Introduction

Managing your work using pen and paper is something of the past. Those days are gone when notes were made on paper and executed. Today the world is online. Every work is digitized, making real-time project progress on project execution. Excel sheets and Word documents are no longer saved on the computer.

As we speak, more than 90% population across the globe is using the Internet. More than 70% population has bought smartphones. While laptops became handy, smartphones these days have taken over a laptop as well.

The smartphone is easy to carry, has better operating capabilities, and allows you to use almost all applications similar to a laptop. With this technology change, digital marketing project managers have benefited from this situation.

Most project managers utilize various applications like Skype, MS Teams, etc., on their phones. This feature enables them to stay connected with their group always. In addition to this, digital program managers also obtain a real-time update on project progress.

The sudden shift to technology and online processes enables project managers to connect with their teams. Project Managers can also assign tasks to their junior digital project manager and senior digital project manager on the go.

The unit can update the status of each task in the tool. Most software or applications also provide capabilities to drive analytics and provide weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly reports on project progress; with technology taking over lives, time spent accomplishing each task is reduced.

The digital project manager is now the face of project management. The below recommendations can help you take over a career in project management at ease. 

Understanding Project Management in the Digital World

So, what exactly is digital project management? Being a project manager requires you to have specific skill sets. Through software, it includes streamlining all project management activities, including concept finalization, budget management, and resource planning.

If you are a freelance digital project manager, you can easily pick off-the-shelf software. This software enables you to track your project, including ROI, effectively.

Role of a Digital Implementation Manager

Once the project activities and timelines are finalized, the next step is identifying critical resources for project execution. It will allow you to assign tasks and sub-tasks to your project team members.

Once your deliverables are set, your next step is to track these project deliverables.

Besides ensuring that your project is completed on time, you also need to ensure that the project does not extend beyond the defined scope and budget. The digital project manager skills involve the following,

☑ Creating standard operating procedures/scope of work for the project

☑ communicating your project plans clearly to stakeholders

☑ Identifying and assigning project tasks along with deliverables

☑ Frequent tracking and follow-up meetings with team members

☑ Identifying and sorting any issues and roadblocks

☑ Identifying challenges and escalating to management

☑ Providing project updates to PMO team/management

☑ Assessing project success

As a digital project lead, let us now understand how to develop a project manager job description. The job description of a project manager depends on the type of project. For example, a civil project's job description and skill sets are different from that of a software project.

Additionally, the job description of an artificial intelligence project differs significantly from that of a teacher training project.

Certain companies will expect project managers to have these skill sets independently. However, in some instances, companies allow hiring and provide on-the-job training sessions, thereby improving your skill sets.

In addition to the above digital project manager description, it is also essential for you to stay updated about the current market trends. Keep yourself informed about the latest trends to stay ahead in the competitive environment.

Important Skillsets of a Project Manager

As a digital project manager, you must keep yourself updated on specific skill sets. Basic skills like time management, delegation, resource planning and management, communication management, etc., are essential in project management.

While these things are acquired and learned on the go, there are specific skills that you should possess to stand out from the crowd. It is when professional project management courses can help you. Many institutions and learning academies are providing these courses at reasonable prices.

Also, skills sets differ from each project field. Another key important factor includes upgrading yourself. Make sure you know new technology and products in the project management market. Study these technologies to understand how these may be leveraged for your current projects.

Below are the most commonly found skills of a digital project manager,

☑ Collaborative

☑ Effectively utilizes time and skills

☑ Possess strong verbal and oral communication skills

☑ Lead the team, take responsibilities

☑ Organize your team 

☑ Be open to multi-task and delegating your work

☑ Treat every team member equally

☑ Proactive rather than reactive

☑ Coordinate and facilitate review meetings

☑ Establish a strong network with other stakeholders relevant to your project

☑ Good at analytics 

☑ Better presentation skills

What’s The Salary of a Digital Project Manager?

With all these added responsibilities on a product manager's shoulder, it is essential to understand the salary of a digital product manager. The average pay of a digital project manager can range from $50,000 to $140,000 per year. Like any other industry, salary is dependent on various factors, including experience, age, and different skill sets.

The methodology adopted by digital project managers during project execution. It is common knowledge that no two projects are the same. Every project is dependent on various factors, including project timelines, budget allocation, and project scope.

Depending on the project type, project managers can choose any following methods.

☑ Waterfall method

☑ Agile method

The waterfall method, also known as the traditional project management technique, refers to building scope, resource planning, and executing projects through a phased wise approach. The activities are straightforward and follow a sequential workflow.

This project model is practical and advantageous for engineers and construction projects. In this working model, every project activity can start only if the previous training is completed.

On the other hand, Agile is a flexible working model providing room for collaboration and better management of projects.

Agile projects allow the project manager and team members to respond to project activities effectively. There is communication at every project execution level and room for clients to review and monitoring of project progress.

How to Choose the Proper Project Methodology for Your Project?

If you are a digital media project manager, you might be well aware of executing and managing projects in real-time. Choosing the suitable project methodology involves significant involvement as this determines the success of your project. Let us look at certain key factors to be considered while selecting the proper project methodology.

☑ Ascertain the project factors, including the complexity of project deliverables

☑ Understand the work environment and flexibility 

☑ Choose a project methodology that will benefit your client

☑ Understand and study organization goals

☑ Now that you understand the basics let us know the best project methodology suitable for digital marketing agencies.

Being a project manager in digital marketing, you need to choose the proper methodology. Ascertain your project deliverables, hold discussions with your clients, bring forward the benefits and challenges of working in a suitable project methodology. It will help in building a team and client confidence.

Tools Used For Digital Project Management

To leverage the comprehensive benefits of project management tools, you may choose cloud-based platforms. Tools that allow effective collaborations within the team are another success factor.

- The data is updated in real-time and provides project progress quickly. Users are also entitled to develop customized charts, graphs, and other types of metrics patterns to quickly ascertain project progress and delays if any.

- These tools also allow you to establish easy connections with project stakeholders. Stakeholders may include your team members, external agents, executive leadership team, and others interested in a project's progress. It also works great as a time-saving tool and enables easy report generation for leadership discussions. 

- One way to effectively bring project progress here is to choose a tool that works best in a cloud-based platform. As the next step, you need to ensure that all your project documents and other information are regularly hosted in the cloud platform. It will allow you and other team members to update records as needed.

- Another advantage is the reduced dependency on team members to get relevant information. Even if a resource is unavailable, centrally stored data can come in handy to reassign the works to another resource for completion.

- These project management tools also work great to help you develop project timelines. Creating sub-tasks for each project milestone will help you effectively build project delivery timelines. It can be represented using charts and bar diagram that is built-in to these project management tools.

- In case you anticipate any delay in the project timeline, you could also go about changing the project timelines accordingly and replicating the changes for effective communication within the team.

- These project management tools also allow you to create tasks against your team members. So, suppose you want the procurement to complete on a specific defined date, you could create a task on the same. Your team member or the procurement point of contact can update the task progress on a real-time basis.

- Another essential advantage of online project management tools is their visibility. To monitor project progress, you can access all your team members, including your leads and clients.

Every progress, including challenges, delays, bottlenecks, and task completion, is updated in real-time. This approach also drives the sense of responsibility to every resource in your team.

7 Key Skills to Upgrade in Project Management For 2023

Project managers are often misunderstood for being the boss. A project manager is always behind timelines, project progress and running around to meet deadlines. But wait, there is far more to project management than just being bossy. 

Let us understand a few key traits that can make you the best in this industry. 

Thorough understanding of project management theory

While practical and on-the-job training is essential, it is recommended to obtain professional certification in project management. You can go through the certification details on the PMI website and enroll in project management or program management.

You can register with any verified education institute to complete your courses and gain certification.

Listed below are other essential traits that make a good project manager. 

Leadership 

It is the primary role of being a project manager. Leadership is about leading the team, getting the expectations set up with team members, motivating and guiding the team to deliver the best.

Project managers are always expected to maintain rigor in the group and allow for the smooth execution of tasks. The project manager also needs to give team members confidence and gain their trust.

Communication

Excellent communication skill makes a great leader. The project manager must have the ability to communicate with the team members effectively. In addition to this, you also need to build communication skills to connect with other stakeholders. Yet another critical skill is about updating your clients on project progress.

Every client will be happy to hear about project progress regularly. You can set up a cadence for sharing project updates. Communication and interpersonal skills go a long way in deciding project success.

Effective communication will help in providing periodic updates and leave no surprise for your clients. Now practical communication skill is not something that happens on their own. You need to invest time and effort to build your communication skills. Between one projects to the next, ascertain your improvements as well.

It will work as a self-evaluation to better manage your project management skills. One fundamental aspect of project communication skills is to ensure that you convey your message right. Also, you can listen to other opinions and inputs as well.

Planning your project and other deliverables

It is one key activity in project management, however much-ignored concept. Success and failure depend on the time and effort into planning your project.

Project planning includes developing a project schedule, planning a budget, scheduling meetings with clients and other stakeholders, and tracking the delivery.

Once you have a concrete plan and timelines, it becomes easier to track your project. Any deviations in the project are ascertained without many efforts. You also gain better control over the project.

Identifying project stakeholders

An effective project manager invests time to understand the project. Once you have understood the project scope and deliverables, your next step is to identify key stakeholders.

Stakeholders can be internal and external to the organization. Internal stakeholders are the ones who are present within your organization, for example, procurement, finance, legal teams, etc. External stakeholders are agencies outside your organization whose support is required to complete the project.

These external stakeholders may be vendor management teams, government agencies, regulatory authorities, etc.; without support from both internal and external agencies, your project shall not complete.

If you miss jotting down any key stakeholder, your project progress is undoubtedly impacted.

Do your research

Every project is unique on its own. Hence, it is essential to develop knowledge about the granular aspects of your project. Carry out your research.

It could be an online article, blog, or even a research paper. Make sure to gain complete understanding to ensure project success.

Coach your team

It is a subset of your communication skill. You need to take the role of a mentor and ensure that you teach your resources daily.

As a project manager expert or junior digital project manager, you need to establish continuous connections with your team members. You could also think about setting up recurring meetings with your team for a better project progress.

Project management is a hot job in the coming years. It is expected that by the end of 2025, project managers are going to rule the industry. Every activity needs a project manager assigned to take to a conclusion.

Investing your time and energy into upgrading your skills is essential. It will allow you to stay ahead in the crowd.

You also need to keep a continuous tab on new technology and other advancements in the industry that will help you to manage your project better. Any company that hires a digital project manager will look for a smart and energetic person to deliver successful projects.

A project manager needs to be active, have a clear vision, be a team and detail-oriented, be responsible for project progress to achieving assigned tasks, and possess a strong work ethic and commitment.

To build successful traits, you need to stay honest with yourself, humble with your team, motivate your team, and practice discipline. A project manager should also have the courage to take responsibility if projects do not go as planned.

Conclusion

Digital project managers are utility members for any organization to have as they can perform a range of functions to a very effective degree. As managers of a digital project, they have a key function to perform alongside multiple teams, and a good candidate can help the company further its goals in an array of projects.

A project digital manager is much sought after by recruiters these days due to this utility value.

Taking the help of a recognized training platform like Sprintzeal and getting certification from a governing body like PMI can help your skills in managing digital projects. Start now!

Check out these courses to learn more,

PRINCE2® 6th Edition Certification - Foundation Practitioner Training

Read more on project management in these articles,

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?