Career advice

Become a Project Manager

Project managers ensure that projects run smoothly and finish on time and on budget. Find out what skills you need to become a project manager and get your career started with online project management courses from top universities.

  • Best jobs in the UK

    #14

  • Job satisfaction

    3.6 / 5

  • Median base salary

    £39,000

  • UK job openings/month

    7,320
Source: Glassdoor's Best Jobs (2019)

What skills do you need to become a project manager?

  • Organisation

    As a project manager, you’ll learn to manage time, budgets, expectations, paperwork and even people. So you’ll need to be organised.

  • Calmness

    In every project, things can go wrong. Staying calm and getting things back on track is a vital part of project management.

  • Communication

    If a project gets difficult, you’ll need to learn negotiation and communication skills to resolve any conflicts.

  • Empathy

    Professional project managers work with people from diverse backgrounds in diverse industry. Being able to empathise with them is key.

Develop these skills. Start a short project management course online with FutureLearn

ExpertTracks
1 ExpertTracks

A series of courses designed to help you specialise your skills. Start a free seven-day trial, subscribe to keep learning at your own pace, and cancel your subscription whenever you like.

Coventry University

Project Management and its Role in Effective Business

Become an effective project manager and learn how to deliver strategic change and transformation in an organisation.

5 courses

10 weeks

Intermediate

Find out more

Courses
14 Courses

Learn new skills, pursue your interests or advance your career with our short online courses.

This is Milk & BIMA

The Human Face of User Research: How to do User Research Online and Offline

Identify the importance of user research within a business project and plan and assess your own user research project.

2 weeks

2 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

Find out more
The Open University

Project Management: Beyond the Basics

4.7 (133 reviews)

Build your existing project management knowledge and develop the skills to manage teams and deliver effective projects.

4 weeks

3 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

Find out more
University of Leeds & Institute of Coding

Communication and Interpersonal Skills at Work

4.8 (1279 reviews)

Improve your communication skills at work and learn how to navigate positive collaboration in the modern workplace.

2 weeks

2 hrs per week

Free digital upgrade

Find out more
Coventry University

Foundations of Project Management

4.6 (167 reviews)

Explore the fundamental aspects of project management and develop your understanding of traditional project lifecycles.

2 weeks

3 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

Find out more
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management

4.8 (158 reviews)

Improve your project planning and management skills and learn how to run effective projects at work or in your daily life.

4 weeks

2 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

Find out more
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

Getting Started with Agile and Design Thinking

4.5 (31 reviews)

Get an introduction to agile product development and design thinking so you can build better digital products.

4 weeks

4 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

Find out more
Coventry University

Organisations and Project Management: P3M and Knowledge Management

Analyse the impact of the organisational environment on project deliverables and learn the skills to succeed in global projects.

2 weeks

5 hrs per week

Find out more
Coventry University

Project Management: Agile Manifesto Principles

Learn to successfully navigate unpredictable scenarios within the context of product development using agile vs scrum methodology.

2 weeks

5 hrs per week

Find out more
Show more Become a Project Manager courses 

Browse more in Business & Management

What do people say about these project management courses?

"I found the course to be very well presented and a great refresher, or perhaps an introduction for those that haven't studied project management before. Overall, for such a short course, it was crammed with content and a good opportunity for people who want to see if this is a subject they'd like to investigate further."

Paul Caunce

Learner on Time Management Strategies for Project Management

"The course really helped me take a step back from my mentoring programme and see that it needs a lot more structure and focus if it is to succeed. I’ve been creating a project report with a Gantt chart to show current progress and future progress needed, and I’ve been looking at risk management and how we will measure success too."

Emma Sear

Learner on Business Fundamentals: Project Management

The benefits of taking project management courses online with FutureLearn

Learn flexibly online, for free, around the world

Develop valuable skills with a short, online project mangement course wherever you are. Start learning for free, on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Upgrade or buy Unlimited for extra benefits

Upgrade your course for ongoing access to the course content, tests, and the chance to gain a Certificate of Achievement. Buy Unlimited for access to hundreds of short courses in a year and the ability to keep access to courses you gain a certificate on.

Meet project management experts

Learn with experts from top international universities and business schools. Network with project managers all over the world.

Share this advice

Do you know someone who wants to become a project manager? Share this advice.