Photo Credit to aussiegall via Flickr, image not modified
People are often confused about what a Project Manager actually does. Well, here at Portent, we’re the folks who have long guided projects to be timely, efficient, and profitable while making sure that the internal team feels supported and has all the information they need to do a stellar job.
As of about 6 months ago, I officially became a Project Manager here at Portent. Now I have the privilege to be a part of a whole group of people who are totally dedicated to shepherding projects in a way that will garner fantastic results for our clients. In celebration of this, I wanted to showcase the different perspectives about what Project Managers actually do.
What My Friends Think I Do
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Most of my friends who don’t work in internet marketing imagine me in meetings all day—wearing an 80’s power suit similar to Diane Keaton in Baby Boom.
What My Mom Thinks I Do
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My mom’s eyes glaze over just a little bit when I talk about work, and I’m pretty sure she secretly thinks that I’m having all-day Skype meetings with cute furry animals—like cats.
What My Coworkers Think I Do
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My co-workers think that my sole purpose in life is to cover them in tasks and to-do’s.
What My Clients Think I Do
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My clients think that I’m a magician who works behind the scenes to help deliver high quality projects on time.
What I Think I Do
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I think that I’m like a sheep-dog heroically herding my team toward the finish line on time, on budget, and with client satisfaction in mind.
What I Actually Do
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What I actually do though, is balance precariously in the air while juggling knives (metaphorically, of course). Though the perception of what Project Managers do varies, in the end we always want to do what’s best for the client and our internal team, while accomplishing the small feat of completing the project on time and on budget while exceeding the clients’ expectations. Feel free to share the different perspectives people have on your role in the comments!
For a moment, I thought you actually did juggling in your background. It happens with all the big positions jobs.
Everyone else have different perceptions they develop from the impacts they face, the clients are often the happiest one and the co-workers the sad one.
I think Project managers simply asks for an idea via surveys through us and then launch it under their name, not fair.
Anyway, I found this on kingged.
Hi Rohan! I’m sorry about the experiences you’ve had with Project Managers, but I can assure you that there are many Project Managers out there who give their team members credit when it’s due. Most of the fellow Project Managers that I know really care about their co-workers and the relationships they cultivate, and wouldn’t want to endanger that in any way.
As for juggling in my background – I WISH I could juggle, but I’m a bit accident prone – so it’s probably not a good idea. 🙂
Beth – I took a look at what you posted on Facebook and I love it! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.