Who is a Project Manager?
Project Manager is a very important role in Project Management. The quick explanation that comes in everyone’s mind after listening “Project Manager” is the one who over rule the project and its team. But people don’t exactly know the responsibilities of this ruler. Project Managers plays the most challenging role in every project. They have to modify themselves according to the needs of project team and project requirements. In the end of this article, you can easily judge its role whether he act as a boss or a leader.
The variation in Project Manager’s duties can be seen in different industries, companies and projects. But some are the core responsibilities, duties and skills that actually differentiate the Project Managers with other functional managers. The first thing that project team required by their supervisors is his/her support till the end of project. And this support of Project Managers eventually leads to the successful completion of any project. On the other hand, it keeps the team in one place. The other key role of any Project Manager is to be an effective team leader. Its impact on projects has been recognized by many investors and stakeholders as they’ve said “Good Leader can make a success of a weak plan and poor leader can ruin even the best plan”.
This article will equip the readers with information on Project Manager’s Role by highlighting their major duties, responsibilities and necessary skills.
Duties of Project Manager
Duties are those tasks and activities that a project manager has to perform on daily basis as a part of his/her job. Sometimes Project manager may need to perform multiple tasks depending on the complexity of the project. With respect to the functions of management, duties include;
- In terms of Planning for Project, defining a project scope, developing the policies, procedures, plan and schedule are the main duties.
- In organizing function of management, all duties are related to the establishment of project team including determining the structure of organization for team, defining their roles, responsibilities and position in project.
- Leading is the main function in which plan is implemented so the duties of project manager are challenging and related to the assignment to work, provide motivation to team members by setting the right direction and in a regular coordination with team as well as other operation managers.
- For controlling the project, a project manager has to perform the outlining duties such as developing a progress report on weekly and monthly basis, review the important project documents regularly and taking corrective actions if necessary.
Responsibilities of Project Manager
Responsibilities are considered as obligations to complete all required tasks and it cost you in case of failure. These should be explained in detail and in clear terms because of its complexity. Project Managers are usually answerable for following responsibilities;
- Responsible for whole project success or failure by achieving the project objectives within the constraints or assigned project.
- Engage in all major activities of project starting from initiation till the closure and hand over the project deliverable.
- Responsible for project progress and carefully managing and controlling the project scope, cost, time, quality, resources and risks assessment.
- Responsible for all communication with project team, sponsor, functional managers and stakeholders.
- Responsible for performance of their team according to the standards and requirements.
Skills required by a Successful Project Manager
Skills are actually the game player in every field and a defining factor for a project success or failure. So it must be highlighted in red for showing its importance for all mangers, specifically for Project Managers. Improvements in these skills are demands for your progress, your project progress and basically your company’s progress. Projects itself outlines the following skills by dividing into hard and soft skills;
- Hard Skills -Technical Skills
- Project Management Core Areas
These skills vary from project to project because of nature of work to be performed in different industries. Broadly it covers the expertise required for project key areas such as scope, schedule, cost, quality and risk. Practice for such type of skills can definitely be rewarding for project managers.
Soft Skills -Interpersonal and Personal Effectiveness Skills
- Leadership – Command or direct the project team towards common goals.
- Motivation – Motivation from project manager helps in building more dedicated and committed team.
- Team Building – The outcome of the project depends on whole team which help to accomplish the goal of the project.
- Trust Building– Communicating directly and looking beyond your own interest help build trust among teams and project manager.
- Communication – Delivering the right information, at the right time, place and to the right person is crucial to success.
- Problem Solving – Fix the situation by looking beyond the visible options.
- Decision Making – Select the right solution from various underling alternatives.
- Influencing – Learn how to involve team members to cooperate toward a single goal.
- Negotiation – Effective negotiation help the project manager to grasp the fruitful outcomes.
- Coaching – Make your project team recognize their skills and expertise by continuous support or assistance.
CONCLUSION
Understanding the basic role of a project manager by differentiating his/her duties and responsibilities and the requirement of necessary skills will help you lead your projects to a successful outcome.
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