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For your knowledge advantage, we put together the most actionable insights from 12 getAbstract summaries (7 books with a total of 1806 pages and 5 articles) on this topic. If you did this work yourself, you would be busy for at least 2165 minutes (about 37 hours). Learn more.

What Can We Do to Support Our Project Managers?

Regardless of having the training to manage multiple projects, those who carry the title of Project Manager are still eager for continuous education and support from their organizations to achieve success in their position. 

Danielle Goodrum

Amita Sharma, CSM at getAbstract, explains that currently, “many workers are juggling multiple concurrent projects. Facing stress, timelines and decision-makers isn’t always an easy balancing act. Ensuring that you follow every step in the project management cycle can be especially difficult when project deadlines are quickly approaching.”   

Image of: How to Become a Project Manager
Article Summary

How to Become a Project Manager

If you love solving puzzles and organizing, you might find your calling as a project manager.

Suzanna Haworth Digital Project Manager
Read Summary

Project managers experience many of the same stressors that their colleagues navigate. “Employees are looking for guidance on how they can easily follow and understand the project management functions required in a project management role, as well as master soft skills that make working with their colleagues easier,” Sharma adds. “Ultimately, they would like to learn to be more efficient and agile in their roles to increase overall success.”

Like communication, project management skills empower employees with transferable knowledge applicable in any role at any level.

Whether it is a solo project or a cross-functional endeavor, Forbes outlines four skills that every employee should work to master. 

Related Summaries in getAbstract’s Library
Image of: Beginner’s Guide to Project Portfolio Management
Article Summary

Beginner’s Guide to Project Portfolio Management

Effective project portfolio management can deliver significant bottom-line benefits.

Ben Aston Digital Project Manager Read Summary
Image of: Project Risk Management
Book Summary

Project Risk Management

Project risk management seems as essential as blueprints and ladders, so how can your company factor it in…and fast?

Danielle van Well-Stam, Fianne Lindenaar, Suzanne van Kinderen and Bouke van den Bunt Kogan Page Publishers Read Summary
Image of: How to Save a Failing Project
Book Summary

How to Save a Failing Project

Inside tips for rescuing your project (and for not failing in the first place)

Ralph R. Young, Steven M. Brady and Dennis C. Nagle, Jr. Management Concepts Read Summary
  • Skill #1 – Using project charters.”
  • Skill #2 – Vetting ideas to weed out the bad ones.”
  • “Skill #3 – Conducting risk analysis.”
  • “Skill #4 – Debriefing projects.”

Soft Skills for Project Managers

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive and control your feelings. As a manger, you will find that developing strong emotional intelligence can help you understand other people’s feelings and encourage them to do better work.

Emotional intelligence isn’t static. You can improve your command of it, a growth step that will have a positive impact on your career as a project manager. The task is particularly challenging because project managers generally work on unique, temporary undertakings and often don’t have direct authority over all the members of their teams. The first step to emotional intelligence is that managers must know how to control themselves before they can lead others. 

Related Summaries in getAbstract’s Library
Image of: Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Book Summary

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers

To become a more effective project manager, enhance your self-awareness and relationship-building skills.

Anthony Mersino HarperCollins Leadership Read Summary
Image of: Project Managers
Article Summary

Project Managers

Many full-time workers experience burnout at some point. Learn how to spot the signs and take back control.

Lynn Winter Digital Project Manager Read Summary
Image of: Why Isn’t Agile Working?
Article Summary

Why Isn’t Agile Working?

Agile is often billed as an easy path to productivity, but it can’t help organizations that don’t first grasp some key concepts.

John Cutler Hackernoon Read Summary
Image of: Stakeholder Management 101
Article Summary

Stakeholder Management 101

As a project manager, know how to interact with those whose interests intersect with yours.

Kelly Suter Digital Project Manager Read Summary

Stressors

Project managers are familiar with the stressors of project management: Pressing priorities, budget constraints and multiple stakeholders all inadvertently add stress to a PM’s role. Steven Flannes explains that PMs and organizations should focus on addressing the “connection between the increase of levels of stress and the decrease in performance.” 

In his paper, “Tangible tips for handling the endless stress in project management,” Flannes helps PMs understand how to manage stress when it arises to keep their cognitive skills sharp.

Since stress is inevitable, the best advice is to learn how to handle it in healthy and practical ways.

Be careful not to normalize high stress levels.

Related Summaries in getAbstract’s Library
Image of: Guide to Stress Reduction
Book Summary

Guide to Stress Reduction

Do you think every moment of your life should be a fight-or-flight response? Learn to chill out.

L. John Mason Celestial Arts Read Summary
Image of: The Burnout Fix
Book Summary

The Burnout Fix

Learn practices that foster resilience and prevent work burnout altogether.

Jacinta M. Jiménez McGraw-Hill Education Read Summary
Image of: Just Sit
Book Summary

Just Sit

Meditating is easier than you think. To get started, “just sit.”

Sukey Novogratz and Elizabeth Novogratz Harper Wave Read Summary

Project Sponsorship

Developing the right skills is critical; however, PMs’ allies are equally essential to their ability to deliver on expectations. So, how can their colleagues and organizations contribute to their success? Being a project sponsor can make or break the success of a project, says management expert Michiel van der Molen.

Image of: Successful Project Sponsorship
Book Summary

Successful Project Sponsorship

Project-management expert Michiel van der Molen explains why the project sponsor owns the project – and takes the credit or the blame.

Michiel van der Molen Kogan Page Publishers
Read Summary

Organizations need to change the prevailing notion about who is in charge by promoting professional project sponsorship and acknowledging that the project sponsor – not the project manager – owns the project and takes responsibility for it.

Additional Material from the Journal

https://journal.getabstract.com/en/2020/01/27/everybody-is-talking-about-data-these-days-but-how-do-i-use-it-to-make-better-decisions/
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