Project teams need skills outside the traditional project management discipline to plan and execute strategic initiatives. These soft skills—also called “power skills”—include the ability to work in dynamic environments and collaborate effectively with many different personality types and experience levels. If you’re looking for ways to develop your power skills, below are some tips to find learning opportunities that fit your needs.
1. Use what-if scenarios.
Exploring the various effects a decision or situation could have on a project is an excellent way to develop and hone many different power skills. You can practice active listening, data analysis, applying data-driven insights to the decision-making process, and other important competencies.
2. Explore outside learning opportunities.
Instruction offered by external sources is sometimes the most efficient way to build a new skill quickly. For example, if your project team doesn’t include anyone with deep expertise in data analytics who can mentor you, then an online course taught by a qualified expert may be the best alternative.
3. Join a professional or networking group.
An association built around a particular discipline, such as leadership development, can provide you with access to skills-focused experts. The group may have formal courses available and some offer role-playing and similar exercises to help expand interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution and negotiation.
4. Participate in brainstorming and problem-solving sessions.
Even if you don’t yet feel confident in your ability to ideate innovative solutions or new ways to do things, actively participating in these group discussions opens up opportunities to receive feedback and tips from other participants who have more experience. Stop lurking on the sidelines and get into the discussion—you’ll develop skills much faster!
5. See what other industries and disciplines do.
Project power skills are often applicable to different sectors and roles. Rather than relying on your team or people within your own company, see how professionals outside your normal sphere expand and use their skills. You may find new collaboration techniques, different ways to build resilience, or ideas for working with personality types you don’t normally encounter.
6. Solicit feedback from professionals you trust.
Your more practiced colleagues are a good source of insight, so tap into the well of knowledge that exists within your own work circle. Get serious about your skills development efforts by asking if they’ve observed gaps in your current proficiency levels or if they recommend focusing on improving a specific skill.
7. Participate in a variety of project roles.
Seek out volunteer opportunities for different roles or individual tasks within the project team. Exposure to new responsibilities and challenges will help you become more adaptable, more empathetic to the demands your teammates experience, and more confident in handling unfamiliar situations.
8. Document your decisions.
Project decisions don’t receive much retroactive scrutiny unless something goes wrong. But documenting the rationale behind your decisions can help you improve your skills every time. Which factors did you consider? How did you establish priorities? Which data points did you use along the way? How did the decision-making process progress? Did anything complicate that process? Defining these details positions you to be more objective, accountable, and transparent when collaborating with stakeholders on strategic project decisions.
9. Look for mentors.
Mentoring relationships with colleagues at different career stages can give you a first-hand view into how these more experienced professionals handle personal interactions, emotional situations, and manage team dynamics. For more technical skill building, consider shadowing a knowledgeable data analyst in your organization. You’ll learn what their workflows look like, gain insight into their methodologies, and understand how they approach data-related challenges in project contexts.
PMAlliance, Inc uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project portfolio management.