team members also plays a role in making the team feel like a team. When you’re working in different locations and on different part of the project it’s easy for there to be a disconnect – if they only ever speak to you, how do they gain a feel for how the team is working together?
Following on from this, giving and receiving feedback effectively is essential for a project manager. Not only following a project to improve future performance, but also during the project. You need to make sure you understand how to provide essential feedback without negatively affecting motivation, and how to provide constructive support for people to move forward.
As a team manager you’ll need to inspire those working for you, particularly if you know there are a series of more routine tasks to be completed, or a distribution of workload that may seem unequal. Your leadership is essential to motivating others –and your attitude towards the project and towards your management role will make a real difference to the performance of the team.
There are of course management skills that are specific to difficult situations. If a project is facing problems, perhaps outside the control of the project team, it’s important that you are able to manage stress levels, both your own and those of your team members. Dealing quickly and effectively with any conflict that arises, either within the team or between the team and external contacts, is vital to ensuring project success.
If you can effectively master this range of interpersonal skills, you’ll be in a strong position to see real project success. You’ll have an effective project team, able to withstand anything the project throws at them, while feeling motivated and inspired to do their best for you.
Dr Ian Clarkson is Head of Project and Programme Management Product Development a QA -leading providers of Prince2 training. His role provides business direction and ownership of QA’s portfolio, programme, project and risk management curriculum. Ian is an experienced lecturer, author, speaker and consultant, having delivered programmes and projects in all industry sectors.