Skills
Project Manager Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in project managers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do project managers need?
Project Managers need technical skills such as scope, schedule and budget management, project management software, and risk management, plus people skills like leadership and communication. They also use tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Asana and Jira.
Technical (hard) skills
- Scope, schedule and budget management
- Project management software
- Risk management
- Agile and Scrum methods
- Stakeholder reporting
- Basic financial analysis
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Negotiation
- Problem-solving
Tools, equipment and technology
- Microsoft Project, Smartsheet or Asana
- Jira
- Excel
- Gantt charts
- Collaboration tools such as Teams or Slack
- Dashboards and reporting tools
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how project managers put their skills to work:
- How to build a work breakdown structure
- How to create a RACI matrix
- How to run a project kickoff meeting
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Scope, schedule and budget management” and “Project management software.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as PMP (PMI) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our project manager glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Project Manager training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.