The Importance of a Project Manager’s Professional Development

Opportunities exist throughout the field of project management. Projects come and go, and project managers always seem to be on the move. Project managers can easily become lost in the timelines of projects, and their professional development suffers as a result.

Unfortunately, this could lead to lost opportunities in future projects and unnecessary delays from failing to keep up with innovations in the field. Take a look at five ways professional development enhances a project management career.

Professional Development Shows a Willingness to Grow

Professional development courses enable project managers to re-evaluate how activities and tasks are handled. This promotes out-of-the-box thinking and improves a project manager’s resilience and agility in the field.

Professional Development Demonstrates a Project Manager’s Leadership Qualities

Leadership qualities are essential to successful project management. In addition to learning new techniques and methodologies in project management, professional development courses give project managers an opportunity to grow leadership skills and improve their responsiveness to issues.

Growth of Skills Gives Shareholders a Sense of Accountability When Selecting Project Managers

Stakeholders have a vested interest in the successful, occasionally under budget, completion of a project. Any deviation from the original plans for a project could result in a catastrophic problem for the company.

Project managers who have worked to develop their professional skills can help stakeholders put their fears aside by assuming a higher level of responsibility, which leads to a higher level of accountability for stakeholders.

Development of Professional Skills Ensures Future Failures Don’t Permanently Damage Your Career

Setbacks and failures will probably happen in your career as a project manager. Even the best-laid plans for a project may fail, a company could go bankrupt, or the project may encounter obstruction from governmental organizations. Each of these scenarios reflects poorly on the project manager, but project managers who have invested in their professional development can minimize the damage from poor project outcomes.

Essentially, the fundamentals of professional development are similar to risk management. Proper execution, better project skills, and education will give project managers a safety net to fall back on.

Professional Development Helps Project Managers Move Into Higher-Paying, Lucrative Positions

Advancement is the goal of any career. Project managers who frequently reassess and improve their professional development will be able to apply for and take on higher-paying jobs, such as those in the oil and gas industries, advanced IT services, and other technical industries.

In project management, it’s easy to focus on completing one project at a time, but project managers need to look beyond today’s project. Project managers must continually work to develop better professional skills and abilities to succeed. By understanding the benefits of professional enhancement and development, project managers can position themselves to take on the projects of tomorrow.

Key Takeaway

• Continuing education teaches project managers to grow from experience.
• Professional development courses build leadership skills.
• Improving a project manager’s skills through continuing education helps to maintain a level of accountability for stakeholders.
• Professional improvement is comparable to risk analysis and mitigates potential failures in project management.
• Development of professional skills is critical to accessing higher paying positions in the field.