New project: sounds scary, right? Who are the team members? What resources do we need? When is the due date? Do we have a PM software? …and so many other questions to ask and the project hasn’t even started.

If you are a project manager, or want to be one, just make sure you dominate these 10 skills, and the rest will come along!

Skills of a Project Manager

1. Leadership
2. Management
3. Communication
4. Collaboration
5. Decision-making
6. Problem solving
7. Bird’s eye view
8. Order
9. Knowledgement
10. Prioritization

1. BEING A PROJECT MANAGER IS BEING A LEADER

Project Management is all about teamwork: people coming together to offer their expertise so the final goal can be achieved. Your role as a project manager? Inspire and motivate every team member so they own the project and bring all they have to achieve the best possible outcome.

2. YOU NEED TO BE GOOD AT MANAGEMENT (DUH!)

It seems obvious, but many project managers lose themselves into execution and forget their main responsibility: management. Manage time, people, money, among others. Project management is all about allocating the resources in the best possible way so the final outcome is achieved in a timely manner and within the budget. This outcome can only be achieved if we have a clear strategy, a good implementation plan, continuous monitoring and control.

3. WORK ON YOUR COMMUNICATION

Being able to communicate with people at all levels is crucial if you want your project to succeed. As you know, projects involve a lot of tasks, people and resources. Maintaining a good communication (both speaking and listening) is essential to keep the team synchronized and informed on what is expected from them at each stage of the project’s process.

4. YOU HAVE TO COLLABORATE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES

Collaboration, which comes at hand with communication, means you are available to help any team member involved in the project. Even if each task has a specific responsible, as the project manager, you need to make people feel like you have their back, and that you will be able to collaborate at any moment in sake of the project’s development.

5. START MAKING GOOD (AND FAST) DECISIONS

Planning is great, its fundamental in any Project Management process, but the truth is even if we spent days and weeks planning, at the moment of the execution a lot of things can happen that we didn’t expect. A good project manager is intelligent enough to make difficult decisions at a very fast pace, avoiding deviating a lot from the initial plan, and taking care of the resources used.