Project Manager's Roles

The Project Manager is the person responsible for ensuring that the Project Team
completes the project. The Project Manager develops the Project Plan with the team
and manages the team’s performance of project tasks. It is also the responsibility of
the Project Manager to secure acceptance and approval of deliverables from the
Project Sponsor and Stakeholders. The Project Manager is responsible for
communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that
cannot be resolved in the team, and, in general, making sure the project is delivered in
budget, on schedule, and within scope.

The PM plays a number of roles, i.e. as

o The Client/Customer Interface
o The Team Leader and Integrator
o Project Resource Manager
o The Acceptor of the Team's Deliverables
o The Delivery Executive

As Client/Customer Interface
o Maintains open communications with client
o Cultivates client's confidence and cooperation
o Reaffirms customer's commitment to project
 To its priorities and deliverables
o Collects client's requirements
 Synthesizing or interpreting the information
 And getting it to the people who need it
o Identifies stakeholders
 And their interpretation of project success !
o Ensure all areas defining project's scope are included
o Scope based on written statement
 Of "Affordable Requirements"
o Highlights project risks
 And ensures client properly shares responsibility
o Ensures changes are formally processed
 So project gets paid for extra work
o Seeks to minimize effects of changes
 Including watching for "scope creep"
 I.e. Manages expectations

Tips on managing this interface

o A little praise can go a long way to smooth relations
  Especially if you also want to criticize!
o Don't resent their taking credit for what you do
 They are after all ultimately responsible
o If you can make them look good, do so
 Benefits is what your project is about, isn't it?
o Share a good laugh now and again
 It's a great stress reliever in tough situations
o Provide constructive help at all times, both up and down
 That is, after all, your job!

As the Team's Leader and Integrator

o Plans, assembles resources
 Directs and organizes output
o Ensures effective and open communication
 And wide participation in decision making
 And who does what and when
o Maintains "Open Door"
o Balances project objectives with conflicting objectives
o Leads the project team's planning efforts
o Helps team to identify potential risks
 And mitigation responses
o Clearly identify tasks and responsibilities
 Delegates, motivates, evaluates
 Clarifies delegation levels
 And manages responsibility and task interfaces
o Selects project's project management tools
o Manage conflicts
 Questions blurry responsibilities
 And solves problems
o Act as a catalyst
 And a "Devil's Advocate", when necessary
o Chairs team meetings
o Sets reporting frequency
o Issues minutes of meeting, agreed action items
 And expected dates !
o Obtains confirmation/agreement of action items
o Distributes progress & cost reports to team
 I.e. How are we doing?

As Project Resource Manager

o Identifies resource skills required for project
o Estimates durations of personnel involvement
 o Balances the needs of the project, client, organization
o Selects team members
 Ideally, but not always possible !
o Makes sure all key players are on the project team
 When needed and for how long
o Ensures project personnel are motivated
 And well looked after
o Updates "home" departments on project status and resource release dates

As the Acceptor of the Team's Deliverables

o Conveys scope content, WBS, responsibilities, etc
 To individual team members
o Establishes discrete delivery milestones
o Sets performance standards
o Seeks ways and means for productivity improvement
o Verifies milestone achievements
o Validates quality of deliverables against standards

As the Delivery Executive

o Verifies/confirms continued validity of project's constraints (scope, quality,
time & cost)
o Seeks sponsor's support in removing unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to
project progress
o Reports task progress and completion
 To Sponsor/Senior Management
 On exception basis
o Provides forecasts of
 Cash flow, final costs, work-in-progress, performance/productivity
analysis, product delivery dates and project completion
o Provides cash flow or cash draw down requirements
 To controller/finance department
o Obtains customer's acceptance of deliverables
o And finally, produces results
 That satisfies the Stakeholders !