Partner Article

Every job is a project, every employee a project manager

We now live in a world where the historic perception of a job has been turned upside down. No more jobs for life, instead portfolio workers, temporary workers, zero hours contracts and more people working independently from home. The risk of losing your job is as high as ever and permanent roles are at a premium.

As the uncertain nature of careers becomes more frequent one of the most important skills anyone can develop is the ability to think like a project manager. By their very nature projects identify a problem and then plan, carry out and solve.

For those individuals at or coming to the start of a career its worth bearing in mind that the ability to project manage is a way of showcasing a rounded skill set. There are numerous ways in your educational and social backgrounds in which you can develop project management skills to articulate to potential employers.

For anyone who has started on the career ladder, demonstration of strong project management capabilities highlights versatility to your employer, the ability to get things done and provides you with achievements to hang your hat on.

The fundamental principles of project management are straightforward skills. Planning, problem solving, people management, task management and time management followed by closedown and analysis are the types of skill that can be useful outside of a project management arena. Courses are available for example the internationally recognised Prince2 ® however, there are basic online courses and MOOCs which can provide introductions to the fundamentals or project management.

Taking on projects can be a great boost for personal confidence as well. Taking ownership and responsibility and then driving outcomes can show you exactly what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. By adopting the mind-set of a project manager you should find that as you approach your next career step you already have a good idea of your next project.

Daniel Knowles is a Business Support Project Manager at Lancaster University and a Careers Coach & Blogger with Lancaster ICV. Please comment or get in touch today.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Daniel Knowles .