We continue telling about Project Management. The profession offers a wide range of the career opportunities and the chance to work across a variety of the economic sectors.

In the first part of this series, we discussed the strategic aspects of the Project Manager role, how it differs from product management and the distinction between leadership and management skills.

Today we will discuss the tactical aspects of the profession.

Tactical Aspects

• Project Initiation Skills: The ability to create a project initiation document and business case, define the project scope and set the goals. Tools: SMART analysis, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Gantt charts, S-curve, project Roadmap with key Milestones, brainstorming.
• Requirements Management: The ability to identify, document and maintain the stakeholder requirements throughout the project to ensure it meets the expectations and goals. Tools: SRS (Software Requirements Specification), BRD (Business Requirements Document), User Stories and functional requirements.
• Budgeting and Cost Management: Skills in planning the project budget and costs control. They include Cost-Benefit Analysis, Earned Value Management, variance and trend analysis, and forecasting.

• Resource Management: Skills in allocating and optimizing the use of the project resources, including time, people and materials. Tools: RACI Chart, which defines the roles and responsibilities of the project participants in relation to various project tasks; resource histograms, optimisation methods (resource levelling and balancing techniques).
• Communication Management: Developing the communication strategies and plans to ensure effective information exchange between all project participants and stakeholders.
• Project Implementation Management: The process of management and control of execution of the project works in accordance with the project plan, including tracking the progress, resolving the issues as they arise and ensuring that the project goals are met. Tools: burndown charts, check lists.
• Documentation and Reporting: The ability to keep the project documentation and prepare the progress reports.

• Schedule Management: The ability to effectively organize the work schedule of the specialists involved in the project. Tools: Critical Path Method (CPM), PERT charts and Eisenhower matrix.
• Procurement Management: The process of organizing and managing procurement of the goods and services required for project implementation, including supplier selection, contract conclusion and performance control. Tools: Tender documentation, e-procurement systems.

All the necessary skills are detailed in PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) of the Project Management Institute (PMI). This book offers a standardized set of terminology, best practices and recommendations for project management.

Key Soft Skills

For a Junior Project Manager, the key soft skills include the ability to adapt to the changes, communication skills, empathy, teamwork, organizational skills and time management. 

• Adapting to the changes involves flexible thinking and readiness to react quickly to unexpected situations or changes in the project. 
• Communication skills enable effective interaction with the team members, such as UI/UX designers, developers, stakeholders and other project participants.
• Empathy is important for understanding the needs and expectations of the project participants. 
• Teamwork skills facilitate collaboration and achievement of the common project goals.
• Organizational skills include the ability to plan, organize the resources and track the progress of task performance. 
• Time management helps to allocate time effectively and prioritize the tasks to achieve the project goals timely.
• Aptitude for learning helps quickly immerse in the specifics of the industry or subject domain of the project, which is critical for understanding the tasks, goals and expectations of the stakeholders. This includes willingness to learn about new products, market trends, technologies and user needs to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the project solutions.