Category Archives: Human Aspects of Project Management

Does the role of project manager vary from one context to another?

We often see posts that tell us about the role of project manager, with a list of responsibilities. These posts often appear to be by “experts” and the content is presented with certainty. In other words, the post might be erroneous or present the role from a narrow perspective, yet it is presented as THE ROLE of project manager.

There is about 1 hour of content here, so if you are a PMP, you could claim 1 PDU for listening in.

I guess it is clear from our introduction that the role of a PM is not fixed. It varies from one context to another. In this article, we share five videos related to this topic.

Role of Project Manager

OK, the role of PM does vary from one context to another. However, are there some general guidelines?

In theory, a project manager is the one who manages a project. However, in practice, the answer to the question: what is the role of project manager (and his/her responsibilities) is it depends on numerous other factors. In this first video, the longest; about 26 min we cover the topic in general.

Do project owners still need a project manager in BOT situations?

Continuing from the first video, this second video address a specific question, which is: do project owners’ organizations still need a PM in a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) situations? The idea is since the BOT company is paying for and will manage it, would the “utility” or government entity (or others) that is giving out the BOT contract still need to manage? Listen; this is a shorter video.

Project Manager Competence

How can we link project manager competence to project classification? In other words, how can we determine the type or size of a project that a given project manager can manage? OK still not clear, let us say we have a PM with less than 5 years of experience, can this PM manage a large and complex project?

In this third video, we address this question and link it to professional certifications, such as those from IPMA. IPMA focuses on project management competence and their certifications link to the project manager competence.

Do we need project managers or project leaders?

Here we address a highly popular topic, which is to address one of the common misunderstanding on the topic of leader versus manager, then we link this to project management and managing a project.

OK, then, for managing a project, do we need a project manager or a project leader? The answer is in the next video.

Is the project manager doing all PM work?

We close this series with this question:

Is the project manager doing all PM work or are there others to help?

The reason for this video is that many of the posts on PM, even when reading the PMBOK Guide, or preparing for the PMP exam, one can be led to believe that the PM is the one doing everything. Well, maybe in those tiny projects. Other than micro projects, the PM cannot do all of the work. Listen to see if you agree with our views or you think we are wrong.

Closing Remarks

What do you think? What did you like or don’t like?

Are there any topics you would like to address?