What does a project manager do?

[EastEnder]

There are two types of project managers - the ones who have a detailed understanding of their project domain, who ensure everyone working on the project knows what they should be doing, who make sure all aspects of the project are on track and who ultimately accept full responsibility for the delivery of a satisfactorily completed project, on time and within budget. And then there are those who make spreadsheets, with lots of silly coloured boxes, who don't really know what the fuck they're doing and basically hope that everyone else will somehow do their job for them. They usually leave a few weeks before the end of a project, moving on to another lucrative project management role elsewhere.

 

[Orang Utan]

Well, you asked the question, got lots of responses of what the skills are and when they are necessary and then your next post ignored all of that and just quoted the person who slagged them off. It hardly gave the impression that you were being open to expanding your horizons.

But that's water under the bridge now, so enough said.

i read the entire thread though - all interesting info. i can tell it's a stressful job!

 

[kabbes]

It certainly is stressful. I'd hate to be a project manager. Everybody gives you shit and ignores you. You get blamed if things go off track even if it totally isn't your fault. And if it works then people think it happened completely independently of your input. Horrible job.

 

[nadia]

The gant chart is possibly the most overated thing ever

 

[King Biscuit Time]

A project consists of several tasks. Task A has to happen so that Task B can happen. Task C can happen independently of A and B, but if it runs into problems, Task D will have to happen. Task D will require some of the people working on Task A to complete it. Task E happens at the end of it all. Now, you have to figure out who to assign to which tasks, how long the whole thing will take, and what the risks are. Have you got enough slack in the schedule to account for problems? Have you anticipated the problems that might happen? WHen can we get this project done by, and how confident are you of that answer?

Expand that sort of situation to a project involving hundreds of tasks, all interelated to different degrees, with varying levels of risk of problems. The project manager's job is to get things happening in the right order, on time, on budget, to spec. It's not an easy job.

But the most part of that is job-specific.

You could say that that description fairly accurately describes the work of a foreman/site manager on a building site. Or the work of a Principle Investigator on a large biochemistry project in a university. To lump them under the same title implies a degree of interchangeability that I don't think exists.

 

[Crispy]

But the most part of that is job-specific.

You could say that that description fairly accurately describes the work of a foreman/site manager on a building site. Or the work of a Principle Investigator on a large biochemistry project in a university. To lump them under the same title implies a degree of interchangeability that I don't think exists.

True.

Maybe the sort of job labelled as 'Project Manager' is so abstracted from the actual work going on because it's impossible to have intimate knowledge of it all?

ie. a site foreman knows how to build buildings, but someone coordinating the introduction of a new chain of shops to an area needs to juggle the construction, the training, the advertising, the supplies etc etc.

 

[Yetman]

This kind of thing:

So basically like Flash or Cubase but with people instead of pictures and sounds

 

[kabbes]

Sure, why not? Let's pretend that I have a clue what you're talking about and say... yes. Yes it is.

 

[drachir]

I don't think I've ever had experience of a good one. I know they're useful, I've just never had one that was good enough to be useful.
I think they should either know nothing about doing the work, or be an expert in it though. I've had a PM that used to be a really bad developer, and talked authoritatively to us on subjects he knew very little about.

 

[Orang Utan]

ah developers.....
now what do they do?

 

[the button]

The project manager's job is to get things happening in the right order, on time, on budget, to spec.

.... and also, when it all goes tits up, it's the project manager's job to say that the project is an "iterative process," which -- as far as I can make out -- means that no-one ever has to finish anything, ever.

 

[ivebeenhigh]

ah developers.....
now what do they do?

im a developer. and prince2 qualified. which means i can project manage my own developing

 

[teuchter]

A good project manager does that: manages a project. This means that everyone else can get on with the things they are good at and the project manager keeps an eye on the bigger picture, and prompts people to do stuff in the right way at the right time. In this instance they are very valuable because it means everyone's time is spent in the most productive way possible.
A bad project manager fails to do that and does little more than show up at meetings and spout management waffle, until things start to go wrong at which point they devote their energy to apportioning blame and panicking. Meanwhile the actual management of the project is being undertaken in an ill-structured way by other members of the team who really ought to be worrying about the stuff they are actually there to do.
I've encountered both types although unfortunately more often the latter.

 

[Kanda]

A good project manager does his fucking job, efficiently. A shit PM wastes everyone else's fucking day validating his existence.

And yes, PM's having meetings about what meetings to have DOES happen.

I have lots of time for people that are good, but sadly the shit ones drag it down... just like the IT boom in the mid 90's and Milkmen having MCSE's etc...

 

[flash]

A good project manager does his fucking job, efficiently. A shit PM wastes everyone else's fucking day validating his existence.

And yes, PM's having meetings about what meetings to have DOES happen.

I have lots of time for people that are good, but sadly the shit ones drag it down... just like the IT boom in the mid 90's and Milkmen having MCSE's etc...

Agreed.

I think the problem is the term project manager covers so many different disciplines now, that a lot of different people are getting tarred by association. As a result the job that doesn't have a great reputation due to so many people now having the title (and the resulting inevitable drop in quality and rise in workloads).

 

[bouncer_the_dog]

In my experience the best action is to take the stake holders stake and ram it into thier undead hearts while they sleep. At least that's what I draw pictures of in biro on conference calls...

 

[zenie]

There are two types of project managers - the ones who have a detailed understanding of their project domain, who ensure everyone working on the project knows what they should be doing, who make sure all aspects of the project are on track and who ultimately accept full responsibility for the delivery of a satisfactorily completed project, on time and within budget.

So if one already did this but wanted to go on a course paid for by work, what would one suggest?

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

Prince2

 

[the button]

Prince2

Yep.

I've done project management training even though I'm not a project manager, and it does come in handy for other things. Critical path analysis, all that shit.

 

[zenie]

Ok will look it up thankyou! Will it just make Zzzz....or is it interesting?

 

[Orang Utan]

Prince2

shouldn't that be the project management course formerly known as prince?

 

[internetstalker]

simple question but i've a feeling the answer isn't

At my place a PM basically liaises with the client and negotiates a price for a job. sorts out the quote then sets the job up ready so it can be passed back to the client and our resource peeps.

 

[RubyBlue]

At my place a PM basically liaises with the client and negotiates a price for a job. sorts out the quote then sets the job up ready so it can be passed back to the client and our resource peeps.

I'm a PM (amongst other things) and ^ is what I do.

 

[tom_craggs]

i wasn't having a pop at the job, i was just trying to get to the bottom of it. it's not really a permanent job title it seems, but a temporary one.

The nature of a real project is that it is temporary. I have the word 'project' in my job title but it is not a real project as it is ongoing and permanent.

I used ot think Project Management referred to something quite general. Having had a bit of training it does require a specific set of skills in relation to formal project management techniques and systems, for example PRINCE2. Essentially requiring detailed knowledge of creating project initiation documents for example scoping, resource and task scheduling, critical path analysis, and then using these documents and systems to deliver a project over a set period of time.

I have a much better concept of what 'project management' is now I have had PRINCE2 training and realise it is a specific job with specific skills...whereas before I thought it was a catchall term for a generalist manager. Still get good and bad ones though!