The position of project manager (or role, if you prefer) is actively growing in popularity, so you can’t afford to miss out.
Many large companies have already experienced the benefits of teams and project work in practice, so they have rolled out the process of implementation and put everything in place. Read more about the maturity of project management in an organisation and about project teams in general.
But it cannot be said that a project team or a project manager is the universal solution to all problems. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in business. So if the project approach has worked for some, it does not mean it will work for others. Even with the same baseline data.
In this article, we will take a closer look at when and in what situations companies really need to hire a project manager, and when it is better to work with more conventional algorithms.
So who is a project manager and why might you need one?
Whatever the title of the position, the range of functions is much the same:
- Planning team and project activities, setting technical tasks for participants.
- Setting and controlling project tasks, motivation.
- Managing the quality and timing of the project, budget and other characteristics, as well as business processes.
- Establishing external relationships and communication channels with clients, other (usually interested or involved) departments or services within the organisation.
- Workload distribution and prioritisation.
- Documentation and execution of the project.
- Other organisational activities.
Read more about PM’s hard skills. You can also find out what a project administrator does. The roles of administrators and managers are similar in many ways.
In short, a PM is also a manager, but they manage a project, not a department or a service. It turns out that it is necessary to explain separately what a project is.
A project is a specific activity within an organisation aimed at creating or realising a new product, as well as improving and modifying existing products and/or services. Projects always have specific deadlines and objectives.
Usually a dedicated team of multidisciplinary specialists is assembled to carry out these tasks. They should have skills in areas that may be relevant to the product being developed. Such people may be drawn from existing specialist services or recruited from outside.
At the end of the project, the project team should be disbanded and the staff, including the manager, should return to their previous positions.
However, modern management theory has slightly modified the concept of projects — they can be restarted once the previous project has been delivered or completed.
It turns out that the team has already hit its stride, improved its skills and the manager has gained the necessary experience. Therefore, project activities never stop. Projects are always restarted.
Many IT projects work in much the same way.
Because there are many risks and uncertainties in project implementation, and because input data and goals can change almost daily, the classic management system may not be effective.
Therefore, a project manager must have certain skills that differ from the usual methods. Project activities are usually carried out using flexible methods.
Here we wrote about the top 10 project management methodologies.
So, how do you know if you need a project manager or not?
It is important to remember that a PM is a special kind of manager. With their own skills, experience and non-standard vision.
If we imagine a tactical situation, for example, the company as a whole is a kind of aircraft carrier, i.e. a bulky and clumsy but very important ship for the fleet, with all its departments and services.
And the project team is like a guard ship, small, highly mobile and very agile. It can change course quickly and perform many small tasks that require a quick response.
So as long as your company has not turned into that very cruiser, into a large and unwieldy ship, with lots of bureaucratic delays, long and complicated chains of management, you can safely work without project managers and without project teams in general.
The small business is like those defensive ships. It can change course quickly and easily and adapt to the market situation.
But as soon as it grows in size, i.e. acquires a large number of internal management documents, sets up various departments and services, opens branches and so on, the entire internal management system focuses on maintaining control over the existing business processes.
It becomes extremely difficult to open up to something new, to launch a non-standard product, to test new concepts on the market and much more. And it is for such tasks that projects should be set up — with the selection of a team of multidisciplinary specialists and a non-standard manager, a project manager.
It is for the same reason that all IT teams work as project teams — because almost 100% of the time they serve large companies. That is, they initially work in the status of those very guard ships (for quick response).
But this is all theory. Let’s describe specific situations in which you need to start projects and rent projects:
- Construction of atypical multi-storey buildings (development). On the one hand, every new project has its standard elements, as construction technologies do not change much. On the other hand, it always contains innovations that can lead to unforeseen situations.
- Separate services in large-scale construction include equipping with alarm systems, fire systems, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, video surveillance systems, etc.
- Development of complex websites and applications, especially mobile ones.
- SMM support of the company, promotion in social networks and media.
- Digital marketing and organisation of large-scale online sales.
- Big data analysis — optimising business processes or establishing interaction between different departments.
- Implementation of information systems and automation systems in the company (CRM and ERP systems, BPM systems and management systems).
- Call centres and offices, remote customer service centres.
- HR agencies.
This is just a small list of examples where the creation of project teams is required.
As mentioned above, in almost all cases the needs of a large organisation are being served. The output is either an internal service or product, or an external one (in the form of outsourcing).
It is important to note that the role of project manager can easily be filled by opening directors. That is to say, these are the specific employees who know and know how to develop a network of branches and representative offices.
Conclusions and recommendations
A project manager is really a person who knows how to get things done and how to do it as efficiently as possible. In the format of ‘Veni vidi vici’ (came, saw, won).
This is a kind of berserker who sees the goal and sees no obstacles. Actually, they do see obstacles, but they are masterful at getting around them to achieve the desired result at minimal cost and on time, taking into account all the unexpected nuances, risks and more.
Small businesses are like projects themselves, so project managers are not needed here. At most, they may be needed to serve the needs of large companies if this is the basis of a money-making model.
In other cases, project managers may only be needed when a company realises that it needs to offer something new to the market or to itself (for example, to optimise internal processes or improve performance).
A small and mobile team led by a PM can solve the most important and responsible tasks that are not specified in any job description.
It is pointless to move to a project approach just because it is the trend. You need to know and understand why you need it and how it can help your business.
