Skills a Project Manager Must Posses

In as much as the success or otherwise of a project lies to a large extent on the project manager, this lends credence to the fact that the project manager must possess some skills to stand out as a competent and qualified personnel.

There are a thousand and one skills a project manager must possess

1. Effective Communication: the project manager must be able to communicate with his team members and clients in both oral and written form. The mode of operation of the project, analysis and other would be done through communication and this is quintessential for the project manager. The communication should be upward and downward, while he communicates, he should also receive feedback.

2. Ability to multi task without losing focus: the project manager must be able to combine two or more tasks together without being deterred from any. This is because he may need to attend to tasks simultaneously with precision and accuracy. This is not to say he should be a jack of all trade and master of none, the project manager should be a jack and master of many trades.

3. Good Human Relation: by working with people from perhaps different background, the project manager should be skilled in effective human relation. He should have a good temperament control, emotional intelligence, and a zeal to work with people. He should know when to speak in loud and low tones, when to act and react, when to be silent, and when and how to address issues.

4. Knowledge of Budget and Financial Analysis : the project manager must be skilled in budget preparation and financial analysis. This will allow him to make optimal use of available resources, reduce wastage and achieve productivity. In preparing the budget, he should be conversant with the recent prices of materials, have a good quality control mechanism and be able to analyze the financial stand of the project. This skill will prevent him from incurring avoidable losses and prevent unnecessary expenditure.

5. Team Work : being the manager and administrative head of a project Implementation, the project manager must be able to work professionally with people. Aside delegating tasks and giving out directives, he should be able to work with members of the team towards achieving the goals. Team work is as important as any other skill that a project manager must posses.

6. Quality Assessment : a project manager should imbibe the skill of quality assessment. He should be able to discern quality from quantity.

7. Risk Control : risk taking is a necessary skill for a project manager, but he must be able to control the risk to the barest minimum. Having the skill of risk control will prevent avoidable loss and optimal use of resources. The project manager should know when to take risks and how to put the risks under check.
8. Foresight : the ideal project manager must posses the ability to understand the future of the business, the likely changes in project and how to balance the situation in the event of any eventuality. This will allow him make credible decisions even in the face of emergency and critical circumstances.

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