Project Manager: What Does a Project Manager Do?

A project manager is the leader of a team tasked with managing the project team members on a specific project within a business. A project manager, also called a PM, ensures the project team completes a project by the deadline to the best of their abilities toward achieving the larger business outcomes the project was implemented to achieve.

Project management entails dividing the budget for the project, setting project milestones for the team to reach deadlines, and hiring or selecting team members who are best suited to the project’s needs.

Here are some of the project manager responsibilities and duties that a project manager will likely fulfill:

• Communicate with stakeholders: The project manager corresponds with the project's stakeholders about the full scope of the project. They also manage expectations and keep stakeholders updated with the project status and progress.
• Connect different departments: The project manager must make and maintain lines of communication among different departments working on the project, ensuring they can execute on deliverables.
• Establish a timeline and milestones: The project manager sets a timeline for the project, which includes important milestones to meet. This helps the person in this role gauge whether the team can complete the project by the deadlin. The project manager must also manage changes in the timeline if circumstances dictate.
• Hiring or recruiting a project team: A project manager is responsible for hiring internally or recruiting freelancers to work on the team for the duration of the project.
• Manage the budget: A PM allocates money from the project budget and makes sure the project is on track to stay within the set budget.
• Measure success using KPIs: Project managers use KPIs (key performance indicators) to measure whether their projects are successful against relevant metrics. Project management software helps PMs track their KPIs and project success over the entire project schedule.

Here are some of the important qualifications and skills required in most project manager job descriptions:

• Education: A bachelor’s degree in project management or business management is not necessary to start a career as a project manager. However, it can help you stand out in a crowded job market.
• Excellent communication skills: Project managers must be excellent communicators, in both their speaking and writing. A PM must speak clearly about the project to their team and to external stakeholders.
• Leadership skills: A vital project management skill is the ability to lead a team. Strong leadership skills are a must, including confidence with public speaking and the ability to motivate a team.
• Problem-solving skills: A project plan is a must for a project manager, but things are always bound to divert from the plan. Project managers must be able to problem solve, stay agile, and adapt to changing situations. This also means having good risk management skills.
• Resource management: A good PM must manage their resources effectively, including their budget, IT resources, and time management. The project manager must also treat the team itself as a resource, understanding individual’s strengths and allocating tasks accordingly.
• Self-motivation: It is important that project managers have the ability to motivate themselves. Being the team leader, they work to keep the entire team motivated and so must be able to act as their own motivator as well.

Here are a few steps you can take if you’re considering a career as a project management professional:

• Research the field. Before you take any major steps to becoming a project manager, do research to see if the field is right for you. Speak to other project managers to get a sense of the daily responsibilities. Read about the job from professionals to learn if the career path makes sense for you.
• Further your education. You may want to consider undertaking further education for your project management career. There are bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that specialize in project management, including online project management courses. It is not necessary to have completed higher education to find a project manager job, but it may be helpful to improve your project management tools.
• Get project management experience. The best qualification you can have as a project manager is experience. Find work leading small teams and projects or take on an internship with a successful project manager.
• Get certified. You can become a certified associate in project management by taking a certification exam. Most exams require a set number of years of experience before you’re able to take the test. There are also specialized certifications, including exams for IT project managers.

A project manager role is different to a program manager, who manages a broader range of projects and tasks for a business. On the other hand, a project manager focuses on a single project for a business for the project life cycle.

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