Is it Hard to Become a Project Manager? What’s Required

A project manager has a particularly challenging job when placed on a project for a company. Two questions came up during a recent discussion; the first question is it hard to become a project manager? The second question is what is required to become a project manager?

We need to know what a project manager does daily and what it takes to become a project manager to answer the questions.

What Does a Project Manager Do?

A project manager is responsible for planning a project from the beginning to the end.” A project management process starts with learning what they need to do, such as planning, leadership, execution, time management, budget, and documentation to complete a project (2022, What Does a Project Manager Do?)”. To clearly understand what a project manager must do, I have described what a project manager must do in detail below.

A project manager is responsible for planning all phases of a project. First, the project manager must acquire a team that will work on the project and keeps track of deadlines. According to the plan, the project manager must possess leadership skills to complete the project on time.

A project manager must be able to communicate well and manage all problems that come up with ease. The project manager must have the ability to execute a project from start to finish using communication to inform all the team members what must be done. When a project is assigned to a project manager, the project manager will place a deadline.

So, managing how much time is spent on getting a project done is crucial. A project manager is given a budget that they must follow. Having a sense of what it takes to get a project done and what the things you need will cost will help a project manager get his assignment completed on time.

Finally, a project manager must have documentation that shows the project’s progress. Data needs to be collected by the project manager to be reviewed by management. Is it hard to become a project manager?

To answer the question, I outlined the job responsibilities of a project manager. After I finished the outline showing the duties of a project manager,  I found that becoming a project manager can be very challenging. The project manager job comes with a lot of stress that not everyone would be able to manage, but given the right team, you can make a good impression and finish the project.

What Skills Do Project Managers Need?

In this section, I begin to review the answer to the second question: What is required to become a project manager? A project manager must have specific skills to complete a project. A project manager should have hard skills and soft skills to work on a project.

“The hard skills that a project manager should have would be scheduling, budgeting, and risk management. A project manager’s soft skills would be communication, time management, and leadership skills.” (2022, What Skills Do Project Managers Need?)

The skills a project manager needs are one part of what it takes to complete a project. The process of what it takes to complete a task is next. The project manager needs to learn the four steps necessary to become a project manager.

The first step would be to know how to plan a project for a client. The planning of a project has stages that a project manager must know. There are five stages: Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing a project.

The second step is to become familiar with managing a project. A project manager has several ways to start a project which can change over time based on the company’s plan. First, it takes time and communication between a team of people who bring a specific skill set that will help the project come together.

The third step is to learn what tools can be used to help projects go smoothly. For example, a project may require specific software to support the project, such as Evernote, to give all the parties involved a platform in keeping everyone updated on the status of what each person is doing. But, again, the project manager’s responsibility is to keep track of what is going on in the project.

The fourth step is to be aware of business and industry trends. A project manager needs to research trends to ensure it is an excellent time to start the project. A project manager should be very informed of what is going on in the industry so the project will succeed.

Now that we know what a project manager does daily, we need to address what education a project manager would need to learn for their job. The education that a project manager needs involves going to college. “The course that a person interested in becoming a project manager would be a master’s degree in project management.

There is also a Project Management Professional Certification offered to a person who wants to become a project manager”. (Cote, 2022) It can be hard to learn what is necessary to be a project manager, but it is possible to achieve your goals with time and effort. It takes time spent going to school and working in jobs that will advance you to the place that you need to become a project manager.