What is a project manager?

How do organizations tackle large-scale projects that involve multiple teams and keep them on track through completion? Project managers often lead such undertakings. 

Project managers (PMs) guide the end-to-end processes for a business initiative, from developing budgets and hiring staff to overseeing each step toward the end goal. They may create project plans and timelines to keep teams on track to meet an organization’s goals. They may also coordinate with technical teams or act as the point person between clients and the business.

PMs once primarily worked in civil engineering, construction, and research and development, but today they operate across many fields. Scientific and technical service industries, financial institutions, and manufacturers are among the employers using them to shepherd projects from start to finish.  

The key responsibilities of this role vary widely across industries, but the core tasks of project management are:

• Planning and defining project scope
• Managing project budgets and resources
• Leading project teams and stakeholder communication

PMs meet with stakeholders to understand an initiative’s desired outcome, available budget and staffing resources, and the deliverable timeline. After gathering input on business needs, they assess risks, blockers and threats to completion, and they design a process to meet stakeholders’ expectations. They use the information to assemble a team best suited to the project and, if necessary, select vendors or consultants.

They also define the staff’s roles and translate stakeholder benchmarks into actionable tasks. Once the scope and production schedule are set, the manager leads the team to complete the project. After completion, they may handle financial statements, contracts and documents.    

PMs often handle complex operations with many moving parts, and they may face unpredictable situations that require quick decision-making. They must have critical thinking and problem-solving abilities and be skilled at time management, organization and interpersonal communication. Other helpful PM skill sets include:

A PM should have knowledge of their particular industry or organization and the distinct products or services offered so they can be conversant with business leaders, clients and stakeholders. 

PMs may lead meetings and manage priorities of the most urgent tasks or steps. They should also understand when an email or a document could be a productive time-saving alternative to a meeting. 

As challenges arise, PMs need to adapt, sometimes outlining new paths forward, motivating the team, and relaying updates to stakeholders. A high level of organizational skills are helpful to balance tactical thinking in day-to-day processes with strategic planning for long-term business goals.

PMs examine outputs throughout the project’s life cycle in accordance with quality assurance. They develop systems to thoroughly check each part of the process, ensuring it aligns with stakeholders’ expectations. 

PMs often make data-driven decisions to streamline the project’s direction. Their analysis includes spotting problems, evaluating processes and analyzing metrics.

Preparing for potential threats involves identifying obstacles, then monitoring and managing them throughout the project. Project managers also need to understand their industry’s relevant regulations and legal considerations. When a risk becomes an actual problem, the project professional escalates the issue.

PMs tend to lead teams with diverse skill sets and backgrounds, which requires effective communication and emotional intelligence to keep their staff on target to meet deadlines. An effective team lead maintains a positive work culture by exhibiting interpersonal soft skills, such as empathy, compassion, trustworthiness and a willingness to compromise.

It can be helpful if the PM is an active listener who meets regularly with their group to exchange feedback and apply what has been learned to the overall project. A PM should be familiar with conflict resolution tactics to help advance teams toward their goal.

Because PMs often liaise with various departments and teams within an organization, familiarity with diverse industry practices can enable them to communicate cross-functionally and collaborate. 

Managers must monitor costs and project milestones and help ensure timelines are met. If the project plan needs modifications, the PM must review and approve the changes, then distribute new documents to the team and other stakeholders. These complicated tasks often require PMs to deploy project management tools that enable them to organize and steer the team to success. 

PMs typically analyze project costs and develop deliverable schedules in line with the desired outcomes of business leaders. As the project progresses, they review expenses to determine if they exceed the budget or obstruct the timeline. If complications arise, they need to pinpoint the issues and make a plan to get back on track. 

As of May 2024, project managers earned between $59,830 and $165,790, with a median wage of $100,750, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

BLS projects project manager employment to be grow faster than other occupations from 2024–2034 — at a rate of 6%, or an average of 78,200 job openings each year during the decade.

Salary ranges are not specific to students or graduates of University of Phoenix. Actual outcomes vary based on multiple factors, including prior work experience, geographic location and other factors specific to the individual. University of Phoenix does not guarantee employment, salary level or career advancement. BLS data is geographically based. Information for a specific state/city can be researched on the BLS website.

BLS Occupational Employment Projections, 2024–2034 is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This data reflects BLS’ projections of national (not local) conditions. These data points are not specific to University of Phoenix students or graduates.

The core responsibility of managing a project through completion remains the same for PMs, but production processes and objectives could be very different depending on where a PM works. For instance, tech industries may require collaboration with engineers to launch a social media app and the marketing team’s promotional push. In construction, a PM may manage logistics and develop a project timeline for building a skyscraper. In healthcare, a PM could potentially help improve operational efficiency.

Within the field, there are specialized methodologies:

The project management body of knowledge is a framework used by professionals as it provides guidance and standards for how they may plan, communicate and control projects.

This methodology was originally developed in the Japanese car industry in the 1950s, using cards to represent tasks. PMs today may use real or virtual cards to move tasks along designated columns that represent stages of completion across many industries, including tech. In various industries, including manufacturing, Kanban boards help promote transparency by clearly defining accountable team members, deadlines and statuses.

Regular “standup” meetings act as check-ins by the team lead and staff to update progress or resolve obstacles. In the software industry, according to the Project Management Institute, Kanban processes can help “visualize workflow, limit work-in-progress, measure and manage flow, make processes explicit and use models to recognize improvement opportunities.”   

By focusing on delivering work incrementally, this methodology helps industries to respond quickly to market or consumer needs. Agile production responds to the fast demands of businesses in the internet age and focuses on several core principles and iterative practices, including variable project scope; limited planning and more adaptability; highly skilled small teams; and flexible leadership. 

In this linear methodology, one stage of a project must be completed before moving on to the next. This method is typically deployed in projects with a single timeline and defined team roles and management structure. PMs conduct extensive preplanning and follow a sequential process, which makes midproject changes slower. 

This minimalist methodology streamlines processes by reducing non-essential meetings, documentation or other activities that may waste time and raise costs. While the process originated in manufacturing, it now applies to industries like accounting, product development and business administration. The end customer’s viewpoint plays a core role in this system. The PM considers what is valuable to the customer, creates steps to realize that value, eliminates wasteful processes and drives a team to realize desired outcomes. 

The agile methodology of Scrum organizes a workflow into concentrated bursts of activity called sprints. These time-boxed working blocks exist in a determined time frame, typically one to four weeks. The process begins with a sprint planning meeting to analyze the business goal and create a plan for completion. Once committed to the process, the team enacts daily Scrum meetings, usually 15 minutes long, reflecting on the previous day’s work, the obstacles and what work lies ahead. The sprint continues throughout the time frame to completion; then the team holds a review to present the project and a retrospective to learn how to optimize the process in the future. 

Becoming a PM typically involves educational or on-the-job work experience. Experiential needs vary by industry, but generally, PM professionals need a bachelor’s degree or certificate, according to BLS. Prospective PMs may also gain experience in business or information security analysis, personnel recruitment, employee relations or other related occupations. Internships, volunteering and mentorships also offer opportunities to learn transferable skills that apply to the field. 

Are you interested in learning skills used by project managers and other business professionals? University of Phoenix offers online business programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Business with a Project Management Certificate.

Contact University of Phoenix to request more information.