Are you looking to improve your project management skills at work?

Do you want a better idea about what project management entails?

You may not have considered it, but there’s lots more to project management than meets the eye.

In this post, you’ll find several key myths about project management.

You’ll also find some tips on how to effectively manage a project.

Delegating work is a project manager’s Sole responsibility

FACT: Project managers have a lot of responsibilities. Delegating work is only one piece of the puzzle.

Project managers keep busy assembling project plans and deadlines, reviewing incomplete or missed work, and reworking old or existing plans.

They also communicate with different work departments on a regular basis.

This may include such tasks as analyzing reports, and managing budgets, among other things.

Delegating work properly actually takes a lot of careful thought.

What’s more, things don’t just end after work is delegated.

A project manager may need to inspect work as it is being produced, or follow-up on work delivery times and due dates.

MYTH: project managers Only charts for Tools

FACT: While charts play an important role in project management, that’s not the only tool in the project manager’s toolbox.

For starters, a project manager’s mind is probably their most important time management tool.

With experience and practice, a project manager can calculate facts and figures in a flash, quickly estimate work times, and build strong relationships with customers, clients, and their colleagues.

Some talented project managers may appear to have an uncanny sense as to whether or not a project is on, or desperately behind schedule.

MYTH: Project management is easy

FACT: Project management takes a lot of work.

While the job may look “easy” to the untrained eye, it is an active, not a passive position.

There’s lots of things to plan, project, check up on, review, push forward, revisit, and correct.

You can think of project management as trying to juggle many different sized balls at once, and keep them all in the air at the same time.

If a project manager does a poor job at managing a project, all of those balls will come falling to the ground.

They are true experts at managing their time, and others’ time.

MYTH: Project managers are only focused in the present

FACT: Project managers don’t just make sure work is completed in a timely manner.

They have a keen eye on the future, too.

A simple analogy to describe this would be if you were driving your car on a highway.

When you drive, you not only have to keep an out for the cars immediately in front of, besides, and behind you, but you also have to keep an out for things way in the distance.

This is in case you have to switch lanes, break, or come to a complete halt.

Project managers are keeping tabs on the present, but they are also putting a great deal of their undivided attention to the near future.

MYTH: Project managers aren’t problem solvers

FACT: To the contrary, project management requires a fine collection of problem solving skills.

Project managers must be able to work with whatever information, people, and materials they have at their disposal at any given moment.

They also need to ensure a project continues as planned.

Managers must be resourceful, and stay calm under pressure when dealing with work delays, frustrated clients, or damaged products.

Learn how to manage projects in your business

Project management has many different moving pieces. That’s why it’s important to get a handle on basic project management skills so you can successfully navigate work.

My time management guide can show you how to prioritize tasks, manage assignments, and run meetings.

If you want me to show you how you can manage projects in your business with less stress, then check out my productivity consulting services. Book a strategy session with me today!

How about you? Which of these myths do you think are the most common in the world of work? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!