What is a project manager? The lead role for project success

When it comes to organizing, carrying out, supervising, managing, and wrapping off projects, project managers are in charge. This is a look at the job description, duties, necessary credentials, anticipated pay, and advice for job seekers for project managers.

A project manager: what is it?

When it comes to organizing, carrying out, overseeing, regulating, and wrapping up initiatives, project managers take the lead. Their responsibilities encompass the complete project scope, the project team and resources, the project budget, and the project’s eventual success or failure. Project managers need to be skilled in resource coordination, budget management, progress tracking, team member and stakeholder communication, and measurement. In order to accomplish the intended project goals, they are frequently asked to make difficult decisions about intricate and conflicting priorities. They also evaluate risks and address any problems that come up during a project’s life cycle.

Project manager duties

A project manager is tasked with a variety of duties that cover the five project stages of the project life cycle detailed below, working with their team to accomplish these tasks. Project management knowledge and skill areas such as integration, scope, schedule, money, quality, human resources, communication, risk procurement, and stakeholder management are all emphasized differently in each phase.

Phase of initiation: Project managers are in charge of creating the project charter and determining the pertinent parties engaged in accomplishing the project’s goal at this time.

Planning phase: Project managers must establish the project’s scope, produce a work breakdown structure (WBS), and compile the necessary requirements before creating a project management plan. Together with estimating the resources required to finish the project and estimating the length of each action, they also need to organize, define, and design schedules and activities. They may then plan and estimate expenses, make budgets, evaluate the demands for human resources, and create strategies for quality control and communications using this as a reference. Along with defining necessary procurements and establishing stakeholder expectations, they also need to design risk mitigation methods, conduct qualitative and quantitative risk assessments, and identify possible hazards.

Project managers are in charge of overseeing and managing every aspect of the project during the execution phase. This includes choosing, training, and leading the project team; handling all communication-related matters; acting to secure the required purchases; handling all quality-related matters; and controlling all expectations from stakeholders.

Phase of monitoring and control: After a project has begun, project managers have to keep an eye on it, initiate any required adjustments, and validate and regulate the project’s scope, budget, and output quality. In addition, project managers are responsible for managing all stakeholder interactions, controlling procurements, and supervising all team and stakeholder communications.

Phase closure: Project managers have to close all phases and procurements, settle budgets, turn in deliverables, carry out reports and post-mortems, and put staff back into the resource pool in order to finish a project.

Skills in project management

Beyond technical expertise, effective project managers require other skills. Along with other critical competencies that are in great demand, the position also calls for a business perspective, team building and conflict resolution skills, and change management knowledge. Project managers fundamentally need to be leaders who can inspire their teams, communicate, set priorities, and solve problems. A crucial non-technical talent that project managers need to possess in order to thrive is adaptability.

However, in order to be a really successful project manager, you have to be a strategic business partner who is totally committed to the success of the firm and have the resilience to overcome unavoidable failures. When combined with the requisite technical abilities, several qualities will make you more in demand as a project manager. These qualities will provide you a solid base that will allow you to adjust to the ever-changing dynamics of a project while prioritizing the demands of your stakeholders.

Certifications for project managers

Obtaining certification as a project manager might lead to better job offers and career prospects. Numerous academic establishments provide certificates in project management with a range of specialties. There are numerous organizations, but the Project Management Institute (PMI) is the most well-known. Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) are two important project management credentials. See our list of the best project management certifications currently offered for further information.

Consider taking one of these free project management courses in addition to open source project courses if you want to enhance your knowledge and abilities in project-related areas. Agile is becoming the project technique of choice for many firms, which means that staff members must increase their expertise in this field. Agile certifications like the PMI-ACP and Scrum-based certifications like the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) might help you stand out. Check out our rankings of the best Scrum certifications and agile certifications to advance your career.

Salaries for project managers

Due to their extensive training and duties, project managers are paid well. Indeed reports that the average yearly income for IT project managers in the US is $99,725 out of over 3,200 salaries, with base salaries ranging from $68,690 to $144,781. Jobs for project managers

One of the best things about a project management profession is that it’s a terrific career choice since almost every industrial sector in the world requires project managers with different expertise. Good project managers are needed and sought after by businesses in a wide range of industries, including healthcare, aviation, technology, software development, engineering, construction, real estate, publishing, finance, marketing, manufacturing, education, insurance, and government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics actually predicts a positive future for project managers. Project managers are essentially necessary for any firm that has projects.