Do All Projects Or Firms Need Project Managers?

Do all projects or firms need project managers?

 

Although lots of firms and projects can benefit from a project manager, it is not always required, especially if a firm has many seasoned, experienced design professionals on staff. Project managers usually fare best in mid-sized to large firms with at least 25 people or more. The role also works best with teams of three members (plus the project manager) or more, when there is a fair amount of detail involved, multiple deadlines and frequent communication to be managed either between the team and the client or within the team itself.

 

The role also works well with team members that are less experienced and need more coaching. In smaller firms, an art director or design director often functions as a project manager and may be capable of handling this role. But sometimes project management is the last thing the art director wants to—or should—be doing. In this case, a project manager can relieve the art director or senior designer of these duties so that he or she can focus on the quality of the design rather than the project process.

 

An experienced project manager can also fill in for a studio principal. In a medium-to-large studio environment, there are still usually only two to three principals and/or creative directors, and these people usually have such multi-faceted roles that they have little time for creative guidance or perhaps not as much guidance as projects usually need. This is where an experienced project manager, especially one with design experience, can help. Although there is still a need for creative direction or support, particularly at the inception, a project manager can provide the additional steering and/or hands-on guidance required for a project to meet its objectives. The creative director may be involved in the beginning, for assistance with conceptual development, but once a project has this general direction the project manager can step in to continue to steer it in the right direction.