Ultimate Guide on what is Project Managers Roles and Responsibility
The project manager’s responsibility is to ensure the client/customer is satisfied that the work scope is completed in a quality manner, within budget, and on time. Responsibilities of the Project Manager Provides leadership in planning, organising, and controlling the work effort Coordinates the activities of various team members Does not try to do it alone Involves the project team to gain their commitment
- Responsible for implementing and completing the project
- Prepare preliminary budget and schedule
- Select people to serve the project team
- Manage stakeholders, particularly the client Ensure that proper facilities are available
- Ensure that supplies are available when needed
- Take care of routine details
What is the difference between a Project manager and a functional manager.
A project manager is someone that overseas that project and doesn't need specific knowledge in the operations of the project for example they run the accounting section of a company or head of the Human Resource Department. Where as functional manager general needs to have technical knowledge of the project. A company could have many Project Managers and Many functional managers depending on the size of the organisations. Another main difference between the two is that Project managers generally only deal with their staff for a single project where as a functional managers would normally work with their staff on a daily basis.
The table provides an overview of the difference between the general Manage/leader also referred to as a functional manager and a Project Manager.This class will teach you about Project managment and give you all the skills you will need to be a Project Manager
| Functional Manager | Project Manager |
| In charge of 1 functional activity such as marketing, finance, etc | Oversee many functional areas |
| Specialist in the area they manage | Generalist - wide background of experience and knowledge |
| Analytically oriented | More skills at synthesis |
| Know some details of each operation | Rarely has in depth knowledge in all areas |
| Direct technical supervisor | Facilitator |
| Repeated function | Temporary Project |
- Typically, the functional manager focuses on providing management oversight for a functional or business unit.
- Operations managers are responsible for ensuring that business operations are efficient.
- The project manager is the person assigned by the performing organisation to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objective
- From initiation to closing
- At some stage between initiation and closing
- Prior to project initiation
- After closing
- The role of a project manager may vary from organisation to organisation
Responsibilities to the Project Ensure project
- Ensure project success Leads the project team to meet the project’s objectives and stakeholders’ expectations
- Preserve integrity of the project:manages people,communicates among people,gives them a vision of success
- Balances competing demands made by the stakeholders with limited resources
Responsibilities to parent company or organization
- Proper conservation of resources (interacting with other Project managers and managers) sharing resources among projects
- Timely and accurate project communication
- Keep management and other project managers informed: project’s status, cost, timing and prospects
- Running on budget and time based on the priorities dictated by the organisation Protect firm from risk
- Alignment of project goals and objectives with those of the organisation
Contributions of Project manager
- Contribution of knowledge and expertise to others within the profession at the local, national, and global levels
- Participation in communities of practice, international organisations, etc.
- Applying knowledge and expertise in developing standards, technical tools, process improvements
- Applying knowledge and expertise in enhancing sustainability
- In the project management profession (e.g. universities, PMI);
- In a related profession (e.g., systems engineering, configuration management); and In other professions (e.g., information technology,aerospace)
Roles and responsibilities of project managers apply to anybody who:
Performs a task during a certain period of time- Deals with complex problems requiring solutions by activities that will run partly in parallel Accomplishes the tasks with limited resources
- Collaborates in performing tasks with other people
- Takes into account the competing needs of bosses, colleagues, customers, etc.
- Identify requirements
- Addressing the various needs,concerns,and expectations of the stakeholders
- Settingandmaintainingactivecommunicationwithstakeholders
- Balancing the competing projects constraints
Projects and operations both work towards the same goal of creating value through products or services. Managing either aspect of a business comes with unique challenges that you can overcome with strong leadership skills and a little know-how. But the first step is knowing whether you’re dealing with project management vs. operational management.
In this article, we’ll cover some basic information about both aspects of business management. We’ll also look at how you can do both on monday.com and answer some frequently asked questions relevant to managing operations or projects.
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What is project management?
Project management, or PM, is the guidance of a project along its critical path. Projects can help an established business introduce a new, unique product or service to its customers or improve existing processes.
Project management professionals may oversee construction jobs, software development, product development, or marketing campaigns.
What is operational management?
Operational management views production operations through a lens of efficiency. Operational managers utilize skills in process optimization, communication, and business strategy to maximize efficiency within a company.
Operations management and project teams should work together to achieve goals.Operations may work toward providing a product, service, or result to clients and customers. Operational management tasks include:
- Designing new plants or workshops
- Attending to accounting operations
- Setting project management guidelines
- Structuring data networks for consistent access
- Managing inventory and workforce levels
- Implementing quality control measure
The overlap of tasks that both PM and OM teams handle can blur the line between the two. Ultimately, the “how” and “why” behind each effort are different.
Project management vs. operational management: what is the difference
The Project Management Institute, or PMI, provides us with a definition for what a project is. PMI states that “All projects are a temporary effort to create value through a unique product, service or result.” Operational management focuses instead on the day-to-day tasks required for an organization to continue delivering products or services.
Project and operational management responsibilities
Project managers are expected to leverage their skills and knowledge to:
- Create and assign project activities to teams
- Develop project roadmaps
- Provide resources needed to complete tasks
- Manage deadlines, budgets, and contractors
- Track and report on project status
Operational management teams have similar tasks with different goals. These tasks include:
- Overseeing daily production operations
- Identifying and addressing problems and opportunities
- Managing the budgeting, planning, reporting, and auditing
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
- Developing operational policies and procedures
The skills and education required for success in either role also differs and can change between organizations or projects. Managing either side of production takes strong systems and software, a solution offered at monday.com.
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Managing projects or operations on monday.com
monday.com lets you streamline project work or daily operational management tasks. Management teams can view project deadlines, operational schedules, and current task progress all in one central dashboard or get an updated view on project status at a glance.
The organization and assignment of tasks is automated in monday.com’s Work OS. Create a backlog of activities that produce value for your project or organization. As tasks are completed, new ones are instantly assigned based on priority. Different templates provide you with a framework to start designing your perfect workflow within our Work OS.
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Some monday.com templates for both functions
Project and operations managers and teams handle a variety of tasks every day. monday.com templates allow you to support teams with consistent requests and an open channel of communication. Adjust each template as needed with areas dedicated to team feedback. Use these and other templates to create a smooth management experience.
Project management plan template
Our Project Management Plan Template gives you a blank, organized visual roadmap. Fill each section with project details to plan, initiate, and execute project activities. Explore the intuitive template workflow to learn how your teams work best. Your team’s efforts can be focused on generating as much value through early completion or additional product features.
Finance requests template
Use the monday.com Finance Requests Template for tracking project or organizational cash flow. Get an updated status on outstanding invoices and bills with status columns that sort by completion. Use analytics gained from our Work OS to adjust financial planning and project budgets accordingly.
Learning project or operational management takes time and firsthand experience. You can get a headstart with some of the most commonly asked questions and their answers.
FAQs
Why should operations managers understand project management?
Operations managers are tasked with optimizing existing systems and processes. Learning project management skills can help you gain new perspectives to apply to your regular activities.
Project managers work with multiple teams from multiple disciplines. Management teams learn which tasks can be completed by certain individuals in order to reassign the workforce to address changes. Operations managers leverage this skill to shift responsibilities and resources in order to achieve success. Project management skills also help you respond effectively to emergency situations and recover any lost productivity.
A strong skill learned during project management is how to be agile during production. Stakeholder requirement changes such as deadline adjustments, supplier swaps, and request alterations all need an agile mindset to accommodate. Operations managers better support their teams when quick and effective solutions are found. You can build confidence by tracking these changes and analyzing the results.
What is a project vs. BAU?
Simply put, a project is temporary while BAU, or business as usual, consists of activities an organization anticipates completing for the foreseeable future. BAU activities include assigning work, office maintenance, scheduling, payroll, and operational management. Daily activities that are considered integral to an organization’s operation can be categorized as BAU.
Projects have a more focused scope for tasks. Projects work within predetermined timelines rather than an ongoing schedule. Project teams often wear multiple hats whereas BAU teams are specialized for their specific job function. Tasks on a project are also more finite compared to the standard repetitive tasks completed by BAU teams.
What most distinguishes a project from day-to-day operations?
Projects aim to change something about an organization while operational management perfects existing processes or procedures.
The project life cycle ends once the end goal is met, and operations teams take on the completed work for ongoing maintenance and adjustments. Quality control is another key difference between project and operational management. A project’s end product or service only needs to be delivered once. Operations teams support consistent quality once a project’s goal is met and offered to multiple clients and customers.
Elevate your management style and skills with monday.com
Whether you’re coming from an operational or project management background, there’s always something new to learn. You can take the best methodologies and templates from both sides of the management coin thanks to the monday.com.
Customize templates to match your organization’s branding for consistent and professional messaging. Collaborate in real-time with stakeholders, project managers, and project teams for rapid implementation of feedback.