Greg Cimmarrusti likens a project lead's role to that of an artist, blending various process streams into a cohesive outcome. While being a project manager may not be the initial career goal for many, it often becomes a significant aspiration for career advancement. Project managers are central to every project, responsible for overseeing all stages from planning through to completion and managing day-to-day execution.
Essential skills for success in this role include excellent listening, strong interpersonal abilities, and integrity, offering a glimpse into a typical day in the life of a project manager.
Read on to learn about the day in a life of a project manager, top skills, and more here.
What does a Project Manager do? Roles and Responsibilities
If you are wondering āwhat do project managers do all day,ā understanding a day in the life of a project manager is crucial. Life as a project manager is deemed the most stressful in a corporate or business setup. The success of the project depends on how the project manager handles it and how stressed out they are. They are responsible for handling the entire project throughout its life cycle. Some of the project manager daily duties include:
- Project Planning
- Team building
- Assigning and monitoring work
- Setting budgets and scopes
- Making schedules
- Strategizing workflows
- Choosing which tools and resources to use
- Defining KPIs for evaluating progress and success
- Reporting to higher-ups
All in all, Project managers aim to streamline operations to ensure the successful delivery of a project. Their main duty is to make sure that projects are delivered on time, stay on budget, as well as on spec. Aside from the difficulty level of the job role, the journey of becoming a project manager can be equally challenging. An online PMP certification is a quickfire way to get started.
Now let us delve into some of the scenarios in which a project manager might potentially find themselves pertaining to the sector they are working for and what it is like to be a project manager in these areas.
If you aspire to become a project manager, you will be pleased to know that it is quite an easy feat. You can get started with reliable Project Management certification online courses that will help you significantly.
Skills and Traits of Project Manager
A project managerās role is multifaceted, demanding a unique blend of skills and traits that set the foundation for successful project execution. Here are the skills/traits of that are required to become a project manager:
- Leadership: Inspires and guides the team, fostering collaboration and steering toward common goals.
- Communication: Effectively conveys ideas and feedback across all levels, ensuring alignment.
- Problem-Solving: Tackles issues quickly with sharp problem-solving skills and a calm, analytical approach.
- Time Management: Prioritizes tasks, manages resources, and keeps projects on track amidst multiple responsibilities.
- Adaptability: Adjusts to changing project landscapes, pivoting strategies while maintaining focus on objectives.
- Risk Management: Identifies and mitigates potential risks early, safeguarding project success.
- Integrity: Upholds trust and ethical decision-making, crucial for handling sensitive information and tough decisions.
A Day in the Life of a Project Manager
Every project manager has a different routine developed on the basis of their preference pertaining to the project they are handling, the rate of progress as well as the deadlines. If you are still not sure about what a project manager does, here's a detailed step-by-step guide to take you through the day in the life of a project manager:
1. Morning Routine: Reviewing
Most project managers have their entire dayās work cut out for them. They aim to start their day as early and as efficiently as possible. The morning routine of a PMO generally begins with reviewing. They may start first by reviewing every email that they received on the previous day. They can either reply on the same day or the next day based on the length of the reply. PMOs can set a reminder or put it on their calendars if the response time is long.
Their next course of action is reviewing the task tracker that comprises the burndown chart, as well as the tasks that are still a work in progress. This helps them to prioritize what should be addressed on that day itself. The final step of the morning routine is reviewing any defects and any new tasks that might require to be completed. Reviewing details helps them make a list of things that need to be addressed in the later meeting.
2. Quick Meeting with the Team Leads
If you are wondering about what a project manager should do next, it is checking up with team leads after reviewing. They hold a brief meeting with the team leaders to talk about the most important matters currently at hand. They often need to communicate with team members and team leads from different departments if they encounter any problems during the day. This keeps PMOs aware of what is happening and how much they have on their plate.
3. Routined Sync-Up Meeting
After the team meeting, project managers need to conduct a daily sync-up conference with the team. It is more like a periodic Scrum meeting where every team member is required to report their progress the day before, what their objectives are on that day as well as the major problems they are encountering in their work. This helps project managers align the work of the team towards the important deliverables that need to be focused on.
4. Addressing the Most Pressing Matters
After the sync-up meeting, there is often a 30-minute time slot for discussing the major problems highlighted in the sync-up meeting. These are usually done in relatively smaller groups.
5. Time for Deep Work
After all the morning team meetings, most project managers tend to delve into doing some vital work that is solely theirs to handle without any interruption. This can include writing long and difficult emails, creating reports or proposals, or even updating the documentation of the project.
6. Daily Effort for Team Building
Throughout the day, most project managers dedicate even a fraction of their time to team-building activities. It can be a pleasant and trust-building experience that can help your team members unwind after a long day at work.
7. Preparing for and Conducting a Daily Progress Report Meeting with Stakeholders and Clients
The next thing in the routine of a project manager is conducting daily meetings with the clients. A day in the life of a project manager involves proactively communicating with stakeholders and clients on a daily basis. This will require a project manager to be proactive enough to plan one themselves and lead it with maximum efficiency.
They usually collect all the relevant information about the essential topics that need to be discussed in the meeting. Often clients can be located in different time zones, and project managers are required to keep this in mind before scheduling the duration and time.
8. Evening Routine
By the time all the above actions are performed, it is nearing the end of the day. The Project managers start preparing for their evening routine which mainly includes sending meeting notes, as well as advice for the actions that team members are required to take. They further also spend time replying to the important emails that they received during the day.
9. Planning Out Activities for the Next Day
This is the last action performed by an efficient project manager in a day. Planning for the next day helps them keep things organized, so they have a clear idea of what they are supposed to do.
Role of Project Managers in Different Industries
1. Role of Project Manager in Software Company
A software project manager is a key person in a team, dealing with the overall responsibilities of software projects and their successful completion. In today's competitive world, many project managers pursue Project Management Institute (PMI) certifications to enhance their skills and demonstrate expertise. A typical day is full of hurdles, ranging from motivating a team to difficult customer presentations. They ensure technical projects are executed successfully, determining the scope, goals, and deliverables. They communicate functional requirements to the dev and design departments, manage resources, handle expectations, and oversee development, execution, testing, and deployment plans.
The looming question of what a project manager does on a daily basis in a software company will be met with the following answers by most PMOs.
- Writing project proposals
- Estimating project costs
- Project staffing
- Scheduling
- Project monitoring and controlling
- Software process tailoring
- Software configuration management
- Risk management
- Writing of the managerial
- Preparing presentations
- Interfacing with clients.
Furthermore, the daily routine of a project manager in a software company can be classified into two major categories:
1. Project Planning
Project planning is taken up with immediate effect before the requirement analysis phase, feasibility study phase as well as specification phase. Once a project is deemed feasible, Software project managers immediately proceed with project planning. Project planning is done before the commencement of the development phase. In this phase, the following activities take place:
- Project Estimation
- Cost Estimation
- Time Estimation
- Effort Estimation
- Scheduling
- Staffing
- Risk Management
- Miscellaneous plans (quality assurance, configuration management, etc.)
2. Project Monitoring and Control
Working as a project manager will also include activities pertaining to project control and monitoring. These activities begin with the commencement of development activities in a project. The primary focus of monitoring and controlling project activities is to make sure that the proceeds of the software development are going as per plan. If you are wondering āwhat does a PMO doā when it comes to monitoring and controlling a project, they perform the following actions: -
- Leading the team
- Motivating team members
- Tracking of the project progress
- Maintaining connectivity between the customer and the dev team.
- Documenting the report of the project
2. Role of Project Manager in Digital Marketing Company
Digital Marketing Project Managers are responsible for the creation, implementation and management of the overall digital marketing strategy of a company. They help lead and manage digital marketing projects. If you want to know the roles of a digital marketing project manager, what do they do and how they function, we have listed their key responsibilities below:
- Designing and implementing digital media campaigns as per the business objectives
- Manage and coordinate creating every digital content (websites, press releases, blogs, infographics, podcasts videos, and the like)
- Striving to enhance brand presence.
- Periodically monitoring and acquiring insights into the strategies of competitors
- Developing and tracking ROI and KPIs
- Managing and maintaining social media channels
- Communicating with Sales, Marketing, and Product development teams
- Suggesting and implementing direct marketing methods
- Suggesting modes and strategies for improvement
- Staying updated with the latest trends and digital media technologies
3. Role of Project Manager in HR
If you are wondering āwhat it is like being a project managerā in the HR department, you need to first know who they work with. They work in close association with the leadership of the organization and are entirely responsible for hiring and maintaining teams. This is how they significantly make contributions towards meeting the business goals. The daily activities of a project manager include the following:
- Communications throughout hiring
- Management of job codes
- Communicating with external agencies and recruiters
- Ownership and handling of the HR tech stack of the company's
- Management of the numerous job boards
- Maintaining cordial employer branding
- Conducting yearly employee surveys
- Incorporating mapping exercises for competency
- Developing a budding talent pool
- Reporting on key HR metrics
- Rolling out remedial strategies
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Is Being a Project Manager Stressful?
Scientifically, it has been confirmed that the professional life of a project manager is the most stressful job position one can acquire, albeit being the most sought-after one. As a matter of fact, a projectās success is entirely dependent on how stressed out the project manager is. Understanding the day in the life of a project manager can provide insight into why this role is so demanding.
To delve into detail about the various job responsibilities that make being a project manager so stressful, you can sign up for the best PRINCE2 certification course. With that being said, let us look into the four categories of stress experienced by project managers according to scientists:
- Time stress
- Situational stress
- Encounter stress
- Anticipatory stress
Tips to Handle Stress as a Project Manager in Day-to-Day Life
Not surprisingly, the job of project management can be quite stressful. They are entirely responsible for meeting delivery deadlines while ensuring the budget and project scope are aligned with the project requirements. Often, project managers need to deal with limited resources, poor equipment, unrealistic expectations of the client and unimaginably long to-do lists. Understanding the day in the life of a project manager can provide valuable insights into managing these challenges effectively. Here are some great tips to relieve the stress from the daily life of a project manager:
- Do not over-plan and over commit.
- Understand what your requirements are.
- Schedule time for exploring and researching.
- Learn to say no (To projects, meetings and the like)
- Break tasks down
- Eat lunch away from your workspace.
- Share your burdens.
- Learn to raise concerns by sharing them (With your team or boss)
- Take some time to reflect.
Effective Tips to Plan Your Day as a Project Manager
Project managers are undoubtedly the backbone of the project they are responsible for. They are expected to guide it, plan it and drive it toward successful completion. Everyone who is a part of the project will be more motivated to work on a more organized project rather than a messy one.
The project manager is entirely held accountable for how the project is driven and how the objectives are met. The best PMs have excellent people skills, are good listeners and have integrity. Here is a list of effective tips to plan your day as an efficient project manager.
- Define the Project Scope: The first step of streamlining the work of a project manager is defining the project scope which is the set of project deliverables and what you are expected to achieve. Make sure that you highlight the project's objectives, including those that are not part of the scope.
- Know Your Deadlines: The project timeline is the most critical element of the project. It defines when your project will be complete and will help you assign time to complete each objective. During project planning, make sure you estimate the time allotted for every task related to your project.
- Assess the Resources Available to Use: As a project manager, you need to know how much resource is available to commence the project proceedings. Make sure you assess every resource starting from investment, human resources, machinery, and equipment to determine the bottlenecks in the execution of your project.
- Develop a Project Plan: Acquiring feedback from the aforementioned steps, (the project scope, timeline, and resources) will help you develop a foolproof project plan that is inclusive of your schedule, workflow, critical path, resources as well as a network diagram.
- Communication is Key: Upon approval of the proposed project plan, you have to conduct a team meeting to discuss the nitty gritty about the project. Make sure that you document the minutes of the meeting and, schedule recurring meetings.
- Allot Work as Per Available Resources: As a project manager, make sure that you delegate work to the team in accordance with their capabilities and skills, so you attend to more pressing matters like tracking and control.
- Document All: Even if you have a memory of steel, keeping a documented copy of the proceedings of the project is a safer option. It will be more like a document to revert to when you want to make adjustments or changes to the project. It will also help you review the entire project before delivery.
- Monitor Project Progress: Upon the commencement of a project, make sure that you monitor the entire progress of the project proceedings, including tasks, team member performance, deliveries, and everything else related to the progress of the project.
- Use a Project Management Software: Task management or project management software will take your project to the very next level. It is packed with the latest and most convenient features relevant to helping your project progress further by catering to your project needs.
- Follow-up: Make sure that you stay informed about your project status by periodically conducting team meetings as well as meeting with stakeholders and vendors. If someoneās progress is slow, make sure you motivate them to do better so they can get back on track. Always appreciate your team's efforts to be a well-loved and efficient project leader.
Conclusion
We can say that a project manager plays the most integral role in a company. To the question āis being a project manager stressful,ā the answer is affirmative. PM's day is filled with hurdles and taxing tasks that contribute to growing stress levels. However, the satisfaction of leading a project and being credited for its success makes the stress worthwhile. While stressful, once you acquire the position, there's no turning back.
Upon completing a project, the anticipation of a new one may be even more stressful. Though not everyone's first aim, being a project manager becomes a sought-after goal. They KnowledgeHut Project Management certification online courses will help you achieve this goal quicker as you start your career.
