Standing Out From The Crowd

As more and more people are attracted to project management as a career choice, it's important to develop the soft skills that will separate you from a sea of candidates. If you are seeking a project management position, or looking to be promoted in your current PM job, here are some hard to beat qualities that will position you as a seasoned professional.

Courage - Believe it or not, courage is something that will push you further ahead as a Project Manager. Being able to handle any project, no matter what the complexity; being able to service any client, regardless of their tough reputation - this strength of character is refreshing to an employer who needs a fail-safe Project Manager on their team. This courage can truly only come from one source, which is confidence. Believe in yourself without being arrogant and you will exude competency and bravery. This attitude will foster a higher level of trust from your employer and your colleagues.

Finesse - I've discussed this elusive quality before, and while it may be difficult to define, it is absolutely real. By finesse, I mean an ability to deal with everyone you encounter in your job. This may include a harsh client or an unmotivated resource - regardless of who you are interacting with, there is a way to develop a positive and fruitful professional relationship with each and every person. Try to understand what motivates the people you work with - appeal to their priorities and you will create an immediate connection by understanding their needs.

Reliability - As a Project Manager, your very reputation lies in your ability to be consistently reliable. Always follow through on a promise, never forget a deliverable, constantly suggest solutions and forever respond to client calls and email messages in a timely manner. A Project Manager who can be depended upon will be one who is trusted, favoured and even requested from project to project. Aside from credibility with your clients, your employer will see you as competent, responsible and even authoritative.

These attributes can be developed and improved upon by every Project Manager, regardless of rank. In a client service role, such as project management, soft skills are just as important as education and industry knowledge. Demonstrating these skills in an interview will also give you an edge over your competitors. Never lose focus on these core attributes - they will carry you through difficult times, and more importantly, they will give you prominence and memorability in the minds of employers and clients alike.

How to Break Into Project Management

Since publishing this blog, I've received numerous messages asking how a person can break into project management. There are many answers to this question, but at a basic level, there are some fundamental requirements that need to be met. I will outline some core considerations in this entry.

- Know what you're getting into: Before you commit to becoming a Project Manager, it's important that you understand the role and its responsibilities. Project management is not simply about administration. It is about planning and detail, communication and leadership, problem solving and contingency planning, mitigating risk and absolute perseverance. Project Management is a dynamic, intensive, and challenging career choice, so the decision to pursue it should not be taken lightly. It can represent a lifelong career with substantial responsibility, but equal reward, so before you commit to it, do your research!

- Understand the medium: If you are planning on pursuing interactive project management, you must be familiar with the online medium and have an understanding of the production lifecycle. This knowledge could be gained through exposure by working in an agency setting, through education in a multimedia program, or through self-learning, although this option will not provide any practical experience. I've seen people approach this job from all angles, and without a doubt, a combination of targeted education, coupled with agency experience, will provide the best foundation for a serious career in interactive project management.

- The straight goods on certification: So many newcomers to project management strive for PMP (Professional Project Manager) accreditation. This, alone, will not prepare you for the job, but once you have gained the minimum experience required to take the exam, certification will give you well-rounded credentials and a very solid foundation. There are requirements that must be met before you can take the final test which you should be aware of - details can be found here.

Like any other profession, particular people will be better suited to a life of project management than others. The best advice I can offer is to understand the day to day requirements of the job and the lifecycle of web development before pursuing this path. Do some research, look into educational options, review project management job postings and talk to people in the industry. For the right person, a career in project management will bring much satisfaction and security.

A Word (Or Two) On Quality

In the world of interactive project management, the promise of quality has become cliché. Quality is sometimes seen as an incidental to each client delivery, as opposed to an independent, critical phase of the delivery. Because quality control is commonly compressed at the tail end of a project, the overall commitment to the caliber of work produced is inherently compromised. There is, however, one person that can change this negative trend - the Project Manager. Here's how every Project Manager can do their part to save the interactive industry from a decline in excellence:

- Include testing in the price to client: Always incorporate costs for a thorough quality control phase into the budget of your projects. It is a Project Manager's job to show value in the process and methodology they employ. This means you must be able to demonstrate the benefit of each project phase to a client in order to justify the cost of a job. By doing so, you will be able to recover any time spent against testing in the original price to client, and you'll be able to articulate the work effort behind the line item cost. This will also make you accountable for the integrity of the final deliverable, providing additional incentive to do a thorough, proper job.

- Include a testing phase in your project timeline: I suspect the primary reason that testing is short-changed is time constraint. Project teams are often focused on completion of the build, forgetting that actual completion is achieved at the end of successful testing and bug resolution, not at the end of the build. If you incorporate a quality assurance phase into your timeline, your team will be able to work towards this project milestone from day one, allowing sufficient time towards the end of the project to work through the proper cycles.

- Don't do the testing yourself!: One of the worst mistakes a Project Manager could make is to complete testing themselves. Flawless quality assurance is an expert skill that is developed over time. Like Project Managers, professional testers will have solid process and methodology to support their efforts. When time and budget are running out, some Project Managers will take on the quality assurance portion themselves, thinking a quick review will suffice - this is never the case. Leave testing to professionals - facilitate the process, but don't overtake it if you intend on delivering a perfect product.

In summary, do not take quality for granted - designers, writers, developers, and even Project Managers will make mistakes. Quality assurance is the catch-all to identify and resolve these issues before client delivery. Flawless execution will always be remembered, and will go a long way towards a good name for you and your firm. Insist that quality be the golden rule for every project you touch.