The project manager is an individual who provides leadership in planning, organizing and controlling the work effort to accomplish the defined construction project objectives.
In other words, the project manager provides the leadership to the project team to accomplish the project objective. He further coordinates the activities of his team members to ensure that they perform the right tasks at the proper time and within budget.
With the above description, the question now is: what are the essential roles you’ve got to play as a construction project manager for a successful construction project?
The answer is the purpose of this post.
5 Essential Roles of a Construction Project Manager
Below are 5 essential roles of a construction project manager:
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Planning Role
Planning is very important when it comes to a successful construction project. In this phase, the project manager clearly define the project objectives and then communicate these objectives to his project team in such a manner to create a vision of what will constitute successful accomplishment of the project objective. Therefore, as a project manager, your role is to spearheads the development of a plan to achieve the construction project objectives.
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Organizing Role
Organizing involves securing the appropriate resources to perform the work. In this role, the project manager clearly defines the work scope, deliverables and negotiates a contract with each subcontractor. He also assigns responsibility and delegates’ authority to specific individuals or subcontractors for the various tasks, with the understanding that they will be accountable for the accomplishment of their tasks within the assigned budget and schedule.
As a project manager, your role here is to organize the scope of work and decide which tasks should be carried out by each project team members.
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Controlling Role
In the controlling phase, performance reporting and risk monitoring and control are core. That is, in this role, the project manager creates a performance and reporting system to track actual progress and compare it with planned project objectives. This helps the project manager to distinguish between busy-ness and accomplishments.
And if actual progress falls behind or unexpected events occur during the project, the project manager takes immediate action regarding appropriate corrective actions and how to re-plan those parts of the project.
As a project manager, your role here is to ensure that all the project objectives are met and also corrective actions are taken in case any problems arise.
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Leading Role
Leading fosters development of common goals [mission and vision] of the construction project to project team members. In this role, the project manager clearly defines roles, responsibilities and performance expectations for all his team members.
He provides clear direction and priorities to the project team members while removing obstacles that would/might hamper his team progress, readiness or effectiveness.
As a project manager, you are responsible for leading the team to achieve the vision that the project has created by facilitating, coordinating and motivating the team to achieve the project goals.
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Communicating Role
Communication is providing relevant, timely information to the right people about the project. The communication role is the most critical role for the success of the project. By communicating, the project manager informs and educates the project stakeholders about the project objectives, risks, assumptions and constraints.
Therefore as a project manager, your role here is to gather information from project team and other people involved with the project; distribute the information to stakeholders to gain support for a successful construction project.
Conclusion
Project management has always been part and parcel of every construction project. The project manager is the ultimate person accountable for the construction project and to make sure the project gets done on time and on budget.
With the above 5 essential roles of a project manager will help you manage every construction project and lead the project team with a well defined objectives on how the construction project will be executed and delivered timely, on budget and without fail!
So, what other essential roles of a construction project manager do you know?
