The Top 5 Digital Skills You Should Know About: Project Management

With less than a week to go until Digital Growth Live, the upskilling event powered by Digital Women, we’re now onto the penultimate skill in our “Top 5 Digital Skills You Should Know About” article series! This week, we’ll be talking you through (digital) project management, an evermore in-demand and rapidly digitalising skill cluster. A 2019 survey by CIO found that project management was in the top five skills needed for digital transformation – an absolutely crucial factor in the ability of businesses to stay competitive in the modern digital world. So, let’s get started!

What is digital project management?

Digital project management is a streamlined process of managing online projects, all the way from developing a concept to completing the final project. Any project with a digital component can be construed as a digital project – it might be wholly digital (such as a website) or partially digital (such as an offline marketing campaign with an accompanying website). It involves all of the skills associated with traditional project management, like working to a budget, using a certain amount of resources, planning, delegating, and tracking and measuring results. But, with the digitalisation of businesses ever-increasing, digital skills such as data management, data analytics, and security and privacy knowledge are reshaping the project management skill cluster, creating a whole new area to upskill in. 

How could project management skills be beneficial to your career?

1. Access promotions and management roles

Digital project management skills demonstrate that you are not only digitally competent, but also have the soft skills necessary to make a great leader. A report by PMI found that 39% of organisations cited management and project management skills as in-demand and useful for capitalising on technological disruption and achieving success for their business. For this reason, upskilling in digital project management skills may make you more appealing to employers and grant you access to promotions and management roles and opening doors previously inaccessible to you.

2. Stay ahead of the competition

As the digital world evolves more quickly, the digital skills gap increases, and the competition for jobs becomes greater, more and more value is being placed on digital skills. Upskilling in digital project management is a great way to make yourself stand out from the crowd and stay ahead of the competition in your field. Plus, the most forward-thinking organisations rely on the power of project leaders and those with project management skills to capitalise on the opportunities generated by digitalisation, so upskilling could give you the chance to work with professionals and brands who are right on the forefront of change.

3. Access to higher salaries

Though project management skills can do more for your career than landing you a job as a project manager, the latter is certainly not an option to turn your nose up at. Glass Door estimates the average base pay for project manager roles in the UK at £42,000, which is well above the UK’s average full-time salary. Plus, as previously mentioned, (digital) project management skills may allow you to access promotions and open doors to other management roles that will also inevitably boost your income.

4. Learn to use and implement useful software and tools

Upskilling in digital project management will not only allow you to improve your soft skills, but also equip you with the skills to use and implement a whole host of new useful and versatile project management software and tools. Project management software can digitalise skills and streamline projects such as events and digital projects like websites, mobile apps, e-commerce, social media, SEO, and advertising. By upskilling, you’ll likely also develop knowledge of content management systems (CMS), as well as improve your basic technical skills such as HTML/CSS and your ability to work with databases, powerpoint and presentation skills, and excel skills.

How can you upskill in digital project management?

Take a project management training course

There are, of course, a range of training courses tailored to (digital) project management which you can take if you’re interested in going for a promotion or pursuing a career as a project manager. You can explore your options to weigh up which course is best suited to you and your desired career path.

Attend upskilling events and take mini-courses to brush up on individual skills

The digital project management skills cluster is made up of a collection of technical and soft skills, all of which you can upskill in by attending virtual skills events and skill-specific courses and workshops. 

Join a community or organisation

There are a range of both general digital skills communities, like Digital Women, and organisations specifically tailored to those working in project management that can help you to upskill and enrich your skill set. Joining a community or organisation is also a great way to make connections that may help you to access new roles or opportunities.

Summary

The skills and software associated with digital project management are in ever-increasing demand. Upskilling in project management could open doors to management roles, increase your software and tool capabilities, and allow you to stay one step ahead of your competition. And it’s never too late to improve your digital skills. If you’re interested in upskilling alongside a community of like-minded professional women, book your ticket to Digital Growth Live, powered by Digital Women, today!