The Responsibility of Being a Project Manager

The project manager is the person assigned to coordinate, verify, correlate the activity of the entire project team within all the activities carried out, throughout the implementation period and even in the period after the project is completed.

HOW IS THE PROJECT MANAGER CHOSEN?

In the process of implementing a new project, it will be necessary to delegate a project manager. Choosing the right person remains at the top of management

Some project managers may be chosen based on studies in the field of management or certifications obtained, while others become „accidental” project managers after gradually taking on more responsibilities during current roles, managing to acquire new skills.

Whatever role you currently have - marketer, designer, programmer, etc., surely thanks to the experience you were able to learn how a project is managed. Project management is not limited to qualifications and diplomas, but consists of good management of projects, ensuring that they are delivered on time and within budget.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PROJECT MANAGER

The main tasks that the project manager assumes are the following: to plan, organize, coordinate, control, lead. These are the 5 functions of management that must be applied in any project, regardless of the scale, the value, the duration.

Being responsible for overseeing complex projects from start to finish, project managers have the power to shape the trajectory of an organization, helping to reduce costs, and, maximizing company efficiency and revenue growth.

The exact tasks of a project manager will depend on the sector of activity, the organization and the types of projects that a project manager is tasked with supervising. But in general, all project managers have shared responsibilities regarding the „ project life cycle”, which consists of five phases (or processes):

Planning - involves using more realistic and clear methods of estimating activities, their duration, interdependence between activities, allocation of necessary resources, etc. Of the available planning methods, we can enunciate the PERT Method, the Element-Based Structure Method (Work Breakdown Structure), the GANTT Chart.

Organizing - involves good planning and the ability of the project manager to build an effective project team, to identify the most suitable people to work on the project, and, to distribute tasks optimally, allocate material and financial resources efficiently, so as to ensure that it reaches its objectives within the set timeframe and with the quality standards defined above.

Coordination - involves the delegation of attributions, organizing constant working meetings with the team and other people involved in the project implementation, establishing a very well established periodic monitoring mechanism, providing and receiving permanent feedback on the project status.

Control - is achieved by establishing a clear and coherent system of reporting and monitoring, allocating individual and group responsibilities, applying a balanced system of project tracking.

The - management targets much more than the sum of the other 4 functions presented above. A project manager must use team motivation mechanisms related to control and accountability tools, must assume the leadership of the project and the team, to take responsibility for achieving the project goal and allocate all its resources to this purpose. The management function brings together the attributions of the project manager, his skills and know-how and can decisively influence the quality of the implementation of a project.

The defining tasks for the project manager will vary substantially depending on the phases of the life cycle their projects are in. That said, there are a number of general tasks that any good project manager can expect to accomplish on a daily basis.

In addition to the responsibilities outlined above, the project manager must follow:

- Establishing or appropriating the objectives and general directions of action, their interpretation and identification of the reaction to their modification;

- Clarification of problems and delimitation of problem areas;

- Identification of resources, negotiation for obtaining them, keeping them and managing them for efficient use;

- Clarifying and modifying your own and other project team roles;

- Performing specific actions and taking the necessary risks for the smooth running of the project;

- Liability to superiors for the success or failure of the project.