Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities | A Complete Guide
Every company/organization has a project manager. We all have an idea about what the project manager does. They manage the project, simple, isn’t it? But in reality, a project manager has to do a lot more than just that. The goal is to manage the project efficiently, that the organization makes the best use of all resources.
In this blog, we will learn in detail about what a project manager does in an organization. We will also learn the importance of having a good project manager.
Who is a Project Manager?
Project managers are people with excellent problem-solving capabilities. They should be able to make decisions even in the most stressful situations. They play a major role in planning, executing, controlling, monitoring, and closing projects. The organization holds project managers accountable for any deviations from the desired result.
They are also responsible for keeping everyone updated about the project’s information. Budget maintenance and delivering the project on time also is the responsibility of a project manager. A project manager must have all the essential technical knowledge to manage a project efficiently. Thus a project manager is crucial for effective project management.
Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities
The role of project managers is vast. The organization expects them to be many things and do many things. Let us discuss all the key roles and responsibilities of a project manager in detail.
1. Resource planning
Planning is one of the important steps towards achieving success. Planning all the resources beforehand is one of the main roles and responsibilities of a project manager. Resources include the following:
- Human resources
- Technological resources
- Manufacturing resources(if applicable for your project)
- Knowledge resources
- Time
Every resource mentioned above is of utmost importance. Hence the role of a project manager is to manage these resources carefully. Proposing the number of resources needed for the project is also the role of a project manager. Extensive calculations and careful considerations are the inputs required to plan the resources.
The project manager makes the plan in such a way that the resources meet the requirements at all stages. Projects are usually unpredictable, so a project manager must always plan ahead. They must know when and how to make adjustments to the allotted resources.
2. Activity planning
Successful project management involves the preparation of a list of tasks. This is also one of the main roles and responsibilities of a project manager. The project manager creates a detailed list of all tasks in a project and organizes them. The team adheres to this task-list from the very start to the very end of the project.
The project manager’s role is also to monitor the development of the project based on the task-list. This activity planning responsibility also involves the assigning of roles to the team. This brings further clarity to the project’s working.
3. Motivating the team
This is also one of the major roles and responsibilities of a project manager. The quick progress of a project depends solely on the team’s interest to do it. The project manager must make all the team members work together in unison towards the common goal.
The plans made by the project manager must motivate the team to work to their full potential. Appreciating the team for their hard work goes a long way in inspiring the team to be better. This helps you become a good project manager and also drives your project towards success.
4. Time management
Time is one of the most important resources for any organization. To successfully develop a project, you must always base your actions on the clock. Meeting deadlines is the role of a project manager that increases productivity.
Calculating the time required to complete a task comes with the job description of a project manager. A good project manager knows how to set practical deadlines and how to convey them to the team.
5. Budget sheet preparation
As a project manager, you must draft a budget-sheet that satisfies the project needs. A project manager has an important role and responsibility in keeping a project within its budget. Since projects are unpredictable, it is easy for the budget to overrun. So the project manager must often review the cost plan throughout the lifecycle of the project.
6. Risk assessment
One of the vital roles and responsibilities of a project manager is to predict all possible risks. Risk management is an essential skill needed for a project manager. All projects come with a certain amount of risk associated with it. Bigger the project, the greater the risks.
A good project manager has a redundant plan for all possible risks. If the project meets a hurdle at any point, it is the role of a project manager to handle and overcome the hurdle. Intuition serves as an important trait of a project manager. This intuition solves all the risks in the best possible way. The project manager tries to minimize the impact if they are not able to avoid the risk entirely.
7. Progress record
Monitoring the project at every stage of development is yet another important role of a project manager. The uncertainty associated with the project might bring unforeseen changes to the plan. So, constant monitoring of the project’s progress is the best way to be a good project manager. Maintaining a progress record is also helpful to convey the details to the stakeholders.
8. Conduct meetings
Meetings in an organization promote collaboration between different teams. The project manager handles the meetings in an organization. The project manager’s role is to convey valuable information to the various teams working on the same project. It is also the role of a project manager to gather vital data from the teams for evaluation.
Meetings serve as a common place where various teams can meet and come up with new solutions to the problems faced. This improves the overall work quality and reduces the amount of time spent on transferring information between departments.
9. Communication and Coordination
As a project manager, you should communicate the necessary information with the project teams. Communication is the key to successful project management. The project managers have an important role in coordinating the various teams to increase productivity. If there are communication gaps between the teams, the project suffers a huge loss in time.
A good project manager has the responsibility of maintaining peace between the team too. Misunderstandings are bound to happen when many individuals come together. A project manager should not ignore such problems; rather, they must solve the problem. A good relationship between various teams has been shown to increase the productivity of the entire organization.
10. Closing the project
The role of a project manager is important throughout the lifecycle of a project. It becomes an important duty of a project manager to properly end the project too. This is to relieve all the team from their duties towards the project.
Their responsibility does not end here. An efficient project manager knows that proper documentation and final reports are crucial. These documents generally have every piece of information that the client/stakeholders need.
Best Project Management Tool
For the plans made by the project manager/project management team to play out smoothly, project management software is vital. This is a tool that has been trending for a while now. Almost all organizations now use a project management tool to automate their management process.
PeppyBiz is one of the leading organizations that serve software solutions to all kinds of businesses. We help grow your business at a fast rate by providing the right solutions tailored for you. Our project management software has the following features:
1. Discussion boards: As a project manager, you must be able to promote healthy discussions within the team.
2. Assign tasks: Prioritise tasks with deadlines to motivate the team to complete the project on time.
3. Kanban boards: Delegating the tasks has never been easier. With the help of Kanban boards, it is easy to divide huge tasks and assign them properly.
4. Gantt charts: Use Gantt charts to convey crucial deadlines and visualize the project’s timeline.
5. Calendar: Our software’s in-built calendar keeps the employees informed about the important dates and deadlines.
6. File sharing: Use the software as a place to keep all important documents safe.
7. Custom roles: Assign roles based on their position in the project.
8. Chatbox: Serves as the communication tool to enhance your operations.
These features effectively pack all the managerial skills needed for a project manager. So with this tool, a good project manager can become an efficient one in no time. Check out our software here.
Conclusion
From this blog, you must have got an idea about the key roles and responsibilities expected from a project manager. These are general roles and suitable for every project manager. But these are also the most vital roles of a project manager. Using a good project management tool always helps. It is the modern way of answering management problems. Many business giants have commended PeppyBiz‘s software for being one of the best and bug-free software in the market. Schedule a free demo today to learn more about the services we offer.
