I think it’s worthy to note a quote I shared two days ago.
“Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the funnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.” – Joy Gumz.
Project management is the engine that keeps an organization because it is critical for business success.
I have previously discussed ways project managers can help you thrive as a business. Today I want to talk more on what a project manager does.
A project manager is responsible for the planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and completion of projects. However, where these are all important in project management, there are other nitty-gritty of project management that a project manager is involved in, such as:
1. Building a plan – project mangers are responsible for plotting realistic course for the project. With the plan they craft, they are able to include the project scope, timeline, budget and identify the right tools for the project.
2. Assembling the team – they are also responsible for identifying the right team that is critical for the success of that project. Every project depends on the initiative and function of an efficient project manager to thrive.
3. Leading the team – the project manager is responsible for keeping the project running. They are responsible for ensuring everyone on the team is doing their job, they identify and clear roadblocks, negotiate disagreements and keep the team morale high.
4. Assigning tasks – they are also responsible for providing clear definition of every task in the project.
5. Managing the budget – a project manger must be able to help business owners put together a comprehensive budget for any project they are working with and manage cost effective, they can do this by comparing real-life expenses to estimates and adjusting to the plan.
6. Managing timelines – another major responsibility of a project manager is to ensure to put a timeline for every activity in a project, set realistic goals, communicate with the team and maintain a schedule for everything.
7. Engaging the stakeholders – because stakeholders play an essential role in any project, it is fundamental to maintain a good relationship and open communication line with stakeholders. When a project manager fails to engage with the stakeholders, it can create unnecessary bottlenecks and derail the entire project.
8. Handover the project – the project manager is also responsible for delivering the project to the team who will now ensure it is well maintained and adhered to. Sometimes, the project objectives assigned to a project manager may be acknowledged and implemented by the project manager, hence the next step is to handover to the team and be assigned to a new project.
9. Document the process – ensure to identify and document good practice for personal project manager growth.
All of these and more are responsibilities of the project manager in an organization.
