What makes an effective Project Manager?  

The Importance of a Project Manager

An effective project manager is vital to the success of a project. The expansion and growth of the construction industry in Ireland over the past few years has led to the increased demand for competent project managers to ensure that projects are delivered safely, on time, within budget, and to the required specifications. The project manager is also responsible for managing the various stakeholders associated with a project including, the client, consultants, contractors, and resources. He/she is tasked with ensuring that the team is kept motivated throughout the project which ultimately leads to the success of a project. 

The Role of the Project Manager

An effective project manager ensures that projects are planned correctly and resourced adequately. This is achieved through previous experience and knowledge of delivering various projects from concept to completion. Resource allocation and resource management are key to the smooth running of a project, and these are traits that the best project managers possess. Building a team around the requirements of a project and ensuring that the team is kept motivated and driven are some of the key attributes to being a successful project manager.  

The ability to lead a project team is invariably the most difficult task of the project manager as it requires the ‘softer’ skills essential to be effective in this role. Such skills include influencing, communication skills (the backbone of any project), and conflict resolution skills, which are primarily a trait highly desired for the role of project manager.   

Besides cost and risk management, a project’s associated timelines are highly important. At a minimum, the client and/or stakeholders expect a project to run as scheduled. An effective project manager must have the knowledge to ensure that the time allocated to a task is sufficient for that task to be undertaken while also allowing for any risks associated with the task in question to be mitigated against.  

The project manager is required to take on the responsibility for the success and failures of the overall project. An effective project manager will review performance throughout a project’s various stages and milestones. Such reviews include assessing the team’s performance, the quality of the outputs, and the compilation of lessons learned.  

Although the role of the project manager may change depending on the project’s size, type, and nature, the skills required to carry out the duty are essentially the same. Construction projects are unique, so project managers need to be versatile and capable of adapting to the specific requirements involved. A project manager must possess strong leadership skills to effectively lead and control a project from concept to completion while being highly motivated and driven by the desire to succeed.  

At ORS, our project managers are experienced engineers. They offer early-stage strategic advice, followed by project management and delivery. We blend our technical edge with our specialist expertise to realise projects completed in line with our client’s expectations. Our project management services guide the client through the project from inception through to handover. The ORS Project Management Team systematically brings the client through the project journey. 

If you could benefit from a professional team of project managers taking over a project of yours from inception through to handover, please get in touch with ORS today. We would be delighted to work with you.