Companies whether they are small in scale or large prefer to work by dividing their workload into projects. To ensure smooth progress and running of the project, they hire a project manager. As the name suggests, you have to handle a project. All the planning, execution, budgets, and timely progress are the sole responsibilities of a project manager.
He or she is allotted a project and has to handle it right from the initiation till its completion. The duties, salary prospects, and educational qualifications along with a few certifications are discussed in detail below.
Duties Of A Project Manager
Being a person in charge of a project he or she is responsible for the smooth execution of a project from the very beginning till the very end. A list of the most essential duties of a project manager is given below:
- Project managers are given the details of the company’s requirements and they have to convert it into the shape of a project.
- Prepare a road map or plan to ensure that the project is completed in an orderly fashion
- Select your team on the basis of their skills, experience, and expertise in the concerned field
- Lead the team and provide them with all the valuable information and training
- Guide the team about the outcome of the project
- Divide the project into smaller fragments
- Allocate these fragments to the members of the team on the basis of their skills, education, and proficiency
- Prepare a budget considering all the variances that will ensure smooth execution of the project until the end
- Present the budget to the management
- Negotiate with the stakeholders and management of the company and get approval for your budget
- Ensure that you have all the resources required to initiate as well as complete the project. If not, prepare an appropriate plan in order to ensure a seamless delivery of resources required.
- Regularly check and make sure that the project is running as per the plan and would be completed within the budget decided/allocated.
- Oversee the project and make sure that any bottleneck or constraint is removed as soon as possible
- After completing the project successfully, hand over the project to the team that will take the project forward or to the management, as the case may be.
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Thus, we can see that a project manager is responsible for everything from A to Z for a project or requirement that is allocated to him or her. He is accountable for failures and worthy of praise as well on the successful completion of the project.
Expected Salary
A project manager is a respectable position within the organization and commands good social recognition among its peers as well as the society. He or she is well compensated by the hiring organization and is also offered lucrative incentives and benefits upon successful execution of a project. The salary of a project manager depends upon the following factors:
| Factors affecting salary | Effect of the factor |
| Location of employment | An employer posted on projects located in areas having a high cost of living is paid more salaries as compared to project managers executing projects in rural or semi-urban areas. The extra compensation offered is basically to reimburse the inflation, higher rents, and premium on essentials |
| Work Experience | Veterans are offered higher salaries. Work experience and the salary fetched by an employer have a direct relationship. The more experienced a person is the higher would be his or her salary. Further, the quality of work experience also matters, and employees who have enjoyed their previous stints with reputed employers would command even more salary. |
| Skills and knowledge | Skills and knowledge that a person possess play an important role in determining salaries. A skillful and knowledgable person with good command over his or her core field is compensated dearly. |
| Profitability of the employer company | Employees working on the projects of the companies which are profitable and enjoy a good market share are in a position to compensate their employees relatively well. They treat their employees as assets and offer them lucrative salaries as well as incentives and perquisites. |
Skills and Certifications Required
Skills and knowledge play an important role in career advancement and progression. Hence, one must not be obscure to enlightenment and try his or her best to learn the new skills, software, and technologies developing over a period of time. This would not only fetch good salaries but will also provide an edge over one’s peers and colleagues.
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Skills
Every person willing to become a project manager must possess these skills in order to enjoy his tenure with full satisfaction.
| Name of skill | Reason |
| Leadership | Leadership skills are most essential to have for a project manager as he is responsible to lead an entire team of his or her subordinates working together with a common objective of project completion. |
| Communication | Managing a team is not an easy task and effective communication skills along with superior public speaking skills are mandatory to have for any project manager. |
| Budgetary Planning | A project manager has to prepare the budget for the project. He or she has to ensure that the project is completed in a cost-effective manner within the budget allocated. As no management, wants to complete its project with additional cost. |
| Innovative | Thinking out of the box is necessary in today’s tough world. Winning projects is not easy and executing them successfully is further difficult. A manager who is able to think innovatively would be in a better position to finish the project effectively. |
| Presentation | A project manager is required to give presentations to the management and stakeholders from time to time especially before and during the project. Hence, he or she must improve the presentation skills by joining a suitable course either online or offline. |
Certifications
Here is a list of best certification courses for the post of a project manager:
| Name of the course | Duration |
| PMP(Project Management Professional) Certification [Highly recommended] | 6 months |
| Digital project manager certification | 3-6 months |
| MS Office | 3-6 months |
| Advance Excel (including financial modeling) | 6 months |
| Agile project management | 1 month |
| Practical project management course | 2 months |
| CAPM Exam Certification | 3 months |
Educational Qualifications
At least a bachelor’s degree preferably in construction industry is an essential pre-requisite to kick start your journey of a project manager. Further, it is highly recommended that you couple it up with some valuable certifications and courses.
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Conclusion
The role of a project manager is demanding and hectic. You may be required to work for long hours in a single stretch without the possibility of a fixed holiday. Hence, one must always be vigilant and watchful. The salary prospects are very bright and a project manager draws a fat paycheck with the possibility of earning huge incentives. If you like our articles then don’t forget to share them with your family and friends. Further, don’t forget to comment on the section below with your practical experiences after reading our articles.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263786301000692
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/841112/?casa_token=X8mPbXVPph0AAAAA:j2ztsDfnPSEPGmY1KnM_wQODYKA3c7a41WT4NNhUvlv0GyrbkNKorjmgtIi7Hmu0gLKEGAw5-w
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
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