Time Management, Teaching/training Skills, and other Skills that Need to Achieve the Goals

In this competitive world, organizations look for a definite set of skills in an individual and place great value on utilizing them to achieve their goals. Industry leaders need to understand the growing need for analytical and interpersonal skills across the globe. The capability of a project manager to effectively manage projects lies in using these skills. Nowadays, many managers are unable to successfully lead their projects due to a lack of these necessary skills. In this context, soft skills, also known as “people skills,” are very important, apart from hard skills in project management, which include knowledge and the best usage of tools to complete assigned tasks.

These skills are intangible and cannot be utilized by any tool. Soft skills include aspects like organization, communication, conflict management, time management, teaching/training, decision-making, and motivation.

Aside from having technical skills, it is important to maintain all the previously mentioned skills in order to deliver modules or tasks as expected. In the current corporate world, most projects demand resources and leaders that possess good soft skills as one of the primary requirements. Gaining trust and managing conflicts within the team can be achieved with better communication. There will be situations where team members’ work is interdependent; during such times, organizing, communicating, and managing work on time, as well as making decisions, becomes important. This is the situation where soft skills help to overcome these factors. This paper introduces a list of soft skills that can trigger an enhancement in the success rate of projects. All the possible soft skills are described in detail in this paper.

Organization

Project organization is about defining the structure, including human resources and staff, the roles and responsibilities of each resource, and the path to reach their goals. This structure aids in tracking project activities and simplifies coordination and implementation. Proper organization of the project boosts the planning and implementation process. For a project to achieve successful results, tasks must be organized properly by an effective project manager. Selecting an appropriate organization model or structure is a critical task for project managers; they must be very specific and choose the best model according to their requirements.

Time Management Skills:

One of the major constraints in achieving good project management is managing the given time period for the project. The team lead and team members must make a good estimate of project duration at the very beginning phase of project planning. Time management of a team is usually the capacity to sort out and plan the time spent on tasks each day. Efficiency and effectiveness can be considered the results of a good team effort with proper utilization of time. Every day, there are tons of ‘time wasters’ for which we require a strategy, plan, and approach to manage our time better. According to Reem Rachel Abraham1, Saleena Ummer Velladath, Zizy Ezreen Binti Ezie Elman3, Lutdfi Bin Mohamad Sobri, Muhammad Danish Syahmi bin Saha, Maryam Sofia Binti Ghazali, Adi Aslam bin Abu Bakar and Asrar Mohamm Ed Hussain8 (2018), “time attitudes (ta)” (p. 8) are considered the most important factor in performing any given task effectively. The following are the six important things every team member, including the whole team, needs to follow in order to be productive.

1. Check if you, as a team member, are making constructive use of time as planned.

2. Check if you are able to improve the way you manage your time in completing a given task.

3. Make sure you understand that, as a team member, you are individually responsible for your own work, by and large.

4. Think before you plan. Estimation of work to be completed in a given timeframe should be realistic.

5. You should be in a position to make quick, minor decisions sometimes, which will save time and avoid unnecessary confusion.

Do not hesitate to say “no”. Make sure you try to avoid putting yourself in a situation where you need to do something which interferes with your work.

Time Management is frequently associated with business; however, as individuals, we require this skill in every phase of life. If a team lacks effective leaders/managers with good time management skills, it can negatively affect a task in the long run. According to Adolfo Garcia Ruiz-Espiga, Manuel Soler Severino & Antonio Humero (2006), “Planning and response times” (p. 87) should be considered a high priority during the planning phase. Time truly is money. Inadequate time management can increase stress and frustration and lead to customer dissatisfaction among team members. Make sure to note or document all constraints, unexpected delays, and other factors in your project estimation. Often, things will not go as planned, so you should incorporate some buffer time for unforeseen obstacles into your project plan.

A powerful arranging technique to be recognized involves understanding each task assignment needed to finish a project. This can be achieved by creating a checklist or assignment list for each team member. The next step is to organize these listed tasks/assignments. It’s clear that not all assignments are equal, so the required effort will vary. A smart approach is to complete the more difficult tasks first. This is because it is more reasonable to work on less demanding tasks towards the end. The likelihood of getting stuck or delayed with an easier task is usually less certain. After identifying and organizing the tasks, accurately gauge and track time to calculate how long it will take to complete the planned work/task.

Additionally, don’t forget to include a few things in your planning such as technical or any other dependency research, the learning and gathering of required data involved for each individual task apart from the whole big module, continuous testing, and other vital exercises. Another important thing to remember are your coworkers or other team members. We are all just humans, which inherently means that we cannot work constantly and require breaks to refresh. This brings empathy into the picture, another important soft skill for a team member. The advantage of today’s digital world has positive effects on nature. For example, we can save paper by using a digitized calendar to track time for the entire team on a daily basis. There are many online tools available, some of them open-source, which help to maintain a track of work and time for all the team members throughout the project duration. Recording every task accomplished helps to maintain transparency and makes good use of time.

Teaching/Training Skills:

Learning is a never-ending process. Continuous learning is involved in every part of our lives, including work. Despite all the knowledge gained in school, nothing can beat the learning at work. To achieve project goals or apply any of the other soft skills, every team member needs training. The project manager must also be a trained individual, capable of teaching the team how to manage all the required skills. There are various instructional standards that all teachers should possess. While some may vary from teacher to teacher, there are still some fundamental personal skills important for all leaders. Besides being knowledgeable in your subject matter and capable of planning and implementing lesson plans, successful team leaders also need a few ‘extra’ personal prerequisites.

The study by Kim B. Clark and Steven C. Wheelwright (1996) found the following:

The heavyweight project manager becomes the guardian of the concept here, not only reacting and responding to the interests of others but also ensuring that the choices made are consistent and in harmony with the basic concept. This requires a careful blend of communication and teaching skills so that individual contributors and their groups understand the core concept, and sufficient conflict resolution skills to ensure that any tough issues are addressed in a timely fashion (p.23).

One of the most vital characteristics a team leader or teacher can have is persistence. Without tolerance and patience, it would be extremely difficult to be a compelling mentor. There will be situations where other team members push the instructors’ understanding, and chances the mentor might lose their composure easily, becoming quickly irritated. In that case, being a leader may not be the right role for that person. Persistence is a quality that will enable success within a team. If you are a team leader or mentor and find yourself in a situation where you feel your anger rising, take a moment to step back and take a deep breath. Doing this more often will help you calm down in difficult situations.

Successful team mentors are inventive in multiple ways. They can think outside the box, utilize the resources they have to achieve remarkable progress, and devise innovative approaches to maintain control among the team. As stated by Arezoo Mohamadkhani Ghiasvand, Manijeh Naderi, Mansoureh Zagheri Tafreshi, Farzane Ahmadi & Meimanat Hosseini (2017), “educational authorities require planning for practical workshops and programs to teach time management and to prioritize anxious students” (p.3681). The management and team leaders should focus on conducting useful workshops for all team members. These programs should aim to improve interpersonal and soft skills as well as technical capabilities. This will help the team understand the standards to be maintained and provide useful tips for better time management, resulting in improved performance. Gloria Barczak, Edward F. McDonough & Nicholas Athanassiou (2006) posited that, “for others, reading about the cultures of their fellow team members, partaking in cultural diversity seminars/training, and engaging team members in discussions about their respective native cultures can serve to enlighten and educate project leaders about how best to manage their dissimilar team members” (p.32). Regardless of whether you are communicating with clients, higher management, team members, or coordinating with another team, team leaders need proficiency in management and the ability to answer effectively in order to be successful.

Mentors require the capacity to convey critical information, as well as comprehend diverse perspectives. Team leads or managers also need the ability to collaborate with their team members and must strive to maintain transparency to get the best out of them. The ability to work in tandem with others will only aid your career in the education system. Having self-discipline and restraint implies that a leader possesses the resilience and authority to remain unaffected when his or her co-workers are becoming sidetracked. The team lead must be firm and fair in their disciplinary methods and should not allow their subordinates to walk all over them. This is a fundamental personal characteristic that mentors need for a team to be efficient. Other factors, such as adaptability, self-awareness, and a profound passion for their work, are also top priorities that team leaders or mentors should nurture. It’s quite simple: the individual should be cognizant of the skills they must develop and focus on executing the tasks on a daily basis.

Motivation.

When individuals realize that their work is making a difference – to the customer, end users, company, as well as themselves – they stay motivated. People have different personal and professional needs and objectives that should be fulfilled. For some, it may be about financial compensation; for others, it is a sense of accomplishment through challenging work. Some may strive for hierarchical growth, and for others, it could be about receiving recognition for their hard work. Understanding what motivates each of your team members and helping them achieve those things will keep the team motivated.

Conflict Management

Conflict management is the process of identifying issues and addressing differences within a group of people. Conflicts are unavoidable and typically occur due to diverse backgrounds working together to complete a task. The causes of conflicts can be related to values, personalities, needs, resources, expectations, perceptions, attitudes, unclear requirements, personnel policies, etc. If there are communication gaps among team members, conflicts can occur. In a business environment, conflict management requires problem-solving skills, effective communication, and strong negotiation skills to focus on organizational goals. If managed well, a conflict situation has the ability to unify team members and keep them more focused on achieving the overall objectives of the project.

Decision making.

The decision-making process can be viewed as a checks-and-balances system that facilitates the organization’s growth in both vertical and horizontal directions. It implies that the decision-making process aims for a specific goal. These goals are preset business objectives, company missions, and its vision. To achieve these goals, the organization may face numerous obstacles in administrative, operational, marketing wings, and operational sectors. Such problems can be dealt with using a comprehensive decision-making process. No decision is final, as it may generate new issues to address. In project management, decisions can be taken by following steps such as collecting data, developing options, planning, executing, and following up.

Did you like this example?

418

22