Project Manager Responsibilities: Here’s What You Should Really Be Doing

So you’re a Project Manager. You’ve landed a great job at a digital advertising agency (or maybe you’re in the digital arm of your corporation’s marketing team, or you’re working on projects for a non-profit, or you’re working on website projects for an educational institution) and you’re all set for your first project! Now it’s time to show everyone what you’re made of. Now’s also the time that many project managers start to wonder what…exactly…to do first.

Project managers typically keep projects on the right track, interacting both with the internal team and the client. We are the sponges that absorb impact from all sides and make sure the project keeps moving forward steadily. So what now? Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. You’ll read about what you REALLY need to do in order to shine!

What Does A Project Manager Do?

A project manager’s responsibilities have changed a lot in the last 5–10 years. In the past, project managers were tasked with simply executing directives. We had to fight to show our worth, and we often didn’t get a seat at the strategy table.

Today, project managers have a much wider purview, one that includes a lot more strategy and leadership — which is great not only for a PM’s growing skillset, but for their paycheck. PM salaries have been increasing as they take on more project leadership.

But with that wider purview comes a lot more expectation on how to do your job, often without the benefit of step-by-step instructions. Here is how to ensure that you hit the ground running and go above and beyond the typical PM role.

Project Manager Responsibilities: Here’s What You Should Really Be Doing

If you look at any job description for a project manager, you’ll find some similar things: keep the project on time, organized, and on budget. And you do those things by logging requirements, creating timelines, and segmenting out and tracking the budget. You also know you have to motivate the team and make sure everything flows.

But what is going to separate you from the pack is how you do each of these things — what you should REALLY be doing.

Read in more detail about the main project manager responsibilities in the full article here.

Originally published at www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com on April 9, 2018.