Chapter 2. The Role of the Project Manager

The role of project managers seems to be very misunderstood throughout the world. Because many project managers arrive at their position as a natural progression from their jobs as engineers, programmers, scientists, and other kinds of jobs, both they and their bosses see the job as a technical job. This simply isn’t true.

The primary responsibility of the project manager is to ensure that all work is completed on time, within budget and scope, and at the correct performance level.

If you remember that every project produces a product, service, or result, then there is a technical aspect to the job. However it is a question of who is responsible for what, and project managers who must manage the project and handle technical issues are set up to fail from the beginning. I will explain this later on. For now, suffice it to say that the primary responsibility of the project manager is to ensure that all work is completed on time, within budget and scope, and at the correct performance level. That is, she must see that the PCTS targets are met. That is, her primary role is to manage the project, not do the work!