What is the role of a project Manager?
by Gabriella Martin
Table of Contents
A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. But what is the role of a project manager? Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined finish; regardless of industry
The role of a project manager: Project managers are accountable for every aspect of the project, including leading a team capable of meeting or exceeding client expectations for their vision. Successful project managers assemble and manage these individuals to make a fine-tuned project machine.
Your daily tasks as a project manager are likely to include the following: Gathering requirements, deliverables, and timeframes from stakeholders. Agreeing on priorities with clients. Communicating your project plan internally and with the client.
Set the right expectations and coordinate with stakeholders. Manage multiple projects at a time. Assemble a detailed plan where you can track the team’s progress during project development. Act as a team leader and motivate your team members to put in the hard work and finish the project successfully.
The exact duties of a project manager will depend on their industry, organization, and the types of projects that a project manager is tasked with overseeing. But across the board, all project managers share responsibilities across what’s commonly referred to as the “project life cycle,” which consists of five phases (or processes):
The role of a project manager in the Project life cycle
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing
- Monitoring and Controlling
- Closing
The project manager is responsible for day-to-day management of the project and must be competent in managing the six aspects of a project, i.e. scope, schedule, finance, risk, quality and resources.
Skills a project Manager should have
- Good communication and interpersonal skills capable of maintaining strong relationships.
- Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills.
- Excellent analytical and problem solving abilities.
- Team-management and leadership skills.
The role of a project manager: responsibilities
- Plan and Develop the Project Idea. Every project starts as an idea.
- Create and Lead Your Dream Team.
- Monitor Project Progress and Set Deadlines.
- Solve Issues That Arise.
- Manage the Money.
- Ensure Stakeholder Satisfaction.
- Evaluate Project Performance.
The different types of project managers that may exist in various institutions:
Project managers can be divided into four different types
- Technical Project Manager
A Technical Project Manager is responsible for providing project planning and management for established initiatives within a company. They ensure that projects are completed to specification, within an established time frame and budget.
- Adventurous Project Manager
Adventurous project managers use their expertise to guide businesses into uncharted waters. These managers are not afraid of new challenges and environments. They keep one hand in their organization moving internal activities while simultaneously keeping one hand in the market to stay afloat on the latest and greatest.
- Expert Project Manager
jump over those strategic boundaries when seeking lucrative business opportunities but they take data driven decisions, which makes the whole activity less risky as compared to adventurous project managers. They focus on reliable data to make up their mind regarding a particular business opportunity.
With experience and knowledge on their side, they can easily identify which business opportunity they should go for and which ones to let go. This type of project managers knows their way very well and challenge the existing strategy. Their focus is on convincing higher ups to go for suitable business opportunities that can pave the way for business growth with trustworthy quantitative data evidence.
- Supportive Project Manager
The Project Support Manager (PSM) is responsible for coordinating support for a regional portfolio of projects and works with the respective.
How to become a project manager
Essentially, a project manager who’s qualified has the temperament, skills, and experience needed for the position. Typical requirements generally include at least three years of experience in a related role, the ability to communicate, formal training, and a PMP certification.
The Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification is recognized across the world, with over 700,000 active members across 207 countries and territories. It is designed to accurately analyze and determine candidates’ competence at directing project management activity.
Popular Project Management Methodologies for project managers
(And What They’re Best Suited For)
- Agile. One of the more recognizable project management methodologies, Agile is best suited for projects that are iterative and incremental.
- Scrum. Scrum is a software framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.
- Kanban. Kanban is a lean method ( all energy directed to creating customer value) to manage and improve work across human systems. This approach aims to manage work by balancing demands with available capacity
- Lean. Lean methodology is a way of optimizing the people, resources, effort, and energy of your organization toward creating value for the customer. It is based on two guiding tenets, continuous improvement and respect for people.
- Waterfall. The waterfall methodology is a project management approach that emphasises a linear progression from beginning to end of a project. This methodology, often used by engineers, is front-loaded to rely on careful planning, detailed documentation, and consecutive execution.
A project manager’s role in any organisation is vital to projects’ successes. A leader, serving a team and their goals, project managers have many tasks to ensure efficient working conditions and growth through project management methodologies.
To gain more insights into project management and software methodologies, refer to our informational blog page the top 10 project management certifications and the best online project management tools .