Category: Project manager

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How to Use Social Media to Enhance Project Management

Social networks have long changed the status of an entertainment environment for idle talks. They have become a separate powerful tool for promoting a business. Increasing brand awareness, attracting new customers, and retaining existing ones are just a few examples of what a company can do through Facebook, Twitter, etc.

“Social media presence is essential for any modern business” – Head of SEO at LinksManagement states – “In addition to frontend advantages such as increasing brand awareness and customer loyalty, there are backend ones: building a strong backlink profile and thus, skyrocketing SEO efforts.”

Quick messaging and a wide audience reach makes social media a convenient tool for project managers. If you want to know how to use it to improve your PM work – you are on the right track.

1. Instant Communication

It is impossible to manage a project without regular contact with directors, team members, contractors, and any other involved parts. One out of five projects fails precisely because PM cannot ensure timely transmission of key data between parties. To prevent this from happening, managers must provide themselves and their team with effective communication means.

Public media and apps, in this case, will provide:

  1. Instant transfer of the necessary information to all team members.
  2. Real-time update notifications so that everyone is aware of changes.
  3. Fast and accurate addressing the arisen problems and difficulties.
  4. The ability to use video communications for virtual meetings with remote employees.

PM can create different groups for contact with different participants. This will help to structure tasks and transmit the necessary data and update notifications to those people for whom it is relevant. In turn, video conferences significantly increase productivity and reduce the time to complete all tasks.

Increased productivity is ensured by the flexibility that removes standard restrictions from people. The absence of the need to sit at the office table for the classic 8 hours makes employees more responsive and enthusiastic about work: they are free to plan their own schedule.

2. Networking Opportunities

PMs can use social networks not only to transmit information to the team. In LinkedIn, for example, they can easily find colleagues in relevant groups and discuss similar problems, share experiences or learn about current trends in their sphere.

Thus, expanding the network of their acquaintances and contacts, PMs broaden their horizons, professionally develop, and pump their key skills. Certainly, business only benefits from this free online seo course.

But that’s not all. Networking features also include a search for influencers who can support the project if relevant to its essence. Obviously, the main habitat of opinion leaders and influencers is precisely a place called Twitter or another no less familiar to us. Look for them there if their support is important for success.

3. Project Promotion

At the launch stage, there is nothing more effective than social networks to:

  1. Make existing and potential customers notice the project.
  2. Get feedback.
  3. Report to executives on performance.

One of the important things in making customers notice the project is to highlight it using nice images. It is a well-known fact that people always pay attention to the eye-catching image at first, and after that read a description, text. To grab your customers’ attention, professionals from the Photza photo editing studio recommended using beautiful digital images.

Thereby, using public media channels, PMs perform several tasks at the same time, saving resources and not requiring any additional costs.

Many businesses have already experienced all of the above benefits. It is not difficult, it does not require any investments, but it brings excellent results. Do not miss the chance to improve the overall performance of the company.

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5 Project Management Trends & Forecasts for 2020

Our 2020 hindsight vision for project management is seeing project leads focusing not on the projects themselves, but rather the people who make up the team. In 2020 we’re predicting that: 

  • Project teams will have a more varied makeup
  • Project leads will work on developing soft skills
  • Getting a better idea of the strengths and weakness of your team
  • Working with unrelated projects and fields
  • Flexibility in your managerial philosophy

The upcoming decade will usher in a new age because it’s going to focus on the personal development of everyone involved in the projects you work on. By focusing on the people and building them up, you’ll be able to provide clients with a better product, and that will instill pride in your team.

Project Teams Will be More Diverse

Society is changing in big ways, more often than not for the better! We’re seeing more representation from various groups that historically are known as visible minorities in a variety of fields.

It doesn’t matter what age you enter the workplace, your degree level, if you’re apart of the LGBTQ+, a racial minority, or someone with a disability, these differences will be more commonplace. Rather than head for the hills, sort of speak embrace these differences.

Each person on your team will have different life experiences, due to a variety of factors, which means that you now how fresh and varying perspectives when it comes to tackling a variety of issues.

Besides personal traits, the workforce is changing in terms of employee makeup. The days of office workers being either salary or hourly are long behind us. This is partial because, with jobs and tasks shifting towards a heavy technological aspect, some companies are taking advantage of freelancers and remote workers.

Freelancers are great for short term needs and projects, and if they impress, they receive another project brief. Remote workers are taking traditional office jobs and allowing people to work from a home office, which reduces stress and boosts productivity and happiness. You could find freelancers on the portals like WriteScout and Subjecto.

Fostering Collaboration Between Unrelated Field and Projects 

We’re also predicting that previously related fields and projects will begin working together to save companies not only time, but also money when researching creative solutions, and developing products.

One instance of unrelated related fields coming together was Sociology and Myrmecology, a branch of Entomology focused on the study of ants.

Project Managers Will Need More Refined Skill Sets

Besides the technical skills a manager has, they’ll also need solid soft skills because colleges do a great job at teaching people industry knowledge, but don’t develop skills that businesses are looking for. Soft skills are the interpersonal skills that make people love or hate their manager.

A couple of examples of soft skills that managers need are the ability to accept feedback, creative and critical thinking, being flexible, and being a good communicator. A quick note on communicating, it’s more than talking, it’s also dependent on listening.

In 2020 we also think that tech will continue to trend as it has, and AI will become more important to businesses in 2020. Skills related to fields like robotics, computer science, and data analytics will be more important to companies.

Analyzing Not Only the Results But also Your Team

One thing that should be apparent to all project leads is that not all team members share the same skill sets. Each person has different skills that they offer, and as the manager, it’s your job to set up the team for success. However, the challenge lies in figuring out how to distribute tasks.

Managers Becoming Less Dogmatic With Their Management Philosophies

This is important because as the world changes around us, it forces management styles to be more flexible. By being able to alternate between different management styles, you can control things like decision making, job allocation, and you’ll have a defined leadership structure.

Conclusion

We hope you’re just as excited as we are for the dawn of a new decade. The future looks bright! Whether your a manager, a seasoned employee or a trainee, we’re all going to gain new skills. By developing people and setting them up for success, you’ll create a better product, and help shape the future.

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Andres Mendez Helped Us With His Review On Our PMI PMP Course

Andres Mendez has more than 13 years of experience working in different IT projects related to the Utilities Sector and Algorithmic Trading. He is currently working as a System Analyst at Verizon. He also has hands-on experience in Java 7/8, NodeJS, Angular 6/7, JSP, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, SQL/NoSQL databases, and Math Programming. Andres has a Master’s degree in Computer Science.

He has recently reviewed our PMI PMP course and provided his valuable feedback. Please read it here:

Andres Mendez Helped Us With His Review On Our PMI PMP Course

“The uCertify PMI PMP course and lab has good, relevant material that will help you understand all the key concepts asked in the PMP certification exam. 

The course has several practice tests that contain questions identical to the PMI PMP certification exam. There are knowledge checks added in the course to give you a real exam experience.”

To read the complete post, please click here.

Thank you Andres, we are glad to have your honest and valuable feedback on our course. 

To know more about Andres Mendez, contact via his LinkedIn profile.

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The Millennial Approach to Project Work: Opportunities and Challenges for Management

In just a few years’ time, three-quarters of the world’s workforce will consist of Millennials — which is the section of the population born between the ’80s and the ’00s. While profiling such a large stratum is something people would stay away from, there is a sizable body of research that allows managers and CEO’s to be aware of the minute peculiarities of Millennials and their behavior in the workplace, compared to other generations. Thus, enabling them to calibrate their management styles. 

In this article, we’ll take a look into how Millennials work and the opportunities and challenges for project management that stem from the Millennial approach. 

Let’s dive right in, shall we? 

Management: Opportunities and challenges

Now that we have a basic understanding of this generation’s passions and fears, we need to outline the opportunities and challenges that Project Managers and management, in general, should be wary of. Professional help to students in research paper on project management subjects at Mypaperwriter.com

Millennials aren’t easily motivated by money

It’s not that they don’t care about income. To Millennials, money is but a means, not an end. Their work is a vehicle for satisfaction for them, which is why they seek professional mobility. Similarly, that is the reason why modern workspaces have changed so much in the recent years. Offices have become more comfortable and less stressful. 

This generation would rather have a few extra days off, student loan repayment assistance, or flexible work schedules, rather than earn more. 

Go beyond project management

As mentioned previously, the Millennials aren’t fond of hierarchies and the vertical distribution of power. They are brought up in a much more egalitarian and permissive environment, which explains why merely being a boss won’t cut it if you’re working with Generation Y. 

Millennials seek something different in a manager — they tend to work well with people that are approachable and are excellent communicators, rather than just people that give orders. 

As a project manager, you should be careful not to underline your authority too much, as this will end up defeating the purpose of motivating your Millennial colleague. Instead, consider engaging in a meaningful conversation with them and try to get to the bottom of their stagnation and search for ways to help them. 

The value of communication

Communication is an essential component of management in a Millennial team. Don’t hesitate to engage in transparent and meaningful conversations with them, helping them find out the reason of their stagnation. 

Create a strong company culture.

Millennials care about company culture a lot, which is why it’s imperative to not only have one on paper but also enact it. As we’ve mentioned previously, this generation doesn’t care only about money. Values are a vital component of their work. A well-paid job isn’t fulfilling anymore. There has to be meaning and contribution to a higher goal in their work. 

Not having a consistent company culture or not enforcing it properly might cause significant dissatisfaction in a Millennial worker, and it could eventually push them to reconsider whether they’re looking forward to working with your organization at all. 

Recognize their achievements

A quality that can also qualify as a shortcoming of the Gen Y is their continuous search for approval and recognition. They expect it from their peers and superiors in the workplace. Millennials have been conditioned to seek recognition due to their upbringing in the age of social media. 

Being able to how your recognition and appreciation for the work that they’ve done will allow you to connect with a millennial colleague and establish rapport. 

They need opportunities for professional growth

We’ve mentioned previously that due to the digital environment that Millennials have been brought up in, they’re used to a certain degree of immediacy. They want to grow quickly both in their proficiency in their field and the professional ladder. The potential to improve their skills is inspiring to them. 

“As a manager, you need to make sure that you provide your team members with an opportunity for growth.” – project manager Nick Terrin from BeGraded and Studyker is sure about.

Millennials are changing project management

The future is Millennial, we at least for a certain number of years, before the Gen Z replaces them. They bring a new perspective, principles, challenges, and opportunities to the workplace.

Organizations that have understood how to collaborate with Millennials and their predecessors will be able to extract most of the benefits that they can offer.