A project manager is a professional in the field of

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...

. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning,

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or serv ...

and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined finish; regardless of industry. Project managers are first point of contact for any issues or discrepancies arising from within the heads of various departments in an organization before the problem escalates to higher authorities, as project representative. Project management is the responsibility of a project manager. This individual seldom participates directly in the activities that produce the result, but rather strives to maintain the progress, mutual interaction and tasks of various parties in such a way that reduces the risk of overall failure, maximizes benefits, and minimizes costs.

Overview

A project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include * defining and communicating project objectives that are clear, useful and attainable * procuring the project requirements like workforce, required information, various agreements and material or technology needed to accomplish project objectives * managing the constraints of the

project management triangle The project management triangle (called also the ''triple constraint'', ''iron triangle'' and ''project triangle'') is a model of the constraints of project management. While its origins are unclear, it has been used since at least the 1950s. It ...

, which are ''cost'', ''time'', ''scope'' and quality A project manager is a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the organization they are representing. An expertise is required in the domain the project managers are working to efficiently handle all the aspects of the project. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the client and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

Project management key topics

* to specify the reason why a project is important * to specify the quality of the

deliverable A deliverable is a tangible or intangible good or service produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a software product, a server upgr ...

s *

resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...

estimate * timescale * investment, corporate agreement and funding * implementation of management plan on to the project * team building and motivation * risk assessments and change in the project * maintain sustaining project * monitoring *

stakeholder management Stakeholder management is a critical component to the successful delivery of any project, programme or activity. A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a program ...

* provider management * closing the project. ; ;Project tools :The tools, knowledge and techniques for managing projects are often unique to project management. For example:

work breakdown structure A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into ...

s, critical path analysis and earned value management. Understanding and applying the tools and techniques which are generally recognized as good practices are not sufficient alone for effective project management. Effective project management requires that the project manager understands and uses the knowledge and skills from at least four areas of expertise. Examples are PMBOK, Application Area Knowledge: standards and regulations set forth by ISO for project management, General Management Skills and Project Environment Management There are also many options for project management software to assist in executing projects for the project manager and his/her team. ;Project teams :When recruiting and building an effective team, the manager must consider not only the technical skills of each person, but also the critical roles and chemistry between workers. A

project team In a project, a project team or team is defined as "an interdependent collection of individuals who work together towards a common goal and who share responsibility for specific outcomes of their organizations". An additional requirement to the or ...

has mainly three separate components: project manager, core team and contracted team. ;Risk :Most of the project management issues that influence a project arise from

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

, which in turn arises from uncertainty. The successful project manager focuses on this as his/her main concern and attempts to reduce risk significantly, often by adhering to a policy of open communication, ensuring that project participants can voice their opinions and concerns.

Responsibilities

The project manager is accountable for ensuring that everyone on the team knows and executes his or her role, feels empowered and supported in the role, knows the roles of the other team members and acts upon the belief that those roles will be performed.Russell, PMP, D. (2011). Accountability. In Succeeding in the project management jungle: How to manage the people side of projects (p. 29). New York, NY: AMACOM. The specific responsibilities of the project manager may vary depending on the industry, the company size, the company maturity, and the company culture. However, there are some responsibilities that are common to all project managers, noting:Berrie, Michele
Project Manager Responsibilities
PM Hut. Accessed 17. Oct 2009. * Developing the project plans * Managing the

project stakeholders Project stakeholders are persons or entities who have an interest in a given project. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term ''project stakeholder'' refers to "an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affect ...

* Managing communication * Managing the project team * Managing the project risks * Managing the project schedule * Managing the project budget * Managing the project conflicts * Managing the project delivery *Contract administration

Types

Architectural project manager

Architectural project manager are project managers in the field of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. They have many of the same skills as their counterpart in the construction industry. And will often work closely with the construction project manager in the office of the general contractor (GC), and at the same time, coordinate the work of the design team and numerous consultants who contribute to a construction project, and manage communication with the client. The issues of budget, scheduling, and quality control are the responsibility of the project manager in an architect's office.

Construction project manager

Until recently, the American construction industry lacked any level of standardization, with individual States determining the eligibility requirements within their jurisdiction. However, several

trade associations A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partici ...

based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

have made strides in creating a commonly accepted set of qualifications and tests to determine a project manager's competency. * The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) maintains the Certified Construction Manager (CCM) designation. The purpose of the CCM is to standardize the education, experience and professional understanding needed to practice construction management at the highest level. * The Project Management Institute has made some headway into being a standardizing body with its creation of the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation. * The Constructor Certification Commission of the American Institute of Constructors holds semiannual nationwide tests. Eight American Construction Management programs require that students take these exams before they may receive their

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in construction management degree, and 15 other universities actively encourage their students to consider the exams. * The Associated Colleges of Construction Education and the Associated Schools of Construction have made considerable progress in developing national standards for construction education programs. The profession has recently grown to accommodate several dozen construction management

programs. Many universities have also begun offering a master's degree in project management. These programs generally are tailored to working professionals who have project management experience or project related experience; they provide a more intense and in depth education surrounding the knowledge areas within the project management body of knowledge. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

construction battalions, nicknamed the SeaBees, puts their command through strenuous training and certifications at every level. To become a

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

in the SeaBees is equivalent to a BS in construction management with the added benefit of several years of experience to their credit. See ACE accreditation.

Engineering project manager

In engineering, project management involves seeing a product or device through the developing and manufacturing stages, working with various professionals in different fields of engineering and manufacturing to go from concept to finished product. Optionally, this can include different versions and standards as required by different countries, requiring knowledge of laws, requirements and infrastructure.

Insurance claim project manager

In the

insurance industry Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

project managers often oversee and manage the restoration of a client's home/office after a fire, flood, or other disaster, covering the fields from electronics through to the demolition and construction contractors.

IT project manager

IT project management generally falls into two categories, namely software (development) project manager and infrastructure project manager.

Software project manager

A software project manager has many of the same skills as their counterparts in other industries. Beyond the skills normally associated with traditional project management in industries such as construction and manufacturing, a software project manager will typically have an extensive background in software development. Many software project managers hold a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

management of information systems A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peop ...

or another related field. In traditional project management a heavyweight, predictive methodology such as the

waterfall model The waterfall model is a breakdown of project activities into linear sequential phases, meaning they are passed down onto each other, where each phase depends on the deliverables of the previous one and corresponds to a specialization of tasks. ...

is often employed, but software project managers must also be skilled in more lightweight, adaptive methodologies such as DSDM,

Scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

and XP. These project management methodologies are based on the uncertainty of developing a new software system and advocate smaller, incremental development cycles. These incremental or iterative cycles are time boxed (constrained to a known period of time, typically from one to four weeks) and produce a working subset of the entire system deliverable at the end of each iteration. The increasing adoption of lightweight approaches is due largely to the fact that

software requirements Software requirements for a system are the description of what the system should do, the service or services that it provides and the constraints on its operation. The IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology defines a requirement ...

are very susceptible to change, and it is extremely difficult to illuminate all the potential requirements in a single project phase before the software development commences. The software project manager is also expected to be familiar with the software development life cycle (SDLC). This may require in-depth knowledge of requirements solicitation, application development, logical and physical database design and networking. This knowledge is typically the result of the aforementioned education and experience. There is not a widely accepted certification for software project managers, but many will hold the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation offered by the Project Management Institute,

PRINCE2 PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management method and practitioner certification programme. PRINCE2 emphasises dividing projects into manageable and controllable stages. It is adopted in many countries wor ...

or an advanced degree in project management, such as a

MSPM The Master of Science in Project Management (M.S.P.M.), also known as Master in Project Management (M.P.M.) is a professional advanced degree in project management. Such degree is not only for future project managers but also offers opportunities ...

or other graduate degree in technology management.

IT infrastructure project management

An infrastructure IT PM is concerned with the nuts and bolts of the IT department, including computers, servers, storage, networking, and such aspects of them as backup, business continuity, upgrades, replacement, and growth. Often, a secondary data center will be constructed in a remote location to help protect the business from outages caused by natural disasters or weather. Recently,

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

has become a significant growth area within IT infrastructure management. The infrastructure PM usually has an undergraduate degree in engineering or computer science, while a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in project management is required for senior-level positions. Along with the formal education, most senior-level PMs are certified, by the Project Management Institute, as Project Management professionals. PMI also has several additional certification options, but PMP is by far the most popular. Infrastructure PMs are responsible for managing projects that have budgets from a few thousand dollars up to many millions of dollars. They must understand the business and the business goals of the sponsor and the capabilities of the technology in order to reach the desired goals of the project. The most difficult part of the infrastructure PM's job maybe this translation of business needs / wants into technical specifications. Oftentimes, business analysts are engaged to help with this requirement. The team size of a large infrastructure project may run into several hundred engineers and technicians, many of whom have strong personalities and require strong leadership if the project goals are to be met. Due to the high operations expense of maintaining a large staff of highly skilled IT engineering talent, many organizations outsource their infrastructure implementations and upgrades to third-party companies. Many of these companies have strong project management organizations with the ability to not only manage their clients projects, but to also generate high quality revenue at the same time.