• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

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If you’re an electrical project manager or working towards this position, you’ll understand the importance of developing your technical skills to succeed in this role. But have you considered the importance of developing your soft skills as a project manager?

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are non-technical skills that relate to how you interact with others and how well you work with your team members. While the focus is often placed on developing technical skills, it is also crucial for workers to develop their soft skills.

Essential soft skills for electrical project managers

If you’re an electrical project manager or a technician working towards this position, these are the soft skills you’ll want to develop to succeed in your role.

Communication

One of the primary roles of a project manager is communication, which is why it’s an essential soft skill for any electrical project manager. Clear communication helps create and maintain relationships with your team. It’s easier to manage a team of mobile workers when you have a good relationship with every technician. When it comes to good communication, it’s not only what you say but how you say it. Your tone can either motivate and create a positive work environment or discourage and create a hostile environment. Use your tone to inspire productivity and boost morale. Good communication can also increase employee engagement. When your technicians know what’s expected of them, they’ll feel confident doing their work, increasing their productivity and reducing the chances of making mistakes.

Listening

Active listening is necessary for two-way communication, which means listening is an important soft skill too. There’s a difference between listening and hearing. You can hear what someone says but not remember what they’ve said. When you listen, you focus on understanding what the person speaking is saying to retain the information. When you listen and get all the information you need, it’s easier to identify problems and solve them, and you improve your problem-solving skills.

Delegating

Your performance will suffer if you overstretch yourself, which is why you need to delegate. Delegating can be a nerve-racking task for project managers, but you can improve productivity by assigning tasks to technicians suitable for the job. It can also benefit you when you oversee different projects at multiple sites, as you can’t be everywhere at once. If you know your technicians’ skills and strengths, you can use these to find the best candidates for every task. You can also use a tool like Project Management Software to view your team’s schedule and allocate tasks to available technicians.

Time management

When you’re responsible for multiple jobs and tasks, you need to manage your time effectively to keep your team on track and meet your deadlines. There are several ways you can take control of your time. You can prioritise your tasks and create a schedule with deadlines. You could also set time limits for tasks; for example, set aside an hour to check your emails every morning. This makes it easier for you to focus on the task at hand, and you’re forced to stop and move on to a new task.

By admin