12 Core IT Project Manager Skills Your Next Hire Should Have
Posted by Walid Abou-Halloun Date: Jun 2, 2018 3:28:25 AM
Are you hiring an IT project manager? If so, there’s an important question to consider. What skills should your IT project managers have to finish your project in style?.
Your project manager should be at the forefront of projects in your company. Matter of fact, 70% of organisations who employed project managers reported their success rates have improved.
If you are looking to get the best for this position, then keep reading. Next time you hire, look for these 12 core IT project manager skills.
Why IT Projects Matter
In a period where everything is virtual, circulated, and abstract, IT projects are getting more multifaceted. This has made projects hard to conceptualise, yet, with a basic level of IT skills, any competitive IT project manager can comprehend broad view ideas.
Second, the business shift to computerisation has made more companies dependent on technology, which created solid competitive advantages. So, for a business to survive, the success of IT projects must increase.
Understanding Project Management
It is good to understand the concept of project management as this will help you have a broader view of what you should be looking for in a candidate.
Project management involves the harmonisation of available resources to complete a project scope at a given time using a limited sum of capital. This means there are so many poignant parts to follow up, control, and observe.
In fact, big IT projects run 45% over financial budget and 7% over time. This results in 56% lesser value than predicted. Thus, it’s a good reason to hire skilled IT project managers.
As you look out for the skills of a project manager in your next hire, here are the two things your IT project manager must know.
The Real Definition of Success in Project Management
What does it take for a project to be successful? Successful projects undergo three phases and they must balance up.
A. Project Scope
Before you start any project, it’s imperative to have a clear vision of the project outcome. The predictive life cycle is that stage of the project.
The project scope is an identification of what the project will create and what it would not create.
If you have a project to distribute a software for 500 users, but it fails to involve the development of the software, then it is out of scope.
B. Project Budget
The project manager gives an estimate of how much the project will cost and how long the work should take with the available resources.
For instance, if your project manager is short of labor or capital to finish a project, then they will need more time and money, or go back to the scope and adjust it to balance up with available resources.
Many organisations omit this important step. Rather, they end up with unrealistic budgets and schedules.
C. Project Schedule
Speaking of schedule, the timeline of project is another crucial consideration.
As long as your project scope is in place, your project schedule will follow through with the budget.
The Failure of a Project Starts at the Beginning
You may have observed that project managers often devote weeks to planning.
The reason why they spend so much time planning is that it’s cheaper. It is better to get the requirements, project scheme, and execution plan right from the start, rather than rushing to work and wasting resources.
Planning is essential in project management.
Planning helps project managers understand what it will take to complete a project. As a result, teams can execute with confidence.
When things go skewed in a project, your project manager must return to the planning board. They must see the best action to fix the problem, retrieve time or financial losses, and work on execution. Project planning goes beyond putting up with the best project management software.
Project managers who claim to manage projects because of their skill with a management software tool can be comparable to the saying “you can mow a lawn because you have got a mower.” It does not work that way.
Rather, you must look out for these 12 core skills of an effective project manager:
The 12 IT Project Manager Skills To Look Out For
In project management, traits such as communication, negotiation, and organisational skills are requirements to be successful. But, it takes a bit more to be at your best when your project manager focuses on the area of information technology.
1. Understand IT Architecture
Information technology operates in an environment spanning several data centers. It is thus necessary that the project manager knows the architecture and location of applications or data on the corporate network.
2. Pay Close Attention to Return of Investment
When your company launches a particular digital service or application, it’s the responsibility of the project manager to understand how the return on investment will benefit the whole organisation.
How will these new inventions generate new businesses? Would it make processes easy and efficient? Will it help the project milestone be clear? Or ensure the result of the final product operates as the business intended it to be from scratch?
3. Recognise Common Tech Roadblocks
Project managers that have no technology background tend to struggle with common roadblocks that are seen by those that have experience in the field of IT.
For an instance, recognising and removing information silos must be dealt with first before moving to the next phase. With no background of this in the first place, observing the project milestone can get out of balance.
4. Clarify Technology to Non-Technical Stakeholders
IT project managers are the intermediary between the technical and non-technical partners. Advanced technical projects usually face the problem of communicating complex technical terms. This is where the project manager comes in and sorts the issue out.
5. Comprehend the “IT Gibberish”
It is important for a project manager to know technical terms. This is to avoid misunderstanding the meaning of a term which can be the thin line between a failed and a successful project.
6. Make Tough Decisions
When it comes to making the tough decisions about an IT project, your project manager is the best person for the job.
This is because the project manager is expected to have a clear understanding of the business and technical aspect of the project. Thus, they can make the best choices that would benefit the business.
7. Get the Best Technical Resource Capabilities
It is the job of your project manager to know the best team or technical staff assigned to a project.
Your project manager also handles the issues that need a fast remedy. This will be carried out by finding the best technical resource to cover up without bottlenecks.
8. Manage Resource Conflicts
Whether your business size is small, medium, or large, you will always have resource allocation issues. Whatever the case may be, you are always limited by costs, tech constraints, and human resource.
Project managers should know how to effectively manage these resources, for effective project completion.
9. Get Acquainted with Vast Technical Methodologies
It is a necessary skill for IT Project Managers to get familiar with the best practices by which software applications are designed, developed, and delivered. This includes knowing the latest technologies that may be needed to make this possible.
10. Assess Risk Accurately
One of the important skills for project managers is the ability to assess, mitigate, and focus on the value of an asset. This includes minimising the risk of project failures to the barest minimum and ensuring his team members have the tools they need.
11. Have a Wide Global Experience
The advent of the internet has caused teams in different locations to handle projects remotely. Because of this, project managers with vertical experience working with teams across the globe are exposed to more knowledge.
12. Engage in Proper Scheduling
The best way to achieve the goals of a project within a given timeframe is to itemise the steps. Then, break it into small tasks with a deadline. That’s how scheduling works, and it’s the core of project management.
Stakeholders need to know the projected time of completion, the delivery of key milestones, and the time each task takes to be completed.
Bonus Skill: A Good Sense of Humor
Although this may sound ridiculous, this skill is absolutely no laughing matter as long as it involves project management. As a matter of fact, a good sense of humor is one of the most vital skills needed to be a project manager.
Apart from allowing the team to see a challenge from a different point of view, it is efficacious in pacifying both managers and teams especially in crucial times. Easing stress allows a team to focus on producing great concepts as opposed to working in a pressure-filled atmosphere.
Wrapping Up
Project managers are at the core of every project you will handle at your organisation. Thus, it is important that you invest in the best project managers for your team.
Have further questions or need assistance in finding the best talent for you? Get in touch with us today.
