What Are The Main Responsibilities Of A Project Manager

What Are The Main Responsibilities Of A Project Manager? Here’s How To Become A Successful Project Manager

No matter how flawlessly planned and connected with the proper strategy your project might be, it can still fail if you don’t find the right employees on your team. Project managers serve as a project’s center of gravity from start to finish. They are the leaders of the whole endeavor, and if they do not distribute their responsibilities properly, the project will inevitably fail. In this article, we’ll discuss the tasks and responsibilities project managers have, and why these are critical to the success of any project.

When project managers have sufficient experience and knowledge it makes it much easier to achieve all of the project’s goals, since being equipped with the necessary information and tools that guarantee project success is indispensable. There is no point in starting a project if you are not sure if it will work out, is there?  Project managers can acquire these abilities via appropriate Project Management Professional training and some general experience in project management-related jobs.

Vital Skills Project Managers Should Have To Fulfill Their Many Roles

A project manager needs to wear several hats in order to successfully complete a project. Some of those positions need them to have both soft, as well as hard skills. Every project manager should be able to take on all the responsibilities listed below, either alone or in tandem. We know there are many different Project Management roles in a project, each with its own responsibilities, so we’ll go through the most significant attributes first.

1) Flexible Leader

A very important skill for a project manager to have is to know how to be a good leader. Project managers have a variety of leadership abilities they can pick from. In certain cases, they need to use an authoritative manner of communicating things, while in others a democratic method can be more appropriate. If they have recently hired a lot of new employees on their team, for example, the best leadership style to use will be different from when they have more experienced individuals on the team.

Project managers must guide their teams to success. They need to give guidance and ensure that their team understands what the expectations are for each of them. A leader must clearly describe the duties of every team member to them, and assemble a team of employees with diverse capabilities so that all of them are contributing to what they do best. In other words, a vital part of project manager responsibilities is having great team leadership.

2) Overall Account Supervisor

The account supervisor or manager role is seen as the person who needs to dabble in many skills. In addition to project management, the project manager also serves as an account manager. They need to function as a major liaison that connects a client with the company by maintaining a good relationship with them, planning out the revenue strategy, and managing the projects. They will need to work close to clients to really understand their needs and the vision they have. Then, based on their expertise and understanding, they will devise a plan that will enable this vision to be realized. They also oversee all the daily operations to gather and convey any difficulties to the clients.

Being an account manager is a unique project manager position and duty that will put the Project Manager in the spotlight within their organization.

3) Procurement Manager

Firstly, a Project Manager’s duty when it comes to procurement will be to supervise the team that is in charge of acquiring products and services, always striving for the highest possible quality at the lowest possible price. They are also in charge of evaluating all the suppliers, negotiating the contracts, and reviewing the quality of each product.

They research the market in order to determine pricing trends, all future supply of resources and commodities, locate suppliers, negotiate prices, and prepare requisitions and purchase orders, all while keeping procurement records.

Basically, project managers must have strong negotiating skills, management and communication skills, as well as know how to do market research. Procurement management guarantees that the project’s tools and materials are purchased and resourced on time and on budget. With this, you can conclude that staying on budget is a vital part and responsibility of every project management job.

4) Coordinator Role

When it comes to the coordinator role, a project manager needs to have their hands in many pots. In fact, this position is situated between planning and implementation. With clinical accuracy, the Project Manager has to direct the activities and keep track of the resources. They need to make sure all projects are finished on schedule and inside the budget.

Within the coordinator’s abilities, Project Managers also oversee the management of all the resources and data, as well as help with meeting schedules and planning the project activities. In addition, they have to coordinate the project’s timeline, budget, difficulties, and risks. They have to connect with other divisions within the company to ensure that all of the team members are following the same plan and working towards their one goal.

5) Communications Manager

Project managers serve as a conduit between clients and project team members, and even their superiors. They have to organize and relay any pertinent information from customers to the rest of the team, as well as report to senior management. In order to explain the project’s goals, all Project Managers should interact closely with all the software designers, analysts, and the rest of the staff members. They also keep an eye on the project’s development and take action if needed.

6) Team Manager

If a project is large enough, a Team Manager will fulfill a different role from Project Managers. In a smaller project, however, the same Project Manager will take on the position of team leader and manage all team members. Therefore, project management tasks and responsibilities will include team management. Most importantly, Project Managers must guarantee that their team’s abilities are sufficient to complete the project.

It’s also critical that the team looks up to the Project Manager since it’s also a responsibility of team management to resolve any disagreements. Conflicts will inevitably arise in every project, thus every Project Manager should utilize suitable conflict resolution tactics like Confronting, Forcing, Withdrawing, and Compromising, depending on the scenario, to settle a disagreement amongst team members.

7) Mentoring

All projects can benefit from having a mentor since they may be guided towards a successful conclusion if the proper advice is given at the proper moment. Most importantly, the Project Managers should be present to guide their team through each stage and maintain team cohesiveness. If needed, they should offer guidance and point everyone in the correct direction. The word “Mentor” can be read as “Motivates, Empowers, Nurtures, Teaches, Originates, and makes for a Role Model”.

Project Managers must display proper communication skills, instill confidence in individuals by emphasizing the good aspects of their job, and offer candid criticism on faults. They should always refrain from passing unfair judgments. When fulfilling this role, Project Managers should encourage their people to create new things, embrace new behaviors, and the team members should want to follow their example and strive to become like them. Being a mentor is a very important project management task and responsibility that should be taken seriously, as the impact it has can be massive.

8) Stakeholder Liaison

Stakeholder satisfaction is essential for a successful project. The project may be delivered effectively after the Project Manager recognizes stakeholders and controls their expectations. Disappointed and dissatisfied stakeholders will oppose the proposal. As a result, one of the most important project management tasks and responsibilities is good stakeholder management. All Project Managers must maintain continual control over their expectations.

When examining stakeholders, consider the following questions: What drives stakeholders? How can you keep shareholders happy? How would you keep track of stakeholders? Will you have to keep an eye on them? What method will you use to keep them updated? All of those can be more helpful than you think!

We’ve gone over the numerous skills every Project Manager should have to fill the many roles they have to perform. Now we’re gonna discuss their main obligations.

The Major Obligations Of Project Managers

To start, let’s first define the concept of a project. A project can be a short-term undertaking that must be completed within a specific time limit and budget in order to deliver a service, item, or result. If you follow your plan carefully and expect everything to go smoothly, you will be disappointed. It is a well-known reality that projects can be inherently dynamic and vulnerable to change.

Funds, time, and personnel are constantly limited, as a result, Project Managers participating in any project must balance those restrictions to guarantee that all of the project’s goals are met within the timeframes. Because these restrictions are focus areas inside a project, addressing them is essential to project management. In other words, Project Managers should ensure that they are focusing on implementing the strategies to ensure all goals are reached, and informed decisions can be made.

Project Managers are in charge of completing the project, as well as have absolute power over how it is planned and executed throughout its life cycle. They also have the task of demonstrating good leadership and management abilities. These are some of the roles that Project Managers, whether new or seasoned, must take on to ensure project success.

One – Getting The Project Started

Project Managers have the obligation to do an initial evaluation of any project being proposed based on the business’ needs, stakeholder participation, management, and most of all, client feedback.

The chain of action they should follow is: Evaluate the company’s requirements, identify the resources and assets that will be needed, determine the dependencies, calculate the budget, estimate a timeline, and assess all of the risks.

Two – Controlling The Budget

Another vital project manager’s responsibility is to complete the project within the assigned time and budget.

A project’s budget is frequently the most important thing to keep in consideration. A project manager’s task is to figure out the amount of money that is needed to meet the project’s goals. Similarly, Project Managers must allocate funds to various tasks and make the necessary cost adjustments. Developing and managing a reasonable project budget is a major Project Manager’s responsibility.

The actions you need to follow in order to keep track of the budget are: Review the total price of your project, revise the schedule along with the resources and understand their effort, convert the resource strategy into project bucks, maintain a budget and prediction on a continuing basis, and lastly, make sure your team is demanding the correct amount for the project.

Three – Taking Charge Of The Schedule

The most important part of controlling the project timeline is determining the delivery times and objectives while taking into consideration all limitations. It’s among the most important aspects of project management in general.  It’s also essential at every stage of the lifecycle of the project.

The activities you should get done in order to manage a schedule are: Breaking down high-level demands to high-level activities, and then break them down even further and presenting them in a task list. The duties should be arranged in order according to what should be completed first, taking into account interdependencies. Forecasts of resource requirements are developed based on resource supply and capacity. To develop an appropriate schedule, Project Managers require information from the activity sequence, length of every activity, and all resource requirements. Using software tools like Microsoft Project and Primavera, the project’s schedule should be created with diagrams to show the necessary information. Throughout the endeavor, keep an eye on the schedule. To ensure that the project progresses safely, all stages of program management need meetings for the Project Manager, all the team members, and shareholders.

Four – Hitting All Quality Objectives

An additional factor that contributes to the success of a Project Manager is quality. It’s vital for Project Managers to assure quality not just for the end product supplied to the client, but also for each and all tasks and activities conducted inside the project.

The product’s quality may be measured in regard to its durability, dependability, and effectiveness. Quality management has become absolutely necessary for producing a high-end product that not only fulfills but exceeds consumer expectations. As a result, Project Managers should establish quality objectives at the outset of their project.

Following these actions can assist you with planning and managing the quality of your project: Defining the quality objectives, along with the ones asked by the client and/or any external agents during the early stages of the project, setting goals, and making use of every milestone within your planning program, to make it easier to add them into your plan, communicating all of the marks to your team members so they can focus on meeting them, measuring quality targets, as well as assessing the effectiveness, taking action for any elements of the project that aren’t in compliance in regards to the quality goals, and get the key shareholders involved so a course of action can be selected.

Five – Ensuring Clear Communication

A Project Manager’s ability to communicate is crucial. The amount of communication efficiency, on the other hand, is far more significant. It should be the Project Manager’s obligation to make innovative emails and provide frequent progress reports to all the partners. Project Managers must make judgments and manage any issues successfully while working on timetables. The need for proper communication is paramount, and it plays a critical role. Hence, Project Managers with strong communication abilities can guarantee that all relevant people are well informed on the project’s progress.

Six – Identify And Control Risks

When working on a large project, it’s probable that you won’t be able to prepare everything ahead of time. As a result, there could be more potential stumbling blocks and problems in your project. Obstacles are an unavoidable component of any endeavor. Furthermore, it falls on Project Managers to understand just how quickly they can detect and assess possible risks, preferably way before the project’s starting date. They should also be able to determine an appropriate response for any risks to lessen their effect or likelihood of happening so that it doesn’t. And if the worse comes and it becomes a reality, it will be bearable.

Seven – Assembling A Team

Any project’s most important component is its people. A task cannot be completed without competent individuals. It should be the Project Manager’s obligation to treat members with dignity and respect, and the project will be halfway completed.

The steps you should follow to assemble your team should be: Define all of the roles and what tasks they should do, determine the communication routes and all of the protocols that will be used, encourage the formation of team relationships, and collaborate with the rest of the team.

Eight – Accomplish Your Plan

First and foremost, you must finish the planning process and ensure that all of the important project criteria are understood. Furthermore, it’s the Project Manager’s responsibility to carry out the project’s plan from beginning to end. It should follow these steps: Tracking the budget and keeping the project firmly on it, allocating all resources in a cost-effective way, maintaining high-end standards for the project, keeping the team engaged and motivated, and lastly managing any changes that might come up in a methodical manner.

Nine – Guaranteeing Client Satisfaction

If your customer is satisfied, it means the project has been a success. Another one of the main responsibilities of a project manager is to reduce uncertainty, eliminate surprises, and get stakeholders involved, particularly the customer, as much as feasible. If you maintain excellent communication and give them all the essential facts in a punctual way, the customer will be effectively engaged.

Ten – Following All Progress

All Project managers should have a clear picture right from the start of the project that can help them be optimistic about achieving the intended goals. However, the path to the end zone is not always easy, and there may be some roadblocks along the way. When things don’t go as planned, project managers must monitor and assess performance and expenditure and take appropriate remedial action.

As we know, it’s one project management obligation to carry out the course of action so they can guarantee that it is being monitored at all times. Furthermore, they must define the scope and boundaries of the project, which is then translated into a proper plan that aids with the project’s eventual and effective completion.

Eleven – Completing The Project

When a project is officially started, it is the project manager’s duty to do so. So when it’s time to wrap it up, the project manager is in charge of that as well. The crucial information here would be that Project Managers must close off the project regardless of the conditions under which it will end, even if it’s not quite finished but has to be stopped for whatever reason, as this is another main obligation of project managers.

Examining the plan next to the actual project outcome and identifying variations from the plan, as well as their implications, and developing lessons that they may share throughout the organization is another responsibility of project managers.

The activities involved are: Confirming that the work meets the specifications, obtaining official word that the contracts have been fulfilled, obtaining the last acceptance of all services and products, completing the financial closing, giving the finished product to the customer, and asking for feedback from customers in relation to the project, completing the final performance evaluation, congratulate every team members on their job well done, conducting a thorough post-project investigation, and providing actionable insights and any recommendations.

Project Managers must acquire official clearance for the project, as well as every deliverable, produce one last report demonstrating the project’s success, and index all of the project data.

Here’s What We Learned

This article covers items project managers must understand and adhere to if they want to accurately fulfill all of their responsibilities and roles so that their project can be successful. Even if you have the knowledge and experience, not following the proper project management methods and steps to complete your tasks and responsibilities can put the success of your project in jeopardy. For more information on other project management related activities, check out our website and take a look at the rest of our articles. We hope this information can help you become a better project manager.

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