How to become a Project Manager

This is an interesting question and asked by lot of fresher on job, team members and team leaders. Here I would like to state a 360 degree view about this question; some views are for you while some are not for you. So choose wisely that suits you best. I would explain some of the points which may lead you to become a project manager or at least after reading this you will be able to do your self assessment and will be able to fill the gap. This is my view point which came from experience but it does not signify the mandatory conditions as it may differ from organization to organization.

There are some of the basics which are needed for becoming a project manager which includes a recognized degree in a related field or equivalent course. A pleasing personality with good communication skills is very important these days. Certification course and knowledge of some project management software can be the plus 1.

This is very important that every day before going for sleep, you do self analysis, at least for 10 Minutes, and try to find out the outcomes of your actions, learning curves, jelling with people, health and many other important things which will make your career and life good, not just becoming a project manager. Once you start doing it and make it a habit you will get answers to lot of questions which nobody can answer for you.

The foremost important part is: Are you performing your current duties well enough and how is your performance in that? Easy way to find out this is by asking: Are you delivering the desired tasks on time, what is the quality of the work you delivered, do you often receive complement about your work? These are indicators which can help you understand your performance and if they are going negative you need to work on it and once those are accomplished then you can think over moving to higher designations. Are you showing the qualities which are talked among the team members or elsewhere, like leadership, effective communicator, helpful, mentor. To find out these you can follow the signals like “if you are asked often which movie you prefer and whole team follows you” or “You are asked to say few words for the team member in public” or “people looking for your advice and discuss their personal matters with you".

This becomes very important as you need to understand your company culture, hierarchy, needs and chain of commands, which will eventually lead you to the desired position of PM. You should keep your eyes open and try to analyze the environment around you and see if you can follow certain cues, which are not written or said but are followed, like the reporting procedures, flow of work, orientation of team members and other environmental factors. But please make sure never do politics and play dirty as it’s unethical as well as risky (if you are caught you are screwed). Most of the people do this assuming that other may not know and it sounds easy, but you are wrong! People will know and they will not let it go.

Revolves all around you and you have to pick it up every time. This is something which you learn from the surroundings and observation, seeing someone doing it, may be your project manager or senior leaders. This is very effective and easy to do as you directly see the practical part of it and does not care about the theoretical aspects of it. It also plays an important role because if every time you start asking questions you may not sound good and people may not like it, but you can learn from observational learning, all the time.

No doubt time and experience counts a lot and has the maximum importance but I would surely like to tell you it’s more about your skills than just ages; if you perceive a conception that to become a PM you need to have at least 6-8 year of experience, you are more likely to be wrong as when it comes to number of years, it depends what you did in those years and does it really added value to you or is it the same nature of work you did for 8 years, which is of very less value. Experience is directly related to time but more influenced with the nature of work you did and how well you performed them. I know people who became PM in 2 years and those who could not able to make it even in 10 years.

Always update yourself with new skills, technologies, strategies; this will lead you to better grooming and a solid career. Personality improvement is likely to be an edge over others which can make you a possible candidate for the PM position. Not all of your team member will be doing this so you have the competitive advantage over them when there is a chance or internal appraisals over the package and designation.

Last but not the least, always take lead in your team and whenever you get a chance to do anything always come forward and grab the opportunity. This will make you a leader and a resourceful person. Gradually you will learn lot of things which your team members might not be having and this will lead you to the PM designation.

These are my views and some points which can help you in achieving the desired position of project manager. Feel free to ask your questions. I will be happy to answer them.