{"id":7714,"date":"2012-01-23T09:33:19","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T16:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2012-01-27T08:01:54","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T15:01:54","slug":"what-exactly-do-project-managers-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7714","title":{"rendered":"What exactly, do Project Managers Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a Project Manager, how many times have you had this conversation?<\/p>\n

Person: \u201cSo what are you doing these days?\u201d<\/p>\n

You: \u201cI\u2019m a Project Manager.\u201d<\/p>\n

Person: \u201cOh, cool!\u201d<\/p>\n

You: \u201cYes, I really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Person: \u00a0\u201cSo… what do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Project Management is a very difficult line of work to describe in terms that every person can understand. \u00a0My husband, an IT Director for a non-profit, \u00a0can distill what he does into four words: I work with computers<\/em>. \u00a0That explanation doesn\u2019t cover exactly what he does, but it is enough to get an understanding nod and allow the conversation to move on to other things. \u00a0Project Managers don\u2019t have the luxury of distilling their work like that. I manage projects<\/em> doesn\u2019t really clarify anything, and it breaks the rule of definitions by using the same words to define the word or phrase in question. \u00a0What does it mean to manage? \u00a0Do people report to you? \u00a0(not always) What is a Project? \u00a0(something with a beginning and end) \u00a0 Suddenly, you find yourself explaining the definition of a project, and the complexities of a Project Management Plan, and the person you\u2019re talking to is no closer to understanding what your career is. \u00a0The quickest answer I can usually come up with is \u201cI get all of the work done on projects without doing any of the actual work\u201d, which is the best description I have of what I do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
via Flickr by Aaron Webb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saying that your job is to not do any work may seem a bit odd, but bare with me for a moment. \u00a0Think about a Construction Project Manager. \u00a0Do they actually build anything? \u00a0Do they install any electrical or plumbing? \u00a0Most likely not. \u00a0Project Managers are there to make sure that the Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, Painters, Stone Masons, etc. all know what they are supposed to be working on, and when they need to be finished so that the next set of people can come in and do their magic. \u00a0If something happens and someone is slipping on a deadline, it’s the Project Manager’s job to make sure that the overall schedule can still be met by juggling the rest of the tasks (and the people that do them) in a new and interesting way so that the project can be completed on time. \u00a0With Technology Project Management, Project Managers aren’t usually the Developers, QA Testers, Infrastructure Engineers, or Technicians. \u00a0They manage the tasks and resources very similarly – by making sure that the Developers know when they need to be ready with a specific set of code so that the QA Team can get started, and so on and so forth. \u00a0When I am at my busiest, \u00a0 I feel like a Plate Spinner – keeping a dozen plates in the air at any given time. \u00a0If I let one drop, the rest will somehow follow suit. \u00a0As a Project Manager, it’s important to know which plates to pick up, and how to keep them spinning until the project is complete.<\/p>\n

Early in my Project Management career, I was often given the projects that were so far beyond recognition that there were few people that could imagine the project ever being completed, or if they even knew what it was about anymore. \u00a0In retrospect, I think I was given these challenging projects because I had\u00a0 view of Project Management that always enabled me to get things back on track to completion.\u00a0 In my view, Project Managers need to wear a number of ‘hats’ to be successful:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n