Key Skills to Look for When Hiring a Project Manager

At its core, project management requires you to balance cross-functional collaboration and shifting priorities while making judgment calls as things inevitably change. The balance of hard structure and soft people skills is what makes certain candidates shine at project management, and others crumble.

Determining who will make a great project manager is all about evaluating skills.

Here are the ones that really matter.

Strong, Relevant Qualifications

Earning an online Master of Project Management can equip candidates with a robust knowledge of how to plan, mitigate risk and lead. The most effective project managers also possess strong people skills and leadership qualities.

Project managers play a critical role in helping companies meet their targets, manage timelines, maintain budgets, and ensure every stakeholder is updated every step of the way. A skilled and qualified project manager can make or break your business.

Some of the greatest contributors to project mishaps are weak leadership, poor planning, and a failure to communicate. Having a project manager who lacks these skills will only exacerbate these problems. With a strong academic foundation, however, you can ensure your project manager candidates are equipped with the relevant knowledge and theoretical understanding to tackle the job.

Leadership and Team Management Skills

Successful project managers unite individuals and teams toward common goals. Inspiring and motivating others is crucial.

Equally important is knowing how to delegate work and consistently assign tasks to the people best suited to take them on. And where there’s friction, project managers are also skilled at conflict resolution, with a focus on concentrating on the essentials.

Successful project managers create a culture of accountability by setting expectations up front and following up with their team regularly, so everyone is clear on what they’re accountable for and when it’s due.

Communication Skills That Keep Projects Moving

As the hub connecting teams, clients, and stakeholders, a project manager must ensure everyone is aligned. Good project managers practice clear communication to keep everyone on the same page.

Remember: effective communication starts with active listening. The best project managers know how to not only share what they want to say but also listen attentively. They listen to catch concerns early and use that information to stay on track.

Organisation and Time Management

One way that project managers avoid project mistakes is through prioritisation. When something happens to change project scope or you run into unforeseen obstacles, it’s important to know what needs to be done now and what can wait.

Scheduling is another valuable skill for project managers. Even if you use tools or have a system for keeping track of everything, you need to be able to move from one thing to another without forgetting details. Discipline and structure are key.

Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking

Troubleshooting is one of the most important skills that a project manager can possess. Spotting risk management issues before they become problems is essential. Whatever the risk, great project managers plan for them in advance.

Here, quick decision-making is a must. Some project managers get caught up in “what-if” scenarios. When you’re a project manager, you need to think realistically about what will work. That might mean pulling your team back to plan “A” or coming up with a solution to a problem you didn’t expect.

Budgeting and Resource Management

Scope, budget, timeline; if any of these balloons burst unexpectedly, your best-laid plans can go awry quickly. That’s why cost control measures should be evaluated continuously. This includes managing your spend versus your planned budget, identifying variances, and understanding trade-off decisions during course corrections.

Project managers should also keep an eye on resource allocation. What good is a plan if you’ve assigned your team members too many tasks? Effective project managers know how to allocate people, time and materials optimally.

Forecasting is one way to help you avoid the unexpected (i.e. looking ahead at future project costs, busy periods and bottlenecks) and is another big piece of the project strategy. Keeping scope creep at bay requires defining reporting limits early on, ensuring that any deviations from the original roadmap are assessed for their ripple effects on the schedule, budget, and available resources prior to approval.

Technical and Digital Project Management Skills

Project management is still a people-centric job, but delivery today requires technical ability, plus an understanding of tools and methodologies (i.e. Agile, Waterfall, blended methodologies, etc.).

Familiarity with project management software (i.e. task trackers, scheduling platforms, collaboration software, reporting tools, etc.) is also naturally preferable.

It’s important to understand how to use data. Analysing progress versus KPIs to make decisions internally allows for clearer, streamlined reporting.

While each project will vary in scope and context, understanding the industry that your project operates in (i.e. construction, IT, marketing, healthcare, etc.) can prove useful on a day-to-day basis.

Adaptability and Change Management

Flexible change management is often what separates thriving projects from lagging ones. When priorities change, strong project managers know when to revisit deadlines, shift resources if needed, and get everyone back on the same page.

During times of change or when new plans are being constructed, it’s easy for your team to lose focus. Effective project managers provide structure and direction by explaining what they do know, regularly checking in with their teams, and offering words of encouragement so everyone can stay motivated.

Find a Project Manager Who Delivers Results

When looking to hire a project manager, candidates who possess strong leadership and communication skills are golden. Organisational skills and technical expertise are a must, but you’ll also want your project manager to stay calm under pressure and be able to adapt when changes arise.

You’ll also want someone who can demonstrate how they’ve successfully delivered in the past. Have they streamlined processes? How have they delivered projects on time and on budget? Have they built strong relationships with other teams and stakeholders? Someone who meets these qualifications can help you achieve your project goals.