What Gap in Your Skills Could Be Damaging Your PRINCE2 Career in 2024

Do you feel that a lack of certain skills is holding back your project management career just now? Since this is a job that requires a very wide range of skills, there is the risk of overlooking one or more areas in favour of something else. Knowledge Tree Training are here to explain how to overcome these gaps.

So, what are the most important areas that you simply can’t afford to ignore? The following are some of the skills that you need to gain for the sake of your career. You can’t afford to neglect any of these areas if you are planning on enjoying a long, successful career as a project manager.

Technical Knowledge

A common mistake is that of thinking that project manager is a purely technical role. The truth is that there is a lot more to it than that. As we will see later on, there are several other skills that you also need to carry out this role to a professional standard.

However, that doesn’t mean that you can just neglect the need for technical skills. In many projects, you will need to have a good knowledge of Word, Excel, and maybe some programming languages or other software tools.

This should be one or the easiest areas to improve your skills in once you make the first move. If you aren’t already a technical expert in these areas then you can get some training sorted out to get you on the right track. You should look to become an expert in as many technical skills are you possibly can.

Project Experience

Will you find it as easy to become fully comfortable in the most important types of project skill? This is something that you will expect to build up over time, although you can also take on extra training in order to speed up your learning process.

The PRINCE2 training sessions that you take are a vital part of this. This is where you will learn the techniques needed to set up, run and then close a project. You will get a number of very different projects in your career but sticking to the same principles lets you handle them all comfortably.

As you carry on handling more diverse projects you will feel more relaxed about whatever comes your way from now on. However, by learning as much as you can early it is also possible to be confident even in the early days.

People Skills

It is easy to overlook the people skills that you need in this role. Yet, this is an important area that you should be sure to look into. These skills are needed to help you to deal with all of the people that you are going to come into contact with.

This is another ability that is likely to grow over time. Provided that you put some effort into improving the areas where you currently lack, it should be possible to become a more rounded project manager who is relaxed about dealing with anyone of any level.

Naturally, it is also possible to get some extra on subjects such as running meeting, negotiating and leading a team. All of these are situations that will put your people skills to the test in the future, so it makes sense to learn as much as you can.

Don’t let the lack of certain skills ruin your career in project management. No matter what you need to learn to operate at a high level, you can do so if you put your mind to it and work hard to progress in the right direction.

4 Things That Could Delay Your PRINCE2 Project

When you start out on your work on a brand new project you will be keen to see it through to its conclusion with a little fuss as possible. Will you able to avoid the issues that could potentially delay the tasks getting concluded successfully, though?

There are a number of things that could go wrong and lead to damaging delays. What are some of the worst of them? More importantly, what can you do to try to avoid them from occurring?

Having the Wrong People in the Team

There is simply no way that you can expect to run a smooth project without having the right team behind you. If you don’t have this then you might find that you end up in a situation in which you don’t have the right skills available to you in a particularly challenging moment. You will then need to wait until either someone is trained or new resources are recruited.

A strong team of business analysts with a range of skills will help you to cope with anything that comes your way. Therefore, it is crucial that you chose your team members wisely right at the very beginning. Get the right people who can help you to get things done swiftly and correctly.

Not Getting Everyone’s Buy-in

How many people need to buy into your project in order for it to succeed? The truth is that you need more people to be on your side than you probably imagine at the beginning. As well as the rest of the project team, you need to get buy-in from senior management, end users and stakeholders too.

If someone isn’t totally convinced by your plans then they might decide to stop you from proceeding when they get the chance. This is why it is important to get them all on-board early on. You should explain your project to everyone who is going to be involved and give them the chance to give you their opinions.

Forgetting About Training Needs

We looked earlier at how important it is to have the right members of a project team close to you. Yet, no matter how good they are, there is a chance that they need some help with the skills needed for each new project. What if you get handed a new piece of work involving new technology or techniques?

You can’t afford to neglect your own training needs either. Once you have sorted out your PRINCE2 training sessions then you can look at the other skills you will need in the future. The key here is to plan ahead so that you and your team have the right skills for each challenge as it arises.

Planning Poorly

The PRINCE2 methodology puts a huge amount of emphasis on planning properly at the outset. To put it simply, if you don’t do this well then it is going to be extremely difficult for you to get the results that you crave.