This week was my turn to be a project manager on the Data School's weekly client project and while I did enjoy the role, there were some challenges I faced. Therefore, I am writing this blog post so that anyone reading this who is looking to go into project management has some advice on how to ace being the project manager.

1) Be Prepared

This advice is one that is applicable to most things in life generally but it really does come in handy for project management. Preparation includes things like understanding your role as a PM, having an idea of what the project entails and what the client wants and more importantly, needs. The main thing for a Data School PM is to be on top of all the aforementioned items and have a uniform design and format for all the dashboards that you will present.

2) Communication

Naturally, a manager has to be able to communicate well but this doesn't just mean within the team. As a PM, you will usually be the point of contact between the client and your team so it's important that the relationship with the client is very good. This means staying on top of emails, booking in meetings with them and having good time management.

With regards to your team, it's about taking their ideas on board, giving them the ability to speak openly but also setting firm ground rules and deadlines.

3) Know your team

This links nicely onto the previous tip and can be extremely valuable especially in short term projects. Understanding what makes each member of your team tick so that you are able to get the best out of them. For example, some people might require no micro-managing whilst others require a lot more.

4) Checking on work

This tip is simply about making sure you have an understanding of where your team is at within certain points of the project but also knowing what they're topic is about and any struggles they have. A PM should be able to explain the basics of each sub-section of the project so regularly checking in with the team with regards to their progress is extremely helpful.

5) End goal

Always have the end goal in sight. The team are usually focused on the nitty-gritty aspects of the project so it's your job to bring that all in to make sure the client's needs are met and you are delivering something that has worthy insight. Being able to convey that message to the team so that they don't forget that is also important.