Project manager: how the job really looks like

Communication with potential and existing clients, partners, employees takes quite a long time in the project manager. On the other hand, there are a number of daily tasks.

Maksym Prokhorov Founder and IT manager of PM Partners

How to do everything in time and not to burn out? Each project manager is looking for the most convenient and efficient ways to do this for his company, but the basic principles are still the basis for this. Let’s take a closer look at these principles.

External communication of IT project manager

In preparation for another meeting with the clients, the project manager can only predict to a certain extent how successful and productive it will be. It is even more difficult to understand how the negotiations with the new customer will proceed.

Often, the clients can not explain what exactly they want from the IT contractor, but instantly ask a question about the time frame for obtaining the visible result. The task of the project manager is to quickly identify the key “pains” of the client, to assess the scale of the upcoming works, their cost and to see whether it is worth starting such a project, taking into account the client’s own readiness/ unwillingness to participate in it. In this case, wrong conclusions can cost the IT company extra work and even reputation — if the client expects changes faster than they can actually be seen, that can be reflected on his income.

It’s not easy for a project manager to deal with regular customers. Even when the technical requirement has been clearly defined and much of the work has already been done, the IT company is not immune to unforeseen difficulties that require additional time, finances and labour forces. Here the customer can try to save at the expense of the performer, namely, the IT company. Of course, such negotiations are a difficult task for the Project manager, since it is the duty of the Project manager to keep the client and not to allow its team to be used for selfish purposes.

Therefore, the recording of the meeting refers to the basic tools of the project management, and it is necessary to make a voice recording of the meeting, and to note key moments in writing.

In my experience, audio recording of the conversation with the customer has saved our company not only financial resources, but also working hours. In case of controversy we take the record from the archive and listen to it together with the client, thanks to that we can find the optimal solution to the situation.

I can assure that this works perfectly. And as for the time spent on the meeting, which has not turned into further cooperation, I could say that this often is for the better, because not all customers at the time of the negotiations with the IT company are ready to change. It’s better when it becomes clear in the first negotiations.

Internal communication

After the Project manager has brought the negotiations with the customer to the conclusion of the contract, the number of participants of the project increases. The employees of the IT-company get to work. And the tasks of the project manager become larger, because in his team not everything and not always goes smoothly, but clients should not notice that (of course, if your company aspires to have a high level of business management).

Sometimes you need to overcome internal difficulties on several fronts. And there’s another waste of time on communication.

The situation is particularly difficult when IT companies change top management. Yes, sometimes the owner/shareholders decide to do so, which is often quite difficult for everyone. This radical change also affects the project manager (of course, if he is not among the departed): communications are shifting to a new, more complex level, since it is necessary not only to devote time to the client, to support the middle and lower level of employees, but also to introduce company processes to the new management, to adapt to the renewed operating rules of the company, etc.

When the management team changes, the project manager relies on his team, of course, if he was able to build it and by that time to “run it through thick and thin”. Proven and faithful employees are important and necessary in all situations, but especially in critical situations.

Hence the second communication advice — pay attention to your people. Always! Even if it seems to be more important things to do.

Why is it important to know how to present and sell?

The third area that I want to mention in terms of communications are sales.

If you are only at the stage of creating your first project in IT, you should think about whom and how you sell it, at the same time as describing the idea. Without understanding where to take the necessary level of sales (by the way, it also must be defined at the beginning), it makes no sense to start.

This situation is relatively easier for the manager, who is implementing just a regular project.

However, conducting sales by both beginners and experienced project managers require special communication, which needs to be constant and very high quality. So life becomes a project.