Ways to Improve Your Project Management Skills

Successful Project Managers often have soft skills that set them apart from their colleagues and help them to deliver projects successfully where other equally well-qualified project managers would fail. Of course, you can't be a successful project manager with only the right personality traits – you also need the right training and experience but combining that with well-developed soft skills might just make all the difference.
Here are some ways to improve your project management skills:

·         Be assertive without being aggressive.

·         Display an optimistic, "can-do" attitude at all times.

·         Expect resources to be limited and have a contingency plan.

·         Plan for changes to priorities and requirements.

·         Deal calmly with changes to the project.

·         Promote a good team spirit – motivate, develop and encourage the team members.

·         Communicate in person whenever possible.

·         Talk to team members individually - give praise where it is due and clearly state your expectations if standards fall below what are required.

·         Take an active interest in every aspect of the project.

·         Communicate with team members and stakeholders at their level and in their language – avoid technical jargon.

·         Keep reports as clear and simple as possible – develop the ability to explain complex issues in a straightforward way.

·         Stay clear of business politics where possible – and when it is not possible try to take a rational, diplomatic approach and stay focussed on the original business objective.

·         Be receptive to new ideas without losing sight of the business objective. As a project progresses there can be situations where a re-think is required of how to achieve a particular goal or milestone.

·         Don't assume the original plan was the best approach if new information comes along part-way through the project.

·         Don't lose sight of the detail.

·         Celebrate each successful project with the team and don't forget to thank everyone, and involve everyone in the celebration, regardless of how junior or senior they might be.

·         Learn something from every project and take that knowledge forward with you to the next.

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Like all professional careers, the path to successful project management begins with a sure foundation. This foundation can be built by a combination of formal project management courses and work experience. If you are very fortunate you may also have a mentor. You can work well and effectively as a project manager with this base but to progress to being truly successful and consistently successful you will need to develop your "soft skills" and progress to more advanced levels of understanding with professional qualifications such as PMP Certification.

10 Reasons You Need Project Management

You may feel the whole process of project management with all its methodologies, techniques, meetings, reports and other assorted documentation is just a thorn in your side. You may even feel you would be better off without it - but I suggest you read these 10 benefits of project management and they may just change your opinion.

Project Management is simply a series of strategies that help to turn an idea into reality and get you from the ideas stage to a finished product or process as efficiently as possible and with least risk of failure.
If you are the client you know that the budget will be well-controlled and that the final product will meet your requirements and expectations. But it is only by applying formal techniques and using the skills and knowledge of the project manager that this will be the likely outcome.

So here's my 10 benefits of project management:

1.      Meeting Requirements: By clearly defining the business requirements at the outset and staying focussed on those requirements even when changes occur and risks arise, the end result will meet the client's needs.

2.      Client Satisfaction: Project management provides the tools and techniques to help deliver projects that not only meet the client's needs but are on time and on budget which naturally leads to client satisfaction.

3.      Flexibility: By incorporating change management processes into the running of the project and anticipating the need for changes, there can be the opportunity for flexibility in the client's requirements without risk to the project's success.

4.      Minimising Risks: Risk Management is an integral part of project management and, as such, risks can be anticipated and dealt with easily as they are not unexpected.

5.      Schedule: The detailed plans and schedules that are part of all good projects enable you to pre-empt scheduling conflicts and over-runs and deal with them by either modifying the project tasks or agreeing a revised schedule with the stakeholders.

6.      Controlled Costs: Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of controlled and organised project management is that you can spot problems with escalating costs before they become a major issue. You can then deal with them relatively easily because you have the detailed information to do so.

7.      Efficiency: Well trained project managers have learnt from the accumulated knowledge of projects that have gone before as well as those they have personally been involved in. They know what works well and what does not.

8.      Quality: Efficient projects that treat quality control and quality management as an inherent part of the project process result in higher quality end products.

9.      Communication: Everyone involved in the project, from team members, right through to the client will be kept well-informed of progress, change and risks. Good communication is a vital for a successful project.

10.  Team Motivation: When everyone involved in a project can see (from the plans, schedule and reports) what has been achieved, and by whom, then this will motivate all members of the team. They will get the recognition they deserve for a job well done.

So next time you are thinking about taking (or sending someone on) one of the many project management courses available and what you might learn, think about these benefits. They are all essential project management skills that will help your project be a success and that is good news for your company and good news for your career.

Project Scope and Its Importance

You know how you sometimes overhear a snippet of conversation – on a train, in a shop or restaurant – and it gets you thinking about a subject close to your heart. You want to join in the discussion – you can feel a heated debate arising - but the people in conversation have moved on. 

You may well have misunderstood them and, given that you didn't hear the whole conversation, they may well have come around to your way of thinking. But you can't help churning it over in your mind (well not if you are anything like me anyway).

The topic of conversation I overheard recently was about project scope and its importance in the success of a project. The type of project (or activity or product) was irrelevant to the discussion – it could have been any business or personal project. 

One of the protagonists believed that not only should the scope be clearly defined but what was NOT in scope should also be clearly defined. The antagonists thought that documenting (or indeed thinking or worrying about) what was not in scope was a waste of time. There could be a million things that are not in the scope of a project, they argued. But I believe they missed the point completely.

If, like me, you have worked as a project manager on many projects during your career (IT projects in my case) then you are certain to have come across situations like these:

·         There's a mismatch between what is delivered and what was wanted by the client

·         Requests for major changes are made halfway through a project

·         Different clients on the same project have different requirements

·         Changes are requested immediately after the project is completed

These are all signs that the scope of the project was not clearly defined or, more likely, what was not in scope was not discussed or documented. So the antagonists in the argument I overheard can continue to believe it is unimportant to define what is not in scope, if they wish, but the end results of their projects are likely to have some, if not all, of the above problems.

If you don't define what is NOT in scope then people involved in a project – be they project managers, team members, end users or stakeholders will make assumptions. Their expectations will then be unlikely to match the expectations of those delivering the work. It is vital, in my opinion, to clearly state what is not in scope in order to successfully manage the expectations of the client or customer.

In fact, managing expectations is a skill that every good project manager should develop early on in their career – it takes no more than an ability to communicate clearly with all those involved in a project. Although this sounds easy it is a skill that many project managers fail to master. The reasons for this are varied – it might be a fear of questioning those in senior positions, it might be a failure to talk to those at the coal face or any number of other reasons. Whatever the reasons, fully defining the scope of a project and managing customer expectations are inextricably linked.

And the solution is simple – talk, talk openly, listen and listen without prejudice. The customer may have a role far removed from yours but they are the ones who will ultimately define the success of your project. Foster good relationships with them right at the outset and you will be rewarded with good communications that will not find you on the BIG DAY discovering that everyone "assumed" that such-and-such would be delivered and it was not.

Good Luck! And here's to your project success – Remember Scope Matters.

For those of you who want to learn more about how to define scope then find one of the many project management courses that cover business requirements analysis. This is the process of finding out, analysing, writing down and agreeing on the requirements of a project. It is the most successful technique for defining in detail the scope of a project and there are various types of courses to help you including podcasts which you can listen to on your ipod - my current favourite way of learning.

Studying with Podcasts

Studying for a professional business qualification using podcasts is becoming evermore popular. It’s an attractive alternative to traditional classroom courses that may be difficult to attend for a variety of reasons. And whilst there are many online training courses as another alternative, these require an internet connection and computer. There are often situations where you have neither of these. In fact, I wish that when I commuted into London by train and tube standing all the way, I could have made better use of my time keeping up with the latest techniques in project management.

But whilst podcasts certainly fill a gap in the arsenal of training tools, and provide an option for those unable to attend an instructor-led course, they do not necessarily provide a better or easier way of learning; particularly if you are studying for a serious professional qualification. However, if used to complement a traditional course or an online e-learning course, then they certainly are a very valuable tool in reaching your training objectives.

So if you are considering studying using podcasts then look out for those that are integrated with online or classroom modules and also provide written study guides or manuals.



There are, of course, a number of advantages to studying through podcasts:

• You can study when and where you like; whilst travelling on trains or planes, whilst walking in the countryside or even while lying on the beach.  
• It’s a fun way to learn so it's very motivating and effective.
• It is less expensive than attending a traditional classroom-based course.  
• It’s available anywhere, which is particularly relevant if you don't happen to live close to a training centre.  
• There is access to the expertise of an instructor through email or community forums.

But there are also some disadvantages that you should consider:

• It’s easy to just listen idly to the podcasts without actively studying the material.
• You don’t have to engage with an instructor or other learners so there is no impetus to fully absorb the information.
• You need an mp3 player! I wonder if there are any courses which offer the mp3 player for free as part of the course?

But overall, podcasts are an easy and exciting way to learn at your own pace and they are likely to become more and more popular and be more widely available.

Listen to this project management training podcast for a taste of what they are like or take a look at this article on project success for more inspiration.

Tools for Managing Projects

For complex projects that will involve many people, many tasks or take a considerable amount of time to implement, there is huge benefit to be had from using one of the many project management tools available to plan and manage the project's resources successfully.


I have worked on some memorable large-budget projects where I have used a series of spreadsheets or MS Project to plan and manage the whole thing. Rather surprisingly, I think all of these projects were a success but I wouldn't recommend the spreadsheet route for a complex project.


A decent project management tool will always help in the planning and managing of a complex, inter-related series of activities. That is because the more complex the project, the more likely it is that there will be problems, risks and dependencies so help in monitoring and anticipating these is far more likely to lead to a successful outcome.


Two commonly used methods in project planning are Gantt Charts and Critical Path Analysis Flow Diagrams. Gantt charts are a graphical illustration of a project schedule a bit like a horizontal bar chart that helps to plan, coordinate, and track project tasks. Critical Path Analysis is simply a time line showing all related and dependent tasks and activities in a project which helps tasks to be scheduled to prevent overlaps in dependent tasks.


When selecting a tool to help you manage a project, two of the most important factors to consider are how it handles Gantt Charts and Critical Path Analysis Flow Diagrams and, therefore, how the tool is going to help you with scheduling, resource management and dependencies. There are a number of very good proprietary software tools currently on the market but here are my top ten recommendations for open source tools:

1.      Endeavour Software Project Management

2.      GanttProject

3.      KPlato

4.      Planner

5.      Project.net

6.      Project-Open

7.      RedMine

8.      TaskJuggler

9.      web2project

10.  Xplanner

But even the best tools are no substitute for a professional project management training course where you will learn tips and techniques about the underlying methods that will help you achieve a successful result.

A New Way of Learning

Professional training courses are vital in all sectors of business if, as a professional, you want to develop your skills and stay abreast of the latest tools and techniques. It is easy to fall behind in the latest methods in your particular field very quickly, particularly if you work in a fast-moving business.
But it has always been difficult to find a window in which to take up to a week out of your schedule to devote to a formal training course. It is even harder to persuade your boss that you should take that week away from the office.

Yet training can help you meet not only your personal objectives but also your business objectives. And whilst it might be easier to attend short one day sessions, if your aim is to gain a nationally recognised qualification this will certainly take substantially longer.

And what I, personally, have found on such courses is that I return to work with more enthusiasm and motivation, which ultimately has to be good for my employer.

So when I recently came across the idea of e-learning, I decided this could well be the solution for all us time-poor workers out there keen to gain additional qualifications. Not least because in the tough economic climate in which we are all living, recent training qualifications and up-to-date marketable skills will give you an advantage if you find yourself looking for a new job.

So what exactly is e-learning and how does it work? Well, fairly obviously, it is just a form of distance learning (which has been around for many, many years through organisations such as the Open University) for the digital age. E-learning is a course of study conducted almost entirely at your computer. The benefits of using online features are varied and many:

·         No waiting for a tutor to mark your work - answers are be supplied straight

·         You can be flexible about when and where you study

·         Learn at your own pace

·         No travel and hotel costs to attend a training centre

Online learning courses use the latest technology and interactive components such as animations and quizzes to supplement the on-line learning experience. However, traditional written materials such as manuals and books are still necessary to complement the student's learning. 

Course instructors also understand that it is important not to miss out on the discussions that happen in a traditional classroom setting so there are also online forums and groups where you can communicate with other students taking the same course. There will also be email support from a tutor for those more challenging questions.

E-learning may not be a better solution than instructor-led classroom learning but it is a great alternative for those who simply will never get to the classroom.

As a project manager, I've been taking a look at e-learning Project Management Courses but online courses are now available for almost every subject. Read more about alternative types of training courses here.