The Role of the Project Manager

A Project Manager is a professional in the field of Project Management. The Project Manager has to report to the Project Board and has to run the project daily (both planning and execution). The PM is the professional, internal or external to the organisation, assigned to lead the Project Team to achieve the project’s objectives.

The Role of the Project Manager

The Project Manager’s main responsibility is to accomplish the project objectives, ensuring the project delivers the product(s) at the agreed quality and cost, and on time (within tolerance). The professional should manage the constraints of a typical project which are cost, time, scope and quality.

The Project Manager is the professional responsible for leading a project from its start to its execution. This includes planning, delegating, monitoring and controlling.

The PM has to focus on managing people (communication and people management are key competences), and managing resources. The PM has full responsibility and authority to complete the assigned project.

The Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The responsibilities of a Project Manager can vary from business to business. Factors like industry, company size, company maturity and company culture may affect the specific responsibilities.

However, there are some standard responsibilities that most PMs handle and that are:

• Liaise with stakeholders,suppliers, customers, end users
• Define and communicate the project objectives to the team
• Developing the project plans
• Control, monitoring, reporting
• Procurement of the project requirements – workforce, material, technologies
• Managing and leading the project team
• Establish the project’s procedures: risk management, issue management, change management, communication management
• Budgeting

The Competencies of the Project Manager

The core competencies according to the PMBok guide are identifiable in three main skill sets:

1. Technical Project management Competences
   
2. Leadership Competences
   
3. Strategic and Business Management Competences

The Technical Project Management Competencies

The technical Project Management Competencies are the core skills of a Project Manager and include:

• Planning
• Time Management
• Execution
• Decision Making
• Critical Thinking

Leadership Competencies

Leadership skills can support long-range strategic objectives:

• People management
• Communication
• Negotiation
• Team building

Strategic and Business Management Competencies

Strategic and Business Management skills means being knowledgeable about the business, and being able to explain it to the project team and stakeholders:

• Strategy
• Goals and Objectives
• Products and Services
• Priorities

New Trends in Project Management

We live in a fast-paced environment where everything is pervaded by constant transformations and where change is the only common value. The number of organisations which are using Project Management procedures is increasing, together with the spread of tools and methods developed to help Project Managers and their teams successfully accomplish their projects.

The key trends in Project Management and their impact on the profession of the Project Manager are:

• Having a strategic vision is pivotal
• Change Management as an asset
• Acquisition of Agiles Methodologies

QRP International is an Accredited Training Organisation that offers different Project Management courses. We can support you with PRINCE2, PM2, PMP, HERMES, AgilePM or PRINCE2 Agile. Would you like to have more information? Contact us!