Have you ever planned a friend’s surprise party? Remember when you coordinated your moving day? Or the time you had to create a study plan when studying for the national exams? Well, if you succeeded in any of these projects, it shows you have what it takes to be a good project manager.
Project, Project Management & Project Manager
A project is any temporary endeavour with a definite beginning and end. Project management is a practice that applies the knowledge of process, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to ensure the project meets its stated goals and requirements. In simple terms, project management is the process of leading a team to hit goals or complete deliverables within a set timeframe.
A project manager (PM) shepherds projects from start to finish and serves as a guide for their team. They do this using exemplary organizational and interpersonal skills. Project managers follow a process which involves planning and organizing, managing tasks, budgeting and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within a set time frame.
To better understand how project managers do this, it is important to know the project life cycle.
Project Life Cycle
"First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end." ~ Aristotle
While no two projects are the same, most of them have a similar life cycle with 4 phases: initiating the project, making a plan, executing and completing tasks, and closing the project. A project manager has different responsibilities in each phase.
Phase I: Initiate
This is the launch phase of the project. In this stage, a PM creates a proposal which shows the project’s value. This is used to seek approval before moving forward with it. In the proposal the PM needs to:
- Define project goals and deliverables
- Identify the budget and resources required
- Identify the people involved in your project
- Identify any other details that can impact the successful completion of your project
Phase II: Planning
After approval of the project proposal, the PM needs to make a plan for how to meet the goals of the project. Therefore the PM needs to:
- Create a budget
- Set the schedule
- Establish the project team
- Determine roles and responsibilities
- Plan for risk & change
- Establish communication channels
Phase III: Execution
While the established team will be focused on completing the project tasks, a PM’s role is slightly different. While you might be in charge of completing certain tasks in the project, your primary tasks are to i) monitor progress and ii) keep your team motivated.
The PM oversees the team’s efforts, making sure everyone understands what’s expected of them, what tasks need to be done, and how and when to complete them.
You’ll also adapt to changes as they arise and remove any obstacles that might come up so that the tasks are executed well and on time.
The PM is responsible for making necessary adjustments as the project progresses and communicating with the stakeholders. You should always alert the right people if it looks like there might be a delay in the project. If in doubt, err on the side of overcommunication.
Phase IV: Closing
In the last phase of the project life cycle, a PM ensures that all tasks have been completed, including any that were added on the way.
The PM also conducts a retrospective meeting with the team to assess what went well, and what did not go so well during the project. It's a chance to note best practices and learn how to manage your project more effectively next time, even if everything went great.
You should also collect all the project documentation that you created or collected along the way, including all of your plans and reflections, and share the final results of your project with your stakeholders
You can take some time to celebrate the effort your team invested in the project e.g. through a company or team-wide announcement, thanking the team and acknowledging individual efforts, going out for lunch, or even having a party for a big project.
To wrap up, you and your team can formally move on from the project so that you can pursue new projects in the future.
In conclusion, a project manager is critical for the success of any project. They are the touch point for the people working hard on the project and stakeholders who benefit from it. They wear many hats during each stage of the project life cycle and have to ensure effective communication throughout the project. I’ll leave you with this really insightful thread of 30 terms you must be conversant with as a PM professional.
