5. Find a mentor or coach: additionally to formal training, you may try to identify a person from your company, or someone else you know that is a successful project manager.  Once you found the right person, ask them if they will provide ongoing coaching to you on what things they do to be successful. The trainer has limited value if you are not actively managing a project, since one of the major benefits is to ask questions based on real situations that you are encountering today.
6. Join professional organizations: discover what project management associations are available in your area. The leading is the Project Management Institute (PMI), which has chapters all over the world. This organization provide an opportunity to network with other project managers, as well as sponsor training and other professional development classes. Also, it sponsors a project management professional (PMP) certification that is recognized more and more as a sign that the individual is experienced and possesses an advanced understanding of project management processes and techniques.
7. Dig deep into the Web: entering project management into any of the major Internet search engines, you will find hundred of links. Most of them are for people selling training, services, or software, but there are some very good Web sites that focus on project management.
8. Learn about related topics: as you think of project management, you normally think about the planning and controlling aspects of the job. Remember that to be truly successful, you have to have good soft skills as well. This consists of good written and verbal communication ability, as well as good listening, conflict resolution, and performance management skills. By managing issues, scope, risk, and quality in a perfect manner, but no one on your team can stand you, and then you probably are not going to be successful. Grow and improve these skills as well as you progress though your career.
9. Read books and magazines: there are numerous books available on general project management and specific subsets. Find time for reading some when you can. Each author has a way of describing aspects of project management that are different than others, and they can provide perspectives that you may not have thought about before.
Concluding thoughts
Rooted in your circumstances, you may or may not be able to do some or all of them. For example, if you do not have a current project to work on, it may be hard to find a coach who you can rely on for assistance. In your area formal training may not be offered or may be more than your company can afford. But books and magazines still can be fairly inexpensive, and of course, it doesn’t cost you anything to utilize the content that is available on the Web.
But the solution is to be doing multiple things. If you do want to specialize in project management as a profession, you will want to be working on gathering experience, as well as gaining knowledge and contacts.
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