Project Managers plan, lead teams, keep projects on time and within budget, and are ultimately responsible for the success, or failure, of a project.IIBM Institute helps you to become a Project Manager when you don’t have any experience?
The approach we recommend is to use your current job as a launch pad to get your first project management assignment.
To do this, there are three areas you need to focus on…
- Be a Rock Star in Your Current Role
- Develop Your Leadership Capacity
- Build Your Project Management Skills
Get certified
The value of a project management certification is a hot topic of debate in the project management community, but there is a near consensus that it can’t hurt your career.
The Project Management Professional certification from IIBM Institute is the most popular and widely-recognized project management certification. The PMP certification is for working project managers who already have lots of experience, but there are other options out there for those with less experience.
Good news: We have found some great courses to prepare you to pass your Project Management certification.
Work on your people skills
No successful project was ever completed with the project manager sitting at a computer the entire time devising Gantt charts and studying the Cynefin framework.
Okay, maybe some projects ended up being “good enough” even with an aloof PM, but only because someone else picked up the slack and handled all the interpersonal workings that make a project go. And that person probably got promoted over the antisocial PM in the future.
The point is: projects are made up of people, so project managers must put as much effort into knowing, coaching, and communicating with their people as they spend on the technical side of things.
Learn how to use the tools of the project management trade
Soft skills can get you pretty far, and may even be enough to land your first bona-fide project manager position, but, eventually, you’re going to need to show off some technical skills.
If that sounds difficult, fear not. Project management software is designed to assist project managers and their teams with things like collaboration, budgeting, scheduling, and more. Some of the most popular tools available include Microsoft Project, Atlassian , and Base camp, just to name a few.
