What Do Project Managers Do?

Project management has always been an important role in business, and it’s only becoming more and more important as time goes by. Moreover, by 2027, it is estimated that employers will need 87.7 million individuals working in project management-oriented roles. In order to help manage this increasing need, 71% of global organisations now have a project management office—an almost 15% increase from years gone by. Clearly, the job outlook for professionals with project management skills is increasingly positive.

Who Is A Project Manager?

A project manager is an individual who has the general responsibility for the effective initiation, planning, design, execution, monitoring, controlling as well as closure of a project. Construction, petrochemical, architecture, information technology – in addition to  many different industries that produce products and services – use this job title.

Basically, the project manager is accountable for the success or failure of a project. The usual duties of a project manager include the following:

• Planning, Executing as well as Closing Projects — defining the project, building its detailed work plan, and management of the budget
• Managing Teams — aiding commitment and productivity, eliminating obstacles, and influencing team members
• Managing Expectations — associating projects to business goals, controlling stakeholders, and communicating project status, milestones, and unforeseen difficulties effectively

Some project managers are required to assist with the gathering of business requirements and may work full-time on larger projects. As  well as all of this, depending on issues such as the size and complexity of a project and resource restrictions, a project manager may need to wear a number of different hats. For example, some project managers need to help with the gathering of business requirements and/or may work – on a full time basis – on a large project or even part-time on multiple, smaller-sized projects.

What Skills Does A Project Manager Have To Have?

Knowledge of project management is sometimes simply not enough for you to become a good PM as you need soft skills as well. Being a fantastic communicator and an open leader is not sufficient. Facing daily project management problems also requires:

• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Analytical as well as strategic thinking
• Decisiveness
• A stress-resistant personality
• A bit of love for risk-taking.

Being a multitasker, with excellent written and oral communication skills, can place you amongst the top project managers in your sector.

When it comes to hard skills, you need to be aware that there is no particular project management skill. In fact, depending upon the project, you’ll have to know a little bit of everything. General business knowledge is very desired.

Don’t worry though! You are not required to be a guru in technical skills such as coding but being able to give accurate, as well as detailed, tasks to your developers is vital. Leading a project is all about ensuring that your team members lack no information which is crucial to finishing a task successfully and delivering the final project.

A project manager should have an appropriate level of knowledge to enable him or her to spot an issue and suggest potential solutions. In the same breath, you should know that several project managers have had prior jobs such as software developers, marketing managers, accountants and designers. This means that they hold the needed knowledge for projects related to their earlier fields of interest.

If you’re one of these individuals, you could be one step ahead of the others. However, you must remember that you’ll also need to create your own knowledge of:

• Project management processes
• Frameworks, as well as
• People management.

You might be used to working on your own but project management is all about teamwork. Don’t panic if you end up realising that working in a project manager position is not the right fit for you. This profession generates many new opportunities and pathways for more future careers.

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