What does it take to be an effective project manager?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

An effective project manager achieves the desired results within budget and on time and according to the desired standards. Effective project managers realize that in order to accomplish what needs to be done on time and within budget, they must take time to plan their projects. Once a good plan has been created, effective project managers manage their plan.

Unlike functional managers, project managers are generalists with knowledge and experience in a wider variety of areas. A project manager is responsible for organizing, directing, planning, and controlling the events associated with a project. They deal with budgets and schedules. Responsibility for the project rests on their shoulders and they must understand what needs to be done, when it must be done, and where the resources will come from. Throughout a project, the manager will be the one who must clarify misunderstandings; calm upset clients, leaders, and team members; and meet the client's demands while keeping the project on time and within budget. Project managers are responsible for finding the necessary resources, motivating personnel, dealing with problems as they arise, and making project goal trade-offs. In essence, an effective project manager is an individual who does whatever is necessary to keep the project on schedule, within budget, and able to meet performance expectations. Project managers must be prepared to make adjustments to schedules, budgets, and resources in order to deal with the unexpected. For this reason, they must be good at recognizing the early signs of problems and be able to cope with stressful situations. As discussed under the heading of project plans, effective project managers utilize the checkpoints, activities, and time estimates established in the project plan to guide those working on the project. Following a clearly laid out project schedule, with clearly delineated responsibilities, enables effective project managers to keep their projects on track in terms of time, performance, and cost. Clear project plans enable the effective project manager to direct people individually as well as a team. Project managers manage people as well as projects. To do this, effective project managers schedule frequent progress reports. These meetings allow the project manager to react quickly when he or she recognizes that a difficulty has arisen.