¿Qué realiza un IT Project Manager?

1. What is an IT Project Manager?

It is a typical question that my family, friends, recruiters and also students have asked me when I have given workshops. Let us imagine that an area of company M needs to automate a manual process and for this it will execute an IT (information technology) project. We have several actors such as: owners of the need, developers, consultants, architects, PMOs and cybersecurity areas, processes, data, integrations, support, among others. Everyone working together will develop a solution that alleviates the initial need. But, said work is coordinated by an IT Project Manager, who is responsible for projects becoming a reality through comprehensive management. He is in charge of meeting the objectives of the project and that it adds value.

2. Functions of the Project Manager (PM)

A book Recommended is Rita Mulcahy's. In that book, they describe some functions of the PM:

  • Help to carry out the project constitution act.
  • You are in charge of the project, but not necessarily of the resources
  • Identifies and analyzes assumptions and constraints
  • Leads and manages project planning efforts
  • Identifies dependencies between activities
  • Analyze if there are unrealistic requirements in the schedule
  • Create cost and time reservations for the project
  • Promotes communication
  • Spend more time being productive (anticipating problems) than dealing with them by being reactive
  • Ensures interaction between the team and other stakeholders
  • develop the team
  • Identifies and meets quality levels
  • Identify and manage stakeholders
  • Manage project knowledge
  • Solves problems
  • Take decisions
  • Practice ethics and leadership
  • Manage and control resources
  • Maintain project control with performance metrics
  • Monitor risks, communications and interaction with stakeholders
  • Carries out the closure of each phase of the project and the project
  • Applies project management knowledge and soft skills for project success

3. Importance and remuneration of a PM

According to one poll of KPMG Y PMI in 2021, 92% of executives believe PMs are vital to successful project delivery. In addition, the 52% of the Technology sector is willing to pay more than the 10% for PM services.

In relation to remuneration, Cornerstone Group made a study about the most demanded senior technology executives in Peru in 2021. Where the Project Manager is located in a salary range of S/ 15,000 to S/ 20,000 plus extra benefits and insurance.

4. Skills of a Project Manager

Both Executives and PMs place great importance on communication and conflict resolution skills, according to a poll of KPMG Y PMI.

Although IT projects can often be similar technology solutions, each project faces different challenges. But don't worry, this is not synonymous with chaos.

Transferring information clearly and having communication strategies according to each stakeholder will avoid false expectations. There are many tools for PM's to improve our communication, several are described in the PMB OK many years ago.

Working with multidisciplinary teams, of different nationalities and in remote environments is a great challenge. Conflicts will be inevitable and this does not mean that our project is failing. On the contrary, in my opinion, conflicts are where great learning comes from.

5. Top Three Skills of the Future of PMs

The result of the poll of KPMG Y PMI was led in a 27% by the famous agile frameworks, seconded in a 21% by leadership, and lastly, stakeholder management with a 20%

I'm sure the top 1 didn't surprise you, as agility is a fairly common term in IT. However, it is not easy to put it into practice, in this post I summarize a book by Jeff Sutherland, one of the creators of Scrum, for those who want to know more about agility.

Follow me on networks:

6. Tools for PMs

KPMG, AIPM and IPMA conducted a poll in 2019 to find out the most used tools and a 71% of companies indicated that they use software to manage their projects and programs. The most used were:

  1. Microsoft Project-83%
  2. Jira – 35%
  3. Others – 32%
  4. Clarity-12%
  5. Clarizen-4%

If you are interested in seeing applications of these tools, I recommend my posts about project solutions that I handle in my day to day.

7.Project Manager vs. PMO

In short, the PM is a person with the role of integrating the project. While the PMO is an office that provides the services that its stakeholders need.

I know, you will say that now you are also confused. In a next post I will detail what the PMO does so that the difference can be clear.

Remember, if you liked the content, like the button below ⬇️⬇️ or share it on networks.

Is the PM a key piece in the projects or not? Share your ideas in the comments.

Leave a comment