How to be a better project manager

Project managers are like pizza. Even bad project managers are better than no project managers. All jokes aside, if you’re trying to find out how to be a better project manager, the first thing you need to understand is that even though “best” is subjective, there’s a huge difference between the middle of the pack and the top.

With that said, there’s nothing wrong with putting your head down, and focusing on delivering the best possible project each time. If you’re consistently making deadlines and delivering quality then you’re already a great project manager. But the best project managers won’t just focus on the projects themselves, they also inspire their teams, and build a culture that makes sure everyone thrives.

In this article we’ll go over the most important skills any project manager needs to master, and we’ll teach you how to become a better project manager.

10 important project management skills to master

We’ve all read the LinkedIn posts, blogs, and text books that try to teach you how to become a better project manager. Most of them tell you that the most important thing is following the 5 C’s of project management, which means you need to focus on Complexity, Criticality, Compliance, Culture, and Compassion. 

Sometimes it’s the 5 W’s of project management, which tells you that you need to answer Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

The more tongue in cheek resources will tell you that all you need to do to become a better project manager is to follow the 7 P’s, which is adopted from the British Army. The 7 P’s refer to the adage “Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.”

The similarity between all of these helpful tips (apart from the obvious love for alliteration), is that they are extremely generic and not all that helpful beyond telling you that you need to be prepared and remember to define your project scopes. Obviously.

So, to help find out how to become a better project manager, we decided to put the question to hundreds of project managers across the internet. Which skills best help set a project manager apart. 

This is a compiled list of all the answers we found, and the skills they deemed most important to master.

1. Accountability: You need to to take ownership over what you say, and then do it. And if something goes wrong you need to own it, inform those that are affected by it, and tell them how you will prevent it from happening next time.
2. Adaptability: You need to learn how to respond to changes, and to make good decisions under pressure.
3. Communication: You need to be clear both in person and in writing, and it’s a good idea to practice public speaking.
4. Collaborative leadership: You need to learn not just how to lead, but also how to lead with others. Decision making is a team effort, especially when it comes to big projects.
5. Discipline: Your own discipline and ability to meet deadlines is one thing, but you need to learn how to impose discipline on team members through systematic planning and routines as well.
6. Empathy: Being able to sense how your team members and stakeholders feel by putting yourself in their situation will definitely help you be a better project manager.
7. Relationship building: The ability to deepen the relationships you form will help build trust, not just with your teams but with subject matter experts across your entire organization.
8. Culture building: The ability to build a pleasant environment for team members will help reduce burnout, and make sure your team members are performing to the best of their ability.
9. The ability to get things done: While this sounds simple, so many projects circle around in meetings, alignments and status updates without getting anywhere. And when that happens, project managers who can make sure that things get done become superheroes. 
10. Listening: Knowing when to listen is one of the most important skills for any project manager.

5 tips on how to become a better project manager

Beyond the specific skills you need to master to become a better project manager, being a good project manager also involves adopting different practices that will help improve your project management game. 

Here are five actionable tips to help you excel in your role:

1. Communication is more than words

We could say something like “effective communication is the bedrock of successful project management” but that would honestly just be stating the obvious. 

And it wouldn’t really help you beyond knowing that communication is important.

So, instead of a blanket statement that tells you that “communication is key” let’s instead dive into what we mean when we say communication. Because this is probably one of the things most people (including project managers) get wrong.

Communication isn’t just making sure you are heard, or being clear in what you say—although this is a big part of it.

To improve your communication skills as a project manager you need to:

• Learn how to actively listen: Make sure you hear the input of others, and that they say everything they need to say. If they cut themselves off or hold off on making certain points, you could be missing valuable information when you make decisions. 
• Learn how to tailor messages and detail level to the needs of the recipient: A high level stakeholder doesn’t need to know how you are completing the project in technical terms, but a stakeholder from a neighboring team might. 
• Learn how to be consistent and transparent: Communicating well also includes being consistent in when and how much you communicate both when it comes to stand up meetings and giving reports.
• Learn to give short answers quickly: If it takes too long to get back on queries from team members and stakeholders, or if your responses include more information than what is needed.

Apart from creating an environment where your teams can grow and improve, speed is probably the most important part of communication. Every email or Slack notification takes time, but if you don’t answer you are potentially creating a bottleneck or misunderstanding.

2. There’s no finish line if you don’t set goals

As a project manager, setting clear and well-defined goals are an essential part of the job.

For most project managers, ensuring that project goals are written as SMART goals will help achieve this. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

Beyond defining the goals themselves, it’s also a good idea to break larger goals down into milestones, and to communicate these to the team as you are progressing.

3. The best tool at your disposal is your team

A project's success is always dependent on the performance of the team. 

To effectively manage a team you need to delegate tasks, provide necessary resources and support, foster a collaborative and positive work environment, and recognize achievements along the way. 

Learning to identify different strengths and weaknesses within your team will let you assign tasks for optimum efficiency, providing constructive feedback will let individual team members grow, and resolving conflicts proactively will ensure smooth operations.

4. Something will always go wrong, and you need to deal with it

Just like Evander Holyfield learned in 1997, everybody has a plan until they’re bitten by Mike Tyson. And this is just as true for businesses as it is for boxers.

Jokes aside, if we can give you one guarantee as a project manager, it is that something will eventually go wrong. It might be a big problem or a small one, but there’s no getting around it.

Because of this, you need to be proactive in the way you manage risks, so you avoid a situation where a small problem ends up biting your proverbial ear off.

Proactive risk management includes:

• Brainstorming all possible risks related to the project, 
• Assessing the likelihood and impact of each risk, 
• and developing contingency plans. 

During the course of a project you need to regularly review and update your risk register, and communicate potential risks and mitigation strategies to all project stakeholders.

5. There’s always room for improvement

It doesn’t matter how good you are, you can always get better, and the landscape of project management is constantly evolving. So, if you want to be a truly effective project manager you need to be committed to learning new things and improving your skills throughout your entire career. 

This means you need to seek feedback, reflect on both the successes and failures of past projects, stay updated on industry best practices and methodologies, and you need to be open to changing your approach.