Project managers need both “hard” and “soft” skills. The technical ones include, for example, scoping, while the soft ones include communication and adaptability. Both types of skills are vital for gaining experience in the role and of course for the successful delivery of any project, and especially for team rapport.

As with any other career, project managers with key skills specific to the role and with competencies in leadership and business acumen can easily find a good opportunity. And even though the weekend is knocking at our door, be sure to find out what are the top 5 skills that could make you the best project manager.

Organization
Project managers need organizational skills to keep their team and tasks on track. An organized person answers emails on time, meets deadlines, and has checklists for everything. They are proficient in goal-setting methodologies and are responsible for making sure project milestones are met within deadlines.

Delegation and task management
A project manager needs to know his employees and be able to rely on them. Many projects fail because they’ve been assigned to the wrong person or group, simply because many managers think teams should happily accept their assignments.

While this may work for them, it often fails. Employees are forced to do work they don’t want to do while feeling their talents are wasted. For this reason, look for or try to be a project manager who properly delegates aspects of the project according to personality or talent.

Communication
Project managers have many roles, one of which is that of the chief communicator. They communicate with every manager involved in the project, including every employee, those higher up in the company, and any person external to the organization (e.g., customer communication) who may partner with your company to deliver that project.

For this reason, project managers must be excellent communicators. This job is not for someone whose email inbox doesn’t get checked for days or someone who doesn’t like to talk.

Leadership
For where without leadership? Project managers must exhibit, among other things, strong leadership qualities.

Some employees are natural leaders. Others have the potential to lead after some mentoring. If you have the perfect, organized communicator on your team, but you doubt their leadership abilities, consider appointing them as a project manager with the knowledge that you will have to coach them through many stages.

Planning
Planning is also very much an aspect of project management, as other people rely on you to meet deadlines. This is especially true if your team has contracts in place for projects. A quality project manager will ensure that all clients deliver quality work on time.

The impact of proper planning goes beyond delegation and task management. Planning includes payment and invoicing planning, scheduling lead times, shift planning, etc.

Good project managers can juggle multiple calendars using tactics like color coding and labels to set priorities.