Project Managers
Project managers oversee and coordinate the progress of a group of employees. They are responsible for setting achievable goals, planning projects and motivating the people within their group to accomplish a task. A degree in project management will provide the training you need to work in this environment, and open the door to multiple career opportunities.
Via the BLS* ...
The work of managing projects
Project managers oversee all elements of a project. They lead and motivate a team of workers and coordinate their efforts. Project managers also make sure that work flows steadily, despite setbacks and changing circumstances.
Each project has a starting point, a deadline, and a concrete goal. Project managers see a project through from its inception to its completion. The direction that they provide often determines a project’s success
The job: Providing direction
At the core of project management is the need to balance the time, money, and scope of the project. Under this “triple constraint,” project managers figure out which tasks are crucial and when they need to be done. Careful planning helps to prevent incomplete tasks from creating a domino effect of holdups down the line. Unlike other managers, project managers do not supervise ongoing business functions, such as marketing, sales, or accounting. Instead, project managers might deal with all of those tasks within a given project. Similarly, project managers are not always in charge of the same group of workers. Rather, they might oversee people’s work as it relates to a project. Like other managers, however, project managers fill their work schedule with meetings, e-mails, and phone calls. They also spend time alone analyzing schedules, budgets, and the technical requirements of the projects that they manage.
Traits and skills
Project managers need to be able to direct teams toward a goal. Along with leadership and other personality traits, project managers need some core skills and some knowl- edge about the subject of the project. Developing these traits and skills can begin early.
Traits. Successful project managers are often confi- dent and extroverted, interacting comfortably with people and groups every day. Project managers must be assertive enough to set clear goals but remain approachable enough for workers to alert them to problems that may occur. The ability to delegate to others is essential. For ex- ample, the NASA deep-space telescope would encounter serious difficulty if that project’s managers insisted on designing and building individual components themselves as well as managing the project. Managing projects also requires being able to coordi- nate ideas of the many people involved. When managing software projects in her job, Ellison balances the desires of marketing experts, who know what customers want; software engineers, who know what can be built; and financial managers, who pay for the project. “When large numbers of people are all giving input, it can be hard to make them come to a decision,” she says. “A lot of your role as project manager is to be a facilitator.” Project managers must also be flexible. Objectives shift. Setbacks occur. Chains of command can be fuzzy. Project managers must anticipate and adapt to change without losing focus of the goals. Similarly, dealing well with risk and stress is impera- tive. There are numerous ways that project managers can make mistakes. Project managers must be able to handle the frustration that may arise when risks and failures materialize to derail a project.
Skills development. Would-be project managers can begin developing leadership and other skills as early as high school. Students should seek out formal and informal leadership roles on school projects, sports teams, and other activities. To learn how to adapt to change, future managers can develop their problem-solving skills by imagining “what if” scenarios and trying to prepare solu- tions to problems that might emerge. Classes that emphasize communication, perhaps speech or drama, are a good way to develop both leadership and speaking skills. Project managers also need a background in mathematics, as cost estimation includes everything from basic addition to sophisticated modeling. Familiarity with personal computers is helpful for learning to use software that is essential to planning projects. In addition, project managers must have at least some knowledge about the assignment that they are leading. High school students can begin developing ideas about their areas of interest by taking a variety of classes in preparation for more indepth study.
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*The following information comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Project managers stay in charge and out front. By: Tom Divincenzo