Digital project management comes with a large chunk of to-dos. Moving projects from concept to completion requires planning, reviewing, tracking, and measuring outcomes. Typically, this can be more difficult to achieve without the right set of skills.
As a digital project manager, you must possess skills so that you handle the creative, technical, and functional aspects of online projects. Whether you’re a seasoned digital project manager or just getting started, these essential skills will help you manage projects and deliver outstanding results.
That said, here are the five essential digital project manager skills that you need.
1. Technical skills
Technical skills refer to the expertise, practical knowledge, and ability to use specific tools and programs in the execution of your tasks or job requirements. Typically, technical skills include using tools like a simple content generator or project planning software.
As a project manager, here are some core technical skills you should develop:
Project management software skills. Develop your proficiency in using project management software to create and assign tasks, monitor projects, collaborate with your team, and improve project workflows.
Agile methodology. This iterative process involves breaking complex projects into several phases and implementing continuous improvement at every project milestone. It aims to deliver projects quickly and progressively. Top agile frameworks you should learn include Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Extreme Programming (XP), and Feature Driven Development (FDD).
Web design and development skills. You should be able to design functional websites or web-based applications and manage them. You must also understand programming languages like Javascript, HTML, and CSS.
Knowledge of digital marketing and e-commerce. Understanding digital marketing and e-commerce concepts like SEO, advertising, and 10X content marketing strategies so you can use them to achieve your project objectives when necessary.
User experience (UX). This involves the needs of your product users, developing user stories, and creating wireframes and prototypes. The practical application of UX concepts will help you and your project team create digital products that are user-friendly and intuitive.
Cloud computing involves using platforms like Amazon Web services or Microsoft Azure to deploy web applications.
Finally, technical skills equip you to apply theoretical principles to the actual performance of project management activities. These project management activities include project planning, meeting facilitation, budgeting, and performance tracking. As a result, you become a more effective project manager.
2. Communication skills
Practical communication skills mean you can pass along information the receiver can understand. Since digital project management involves collaborating with other people, you should be able to inform your team and stakeholders about the project’s needs so they can take action.
According to research by KPMG, 61% of project sponsors want to be involved in the process, thus demonstrating the need for stakeholder management and presentation skills. Typically, it lets you get stakeholders on board with your project plan and effectively share ideas.
As a digital project manager, you should be able to adjust your communication style to connect easily with stakeholders in your project. For instance, you should be able to simplify complex terms in plain language for stakeholders who may need help understanding the technicalities of your project.
Another important aspect of your digital project manager job is coordinating your team. You should be able to ensure that they’re driven towards achieving a successful project. Effective communication skills will help you express the importance of the projects and give your team a proper direction.
Some conflicting aspects may exist during your project, such as meeting times, team availability, milestone requirements, etc. Proper communication skills will help you address this in an orderly manner as you find mutual ground for everyone involved.
Effective communication involves receiving and implementing feedback from your team members and stakeholders. You should also determine the best forms of communication for each case. When is it proper to use emails, make a phone call, or discuss in person? Strong writing and verbal communication skills will help you facilitate project success and overall team performance.
3. Project management skills
Project management skills refer to the ability to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the implementation of your project needs from start to finish. These skills are particularly crucial in digital project management as they will help you deliver projects on time, within budget, and based on proper quality standards.
Project planning and organizing skills help you identify project needs and goals. In turn, this equips you to coordinate processes for achieving successful results. It also involves deciding project milestones like the ones in the screenshot below based on your team’s capacity.
You should also be able to set yardsticks, OKRs, or key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the progress of the project.
As a project manager, you should be able to efficiently know what your project requires in terms of funds, tools, and human resources—and how best to meet the needs based on your available resources. Your budgeting and resource allocation skills will also help you determine aspects of your project that may need further resource procurement to run smoothly.
Let’s say something unexpected happens.
It’s your risk management and mitigation skills that will also help you navigate through them. Typically, you need to develop a high level of critical thinking and problem-solving. You also need to have a solid ability to manage people and resources to limit the costs or likelihood of falling at risk during your project. This begins with identifying potential risks and making plans for them before they happen.
A project schedule is a comprehensive documentation of all tasks to be done in a project, the resources required for each, and when the tasks are due. The project’s timeline outlines the relevant tasks in order of priority based on the level of importance and the due date. Proper schedule and time management skills will help ensure all tasks are correctly assigned and completed when due.
The above project management skills are important digital project manager skills that deliver top-performing projects based on stakeholder requirements and expectations.
4. Adaptability and continuous learning
Adaptability and continuous learning are also some of the essential digital project manager skills you should have. Adaptability involves adjusting to changing trends and technologies in the industry. Such fluidity will mean that you are open to new ideas and trying out a different approach if it brings more progress to your project.
Being adaptable also means accommodating new stakeholder demands or requirements during a project. This could be making changes to existing project goals or adjusting timelines.
Continuous learning, on the other hand, equips you to consistently improve and expand your skillset so that you can accommodate new trends, techniques, or demands in the industry. This is achievable through attending industry conferences or workshops, taking online courses, and keeping tabs on relevant industry updates and learning resources.
As a digital project manager, you also need to display a high level of resilience and flexibility in the execution of your job requirements. Being resilient means that you can bounce back from challenges. Regardless of the challenges, you’ll stay focused on the goal and work towards a successful outcome. Also, your flexibility will help you respond swiftly and efficiently as these challenges arise.
5. Business acumen
Digital project managers with strong business acumen skills can easily connect a specific project to the overall business objective of an organization. Hence, they can carry out projects that meet consumer demands and contribute to the overall organizational goal. This is in terms of profitability, scalability, and value.
Some specific skills that fall under the umbrella of business acumen for successful project managers include:
Understanding business processes and strategies involves knowing how your project stakeholders intend to achieve their organizational goals. You should also understand the existing workflows and procedures to ensure your project plan is aligned.
Ability to assess and make data-driven decisions. You should be able to assess business needs and make decisions based on existing data so that the impact of your project is more effective.
Awareness of industry trends and competitor analysis. Understanding industry trends and competitor strategies through in-depth research and analysis will give you sufficient insight for creating relevant and competitive digital products.
The above business acumen skills work together and equip you to understand market trends and deliver projects based on the needs of your client’s target market.
Conclusion
Digital project management requires a range of skills to achieve maximum results. That’s why you should be intentional about developing your skillset if you’re pursuing a career in this niche.
In this article, you learned essential digital project manager skills you should work on improving.
They include
- technical skills
- communication skills (knowing which communication mistakes to avoid)
- stakeholder management
- presentation skills
- team leadership
- employee motivation skills
- conflict management and resolution
Project management skills like planning and organizing, resource allocation, and so on are crucial.
Let’s not forget the need for adaptability and continuous learning skills to navigate new trends, setbacks, or unexpected changes. Finally, it’s vital to possess proficient business acumen skills. This will help you align your projects with your stakeholders’ overall business goals.
As you work toward developing and improving these skills, you will become a remarkable and efficient digital project manager.
David Pagotto
Author
David Pagotto is the Founder and Managing Director of SIXGUN, a digital marketing agency based in Melbourne. He has been involved in digital marketing for over 10 years, helping organizations get more customers, more reach, and more impact.
