The Secret Behind A Project’s Success (People Skills/Soft Skills)

“People who wish to go into the future should have two skills to succeed – the ability to deal with people and the ability to sell.” – Shiv Khera, author

A Manager’s Responsibility:

The role of a Project Manager isn’t just about delivering on time, scope, budget and quality. It’s about developing people – teams and individuals. Projects are nothing without people and there are innumerable stakeholders present.

A manager’s most important yet most difficult job is to manage people. People come with differing opinions and all should be valued. Personality conflicts occur, as no two employees have the same personality type. Your people skills can make the difference between road blocks versus opportunities, and project success versus failure. Therefore, “People/Soft Skills” are acknowledged as vital to the ultimate success of projects, because it is all about People – not processes.

People skills involve the ability to communicate effectively on an interpersonal level and wear different leadership hats. Consulting team members, applying a system that identifies individual differences and resolving them, motivating individuals and teams to increase morale.

Retaining employees, productively managing conflicts, being adaptable and flexible should be the core values of any good project manager. For example, “Which employee do you retain when times are tough?’ The one who has a positive attitude, and is always willing to help? Or the one who is inflexible and has a hard time admitting mistakes?

The Importance of People Skills/Soft Skills:

While your technical skills may get your foot in the door, your people skills are what keeps them open. Your work ethic, attitude, communication skills, emotional intelligence and a host of other personal attributes are the skills that are crucial for career and project success. In short, we can say that people skills are the tools of influence and implementation. Without the necessary people skills, business analysts and project management professionals may miss important opportunities for project success.

Don’t wait for others to help you develop your people skills. Take responsibility, and begin today by taking small steps in the right direction. It’s important for you to recognise the vital role people skills play within your team. Not only should you work on developing them within yourself, but encourage their development throughout the organisation.

People skills have a significant impact on interactions with clients, customers, colleagues, supervisors, and other stakeholders. The more positive someone’s attitude is, the better that person’s relationships will be. That’s what fosters great team performances, and leads people to contribute strongly to the organisation’s vision and strategy.

When managers and candidates have good communication and team working skills, all relationships improve among stakeholders and chances of project success is automatically increased.

“Soft skills get little respect but they will make or break your career” – Peggy Klaus, author

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