What Skills Should Software Project Managers Have?
The Software Project Manager will take desired results from a client and transform them into technical requirements that a team of Software Developers, Designers, and other team members can understand and execute. Aside from people management, the majority of software project management responsibilities involve overseeing every aspect of the development of a piece of software. This means managing the development team, clients, projects, changes, mistakes, timelines, stakeholders, and the budget. This is a position that requires adaptability because coding isn’t perfectly standard, mistakes happen, technologies change, and client’s preferences grow over the course of a project.
Software project management primarily requires soft skills because 80% or more of their job is communicating and working with other people. They serve as the liaison between the client, development team, management team, and any other department involved in the project. They are usually in charge of hiring and firing people on the project team. Certain traits such as being detail-oriented, leadership attitudes, and organizational skills are important for a Software Project Manager.
They’ll need to be proficient in project management technology which varies from company to company. Software like Slack, project management platforms (Monday, Wrike, Trello, Asana, Jira, or LiquidPlanner), scheduling tools, budgeting tools, and other industry-standard software will be used daily on projects like these.
Software Project managers should also have a basic understanding of coding languages, design principles, and finance to understand the jargon that members of your project team will be using in order to communicate the needs of the project properly and understand what is happening. Software Project Managers will find that being proficient in one or a few coding languages extremely useful but they will not be coding on a daily basis. Technical skills might also include understanding and implementing scrum, kanban, and agile frameworks. Some Software Project Managers find using agile frameworks to be the best method while others argue that the frameworks don’t allow for overlapping tasks and timelines. Knowledge of testing procedures, quality control, and basic cybersecurity protocols are also necessary.
Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Software Project Manager
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Coding
Coding is another way to say computer programming. It is how humans "instruct" computers through the process of designing and building a functioning computer program. Computer and web programs are built using coding languages like C, Python, PHP, HTML, JavaScript, and more. Coding can be used to create desktop, mobile, or web applications.
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Web Development
Web development is the practice of building, creating, and maintaining websites. Web development uses coding languages to build a website for the internet.
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Project Management
Project management is the practice of leading a team's work through planning and team management to meet a goal and deadline with a completed project.
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Product Management
Product management is the combination of project management and technical skills to plan, analyze, and maximize the effectiveness of a product. This process includes the development of business strategies, functional design, and management of the launch of new features.
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Project Management Certification
The most common project management certifications are awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI). These professional certifications ensure your ability to meet the demands of projects and employers by creating rigorous standards based on ongoing research. Some certifications include Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), and the PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA).