Top 10 Project Management Qualifications for New Project Managers
As a new project manager, building a strong foundation of skills and qualifications is essential. Here are the top 10 areas you’ll want to focus on:
- Project Planning: Master the art of defining project objectives, creating schedules, and estimating costs to ensure successful project delivery.
- Project Scheduling: Learn how to organize tasks, allocate resources, and create realistic timelines for project completion.
- Project Budgeting: Understand budgeting principles, cost estimation, and financial management within project constraints.
- Risk Management: Develop strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate risks throughout the project lifecycle.
- Resource Management: Learn how to allocate and manage resources efficiently, including people, materials, and equipment.
- Business Analysis: Gain insights into business requirements, stakeholder needs, and how projects align with organizational goals.
- Team Management: Hone your leadership skills to motivate and guide project teams toward success.
- Leadership Skills: Cultivate effective communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution abilities.
- Quality Management: Ensure project deliverables meet quality standards and customer expectations.
- Adaptability: Be prepared to handle unexpected changes and challenges during project execution.
Remember, project management is both an art and a science.
Before we dive in, let’s get it clear why project managers and the art/science of project management are so much in demand:
Definition: Project Management
Project management is the application of methods, tools, techniques, and competencies to enable the project to meet its objectives. Sounds easy – Right!?
Taking on a project is like taking five mad dogs for a controlled walk!
Their characteristics are:
- Mad Dog # 1 has: ambiguity regarding who is responsible for what aspects of the project, leading to confusion and a lack of accountability
- Mad Dog # 2 has: ambiguity or conflict regarding what the project will deliver, costs, plus unrealistic expectations what the project will provide, costs, and when
- Mad Dog # 3 has: unavailability of resources or reassigning resources to business-as-usual activities over project work
- Mad Dog # 4 has: difficulty in estimating effort, durations, and costs for project work uncontrolled change (sometimes referred to as scope creep)
- Mad Dog # 5 has: difficulty keeping the project management team and stakeholders informed, engaged, and motivated during the project lifecycle.
The purpose of project management is to address these challenges by reducing and managing ambiguity. This is achieved by uniting the involved parties to clarify objectives and working practices.
The aim is to control the specialist work needed to create the products required for the project.
Project management involves the planning, delegating, monitoring, and controlling all aspects of the project and the motivation of those involved to achieve the project objectives within expected performance targets.
The heck with that, let’s just dive in and learn on the job …
Good Luck with that.
First, you must build in the skills, knowledge, expertise and temperament needed. There are almost as many methods to manage as there are projects. But they all share one thing in common: getting deliverables done on time and within budget.
Project Management expertise areas
So let’s check out the main areas you will need to be an expert in:
1. Project Planning
The purpose of planning is to facilitate communication and control by defining the products to be delivered (the ‘what’ ) and the means to deliver them (the ‘who’, the ‘how’, the ‘where’, and estimates of the ‘when’ and for ‘how much’ ) to satisfy the project business case (the ‘why’ ). Plans enable control.
2. Preparing estimates
Project managers and team managers always plan using estimates of:
- people: these can be the specific skills required, the level of effort involved, and when and where they will be needed.
- resources: these can be specific materials, equipment, facilities, access, natural resources, or money, as well as the number or amount of each.
- duration of activities: preparation of the schedule requires estimating the time it is likely to take to complete tasks.
3. Project Scheduling
A graphical representation of a plan (such as a Gantt chart), typically describing a sequence of tasks together with resource allocations, which collectively deliver the plan.
The sequencing, interrelationships, and duration of work packages and their associated tasks are captured in a schedule. All work packages and tasks for each management stage must be included in the schedule.
Then, the level of effort required and the duration of each task can be estimated.
The project manager should consider the planning horizon and use stage plans to elaborate the schedule as the level of effort and duration of tasks are better understood.
4. Project Budgeting
The project budget is what the project will cost to complete. It includes all project resources, from people to equipment and materials, which are needed to execute the project. Project budgets are estimated by project managers and their teams, and then approved by the project client or stakeholders.
5. Risk Management
A risk is an uncertain event or set of events that, should they occur, will affect the achievement of objectives. A risk is measured by a combination of the probability of a perceived threat or opportunity occurring and the magnitude of its impact on objectives.
The purpose of the risk management is to identify, assess, and control uncertainties that would affect the project’s objectives, and, as a result, improve the ability of the project to succeed.
Risks can have a negative or positive impact on objectives if they occur. Threats have a negative uncertain impact, and opportunities have a positive impact on objectives.
6. Resource Management
All projects need resources to execute the project, and these must be sourced, scheduled and managed so the right amount is ready when needed. The resource management plan describes how this will happen.
7. Business Case
The purpose of the business case practice is to establish mechanisms to judge whether the project is (and remains) desirable, viable, and achievable as a means to support decision-making in its continued investment.
Organizations undertake projects to make measurable improvements in one or more aspects of their business. These measurable improvements are called benefits.
Projects deliver outputs in the form of products which are used to facilitate changes in an organization or for organizations. These changes create capabilities that lead to outcomes. The outcomes allow the organization(s) to realize the benefits that are explained in the business case for the project. Outcomes that are perceived as negative by one or more stakeholders are called dis-benefits.
8. Team Leadership Management
Team building, leads to a more effective project team, and involves monitoring the team and their workload to make sure they’re working at capacity without being overburdened.
There are three key strands to successful team leadership and management:
- Collaboration: people from across the project ecosystem working together to achieve the project’s objectives.
- Leadership: motivating people, effective communication and conflict resolution to achieve a project’s objectives.
On projects, this is best done through collaboration across the project ecosystem, persuading, influencing, and co-creating with a focus on managing key relationships and seeking regular feedback to ensure team members remain aligned to the project’s objectives and agree to joint ways of working.
Management: instructing the execution of tasks in line with agreed ways of working.
Co-creating ways of working with project team members (and stakeholders) significantly improves people’s willingness to be managed in line with them.
9. Stakeholder Management
Projects need people. The right people must be involved, knowing what is expected of them and what they may expect from others in the project.
Successful projects require an understanding of the relationships with and between stakeholders and ongoing activities to strengthen them.
Stakeholders can be individuals or groups within or external to the business.
Stakeholders are those people who have a vested interest in the project. They need to be informed and their expectations met, all of which is helped by good stakeholder management.
Stakeholders within the business could be a work council, sustainability board, diversity board, owners, department leaders, or other project teams; stakeholders outside the business could be trade unions, customers, suppliers, communities, interest groups, banks, or the media.
10. cultural intelligence
Leading people beyond a project’s direct authority (often across organizational boundaries) requires a degree of cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is the capability to relate and work across cultures within the organizational ecosystem.
Successfully working across cultures requires:
- teams to adapt and find ways to successfully interface with each other
- setting clear project boundaries within which people can flex
- establishing the right conditions for people to succeed
- awareness of and means to consider the many different perspectives that may exist in the project (such awareness is often referred to as emotional intelligence)
- awareness of the constraints people works within, including different pulls on their time and attention.
Phew! Quite a list. Don’t worry, many of the methodologies I’m going to share with you have those elements “built-in”.
So, what is a project management methodology?
It’s a method right? So it includes a set of guiding principles, best practice tools, and a whole bunch of honed techniques – all used to plan, execute, monitor, control and manage projects.
These beasts help project leadership and management while facilitating team collaboration.
Project management methods and approaches
Microsoft Project for SCRUM, KANBAN and HYBRID Projects
The way projects are managed has progressed in recent years to include approaches for plan-driven projects (projects with a defined scope), and adaptive projects (projects where the scope will evolve as the project progresses).
Better yet, the latest Microsoft Project not only supports both approaches but is versatile enough to support hybrid projects (those that use both plan-driven and adaptive approaches) within the same project.
But what about the use of Kanban boards? No worries, Microsoft Project also includes such ‘demand-driven’ approaches.
Projex Academy’s Microsoft Project for Sprints, Kanban, and Hybrid Project Masterclass shows you how in just fourteen Step-by-step to learn videos, complete with an accompanying handbook.
Lean Six Sigma Masterclass
Lean Six Sigma takes the features of Lean ( speed), and combines them with Six Sigma (stability and accuracy).
This Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Masters Series will teach you how to streamline processes, improve business performance and supercharge your career
Design for Six sigma
You are probably aware of our Lean Six Sigma Masterclass – designed to get you a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate – but what about if you need to develop NEW processes, products and services?
Well, luckily Projex Academy has a Masterclass teaching you how to master Design For Six Sigma (DfSS) and the DMADV Method.
These modules are a companion to our Projex Academy Lean Six Sigma Masterclass:
Lean Six Sigma used the DMAIC Method, whereas DfSS uses the DMADV Method – Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, and Verify
DMAIC Is used to improve existing processes, but sometimes the process does not exist and you need to create one, perhaps for new services or products
It may be that your current process is so poor that scrapping it and starting again makes more sense! DMADV Will help introduce new products and services quickly and to a consistently high standard
When redesigning a process we focus on the customer, when designing a new service or product there may not be a customer yet, so we focus on the demands of the (potential) marketplace
Where the customer is involved, this means both end-user customers and internal business stakeholders and users
Customer requirements and the resulting CTQ’ s are established early on and the DMADV framework ensures that these requirements are satisfied in the final product, service, or process
As with DMAIC, we managed by facts and not speculation to ensure that new designs reflect customer CTQs and provide real value to the customers.
DMADV projects are more resource-hungry than DMAIC projects in terms of people, IT involvement, and cost
Despite these higher costs and risks, DMADV projects bring higher rewards
In large organizations using Lean Six Sigma, 20 DMAIC projects will likely be carried out for every ONE DMADV project
There are likely to be many lean projects, a moderate number of DMAIC projects, and a few DfSS projects as the organization gradually reduces rework and waste, improving process flow and reducing cycle times.
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
CAPM® is ranked #1 out of the 9 Most In-Demand Professional Certifications You Can Get Right Now.
Source: Entrepreneur
The CAPM® showcases that you possess the foundational knowledge and skills demanded for project team management and leadership.
It proves that you are able to take on a wide range of projects including those with predictive project management, agile principles and business analysis including Agile Frameworks/Methodologies, Business Analysis Frameworks, and Predictive Plan-Based Methodologies
Go here for more info: https://www.pmi.org/certifications/certified-associate-capm
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Median salary for PMP holders in Europe (and 16% higher globally) than those without certification. Source: Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey – Twelfth Edition.
The PMP acknowledges candidates skilled at managing the people, processes, and business priorities of professional projects.
PMI, the world’s leading authority on project management, created the PMP to recognize project managers who have proven they have project leadership experience and expertise in any way of working.
The PMP is ranked as the top project management certification in North America by CIO Magazine because it demonstrates that you have the specific skills employers seek, a dedication to excellence, and the capacity to perform at the highest levels.
In fact, research indicates that employers will need to fill nearly 2.3 million new project-oriented roles each year through 2030.
With demand for project managers at an all-time high, there has never been a better time to earn your PMP certification.
The exam is based on PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and requires a high-school degree or equivalent, 60 months of experience managing projects and 35 hours of project management education or a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification.
If you have a four-year degree, however, you can qualify with only 36 months of project management experience.
Start preparation for your PMP Accreditation with our PMP Masterclass here:
PRINCE2 7th Edition
Did you know that most projects fail?
Achieve project success with PRINCE2, the globally recognised method trusted by millions of professionals in 200+ countries.
For everyone aiming to enhance their project management skills, including aspiring or experienced project managers, PRINCE2 is your essential guide for managing projects of any size and complexity.
PRINCE2 embraces the modern world by enhancing decision-making and offers a flexible approach that seamlessly adapts to linear, iterative, and hybrid methods, applicable across all industries.
There are two certifications available, PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner.
The latest method updates include a primary emphasis on people, enhanced flexibility, scalability and adaptability, insights on digital transformation, data, and AI
integration of sustainability plus compatibility with Agile, ITIL, Lean, DevOps and Scrum.
Projex Academy is an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) with the PRINCE2 owners PeopleCert, and can offer you PRINCE2 6th edition up to the end of 2024, and we are about to launch the 7th edition within the next few weeks.
This course is DEPRECATED
The old PRINCE2 6th Edition Foundation and Practitioner syllabus was upgraded in 2024. Check out the brand NEW PRINCE2 7th Edition Masterclass, covering all the current syllabus, training material and online exam benefits HERE
Your Route To PRINCE2 6th Edition Practitioner
Study PRINCE2 6 Foundation and Practitioner Exams with our famous on-line course with streaming HD Video Lessons, study guides and mock exams. In the last fifteen years we have had 6,000+ Academy students successfully transform their careers as PRINCE2 Practitioners.
Program Management Professional (PgMP)
Program Managers with the PgMP certification can earn as much as 42% more than non-PgMP program professionals.
source: ProThoughts
Do you wish to move from project to program management? Do you need to demonstrate the expertise to track multiple projects, timelines simultaneously to achieve strategic objectives?
Demonstrate leadership through managing multiple, related projects in a coordinated way—achieving benefits that could not occur if the projects were handled separately
This program manager certification verifies your advanced level of expertise and can successfully meet your organizations business goals.
Go here to find out more: https://www.pmi.org/certifications/program
PRINCE2 Agile
PRINCE2 Agile® Practitioner demonstrates how to combine PRINCE2® and Agile until you have the perfect mixture and blend, is the world’s most complete project management solution, combining the flexibility and responsiveness of agile with the clearly defined framework of PRINCE2®.
PRINCE2 and agile provides the new best practice, equipping you with the required skills and processes to successfully deliver projects to meet customer requirements in today’s fast-paced and rapidly changing business environments by harnessing:
- Control combined with flexibility
- Clear project definition
- Seamless blending and integration
- Improved capability to react and adapt
Go here to find out more: https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/project-programme-and-portfolio-management/PRINCE2-Agile-28/prince2-agile-918
Or, if you want a fast track to using PRINCE2 with Scrum, check this out:
Scrum Masterclass
A Scrum Master Certificate on your Project Management CV/Resume lifts you above the crowd proving you can lower project cost and provide speedy project completion.
Scrum is part of Agile, which has become a standard in IT projects. It’s used in software development by small teams of developers who work in short sprints.
The SCRUM MASTER self-study video training contains all the training and materials you need to master the implementation of SCRUM on your projects – without attending a classroom!
Critical Chain Masterclass
The Critical Chain Management Method is a relatively recent method and news started spreading about this project management ‘new kid on the block’ a handful of years back when Eliyahu Goldratt published his novel about it. The novel was an interesting read but focused how the technique evolved rather than HOW to apply it.
Our Masterclass shows you in detail, how to apply it!
- What is the Critical Chain?
- How do I use it with project management methodologies such as PMP and PRINCE2?
- Can it be applied to Agile projects?
