Project Management Career

Project management is an art entailing planning, organizing, and administering set goals. It requires the orchestration of the various aspects of deadline-based discrete projects.

The Profession

A profession in project management requires working with a team of people; therefore, a successful project manager needs to understand the importance of teamwork, and how to achieve more together. Usually, a project is temporary in nature and requires a one-time effort, in order to create a distinct product or service. This demands various technical skills that can be handled efficiently by a project manager.

Encountering and overcoming challenges is a part of this profession. The basic requirement is to ensure the delivery of a project within defined time limits. The optimized allotment and combination of various inputs to meet the objective of the project is another challenge in this profession. Project managers generally work in various areas, such as computer and information systems management, engineering and management of finance. Initially, they help in the development of the range of the project, and then monitor its progress all the way. Ultimately, they gain vast experience in their field and become consultants, partners or shareholders in project management companies.

Activities Related To Project Management

Project management deals with various kinds of activities that need to be carried out effectively in order to accomplish the work within client specifications. Some of the related activities are as follows:

-Planning regarding the set objectives
-Analyzing and designing of the objectives
-Evaluating risk factors involved.
-Estimation of resources
-Allocating resources
-Organization of work
-Acquiring material and human resources
-Task distribution
-Directing activities
-Controlling execution of the project
-Tracking and reporting about the progress of the project
-Defining products of different projects
-Predicting future trends in the project

Skills Required

Efficiency has become key in almost every profession, and cost overruns and delaying of deadlines are not tolerated. Therefore, the requirement for project managers has increased rapidly. They lead and guide the team to coordinate complex projects, and accomplish their targets on time, as well as within the budget. Hence, they need certain skills:

-Motivation
-Excellent communication skills
-Leadership quality
-Diplomacy
-Awareness
-Analytical skills
-Decision making ability
-Managerial skills
-Being methodical that help them excel in their field of work.