Project Managers: What is their role in project management?

Project Managers are the people in charge of the correct execution of a project. Therefore, they are the ones who must lead the team so that the project is completed, they are in charge of coordinating the work to achieve the proposed objectives.

At present, their role is becoming more and more important. The current business context requires a leader to assume responsibility, who will be the one in charge when a failure or problem arises, as well as guiding the rest of the team members.

For this reason, the Project Manager is a figure of leadership and organization to meet the objectives within the stipulated period.

Characteristics of Project Managers.

Project Managers are leaders who manage and coordinate the project, and as such must control the assigned resources. Likewise, they are in charge of managing the scope, schedule, cost, and quality of the project.

Therefore, they have the necessary skills to take care of the management which includes tasks such as the calendar, risk prevention, quality of the final product, area communications, and tasks of the people involved.

Project Managers must have organizational capacity since they are the ones who prepare the planning of daily and weekly activities. In addition, they know how to listen to their employees, imparting consensus among all, that is why their position is similar to that of a leader and not that of a boss: they encourage the proactivity of their work team, establishing the required negotiations. In addition, as project leaders, they must define which tasks to prioritize and how they can be done to optimize the work.

Project Managers must have the ability to delegate responsibilities and trust their team, respecting those functions that have been assigned to each one, as well as motivating them. They are also responsible for evaluating that the tasks are carried out correctly, according to the required quality, so they will be strict when examining the activities, attending to what may fail.

Likewise, they can make decisions, not only for daily operations but also to make adjustments and correct what is required. You must not forget the external factors that can influence, so Project Managers are attentive to the competition and everything that can hinder the project.

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Duties of Project Managers.

Planning, evaluation, and control of resources.

As explained above, this is the main function of Project Managers, since they are the general supervisors of the team dedicated to the project, so the plan they devised must be followed by everyone and they will be in charge of ensuring its proper functioning.

Therefore, Project Managers are in charge of the analysis and continuous evaluation of the project in general, which consists of being in charge of the implemented strategies. When talking about control, their function is to be able to make decisions for improvement and to be able to act when an unforeseen event develops that could end in a major error. In this way, they can implement changes that safeguard the project.

Forecast times.

It is a fundamental part of their function since Project Managers are in charge of setting realistic time frames for the tasks to be executed within that period and adjusting the schedule to meet the stipulated date.

Establish customer contact.

Project Managers will be in charge of contacting the customers who requested the project, to follow up and implement solutions. In addition, customers can provide instructions and directives that they want in the project, so Project Managers will decide if it is correct or not to include what customers suggest.

Consider the business unit.

Although they are in charge of a particular project, Project Managers must not neglect that they represent a company and respond to a specific mission, vision, and values. For this reason, the actions that they carry out must go hand in hand with the company that they represent.

Management of human and economic resources

Project Managers are in charge of creating the team that will design and execute the project, so they must have an exhaustive knowledge of the professional profile of each one, to assign compatible tasks and form a work team where each of the members fulfills a specific task. Likewise, as project leaders, they are in charge of managing economic resources, since the budgets are foreseen in the planning. This point needs a constant review, to ensure that what was planned and executed is correct.

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Conclusion.

For a project to be successful, the role of Project Managers is key. Being a leader who supervises the team involves many tasks, so they must have complete control of the project to adjust as necessary.

The figure of the Project Manager is important for decision-making and leading the workers to follow the established plan. Project Managers, to be efficient leaders, must be aware of the talent and potential of the team they are in charge of, defining the professional profile of each member. Each of them will be in charge of a specific task, being the guide and general supervisor of the actions carried out by their team.