Project management skills: definition and examples

If you’d like a job where you’ll oversee a project, you’ll need project management skills.

We’re here to outline the most important project management skills, explain how to improve them and share some tips for showing them on their CV.

We’ll take you through:

• What are project management skills?
• Examples of project management skills
• Jobs that require the skills
• Why are they important?
• How to improve them
• How to include project management skills on your CV
• Project management tools

Project management skills are the qualities and abilities you need to plan, execute and complete a project successfully.

A well-managed project means it’s finished on time, within budget and to the required standard. That’s why employers highly value project management skills. You don’t need to work as a project manager to use them. Anyone in a leadership position or responsible for delivering work will use project management skills.

There are both hard and soft project management skills:

• Hard skills. The essential skills specific to project management, like planning and scheduling. Hard skills include technical skills related to specific software, like Microsoft Excel.
• Soft skills. The transferable skills you’ll use in your role, such as problem-solving, and the interpersonal skills you’ll need to manage the people involved with a project.

Employers look for candidates with a combination of hard and soft skills. However, the exact mix of skills a recruiter wants will depend on the sector and the size of the team. For example, overseeing a large-scale construction project is likely to require strong technical skills and familiarity with industry tools like Autodesk Revit. In contrast, if you’re joining a close-knit team, a recruiter may place interpersonal skills and your teamworking abilities above industry experience.

There are many examples of project management skills, but the most in-demand by employers are:

Communication skills are crucial for effective project management.

You’ll use them to make sure all members of a project team clearly understand their tasks, responsibilities and deadlines.

Communication skills will also come in handy when you deal with difficult stakeholders (like a client who’s unhappy about a timeline change) or resolve conflicts within a team.

While some communication skills will come more naturally to some people than others, you can hone your skills with practice. For example, if you’re going to present finished projects to the wider company, read up on our tips for improving your presentation skills. Public speaking will get less scary over time.

To complete a project successfully, you need to work well with others.

In addition to communicating efficiently with coworkers, a good project manager will also maintain a good relationship with them, build a respectful and inclusive work environment and manage problems when they arise.

Being a team player who listens to others will go a long way.

You’re bound to come across problems while managing a project. The test is how you deal with them.

With problem-solving skills, you’ll be well-equipped to identify issues, provide solutions and take action to fix things – all attributes that any employer will value highly.

Every project is different – and many evolve as they go on, too. To deal with the constant changes, a good project manager needs to be adaptable.

You’ll need to be comfortable with deadlines moving and be ready to change your plans when a project must shift.

When dealing with multiple stakeholders, it’s essential to be able to reach compromises that satisfy everyone involved. Knowing how to negotiate can also help you secure additional resources for a project or get buy-in from reluctant team members.

Time management is essential for project managers.

You’ll need time management skills to create realistic schedules and timelines for a project. It involves considering the availability of resources, the complexity of tasks and potential delays.

Additionally, time management also involves prioritising tasks and delegating work.

You need good organisational skills to manage a project.

Project managers need to plan other people’s workloads while managing their own. Organisational skills help them meet their deadlines while giving other team members everything they need to do the same.

Patience is another important quality for project management.

A project manager needs to be prepared for issues and adapt calmly. A good project manager knows how to solve problems and conflicts without getting frustrated.

Effective leaders motivate their team, deal with conflicts and make decisions in the best interest of the project. They also create a positive and productive work environment. Even if you’re unsure about leading others right now, you can develop leadership skills through training and practice.

Project scheduling is a hard skill that involves creating a timeline for a project and breaking down tasks into smaller, manageable steps. It often begins with using technical skills to create something like a Gantt chart, which is a visual representation of the project timeline. Once you’ve scheduled a project, you’ll need to keep track of its progress and make changes as needed.

Project management skills are useful for a wide variety of jobs.

Here are some roles that require project management skills:

As the name suggests, project managers are responsible for managing projects from start to finish. They oversee all aspects of a project, including planning, budgeting, coordinating teams and ensuring that deadlines are met. You’ll need particularly strong project management skills for the role.

Product managers oversee the development and launch of new products. They need a deep understanding of the market and the target audience’s needs. They manage all aspects of the product lifecycle.

As a product manager, you need project management skills so that you can juggle multiple tasks and coordinate teams to launch products.

Digital marketers need project management skills, too. Why? They’re often responsible for coordinating teams to deliver a project on time and on budget.

Having good project management skills helps digital marketers plan and organise their work. Plus, the skills make it easier for them to communicate with other team members effectively.

Operations analysts ensure that a company's operations run smoothly. Typically, they manage complex projects with many moving parts. Strong project management skills help operations analysts keep track of all the different things they need to consider.

Human resources (HR) managers oversee the recruitment, training and development of a company's employees. They use their project management skills to coordinate different tasks to keep the workforce running efficiently. Their remit can include organising training courses and managing performance review processes.

Project management skills are important for several reasons.

As a student, you’ll use project management skills to help you submit your work on time, organise your revision schedules and juggle priorities.

In the world of work, project management skills can help you do your job better, which can lead to promotions and salary increases. Plus, being able to manage your workload can help you avoid burnout and find a good balance between work and your personal life.

Ultimately, project management skills are beneficial for students and workers (and their employers). By developing project management skills, you can improve your academic, professional and even your personal life.

Here are some ways to develop your project management skills:

One of the best ways to improve any skill is to practise it. Focus on your weak spots and challenge yourself. If you’re struggling with communication skills, you could join a university comedy society to practise public speaking. If you want to become more organised, you could play around with planning tools and use one to map out your study schedule.

Brush up on articles, books, and blogs related to project management. Staying up to date with the latest trends and best practices will help you be a more effective project manager. For example, you might learn about new tools that will speed up manual processes. If you can’t find time to read, look for relevant podcasts that you can listen to while doing something else.

Volunteering is a great way of gaining practical experience and learning new skills. Look out for opportunities in your local area. Perhaps a community centre would like help with planning its volunteer rota.

Industry work experience will give your skills a boost. An internship in project management will show you what an experienced project manager does, so that you can learn from their example.

If you’re serious about a career in project management, consider joining an organisation like the Project Management Institute (PMI). Bodies like PMI will give you access to resources, networking opportunities and professional development courses.

Look out for project management conferences and workshops. Events provide an opportunity to learn from industry experts. Plus, you can use them to network.

Another way of taking your project management skills to the next level is to earn a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. That will show your commitment to the profession and give you a competitive edge when applying for jobs. However, it’s very unlikely to be a requirement for an entry-level graduate role.

There are also many excellent online (and less formal) courses that will teach you the basics of project management.

So, what are the key project management skills for a CV? The answer is any relevant skills that you can provide evidence for.

When it comes to writing your CV, big up your project management skills to stand out. If you’ve got transferable skills or relevant experience, emphasise the details on your CV.

Be sure to always include examples of how you used your project management skills, too. You don’t just want to say you’re ‘organised’. Instead, you want to give them evidence of the times you’ve used your organisational skills. For example, you could say how you successfully managed a university group project by using a digital tool to ensure everyone’s individual tasks were completed on time.

For more tips on how to write a winning CV, take a look at our graduate CV advice.

Being familiar with project management tools is one way of showing your relevant hard skills to potential employers.

Some of the tech worth familiarising yourself with is:

Proofhub is a tool for project collaboration and team communication. If you spot the tool in a job ad, give its free trial a go to get to know how it works.

Asana is a popular project management tool that helps you keep track of your tasks and projects. Asana offers both free and paid plans. You could try out the free plan to manage a uni project.

Basecamp is another popular project management tool. It includes features like to-do lists, scheduling, file sharing, and team messaging. You can run one project for free, which gives you a chance to test it out.

Trello is a visual way to manage your tasks. It uses boards and cards to help you organise and track your projects. Why not use Trello’s free plan to take care of you and your flatmate’s summer party? One card for the playlist. Another for the shopping list.

Smartsheet is a project management tool that can be used across entire organisations. You can try it for free to see what it’s like. Even watching a demo can be useful.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace tool that helps you with project management, brainstorming and task management. It includes features like Kanban boards (a visual project management tool), meeting notes, roadmaps, and more. You can use Notion for free as an individual to organise your university workload or life admin.

You’re probably already familiar with Google Docs as a word-processing tool. You can also use Google tech solutions like Drive for organising your digital files and Sheets to create spreadsheets.

Filestage aids file sharing and collaboration. It’s a review platform with version control, approvals and comments. If you’re looking for a job where you’ll project manage the work of designers, you’ll likely use a tool like Filestage. Play around with its free trial to learn more about it.

Monday.com is a project management tool that supports task management, file sharing, and team collaboration. Its simple interface makes it a great entry-level option. Its free plan may be enough to help you track the stages of a uni project.

You can use Wrike for task management, file sharing, team collaboration, and creating Gantt charts. Your study group could experiment with its free plan.

While it’s not essential to have experience with project management software before taking on your first grad job, mentioning tools you use on your CV can help you catch a recruiter’s attention. Plus, it can give you a confidence boost when starting your new job as you’ll already be familiar with some workplace tech. Some project management programmes will be too advanced for use in everyday life, but others are great for plotting your study schedule or assigning roles in a group project. Test them and see how they can help you in your everyday life.

Project management skills are valuable in many sectors. By learning how to improve your project management abilities, you’ll make yourself a valuable member of any team.

Including project management skills on your CV can also increase your chances of landing the job that you want.

If you’d like to learn about the other qualities employers are looking for, read about the key career skills you need to succeed in any field.