Occupation intelligence

project manager

Snapshot

Are you a natural organiser with a knack for bringing people together to achieve a common goal? As a project manager, you'll be at the heart of delivering successful projects, ensuring quality and efficiency from start to finish.

Summary

Project managers are responsible for the day-to-day oversight of projects, ensuring they meet their objectives within defined constraints. This involves meticulous planning, coordinating resources, and proactively addressing risks and issues. You'll be the central point of contact, communicating progress to stakeholders and guiding the team towards successful completion.

Key responsibilities
  • • Planning and defining project scope, goals, and deliverables.
  • • Organising and managing resources, including people, budget, and time.
  • • Monitoring project progress and performance, identifying and resolving issues.

Are you a natural organiser with a knack for bringing people together to achieve a common goal? As a project manager, you'll be at the heart of delivering successful projects, ensuring quality and efficiency from start to finish.

Management & Entrepreneurship Master's or equivalent level
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Day in the life

What people in this role usually do

Management & Entrepreneurship

Day in the life

A typical day as a project manager

09
09:00 · Morning
manage project information
Provide accurate and relevant information to all the parties involved in a project on time.
10
10:30 · Mid-morning
apply conflict management
Take ownership of the handling of all complaints and disputes showing empathy and understanding to achieve resolution. Be fully aware of all Social Responsibility protocols and procedures, and be able to deal with a problematic gambling situation in a professional manner with maturity and empathy.
12
12:00 · Midday
build business relationships
Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
14
14:00 · Afternoon
control of expenses
Monitor and maintain effective cost controls, in regards to efficiencies, waste, overtime and staffing. Assessing excesses and strives for efficiency and productivity.
15
15:30 · Late afternoon
create project specifications
Define the workplan, duration, deliverables, resources and procedures a project has to follow to achieve its goals. Describe project goals, outcomes, results and implementation scenarios.
17
17:00 · Wrap-up
customise project methodologies
Adapt a predefined project management methodology to the specific needs, size and type of a project and tailor the methodology to organisational needs, culture, processes and policies. Adjust specific parts of the methodology to reflect management needs such as process steps, the content of artefacts, the distribution of responsibilities amongst the various roles, the definition of decision thresholds for escalation and the risk tolerance.

Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.

Software & Technologies & Knowledge areas
Software & Technologies
3M Post-it AppAdobe AcrobatAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopADP Workforce NowAirtableApple KeynoteApple macOSAsanaAtlassian BambooAtlassian ConfluenceAtlassian JIRAAutodesk AutoCAD Civil 3DBentley MicroStationBlackboard softwareBlinkCisco WebexDropboxEkoEvernote
Knowledge areas
  • internal risk management policy

    The internal risk management policies that identify, assess and prioritise risks in an IT environment. The methods used to minimise, monitor and control the possibility and the impact of disastrous events that affect the reaching of business goals.

  • project management

    The discipline of project management, the activities which comprise this area and the variables implied in it, such as time, resources, requirements, deadlines, and responding to unexpected events.

  • Agile project management

    The agile project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.

  • corporate social responsibility

    The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.

  • crowdsourcing strategy

    The high level planning for managing and optimising business processes, ideas or content by gathering contributions from a big community of people, including on-line groups.

  • insourcing strategy

    The high level planning for managing and optimising business processes internally, usually in order to maintain control of critical aspects of work.

Cross-sector skills
  • communication principles
  • project management methodology (PM²)
  • project management principles
Essential skills
planning events and programmes
  • manage project changes

    Manage requested or identified changes to the original project planning, assess the need to implement the changes and communicate them to the different project stakeholders. Update the relevant project documentation.

  • establish daily priorities

    Establish daily priorities for staff personnel; effectively deal with multi-task workload.

  • organise project meetings

    Organise project meetings such as the project kick-off meeting and the project review meeting. Plan the meeting agenda, set up conference calls, address any logistical needs and prepare documentation or hand-outs needed for the meeting. Ensure the participation of the project team, the project client and other relevant stakeholders. Draft and circulate the meeting minutes.

allocating and controlling physical resources
  • manage supplies

    Monitor and control the flow of supplies that includes the purchase, storage and movement of the required quality of raw materials, and also work-in-progress inventory. Manage supply chain activities and synchronise supply with demand of production and customer.

  • ensure equipment availability

    Ensure that the necessary equipment is provided, ready and available for use before start of procedures.

planning production processes
  • customise project methodologies

    Adapt a predefined project management methodology to the specific needs, size and type of a project and tailor the methodology to organisational needs, culture, processes and policies. Adjust specific parts of the methodology to reflect management needs such as process steps, the content of artefacts, the distribution of responsibilities amongst the various roles, the definition of decision thresholds for escalation and the risk tolerance.

  • manage logistics

    Create logistic framework for transporting goods to customers and for receiving returns, execute and follow up the logistics processes and guidelines. Adapt the production processes to the contingencies and constraints of the medium.

directing operational activities
  • supervise daily information operations

    Direct daily operations of different units. Coordinate program/project activities to assure the respect of costs and time.

  • ensure equipment maintenance

    Ensure that the equipment required for operations is regularly checked for faults, that routine maintenance tasks are performed, and that repairs are scheduled and performed in the case of damage or flaws.

technical or academic writing
  • write work-related reports

    Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high standard of documentation and record keeping. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.

  • draft project documentation

    Prepare project documentation such as project charters, work plans, project handbooks, progress reports, deliverables and stakeholder matrices.

estimating resource needs
  • estimate duration of work

    Produce accurate calculations on time necessary to fulfil future technical tasks based on past and present information and observations or plan the estimated duration of individual tasks in a given project.

  • perform resource planning

    Estimate the expected input in terms of time, human and financial resources necessary to achieve the project objectives.

mediating and resolving disputes
  • apply conflict management

    Take ownership of the handling of all complaints and disputes showing empathy and understanding to achieve resolution. Be fully aware of all Social Responsibility protocols and procedures, and be able to deal with a problematic gambling situation in a professional manner with maturity and empathy.

ensuring compliance with legislation
  • ensure compliance with legal requirements

    Guarantee compliance with established and applicable standards and legal requirements such as specifications, policies, standards or law for the goal that organisations aspire to achieve in their efforts.

Career progression

Growth Pathways & Similar Roles

Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.

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Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What skills are most important for a project manager?
Strong organisational skills, communication abilities, problem-solving capabilities, and leadership qualities are essential. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and manage multiple priorities effectively is also crucial.
Is project management a good career for someone changing fields?
Yes, project management skills are transferable across many industries. If you have experience in planning, coordinating, or leading teams, you can build upon those skills to transition into a project management role. A focus on developing your technical project management knowledge will be beneficial.
What are the common work arrangements for project managers?
Project management is primarily an employment-based role, with most project managers working as full-time employees within organisations. However, it's also a common field for freelancing, offering opportunities to work on a project-by-project basis for various clients.