When do you need a Project Manager?
If you’re having a project, it’s always the right decision to have a PM who can help you assemble the right team and manage it for you. By having the right professional, you can make sure that you can have a top-performing team and get a value-added start on your project.
Saying that you already have a good-performing team that is working on your project might not be enough. It is a much better and wise decision to add a capable project manager instead of increasing the technical resources to get a much better result. This decision will help to improve the overall efficiency of the technical team and remove unnecessary mismanagement from the other team members.
Things to Consider When Looking for a PM
Location and Flexibility
Looking for the right PM expert is not a walk in the park. You always have to consider a lot of aspects and one of these is if you will hire a full-time or a part-time PM. Another one is if you need the PM to be onsite or if it is applicable to make him work remotely.
With the development of the current communication technology, distance is not an issue anymore whether you will hire a full-time or a part-time PM and whether the PM will work onsite or remotely. There are a lot of experts that can manage your project effectively with the help of modern communication tools. These tools will also help you check with your PM on a regular basis. This provides flexibility when looking for the right resources not to mention the fact that it will help you stay within your project budget.
Emotional Intelligence
A PM needs to understand emotional intelligence not only for him but also for the team as a whole. The emotional intelligence of a PM will determine his ability to resolve issues and other negative factors that will arise in the project.
A PM who puts a deep understanding of the Emotional Intelligence of his/her team members will definitely be an effective resource for your project. This will help him/her determine what course of action he should take on a certain project-related and resource situation and issues.
Not being a part of the Industry standard before, emotional intelligence will soon become a growing and influential trend in the Project Management Industry that you need to consider when looking for a PM expert.
Emphasis on Soft Skills
With all the skills that we’ve learned from school and the university, it is the soft skills that really help us to climb the ladder in our careers. The right soft skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication give a person the edge to fit in a particular organization.
When looking for a PM expert, you must emphasize soft skills. It is as valuable as his/her technical skills because this will determine how he/she will constructively address project issues. A cool and level-headed leader will always make a wise and right decision.
Tech Experience and Estimation Skill
Having a project manager with technical knowledge of the project will have the skill set to estimate each task and phase of your project properly. This one factor can determine the success or failure of your project; hence will save your time and money.
For example, if your PM has the technical knowledge of developing an app or software, he/she can properly list all the tasks and action plans and estimate them accordingly. This means, that hiring a PM with technical knowledge on a specific project is much better than hiring a PM expert without such knowledge.
Project Management Tools
Another aspect to consider when looking for a PM is his knowledge of Digital Project Management Tools. Nowadays, it is becoming a prerequisite for Project Managers to master some PM Tools to help them manage the project, whether onsite or remotely. These tools can even help them automate some daily tasks which can save both time and money.:
- JIRA
- Asana
- Trello
- FreedCamp
- Basecamp
- Redmine
- Bitrix24
- Monday
Qualification of a Project Manager
Certifications alone are not always the determinant if the PM that you will hire is the right one for your project although these certifications are good indications of the professional experience that the PM has. Most of these certifications require a degree as a starter and may require a long period of studying to get them.
- PMP
- Agile Certified Practitioner
- Certified Scrum Master
- CAPM
- PRINCE2
The factors and aspects mentioned above are just a few things that you should consider when looking for a PM expert to go on board with your project. At the end of the day, it will always be good to not always rely on certifications alone. Experience is always a good teacher and in my personal opinion, this is what makes a Project Manager an expert in his/her field.