What is a Project Manager and what are their responsibilities?

The rapid digital evolution has profoundly transformed how companies manage their activities and work processes. From static and rigid structures, organizations have evolved into flexible, granular, and modular entities. In this dynamic context, the coordinating role of the project manager (PM) has become increasingly important. But, exactly, what is a project manager?

What is a project manager?

The project manager, also known as a project director, is the person responsible for initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing a project using various management techniques. This role plays a crucial part in modern companies, as it must translate client or third-party requirements into a concrete project. And, of course, ensure the desired results while respecting deadlines, costs, and quality standards.

Therefore, this is the figure who interacts daily with other companies, organizations, or individuals, working to translate and define the project. Understanding what a project manager is also means understanding a role that sits at the center of a constellation of processes and relationships. It is a professional who organizes, plans, and executes projects while respecting budget and time constraints.

But that’s not all: PMs lead entire teams, define project objectives, communicate with stakeholders (usually clients and senior management), and identify the work skills needed to successfully complete assigned activities, both inside and outside the company. They coordinate resources, processes, and people to achieve concrete results.

What are the responsibilities of a project manager?

The project manager’s job consists of identifying, selecting, and bringing together different areas of knowledge and departments. Regardless of the nature of the project—whether it is a marketing campaign, building construction, or software development—the PM is primarily responsible for its success or failure. For this reason, the required skills are diverse and must range from a solid cultural foundation to extensive practical professional experience.

The ability to apply the right approach to each project, establish effective working relationships, and identify the key levers to lead and motivate the team are essential to understanding who a project manager is and, above all, to becoming one. Understanding and applying best practices and tools for risk management, managing communication, and ensuring quality control are equally essential skills.

To develop and maintain a roadmap and follow agreed plans for each phase, the project manager must understand and apply best practices and risk management tools. They must adapt specialized knowledge to specific circumstances and orchestrate the deployment of physical and financial resources to move through the different stages. They must also build and foster effective communication with other project roles by applying and sharing quality management principles and processes.

The project lifecycle includes four phases: initiation, planning, execution, and closure. During these phases, the PM defines scope, manages budget, monitors progress, and manages resources, including teams and temporary collaborators. In addition to technical skills acquired through training, there are five soft skills that contribute to long-term success as a project manager: leadership, communication, organization, critical thinking, and a touch of lightness and humor to face challenges with a positive attitude.

What does a project manager do on a daily basis?

During their working day, the project manager performs various activities, such as attending meetings on project initiation and progress, defining objectives, supervising the team, checking progress, and managing relationships with clients, suppliers, and collaborators. Handling operational, organizational, logistical, and communication issues is an integral part of their role, as is ensuring the quality of the final outcome. Below is a (partial) list of what a project manager does on a daily basis.

• Organize or participate in in-person or online meetings about project initiation, objectives, and progress.
• Define project objectives and outcomes.
• Properly motivate all involved team members.
• Supervise project team activities.
• Continuously monitor project progress.
• Adjust course if results significantly deviate from objectives.
• Manage all phases of the project.
• Manage relationships with clients.
• Manage relationships with suppliers, partners, and external consultants.
• Coordinate all resources (internal and external) involved.
• Define the project budget.
• Manage expenses according to the defined budget.
• Monitor revenue flow.
• Manage any friction within the team.
• Quickly resolve any issues (operational, organizational, logistical, communication, etc.).
• Ensure the quality of the project outcome.

To facilitate task management, PMs can use various tools, such as Gantt charts for planning, work breakdown structures for organizing tasks, network diagrams to highlight project interactions, and Kanban boards for visual task management. Risk matrices are also a key approach for assessing and managing potential project risks.

Get a job in project management: common interview questions for a project manager role

Now that we understand what a project manager is and what they do, let’s look at how to get a job in this field. Here are some of the most common interview questions for a project manager position.

• What is a project?
• What skills should a project manager have in your opinion?
• How many projects have you worked on in your previous professional experience, and which ones?
• How would you start a new project?
• What tools do you use?
• How would you define your approach to clients?
• If a client is not satisfied with the finished project, what do you do? Has it ever happened to you?
• Describe the details of a project lifecycle.
• Which projects would you prefer not to manage?
• How important is proactivity for a project manager?

Job interview preparation is essential. Questions may relate to project definitions, required skills, past experience, approaches to managing new projects, tools used, client relationships, and handling dissatisfaction. Providing thorough answers and concrete examples can make a difference when seeking a job as a project manager.

With all this information, do you want to pursue a career as a Project Manager (PM)? Discover our Master in Project Management at EAE Barcelona and train to become a great project management professional.