Tips to Become a Popular Project Manager

So, you are in charge of a project, a project that would actually bring in money for your company and skyrocket your career. Sounds exciting!Doesn’t it? After all, you do not get a chance to prove yourself every day to your bosses. Let’s now look at the other side of the moon, albeit the dark side.

In our excitement what most of us fail to see is that a project requires involvement of many people? You can no longer handle the job all by yourself. In order to get the work done, you need to have a proper co-ordination plan. The real challenge of a project manager lies not in figuring out the work; it lies in understanding the psychology of the people and making them work as per his needs.

If you are a people’s person, this job does not appear to be too problematic for you, however, if you are not much of an outgoing person, read the rest of the article to find out how can you control your emotions while managing a project.

Plan and Communicate

Let us begin with the basics. Planning is important in everything that you do. Planning assumes a very big role when you are dealing with different kind of people working on different aspects of a project. When you begin the planning process, forget your identity of a leader for a time being, and take a backseat. Give them the requirements and then ask them to suggest a course of action. People feel more motivated when they feel a part of the planning process. Instead of giving orders, create a friendly atmosphere. Once the planning is over, break the job, and assign everyone their designated job. Schedule a regular status meeting every alternate day to analyze what is the actual position of the project and what the bottlenecks which needs to be addressed.

Command Respect

When you are entrusted with leadership qualities, it is expected that you show your leadership skills. A leader is someone who inspires and motivates. It’s extremely important that you command respect from your team mates. Create standards of ethical behavior and abide by them strictly. Always show enthusiasm and encourage your juniors. It’s always easy to find fault and de-motivate someone. A good project manager knows how to keep the spirit of the team high. Remain committed to your goal and display qualities of integrity and honesty.

Know What to Ignore

Learning what to ignore is a skill, which everyone should learn. If you happen to be a project manager, this skill becomes all the more relevant. There would be thousands of different things that would demand your attention. You must know how to prioritize the jobs and what to ignore. Ignoring does not mean you have to be rude or unpleasant, it simply means you should know how to politely decline any information or data input that you do not require. Doesn’t shift focus; just keep your focus stabilized on the needs of the project. You can also choose to delegate some amount of work or authority to your team members. This would make them more responsible and take the load off your shoulders. Do not hold on to power or play power politics. Remember people are not fools and they can see through your ulterior motives.

Be Prepared for the Unseen

Last, but not the least, always keep in mind that unforeseen circumstances might arise, which would require you to implement a new technology or develop a new design within a short period of time. Under such circumstances you should be able to work with the team and not just dictate orders. Remember the project is not all about you, so don’t act like an “I know it all” fellow. People hate such egocentric people and barely co-operates with them and without enough co-operation it is almost impossible to implement a project successfully.