Every technological company in the Philippines will need highly-skilled IT project managers. A successful track record as an IT project manager can even be the springboard to a career in the upper management of your company. However, before reaching for the stars, you need to prove yourself. Here is a list of skills you will need to make it as an IT project manager in the Philippines.
Team Building / Management
You might be the most skilled IT professional in your organization, but if you can’t get a team behind you to help drive projects forward, you won’t find much success. Leading a team that works towards a unified goal, you need to be able to select suitable people with the right skill sets and shape them into a group that works efficiently together. In addition to IT and technical knowledge, you will need strong people skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and resolve problems.
Time and Cost Management
When it comes to handling IT projects, your skills need to go beyond the technical capabilities. As the projects you will work on may focus on productivity improvement and cost reduction, it’s crucial to be skilled in time and cost management – on top of your IT skills. While IT can offer solutions to a variety of problems, it may actually take much longer to deliver than expected. This means the solution to a given problem may not really be cost-effective. It’s your task to manage and evaluate this on constantly.
Stakeholder Management
While you will usually be tasked to manage projects with clearly-defined objectives, not everything always goes according to plan. Being the link between the knowledgeable IT team and company stakeholders, you will need to become a trusted advisor in regards to technology, solutions development and process improvements. As the company’s business team may not have the full overview, it’s your responsibility to inform, guide and advice to match execution with objectives.
Decision-Making Skills
As the leader of a team, people will look to you for advice, as well as important decisions. When working to solve a particular problem, there are usually different ways to go about it, and you’ll need to identity the paths that are cost-effective, in accordance with the company’s compliance policies, or a realistic possibility for your project’s may budget or technical restrictions. You need to be able to evaluate the pros and cons of every option and make the call. Waiting for others to make a decision, you may find yourself replaced faster than you would like.
If you think that you have what it takes, it’s time to start applying for IT Project Manager jobs in the Philippines.
