What does a Project Manager do, anyway?

What is the work of a Project Manager? Many times we see a team trying to implement a new system in the IT network of a company, or a new product on the assembly line. While the entire team tries to do its job, one person stays a little separated from the rest, in front of the computer, watching charts and calculating things that don’t seem connected to the project itself.

You might not believe it, but sometimes, this is the most important person in the group. This is the project manager, the specialist that coordinates all the workflows, which is responsible if something goes wrong.

What is the role of the project manager?

The project manager does it all. Programming, marketing, administration, and testing. He or she uses tools to plan the resources, to establish deadlines, to estimate results with Gantt charts, and to determine the efficiency of the team members.

Besides that, staying in touch with the managers of the company, sending mails or reporting is also an important part of this job.

What are the responsibilities of a project manager?

If the project is successful, the entire team is congratulated. If the project fails, the project manager is to blame. Many times, the project manager depends on other people to have success, and even if he can’t be blamed if some people from the team are incapable of doing their jobs, he or she will take the fall. This is because the PM has to use the existing resources to obtain the required results. If one of the team members is not effective, it is the job of the project manager to eliminate the “weak link” from the chain, or to make it better.

What is project management?

Project management is a relatively new concept, although the job itself exists for millenniums. The pharaohs were project managers while people were building their own pyramids, and Michelangelo was the project manager for the Sistine Chapel. Today, things are more complex, but the basic principles of project management remained the same.

Project management today means to initiate and plan the project, to manage the resources and the expectations of the client, to execute the project, and to communicate with all the other parties involved.

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