Do You Need a Project Manager?

Businesses large to small benefit from the organizational skills and follow up provided by a designated project manager.

The importance of a project manager becomes clear when you understand properly managed projects help profits increase and businesses to grow. A project manager increases the likelihood a project will be successful and profitable.

Point of Contact

A project manager is the central figure of a project, disseminating project information and updates to the project team, business leaders and the customer, which decreases confusion and increases accuracy.

Increase Efficiency

The project manager works with team members to confirm which activities must occur in the project and in what order so projects are completed faster and more efficiently. Every project is made up of interconnected activities, each of which has its own set of checks and balances.

Control the Project's Scope

Project scope details the work and activities required to deliver the completed product or service. A phenomenon that often occurs is “scope creep,” which refers to continuous changes to the initial project. To contain creep, a project manager puts markers in place before anyone can add or take away from the scope.

Manage Time and Deadlines

Time is arguably the most important constraint of any project. Because project team members still have day-to-day responsibilities, managing their time can be a challenge. A project manager manages deadlines by setting a schedule at the inception of the project.

Schedule the Work

The role of project manager includes ensuring all the team members work on their assigned activities in the appropriate order. The project manager helps members calculate the time a task takes and solves any problems so they can successfully meet their deadlines.

Deal with Potential Risks

No matter how well planned, a chance for potential risks in a project exists. A project manager anticipates and identifies risks and creates a risk response process to track their status. It’s important to make risk prevention part of the initial planning phase. If the project manager can’t prevent the problems, managing them is the next best solution.

Close the Project

After the project meets the goals and expectations of the project customer, the project manager documents and reviews the project phases with the team members and leadership to analyze patterns, trends and opportunities for improvement for the next project.