The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Project Managers (Part 1)

Inspired by the must-read “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen Covey, this article will guide you through the 7 habits that a project manager can have to be more successful.

Before getting into 7 habits in detail, let’s agree on the 2 core principles for successful project managers: Following the project process and Acting with complete integrity because without these two habits, there will be no worthwhile projects.
- Following the project process. The job of a project manager is to identify the approach that will bring about the best chance of delivering the project on time and to budget. Once this job is done, you need to follow the process with some adaptations if required.
- Acting with complete integrity. As a project manager, you should practice a habit of speaking honestly and dealing fairly with people at each opportunity. You should only take action with absolute integrity.

Now, we can move onto 7 habits of highly effective project managers.

#Habit 1: Be prepared. The initiation of a project comes along with risks and changes. Therefore, project managers need to be prepared to face those risks. When talking about preparation, emphasis should also be put on metal preparation. Project managers should bear in mind that risks can show up anytime throughout the project. So, to embrace challenges, project managers can look for potential problems and relevant solutions for them. Moreover, you also need to see the possibility of failure as you don’t always win. Preparation is 50% of success.

#Habit 2: Always listen. Most of the time spent on the work of a project manager is to communicate with stakeholders as they play an instrumental role in your project – to make it or break it. So, high priority should be placed on communicating with them. The one habit that eases everything, wins their respect and grows your insights is to listen. This can bridge the gap between you and other stakeholders about the planning, execution or the overall objectives of the project.

#Habit 3: Be in control. As projects are big and complex, you should choose your top priority to focus on rather than trying to manipulate all aspects of the project. This can bring about control for you as each project has its own priorities and points of impact. So, you need to find one or more levers to have maximum control of the project. Once you find the right lever, everything will fall into place.

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