Value of a Project Manager | The Best 1 Perspective
What’s On This Page
On this session of our expanded convos, we want to know “the value of a Project Manager”. In other words, what does this person bring to the table and how does that make one valuable to be engaged in the first place.
It is important to me that you keep reading the tutorial preface, so I get content you know exactly where we are going with this. I would even prefer you revisit it on a regular basis or before you read every new expanded conversation.
We see firms hire project managers or require project management as a job qualification for their top positions. Why is it so important to them? Understanding the notion will advance our lives because we’ll be well aware of a quality/skill that can position us among the top guns in our professional lives and, even better, excel at our biggest project ever, life itself.
Who is a Project Manager?
In our previous session, we got to set the right premise on what really is project management. If project management is the art/action, then, by a quick deduction, we can tell the person/actor who is taking that charge to ensure project requirements are met and the desired outcome is achieved becomes who we call the Project Manager.
As we got to know, your life is a typical project management case study and this makes you the project manager of your life. Therefore, I’m asking “what’s your value to your life?”.
The Value of a Project Manager
I know I am responsible for my life, something that started from the time I was old enough to make choices and continues to the end when I’m no longer deemed fit to decide. Similarly, when a project is conceived, there must be at least one person who shepherds it from start to finish, ensuring all the right things happen.
The project may not involve only a single person or party. Hence, this chosen one will be the central point to ensure all the parties are on the same page and everyone involved is playing their roles, in the project, to the best of their abilities.
I can literally translate any importance of project management into the values of a project manager. From the general perspective, here are the 3 important values of a Project Manager.
1. Prioritization
2. Delegation
3. Effective Communication
Prioritization
No one just arrives at the finish line without moving through stages or phases or steps (of course, unless the start is the finish line). This shows every task can be further broken down in smaller forms. However, there is a catch. Which is?
These smaller forms must come together to give the desired result at the end of the line.
A project is no different. It has several stages that must all be well done in order to meet the target. The problem is if there are many phases, then which one must come before the other?
Here cometh the Project Manager. Remember I said he/she has to guide the project from the start to the finish and make sure everything right happens. This includes putting the stages and tasks in order of importance by gathering information on the project from the stakeholders and expertise knowledge from the team members who are to help with the project.
A lot goes into prioritization as it depends on the targets, resources available, required duration, dependency of certain tasks on the others, etc.
Let’s consider our morning prep as our project and we have to be ready before 8am (just to draw a practical relationship to our life). We know the routine usually consists of tasks like: waking up, brushing the teeth, bathing, eating breakfast, dressing up for the day’s work.
At a quick glance, we can all agree they don’t always follow this order. Depending on the time we’ve left to prepare and what’s available or not, we perform some before the others and even skip/postpone some altogether. But in the end, we are ready to go on with the day’s activities.
That is what prioritization is about and it’s the Project Manager who makes the choices.
Delegation
When it comes to a task – doing something, the question of who can do it best comes to light. It’s upon the Project Manager to decide “who among the available is best for the task”.
The role involves assigning tasks strategically to those whose strengths align with the task’s requirements. This approach enhances efficiency and creates a collaborative team environment as every member believes he or she is being used in the right position. Delegating tasks also helps team members or the designated workers feel responsible for the mandate they have been given. If you know how you’re to contribute to the project, it is easier to do your best.
By matching the right task with the right expertise, a manager leverages delegation to contribute significantly to the project’s overall success.
Effective Communication
I’m sure you realize, by now, every project has two groups and the manager is the intermediary. In one group, there are individuals who are embarking on the project together with those who will likely be impacted. They are the stakeholders and are also responsible for bringing the manager on board.
On the other hand, because the manager cannot do everything alone, a team is formed to help with the grounds work and technical expertise aspects of the project. Let’s just say they are going to do the actual work.
For the project to be successful, the two groups have to be clear what’s happening at every point in the project’s development. Since one group does not deal directly with the other, effective communication is key to keep everyone involved on the same page.
It is the Project Manager who’s at the center of it and, so, must effect a proper communication flow. Through regular engagement with team members, the manager gets to know what is happening on the grounds, track the progress of assigned tasks, detects issues early and acts on them, and adjust plans to suit the current situation of the project. Team members, on the other hand, get to carry their various roles as expected, report developments and issues, and get feedback as quick as possible.
At the same time, stakeholders are updated on the project’s progress, issues at hand, how they can be addressed. They find ways to resolve the hindrances, so the project moves according to plan.
If the manager does his/her work well, no side can complain about being uninformed or unaware of the project result.
Conclusion
Looking at these values, we begin to appreciate why every employer wants to see this skill in top employees. It means every goal the company sets up to achieve, it will be easier to succeed than to fail. This is because the one in charge can be trusted to lead and get the work done.
When we implement the skill and these values in our personal lives, what do you think will happen?
