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18 Key Project Management Skills Every Project Manager Needs

It may seem that being a project manager (digital producer, project manager, site development manager) means being a boss, being the most important and managing people. But this is not so. Management is the solution of complex tasks and resource management. Project manager is the same member of the team as the rest, so he does not rise above it. For people who just want to give orders, this profession is not suitable.

To be the project manager in an outsourcing company is difficult, but interesting and useful for the development of many personal and professional skills. Geniusee managers have many years of experience managing projects of varying complexity and scale. Their character and knowledge gained from books, articles and invaluable practice help them to do their job well. Want to work on a product that thousands will use? Follow our recommendations.

Project Manager Qualities

Flexible skills for yourself:

the ability to ask again until a clear picture is formed in the head
the ability to be in the minority and not lose your temper when someone does not support you
stress resistance
the habit of multitasking. It will help to correctly distribute its load, prioritize tasks, make the right decisions in changing conditions and under pressure
love of difficulties and unusual tasks
critical thinking. It will help to get out of difficult situations

To work with the team:

optimism. No matter how bad it may be, you must raise the mood of the client and the team and not transfer your fears to them
punctuality
the ability to assess the urgency of tasks, to separate the important from the secondary, not to panic and not to rush to solve a problem immediately when it appeared
ability to formulate your thoughts
well-developed empathy in order to correctly capture the state of the client and team members
analytical mind. It will help to weigh the available data and factors in order to assess risks, pessimistic and optimistic scenarios and derive something realistic from them. This will help manage customer expectations
self-organization and effective time management. It will help to competently manage tasks and fit into deadlines
ability to find non-standard solutions

To work with a client:

the desire to get to the bottom of things, constantly ask yourself the questions “so what?”, “why so?”, etc.
diligence
the flexibility of mind
sociability and competent speech. It is important to correctly convey information about the decisions made, motivate the team, direct the client to think in a way that is useful for the project

Project manager tools

Slack, Skype, Telegram, etc. - messengers and communications. The whole craft of the manager rests on the ability to communicate, so you will spend a lot of time in these applications. Correspondence must be kept.
Jira - will help you to create custom stories and tasks, plan sprints and distribute tasks in your development team; set priorities and discuss the work of your team in conditions of absolute transparency; improve team productivity by relying on visual data available to team members in real-time.
Figma - cross-platform service that allows several people to work on the same project in real-time.
Float is a tool that helps to visually plan the time of specialists and to further manage it. It works online, on iOS devices and in conjunction with Slack and Zapier.
Zeplin is a desktop and web application that serves for the detailed storage of design layouts. Zeplin allows you to group, store and display all screens, interface elements and the distance between them, color and text styles.

Books for project managers

“7 habits of highly effective people” Stephen Covey
“Everything is negotiable” Gavin Kennedy
“Deadline. A novel about project management” Tom DeMarco
“Just listen: discover the secret to getting through to absolutely anyone” Mark Goulston
“Think, fast and slow” Daniel Kahneman
“Peopleware. Productive projects and Team” Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister

What do you need to be in order to work as a project manager?

To be a project manager, you need to have a special character, special intentions and an innate desire for organization. It’s easier to be born as a manager than to become a manager.

Anyone who has decided to embark on the path of project management or is still holding on to it - good luck, strength, warmth, adequate customers, a close-knit team and successful releases.

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