Project Manager: who is this and what does it do?

When they say “doctor”, “welder”, “teacher” or even “meteorologist”, everyone understands more or less who it is and what it does. But the "project manager" sounds somehow more incomprehensible. True, to understand this is not so difficult, you just need to look at the main responsibilities and functions, to study the requirements for the post.

The profession "project manager" (in some sources referred to in the English manner as the Project manager) is more officially referred to as the "project portfolio manager." Thus, it already follows from the name that this specialist does not usually work with any one project: there are several of them at once, and you need to carefully balance your attention. The project manager can work with organizations of various profiles:

• web studios;
• Publishers
• trade structures;
• industrial enterprises;
• music groups;
• firms for the transport of goods;
• real estate and insurance agencies and so on.

It may seem that there is nothing in common between these areas, and there is no place for one specialist in all of them. However, it is not. In any field, success depends on the selection of the team, its structure and distribution of responsibilities. It is on these three points that the focus of project managers is focused. They do not give orders “to send such and such cargo to such and such a car”, “this year we are going on a tour to and from” or “we are starting the production of aluminum tubes with a cross section of 20 mm”.

One of the pluses has already been named. This is what a project manager, in principle, can find a place in any field of activity. However, a serious minus also comes from here: not everyone clearly understands why such a specialist is needed at all. So it turns out that in different organizations his responsibilities are not the same. In some cases, project managers are trusted with the selection of executors, the preparation of current and future plans, and the adoption of operational decisions. In others, they are entrusted with only the functions of secretary and simple coordinator, and they are not allowed to engage in any important matters or even significant information. If we talk about real project management, then this is pretty nervous work. Will have to constantly:

• to be aware of the state of a certain field of activity, and possibly not one;
• to study at least in general terms, "who does what and why";
• follow the news in related professions;
• be able to make decisions quickly with a lack of information;
• find contact with a wide variety of people and even help them establish working relationships with each other;
• instantly switch between different projects.

But this is an ideal sphere of application of force for sociable people who are ready for such risks, for constant emotional and intellectual stress. Work as a project manager accustoms responsibility and the ability to quickly adapt to the most difficult situation. Even if several problems “fall down” at once on such a person at work or in everyday life, their solution will be found as quickly and effectively as possible. In many areas, project managers often travel, sometimes even abroad - this can be considered both a plus and a minus.

Such specialists have to put up with information overload. And not only with information: for direct executors and their leaders, any business, any complication in this business is emotionally colored. No matter how the manager abstracts from these emotions, they will still overtake him. And if some plan fails, even for objective reasons that could not be predicted, the person responsible for the project is most often the one to blame.

The job responsibilities of the project manager can greatly depend on the area where he works. This person interacts with the customer (with the management of the organization or with other people who set the main goals). He is engaged in identifying key requirements, prioritizing these requirements. It is assumed that such a specialist at any time is ready to demonstrate what has been done and achieved for each task, what remains to be done in the near future. Demonstrate not only "in fact that something is working and ready", but also in the format of a full report.

The position of project manager implies regular and even continuous monitoring of compliance with deadlines. This specialist is the first assistant to general management. It is he who must quickly notify him if something goes wrong, new resources, new cardinal decisions, additional employees on the project are needed. Moreover, he is also obliged to build the most trusting relationships with employees at all levels. Enough miss one person or his lack of involvement in the case, to get a terrible failure.

But the project manager must interact even deeper with the team that he “gets”. He must participate in the recruitment and formation of the group, in the distribution of responsibilities between the participants. In redistribution, if necessary, in training and implementation of the necessary skills.

The project support manager also does a lot on such points:

• workflow organization;
• adjustment of interaction in real time;
• conflict resolution;
• quality control of the work performed;
• identification of the most and least effective performers;
• Comparison of different product versions independently developed by individual artists;
• tracking the profitability and feasibility of the project.

But these are all characteristics in the general case. And project managers are also divided into more private specializations. Take a payroll specialist. Such employees operate in almost any commercial bank. Speaking succinctly, they are engaged in working out the original banking product - charging money to employees' salary cards.

The number of salary projects at any enterprise can be any - This is dictated by the convenience of accounting and financial accounting. Therefore, the manager must be ready to work with projects of various scales. However, this scale does not affect the level of responsibility. Anyway the specialist should try to do everything so that it would be more profitable for the company to cooperate with him, and not look for some other bank. Therefore, he will have to delve into the nuances of workflow, financial and accounting documentation, taxation, the movement of financial flows.

The situation is different with the manager of construction projects. He will have to track how the use of the latest technology at the construction site is going on. In conditions of rapid development of the construction industry, characteristic of our country, this specialist will undoubtedly find application. Any construction requires:

• many approvals;
• clear plans and schedules;
• substantiation of economic and technological indicators;
• tendering and procurement;
• selection of equipment and materials;
• selection of employees for direct work;
• tracking the safety of property at a construction site or at a used warehouse facility;
• full cooperation with organizations responsible for housing and communal infrastructure.

In each of these processes, at any moment, something may go wrong. And the project manager must anticipate such complications. And if the problem nevertheless appeared, his legitimate duty is the speedy elimination of difficulties.

The educational project manager is somewhat different in this respect.. He is looking, for example, for lecturers for new educational programs. It monitors what result the existing programs give for attracting people and for their full training. In such an activity, it is impossible to do without very close contact with marketers and sales managers, on the one hand, teachers (lecturers) and students, on the other.

Special attention should be paid to such a mysterious, seemingly status as Digital Project Manager. It is not difficult to understand with careful reading of the term that this specialist concentrates on all the work carried out in the digital space. And there are more and more of them every year. But corporate activities on remote servers and cloud applications must be coordinated very carefully. Although it may seem virtual, in fact, losses from a wrong decision, from inconsistency in work or information leakage are measured with real money.

Digital Project Manager must seek to increase transparency of all information exchange and management in the organization. It doesn’t sound quite clear, but it’s easier to say this: it was clear where this or that decision or action came from, who initiated it.Accordingly, the leadership will clearly understand who to reward and encourage, and who to punish for inappropriate initiative or to drive out for inaction.

Also required:

• provide the easiest access to the necessary information;
• to differentiate this access, allocating to each a certain data circle necessary for work (but no more);
• change graphics as needed;
• reallocate responsibilities.

BIM-manager-designer is in many ways a unique profession. Officially in our country, it will appear only in 2020. But in fact, there is an urgent need for BIM class technologies now. The bottom line is that such a manager accompanies the project throughout its implementation. He will have to collect all the practical and economic parameters of the program together in order to operate them together.

The project created and supervised by the BIM manager is built in such a way that even with a partial change in indicators, all dependent parameters will automatically be changed properly. Most often, the term BIM refers to the construction industry. It involves the compilation of special three-dimensional models of the studied objects.

Already a brief overview of the main occupations of the project manager and the features of his activities shows: this person must be resistant to severe stress. And even to several stresses at the same time, because sometimes you have to conduct several work at once. Moreover, the project manager must be “multi-tasking,” that is, instantly switching between separate tasks. He must have leadership qualities in order to lead people at the right time. Or just to take his instructions seriously. Also play an important role:

• general intellectual level;
• knowledge of professional terminology in specific areas where the project is being implemented;
• sociability;
• flexibility;
• ability to analyze a significant amount of information;
• result orientation;
• perseverance and determination;
• self-discipline;
• the ability to strictly distribute your time and not succumb to the temptation to adjust the schedule.

Basic professional skills are:

• experience working in a grassroots position in any field;
• practical leadership experience (at least 1 year);
• thorough knowledge of a certain field of activity;
• English language skills at colloquial and written levels;
• the ability to "say no" in time to the team, its individual representatives, and even the customer (so as not to mess with what is obviously unattainable);
• willingness and ability to integrate into current business processes;
• strategic thinking and attention to detail;
• ability to negotiate;
• knowledge of the market and features of consumers.

The basic points for mastering this profession gives any other experience in any other profession. But to limit this and watching thematic clips on the Internet is impossible. Be sure to try to get a thematic internship in a studio or agency with the appropriate specialization. You can also try enrolling in full-time preparatory courses. Job search is best done in the usual field. Those who came to project managers from medicine - in commercial clinics, sales managers - in the trade sector and so on. You should also consider:

• the need to carefully study the list of job responsibilities before applying for a vacancy;
• confusion in job descriptions of project managers with sales managers, marketers, and so on;
• the need for passing tests;
• the optimal parameters of these tests (good personnel in a good company will be appreciated by the project manager in a couple of hours, and will not spend many hours testing);
• the opportunity to apply for almost any vacancy without experience or with minimal experience.