Hey, so we've covered what
project management is and why it's important to organizations. Now, let's learn more about what project
managers do on a day-to-day basis. Project managers usually follow a process
that involves planning and organizing, managing tasks, budgeting,
controlling costs and other factors. Everything they do helps make sure
the project can be completed on time and on budget. In broad terms, a project manager
also needs to make sure that the project outcome is
bringing value to the company. A project manager can add
value in many different ways. Whether that's creating a new service for
customers or modifying an old service so it's more tailored to
the customer's needs. No matter what the task is, a successful
project will always add value. And it's the project manager's job to make
sure that project is both valuable and successful. You may be asking yourself, well, if I'm a project manager, how do I
add value to an organization every day? What does the day-to-day life
of a project manager look like? Well, a project manager's responsibilities
can vary, depending on the project, the industry, and
the company they're working in. Are you constructing a new building? Are you project managing a renewable
energy product in a startup? Or are you setting up your
own event management company? Your tasks will be
different in each scenario, but here's a general overview of
what a typical day might look like. A project manager's daily responsibilities
always include some version of the following, planning and organizing. An example of that might be gathering
requirements from teammates or customers. This means figuring out what exactly
your project's trying to accomplish. You might have a kickoff meeting or
send a survey. From here you may also work
on creating project plans. Creating project plans is a key
part of project management. It helps set the tone of the project,
keeps everyone on pace and aligned, and helps move tasks along. Which leads me to my second point,
managing tasks. Once the project is underway, the project
manager helps manage tasks for the team members and communicates key milestones
to the larger team or customers. This helps keep team members, and customers updated on how
the project is progressing. The third piece is budgeting and
controlling costs and other factors. Managing the budget and controlling costs
is a common responsibility that project managers have to understand to keep
the project on track and within budget. This is a full-time job because
the plan you've created and managed may change causing
unexpected costs to come up. And that's just to name a few. I could go on for days. But the most important thing to know
about the day to day of a project manager is this: You'll use different tools, techniques and
methodologies every single day. There's never a dull moment. Personally, my favorite part about being
a project manager is that I get to watch the project's growth from start to finish. It's really special to create something
from nothing, working from the ground up. It's a really satisfying feeling. As a project manager, you'll use a variety
of skills every day, and a lot of these skills you might already have, and
we'll discuss this more coming up. See you there.