Project Manager Job Description

A project manager is a person who has the responsibility of planning a project and seeing that it is completed successfully, within the given deadline . He / she needs to have excellent management skills to coordinate with the entire team and also with the clients and stakeholders. Let us look at the qualifications, skills and responsibilities required to become a project manager.

Qualification and Experience
A person who wants to apply for the position of project manager should essentially have a bachelor's degree. In addition, one can also take up training in this field. To acquire the position of project manager in a company, it is important for a person to have 3 - 4 years of experience in project management.

Duties of a project manager

• A project manager may have to manage more than one project at a time. He / she should see to it that all the projects under his / her supervision are going on smoothly. It should not happen that a project manager concentrates on one project and neglects the others. He should have the ability to shift between various projects.
• The project manager is responsible to look after every detail of the project. The planning process involves forming a team of experts required for effective completion of the project. He / she has to state the purpose of the whole project and assign the team members specific roles. Another responsibility of the project manager is to plan out the resources needed for the project and chart out a budget plan.
• The job of the project manager also involves developing and maintaining cordial relationships with clients and team members. He / she should act as a link between both the parties. One also should have the ability to deal with problems that may arise within the project team or issues with the clients. One should conduct regular meetings with team members to know the status of the project and also to make certain changes and improvements, if necessary, to achieve the desired results. The project manager needs to prepare and present project reports on a regular basis.
• It is the job of the project manager to supervise whether the team members are working efficiently. He / she is like the captain of a ship who should have the capability to motivate and influence them to put in all their efforts to accomplish the given task successfully.
• After the project is completed, the project manager should conduct a meeting with the team to evaluate the whole project and to discuss the results. Here, the project manager should identify the key factors that led to the completion of the project and also those that were not beneficial for the project, so that they can be avoided in the future.

Key Competencies and Skills
As the job of a project manager carries huge responsibilities, he / she needs to have certain important skills. Two most important things required to become a project manager are planning and organization skills. Along with these, the project manager should have a variety of other competencies too, as mentioned below.

• Financial management skills
• Good communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills
• Excellent business management and developmental skills
• Leadership qualities
• Efficient team management skills
• Ability to resolve conflicting situations
• Computer or technical knowledge
• Effective problem solving skills

When a fresher joins a firm, he / she may have to start with the position of 'project assistant'. With hard work and experience, his / her position would reach the level of 'project coordinator' and then 'junior project manager' and finally to 'project manager' or 'senior project manager'.