Take a moment to contemplate your current employment or a profession that you find intriguing.
Even if you don’t perceive yourself as a project manager, numerous job roles nowadays necessitate project management abilities.
Examine the six areas where project managers need to cultivate their skills. Which ones do you believe are essential for your job? What areas do you need to improve upon?
- Communication
- Negotiation
- Time management
- Understanding the regulatory environment
- Ethics and adherence to standards
- Continual professional development
Ponder potential steps you might consider taking to bridge these skill gaps and contribute them to the discussion group.
Comment Below
© The Open University
As a seasoned Administrative assistant, I have interacted in supporting projects albeit in soft approaches or minor roles. But I do realize all the 6 areas go hand-in-hand. None can should miss. For me, I realize I need to work on negotiations. Looking forward to learning and polishing up.
As a business owner, the first three skills I consider essential for maintaining good relations with clients and employees are communication, negotiation, and time management. I have focused on developing these skills over the years because mastering them can significantly enhance customer service and foster strong relationships.
As a beginner in project management, all the skills are essential to me and I hope that at the end of the 21 days learning, I will be able to put those skills into practice.
What I find intriguing about my current role is the chance to connect with clients and team members while delivering solutions to problems. All the skills are essential to my current role and my strength in communication, negotiation and ethics help me thrive, though I am working on improving my time management skill and hope to be committed to continual professional development so as to keep growing as a leader.
All the skills are essential to me but in relation to my job, I lag behind in negotiations and then continuing professional development. I believe strongly that at the end of this 21days learning I will have a great knowledge that will help me improve on all the skills especially the ones I pointed out.
As a potential project manager, all the skills listed out are essential. Having a little experience of handling little events, I’ll like to improve on all the skills focusing mostly on negotiation and to aid me become a better project manager. I believe at the end of this cohort, I’ll be able to understand better and improve on all the PM essential skills.
All the skills are basically essential for me, but related to my job? then it’s communication, Ethics and standard, and lastly Continuing professional development…… But i need to work on my Negotiation skills and Time management. i Believe this 21days will shape my understanding and help me progress effectively.
As a new project manager that puts me at that point of professional self-reflection where the severe importance of continuous professional development (CPD) is the one aspect of my job most crucially important. In a career defined by continuous change and variable demands, the ability to constantly learn, develop, and refine one’s skillset is not merely beneficial but absolutely essential. While I fully agree that all project management-related skills are the drivers of success, my personal assessment thus far points to time management and negotiations as being two areas of paramount requirement for immediate and laser-guided change. Far from doubting, the next 21 days of intensive learning and interactions provide the foundation on which to capitalize on these and other requisite skills to be able to function more effectively.
To a project manager, CPD is not a luxury but a necessity. The project context keeps evolving, fuelled by emerging technologies (e.g., using AI to support project planning), emerging methodologies (e.g., adaptive Agile methodologies, blended models), evolving market demands, and increasingly sophisticated stakeholder expectations. With no ongoing CPD, a project manager will become out of date, unable to cope with challenges, take advantage of new tools, or inspire their team.
My conviction stems from several key reasons:
Firstly, staying relevant: CPD allows me to keep abreast of industry best practices, new software tools, and innovative approaches to project delivery. This will ensure that my strategies remain innovative, and my projects are executed with efficiency and foresight.
Secondly, enhanced problem-solving: Continuous learning is my exposure to different perspectives and resolutions, which will sharpen my critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. This is paramount in case of surprise attacks or complex problems that are part of the nature of project execution.
Thirdly, leadership competence: A new project manager seeking professional growth demonstrates a commitment to excellence, inspiring the team to follow suit in learning and advancement. This creates an environment of innovative high performance.
Additionally, adaptability and resilience: Adaptability to change is a hallmark success of sound project management. CPD equips me with knowledge and adaptability to shift approaches, cope with uncertainty, and steer projects in troubled waters, with better rates of project success.
Finally, CPD supports my capability to deliver projects on schedule, budget, and to quality, as necessitated, thereby guaranteeing my continuing value and progress in this demanding career.
The Urgent Need to Improve Time Management
Although I theoretically appreciate how crucial time management is, good time management remains a very personal challenge that I must overcome if I am to excel as a project manager. Project management per se is all about managing several things at the same time, coping with different stakeholders, responding to last-minute demands, and keeping stiffing deadlines. My current dilemma manifests itself in so many ways:
Reactive vs. Initiative-taking: I am in the practice of reacting to immediate crisis rather than scheduling and budgeting time for working strategically ahead of time.
Difficulty in Prioritization: Telling the urgent from the important and then taking appropriate time is where I get it wrong, leaving high-priority work to be left behind.
Context Switching Costs: The perpetual toggling between various project requirements and stakeholder interactions keeps my attention fragmented, and it is not easy to spend unbroken blocks of time on important work.
The implications of poor time management as a project manager are far-reaching: missed deadlines, decreased quality, increased stress for me and team members, dissatisfied stakeholders, and, decreased project success. It is not merely a matter of personal productivity; it is about maximizing the use of resources, enhancing communication, and enabling sounder decision-making on all my projects. I need to incorporate disciplined approaches, utilize high-impact tools, and create disciplined habits to master this essential skill.
Bracing up with Negotiation and Time Management
While time management is my biggest internal development priority, I am also aware that negotiations need the same amount of attention and construction. As a project manager, I am always negotiating – whether to set scope with clients, get resources from functional managers, negotiate timelines with vendors, work out conflicts with the team, or handle changes with stakeholders. My negotiation tactics at present, while often securing me good results, can be more strategic, assertive, and always in my own best interests.
Negotiations: I need to acquire effective bargaining skills, understanding stakeholder motivations, discovering win-win solutions, and resolving resistance graciously. This will ensure project scope is robust, resources are adequate, and stakeholder relationships are built rather than damaged.
Time Management; As set out, it is all about applying useful techniques – such as time-blocking, delegation, use of the Eisenhower Matrix, and planning ahead – to gain back control of my day and ensure crucial project tasks receive the attention they deserve.
Making the most of the 21-Day Learning Opportunity.
I passionately believe that all the skills that come under project management are essential, and I am committed to their continuous development. This rigorous 21-day process of learning and interaction gives me a precious platform to accelerate my development. My strategy to take advantage of these opportunities entails:
Active Participation: I plan to participate actively in all the sessions, make my inputs, and raise specific questions related to my specific issues in time management and negotiations.
Practical Application: I will seek ways to directly apply the ideas and methods learned on a day-to-day basis to current projects, utilizing each day as a firsthand laboratory for skill development.
Peer Learning: I will leverage the various levels of experience of my peers, learning from their knowledge, issues, and answers, particularly where they excel over me.
Self-Reflection and Feedback: I will allocate time for regular self-reflection on my performance and actively seek feedback from instructors and peers in order to identify blind spots areas and possible other areas for improvement.
In conclusion, my journey as a new project manager is intrinsically linked with continuous professional development. Although all project management skills are vital, my priority is first developing my skillset in time management and negotiations. I am stepping into this 21-day learning experience not merely as a learning exercise but as a trigger for change. Having embraced these key areas for development, I aspire to not only fill gaps that may be present but to work more effectively, strategically, and overall, be able to exert greater influence, becoming a better and stronger project manager.
What I feel is most essential as related to my job is actually the continual professional development and I really need to improve on my Time management
Basically for me currently working as a Project Manager, I must confess that all the skills spelt out are imperative in my career and I believe in this 21 days of learning and interactions I will find a path to harness them and function more effectively.
Areas I think I should brace up is Negotiations and Time management!