As defined in What is a Project post; “the role of the project manager is to deliver the project on time, within budget and with the needs of the business fully met”.

8 Key Tasks of a Project Manager

1. Clarify the Objectives: it is very important for the project success to have clear objectives, the project will be judge on how well these objectives are delivered
2. Develop the Plan: this is a route that will help the team to achieve the project objective
3. Manage and Motivate the Team: making sure all team members know what needs to be done, by whom and in what order; motivation plays an important part as the team spirit must be positive and focus on the task
4. Manage the Risks: every project has risks, the longer the project the more risks. These can be related to resources, technology, changes in scope, competitive moves, etc.
5. Deal with Problems: the faster a problem is managed the less riskier it becomes; the majority of problems have simple solutions but if the project manager takes time to detect these or act on it then problems can become major risks
6. Measure Progress: the only way to know if progress is going as planned, is to know the difference between forecast and actuals; this can be done by measuring scope completion vs timeline, actual cost vs budgeted
7. Communicate: one of the most important skills for any project manager is communication. The only way to tell whether a communication has worked is by what the recipients do as a result
8. Steer the Project to Completion: is the responsibility of the project manager to guide the team members through the project completion and deliver the objectives stablished by the organisation

Management Skills of a Project Manager:

1. Leadership style: they tend to focus on getting team focus on completing their allocated work
2. Management style: they are team players who need to use their skills and knowledge to motivate the team
3. People management: they usually have no direct authority over the team and need to use influencing skills
4. How are they measured: by whether the project is completed on time, to budget and to scope