What is Project Management and How to Start your Career

In “What is Project Management and How to Start your Career”, we have analyzed 3 practical information for professionals looking forward to starting a career in one of the most demanded professions of today: project management.

Here we will tell you everything you need to know to launch your career in project management. In the first part, you will learn what project managers do and how much they earn. Then, we have analyzed the best tools for project management and the trends for 2021.

What is Project Management and How to Start your Career

Project management roles are extremely demanded in today’s business world. Anderson Economic Group (AEG) estimates that by 2027, demand for project managers will increase by 33%. Moreover, predictions say that in the next ten years, 88 million people across the world will be working in project-oriented roles. 

From multinational companies to NGOs, every business needs someone in charge of the good management of a project. From a technical point of view, project managers are responsible for the 4 phases of project management: initiation, planning, execution and monitoring, closure.

Regarding soft skills, project managers are required to master 20 different skills like time management and organizational skills. Additionally, at BEBS, we think communications is a must-have quality for this type of professionals. They need to be sure every team member is on the same page and understands the task assigned.

Apart from being a highly demanded profession, project managers usually see a return on the initial inversion for their education. In Spain, project managers earn an average of 3,440 EUR per month, ranging from 1,650 EUR to 5,400 EUR. The difference in salary depends mainly on experience. Junior project managers with less than two years of experience usually earn 1,930 EUR per month, but they will double their salary when they reach the ten years experience mark.

Salaries for project managers are a bit higher in Barcelona. According to the latest data published on February 2021 on Glassdoor, project managers in the Barcelona area earn an average of 40.013 € per year, ranging from 22.000 € for junior positions to 56.000 € for experienced professionals. 

The 6 Best Project Management Tools

“What is Project Management and How to Start your Career” couldn’t be exaustive without a list with the six most common tools for project managers. Some of them are used commonly also by employees, disregarding their role in the company. Others can be useful specifically to manage several tasks and monitor performance. If six are not enough for you, you can consult this list with 288 project management software & tools.

Microsoft Project

It is one of the project management software every project manager should learn to use. The tool includes track and scheduling features to define and assign project tasks to employees. 

Additionally, it is a useful resource to help you estimate costs for a complex project and determine resource allocation. Another positive aspect of the Microsoft Project is that it allows you to prepare insightful reports to make data-driven decisions. 

Trello

It is one of the most common tools used by everyone interested in manage projects in a collaborative way. It is user-friendly, and its interface will allow you to plan and prioritize every task. Apart from project managers, Trello is suited for every department, from marketing to finance. In case you are wondering how to use it correctly, you can check their blog to help you get started.

Monday

It is another popular tool for project managers, used by companies like Coca-Cola, Uber, or Visa. The price might vary according to the plan chosen and the number of users. Monday is a cloud-based work operating system that you can customize according to your needs. Every user can upload all documents and information needed, and they will be visible to other team members. Monday allows more transparency and enhances collaboration, reducing the time spent finding the e-mails with the relevant information.

Nuvro

According to Monday, Nuvro is the ideal project management tool for star-ups and small online businesses. It allows all members to collaborate on several projects. Moreover, a specific characteristic that makes Nuvro so interesting is that it helps you track historical performance on both an organizational and an individual level. Nuvro has only one pricing plan $7.00/user per month, or $4.00/user per month when you pay annually. It offers discounts for Schools and Non-Profits.

Jira

Jira is an excellent project management tool in terms of price and service offered. It is free for teams of up to 10 users and starts at $5.00/user per month for teams of up to 10,000 users. Jira has three main functions: manage projects, monitor details and measure performance. On the cloud option, you have boards that allow you to visualize your workflows and drag and drop tasks from to-do to done. 

Paymo

This tool is useful for project managers who are also responsible for budgeting and finance tasks. Apart from tacking track of the different tasks, this tool has different features to manage people. In Paymo you can easily plan and manage expenses, leave days and availabilities in just one click. It has two pricing plans, one designed for small offices for $9.95/ user per month. The other one is more useful for larger teams and it costs $15.79/ user per month.

3 Project Management Trends for 2021

Once you have learned the best tools for project management, it is time to look at future trends. Nowadays, to excel in a career, it is fundamental to stay abreast of the latest developments. 

The first trend that is shaping the future of project management is the digitization of the profession. As the pandemic has enhanced the digital workplace, project managers have to be comfortable using a vast array of online tools to coordinate and manage the different phases and tasks of a project.

Secondly, there is a need for project managers to gather more data and plan strategically. As rightly said by Mary Beth Imbarrato in this article: “As project managers, we learn early on that we do not have a crystal ball and there can certainly be issues that arise and which were not anticipated. Planning can help us control some of those unexpected changes. Planning helps us to determine what might happen and if it does, what will we need to do?”

Finally, this year companies are enhancing cooperation among change managers and project managers to maximize the results. Moreover, it helps employees to give the best of themselves during these challenging and uncertain times. Study shows that when the two professional figures work together, projects have 50% of chances to meet or exceed expectations.

Change your Professional Life

In this article, we have told you what is project management and how to start your career. If you are interested in choosing one of the most demanded professions of the future, do not hesitate to participate in the next edition of our MBA in International Project Management.

The MBA has a practical approach ideal to prepare the project managers of tomorrow. Additionally, the students who have chosen the on-campus modality, have free access to Microsoft Project, because we are strong supporters of the learning-by-doing methodology. For the same reason, we take our students to company visits to learn and network with professionals from the Spanish business world. In March 2021, our students have visited Estrella company. You can check our Instagram to see how it went.

In case you too want to learn how to become a real project manager, you can send an e-mail to info@bebs.org to schedule an appointment with one of our Student Advisers.