Why is Project management important?
1. Improves your ability to manage projects
Probably the most obvious reason why you should invest in learning some project management basics is because it will help you manage projects better. Think about it: our team has monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. Those goals are achieved by reaching deadlines and completing projects. Whether your team is working on a marketing campaign, website redesign, launching an event, or fixing the internet... it's a task with multiple components and people involved. Learning basic project management skills will help you conquer projects both large and small, and help you better plan, execute, and measure your team's success.
2. Gives you a competitive edge
Understanding elements of project management and being able to apply them to various roles can give you a hefty advantage against your competition. Basic project management training improves risk assessment and helps you spot mistakes and red flags before it's too late. It also improves your problem solving, planning, and organizational skills. Not to mention, learning and understanding basic project management tools will increase your credibility and might be that skill set you need to edge out your competition.
3. Strengthens your interpersonal skills
Communication is instrumental to managing a team. If you find your team is struggling with communication, putting a few basic project management concepts into practice will provide some structure on collaborating and help your team understand how to work together more efficiently.
Taking the temperature of your team is another component to effective project management. Recognizing when team members are overloaded and delegating when appropriate will allow your team to trust you and speak up when they need help.
4. Helps you become more agile
Projects don't always pan out as planned. Deadlines move, expectations change, and resources are few and far between. Understanding project management basics will help your team become more proactive to change so you can quickly cope and bounce back versus panicking when things don't go as planned. Since you can't avoid change, learn how to embrace it.
5. Provides insight into your team's performance
They say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity... so stop working insanely! By analyzing and understanding what went wrong, you can learn and improve for the future. Basic project management knowledge will allow you to track and measure your team's performance, which is the key to growth and success. As a manager, this also allows you to make your case and provide proof that your team is working hard to meet their goals.