Being a project manager is challenging. It requires the ability to organize events, people, and projects. Being a good project manager is difficult, but being a skilled project manager is close to impossible. It requires a deep understanding of project deadlines and how these align with the company’s goals. A project manager needs to manage their time efficiently while not micromanaging employees.
Avoid the Danger of Micromanagement
Understandably, project managers want to show that they are diligent when they are assigned a task. Many mistakenly think the only way to do this is to micromanage their team.
Instead of motivating their team, micromanaging makes a team feel like they are not trusted. It is uncomfortable to have someone constantly nagging you and breathing down your neck. It can make a project take longer than it should.
When deadlines are looming, some managers feel that by making their employees work over the weekend and refusing to give them nights off they will get the task done quicker. Usually, employees who are micromanaged feel burned out. They feel demotivated and want to quit. They will only do the bare minimum to get by. A great project manager avoids micromanagement as if it were the plague.
Identify and Evaluate Priorities
To be a good project manager, you need to separate the urgent from the important. If you see everything as if it were a disaster, you will not know where to direct your energy. Your employees will feel confused, and productivity will suffer.
It is difficult for project managers to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. Project managers need the training to help them in this regard. Programs that offer the agile coaching certification can help project managers work in a way that allows them to complete all of their assigned tasks while helping their employees maintain a positive and upbeat spirit.
Effective Time Management Is Important
Great project managers see time management as priority number one. Some would argue that employees should be priority number one. However, a project manager who has learned how to effectively manage time is one who puts their employees first. They understand the importance of keeping a balance between working hard during work hours and allowing their employees to have free time and to live their life.
Project managers help employees get things done in a timely way without unnecessarily pressuring them. Employees are more efficient when work is given to them without there being an artificial time crunch put on them. Time management means being able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each employee and assigning them tasks that they can accomplish in the most efficient way. Time management means giving employees targets that they can meet each day so that at the end of the day they have a sense of accomplishment.
Communication Is Key
A good project manager communicates well. They need to communicate with stakeholders and team members. This allows the project to be delivered on schedule.
A poor communicator promises stakeholders things that are impossible and then puts pressure on employees to complete tasks in an unrealistic timeframe. Poor communication creates problems with the team and with clients.
A good project manager understands that not everyone communicates in the same way. They use their familiarity with their team members and their clients to tailor their communication to make sure that the information they want to transmit gets across in a clear and understandable way.
You Need to Be a Psychologist
A project manager who does their job well can get into the minds of their employees. They know what their employees can and cannot deliver. They know how fast they can accomplish tasks and know what tasks their employees are good at and what tasks they are not good at.
They understand how to encourage employees to finish tasks they are good at and encourage them to persevere at tasks that they might not be the best at but that needs to be accomplished in order for the job to get done. This means that a good project manager will get to know the strengths and weaknesses of their team.
Conclusion
Good project managers bring out the best in their team. This allows them to deliver projects on time. With good communication, time management, and problem-solving skills, they help their team become the best they can be.