The role of a project manager

Project management deals with managing a project which includes planning, executing and closing a project. A project is a short term activity organized by a small group of people, called a team, for the purpose of getting results to a research or technical problem. Thus, it is a team effort and thus needs a leader. A project manager is the person in-charge as the project head and is responsible for project management. He is the person who controls the project team. He is the one responsible for the optimum utilisation of resources. The project manager looks into issues like team selection, leading, controlling, risk management, utilisation of tools, etc. The role of a project manage is crucial. If the role is not managed well, the project will be at risk. A project manager is a professional who represents the team. He should have the ability to adapt to various challenges like change in constrains or conditions of the project. He should be able to choose the best alternative option from the various options. He should be able to deal with the basic and important functions of a project i.e. cost, time and effort. He should manage risk and guide his team members efficiently. Basically, there are three main aspects to the role of a project manager. They are the technical, transactional and transformational role. The technical role of a project manager is related with the technical side of the project. It is based more on ‘hands-on’ work than making others to do the job. A leader has a major role in a team. The team leader should be aware of the technical side of the project so that he will able to evaluate the performance at the basic level. This brings efficiency to the technical part of the project. Sometimes the leader has to take charge of the technical side too. Transactional roles are based on work flow and performance of the team and team member. Before the implementation stage the team leader plans a baseline metric and parameters, as a standard line, for the team activities. This is done for controlling the project. During the implementation stage the team leader periodically checks the effectiveness of the project with respect to the plans. Good examples for transactional roles are monitoring and controlling resource utilisation and team effort. The transformational roles are related to the leadership part of a project manager. The leader transforms the skills, performance and effort of the team into results. A project manager plays a vital role in bringing quality and effectiveness into the team effort. This role focuses on human resource planning, team building, training, performance appraisal, guiding, etc. A project manager has many responsibilities. Most important of them are planning the project, executing and controlling the project, managing the stake holders, leading the project team, risk and time management, budgeting and cost control, problem solving and objective fulfilling. So being a project manager is not just about having authority over the team.