A Detailed Study on Roles, Responsibilities in Project Management

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, highlighting the importance of leadership, resource acquisition, team building, and risk management. It discusses key activities such as effective communication, time management, and budget control, emphasizing the need for a project manager to be technically competent, persuasive, and a good negotiator. The essay further explores the characteristics of an effective project manager, focusing on their ability to lead by example, motivate the team, and ensure project success within the defined scope, budget, and timeline. The analysis underscores the multifaceted nature of the project manager's role in ensuring the successful delivery of projects and meeting client expectations. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The purpose of the essay is to analyse the works and the responsibilities of a project
manager. There are a number of activities undertaken by a project manager in order to
successfully execute a project. One of such activities is leading the team. Leadership is
recognized by its accomplishments and effective leadership will be reflected in the task
performed (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). Apart from leading the project it is the role of the project
manager to manage the project as well. However, there is a striking difference between the
leader and a manager. Leaders not only manage the team members but inspire them to remain
focused and have a long term goal. Not only leadership, there are a number of responsibilities of
a project manager while managing of a project. The project manager has an overall liability for
initiation, planning, design and execution of a project. Apart from that, a manager is responsible
for taking the important decisions of the project. The various aspects and the activities
undertaken by the project manager are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Among a number of duties performed by the project manager, leading the project team is
one of the most important activities. A project manager is expected to perform a number of
duties starting from direct supervision to an indirect influence, from management of hard
technical details to controlling the different issues faced by the project team (Pinto 2015).
Therefore, it can be said that the role of a project manager encapsulates in a number of ways
starting from the role of a mini CEO to someone who is responsible for successful completion of
the project to managing the project resources and project needs (Muller 2017). Apart from
leading a project, the project manager has to perform certain other essential duties and activities
which are discussed in the following sections.
While leading a project, a manager is needed to perform a number of tasks, the most
significant one being acquiring the resources of the project. The resources of a project mainly

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refer to the different materials and the resources which are necessary for successful
accomplishment of the objectives of a project (Sunindijo 2015). It is often seen that a majority of
the projects are under defined in their concept stage and therefore a lack of resources in the
project can be observed. There are a number of reasons behind the unavailability of the
resources. If the project goals and objectives of the project are vague, there is a possibility of
lack of resources in the project. Another major reason behind the lack of resources is
unavailability of the sponsor of the project. The lack of resources in a project can be also because
of deliberate understatement of the requirements of the project. These are some major reasons
behind the resource unavailability (Hornstein 2015). However, regardless of the reasons behind
the lack of the resources in a particular project, it is the responsibility of the project manager to
acquire the resources of the project. There is no doubt in the fact that in majority of the projects,
a budget constraint is faced along with an inadequate human resource. However, the project
managers make use of different tactics to manage the resource shortfalls which includes
negotiation. This is necessary as the resources are needed to be negotiated with the top
management.
Another essential activity performed by a project manager is to motive and build a sturdy
project team. It is a process of moulding a diverse group of experts in developing a cohesive and
a collaborative team (Heagney 2016). Team building is one of the most important aspects of
project management as it ensures completion of a project according to its aims and objectives.
Team building and motivating the team to deliver the work in a given schedule is a complex task
as the project manager needs to understand the human behaviours in order to build an effective
team (Galvin et al. 2014). The human challenges faced in the team is quite complex to manage
and therefore it is one of the most important activities performed by the project manager. In

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order to propel a team the project manager needs to understand the capabilities of the team
members.
It is expected that a project manager will have a vision to identify the project scope and
develop a project plan. The project scope is needed to identify in order to ensure successful
execution of the project (Mir and Pinnington 2014). The project manager is expected to ensure
completion of a project within a scheduled time and for that the project manager needs to have a
vision of improving the project in every step.
One of the most important activities that are expected from a project manager is
communicating effectively with the team members (Too and Weaver 2014). Negotiation is an
activity that is needed in a project and therefore it is essential for the project managers to engage
in an effective communication with the team members. Furthermore, an effective communication
serves other crucial purposes associated with the project. The status and the progress of the
projects are effectively communicated with the team members through this process (Burke
2013). However, the communication in the project is a two way process and therefore it is the
duty of the team members as well to engage in an effective communication with the manager
Project manager is mainly responsible for scheduling a project and therefore time
management is an important activity that is performed by a project manager. Apart from
activities and resource planning, controlling the time of a project is an important responsibility
(Heagney 2016). In order to effectively perform the activity, the project manager defines and
sequences an activity according to the time available which in turn helps in time management.
Time management is therefore considered an important aspect of project scheduling.

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A good and effective project manager particularly knows the process of delivering a
project within a set project budget. In order to meet the expectations of the clients, it is essential
to deliver the project within the scheduled time and within the set budget. If by any chance a
project goes over budget, the project cannot be termed as successful (Harrison and Lock 2017).
The activities performed by the project managers to avoid any massive overruns in the project
are frequent reviewing the budget and the project progress according to the project plan. In order
to ensure that the customers’ satisfaction is achieved with the project it is the responsibility of the
manager to deliver a project within a scheduled time and within the set budget of the project.
Another major activity that is performed by a project manager or is expected from a
professional project manager is management of the project risks (Larson et al. 2014). Risks and
issues are inevitable in a project and therefore, it is the responsibility of good project managers to
meticulously identify and evaluate the risks in a project. Effective identification of the risk and
its mitigation ensures successful delivery of a project. Risk management is an important phase of
project management. Risk management is an important aspect of project management as it
identified the risks and issues in a project. The risk management should be a structured process
and the lead of the project is responsible for timely execution of the risk management process.
Risk matrix is generally prepared by the project lead to prioritize the risks present in a project by
evaluating its severity and probability of occurrence.
These are the major activities undertaken by a project manager in effective management
of the project. The following section discusses the characteristics possessed by an effective and
professional project manager.

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There are a number of characteristic traits of a project manager and possession of these
characteristics is expected from a professional project manager. An effective project manager
leads by example and is technically competent enough to handle the different technical
challenges associated with the project (Too and Weaver 2014). One of the major responsibilities
of a project manager is build an effective project team and persuade the team to work for
successful completion of the project. All these qualities are expected from a project manager
who is leading a project.
The purpose of the essay is to discuss the different processes and the activities that are
expected from a profession project manager. Leadership is an effective quality of a project
manager as it is necessary to lead and motivate a team. The essay discusses the essential
characteristics that a project manager should possess in order to effectively manage a team.
Apart from being an efficient leader, a project manager needs to be a good negotiator as well.
The essay establishes the fact that a project manager should be a good motivator in order to
encourage the project team for completing the project within a given schedule and within a set
budget. The various aspects and the activities that are generally expected from a professional
project manager are discussed in the essay.

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References
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Galvin, T., Gibbs, M., Sullivan, J. and Williams, C., 2014. Leadership competencies of project
managers: An empirical study of emotional, intellectual, and managerial dimensions. Journal of
Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing, 6(1), p.35.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp.291-
298.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E.W., Gray, C.F., Danlin, U., Honig, B. and Bacarini, D., 2014. Project management:
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Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success. International journal of project
management, 32(2), pp.202-217.
Muller, R., 2017. Project governance. Routledge.
Pinto, J. 2015. Project Management. Pearson Education UK.

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Sunindijo, R.Y., 2015. Project manager skills for improving project performance. International
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