Project Managers Are Strategic Leaders

Project managers are strategic leaders

 

A project manager must have a vision for the course and goals of the project. This should apply not only to the process, but also to the strategy. Because the project manager keeps an eye on the big picture from day one, he or she should be able to effectively lead the project’s strategy as well. And the advantage that the project manager has over any other team member is that he or she is not participating in the creation of the work.

 

For the hands-on designer, the profession and the work consist of big ideas and small details. It is not enough to have a great concept—you have to be able to execute against it, and this often means sorting through painstaking minutia and multiple iterations of a concept until you get it right and the work sings.

 

It is up to the project manager to keep an eye on the goals and objectives of the project—both for the client and the design team. Clients are just as easily seduced by sexy layouts as their creators are, but it is the project manager’s job to avoid those temptations and make sure the project meets its objectives.

 

Another way in which the project manager holds the team to its objectives is through documentation of the creative process, which can take many forms. Concepts are developed in many ways, but there is always a source: a client interview, a hands-on collaborative team session, industry research or an informal jam session about what we’re trying to accomplish. Once this information is gathered, most designers are itching to start and let the creative juices flow. Where the project manager helps is by producing the documentation behind the big ideas, perhaps via an idea board, a scrapbook recapping a brainstorming session or an even more formal creative brief. These documents can help demonstrate the thinking behind the big ideas without handicapping the designers to document their process every step of the way.