What do you do as a project manager?

Answer 1

The first thing you do as a project manager is assemble a project team comprised of the key people involved in making your project happen. Then you create a project plan consisting of the key actions (steps) along with critical milestones leading to a successful project conclusion. There is software available such as Microsoft's Project that helps you automate your plan. You will need to input how long you assume it will take you to complete each action in your project. You need to review your project plan with team members as to the reasonableness of your time estimates. Your project will compute a "critical path" which is the path where an extra amount of time for any activity in the path will affect your final project delivery date.

As a project manager, you need to meet frequently with your team members, typically once a week. During this meeting you will assess progress. You will discuss any activities that are taking longer than originally projected. As a project manager you will constantly update your project plan and distribute revised copies to team members.

I cannot emphasize enough the need for intellectual honesty. You will be reporting to management and need to constantly inform them of progress or lack thereof. Too often project teams hide the bad news and then a week or so before projected delivery they sheepishly admit the project has several more years before completion. You'd be amazed how often this happens. "Deliver bad news as soon as you know about it." I've had to do this on several occasions. Once you deliver the news, then you can actively seek remedies to the problem(s) causing the delay. Often it is a lack of user involvement that is the root of the problem.

I hope these comments help you. Feel free to contact me for future advice. I will not charge you unless I am actively involved in the management of your project. Best of luck in this challenging role. Terry