How about "Project Manager"?

[Careful]

While we got the Project Engineer thread going so well, what are peoples feeling on what constitutes a Project Manager?

I've always figured the defining issue is managing a project budget. I'm pretty sure it usually also involves managing other people working on the same project, but it could be just you.

What says everyone?

 

[ash060]

In my experience if you aint a project engineer than you must be a project manager.

 

[Noway2]

Where I work,they have both project engineers and project managers. The project managers are part of the marketing department. They are responsible for taking a swag at home much company sales will increase based upon a future product and developing the marketing spec. Following product release, they are the interface between engineering and sales.

 

[micalbrch]

In Central Europe a Project Manager is nothing special. It can be a Project Engineer or really a manager with responsibility for 100 people. Nowadays everybody calls himself (on his name card) "Manager of Something". That's why one does not really expect somebody very high ranked only because of his Manager title. At least that's how it is seen here.

 

[spongebob007]

Our project managers are mainly responsible for project budget and schedule. They are the ones who gather all the customer requirements for the projects. The project managers are also responsible for communication between us and the customer. Under the project manager, there are project engineers. There is typically one engineer from each discipline (mechanical,electrical, software, and test), but larger projects may also have one project engineer who coordinates all of the engineering disciplines.

The project engineer is responsible for managing the technical aspects of the project.

All of our program managers have an engineering background, but they are part of the marketing department.

 

[pennpiper]

The following is not my words or my writings. They are however from a course of study I took many years ago. I found it true and helpful then, and I continue to believe it today.
Jop

Management Styles (from:

http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/people_management_styles.htm)

What makes a good leader or manager? For many it is someone who can inspire and get the most from their staff.
There are many qualities that are needed to be a good leader or manager.
• Be able to think creatively to provide a vision for the company and solve problems
• Be calm under pressure and make clear decisions
• Possess excellent two-way communication skills
• Have the desire to achieve great things
• Be well informed and knowledgeable about matters relating to the business
• Possess an air of authority
Do you have to be born with the correct qualities or can you be taught to be a good leader? It is most likely that well-known leaders or managers (Winston Churchill, Richard Branson or Alex Ferguson?) are successful due to a combination of personal characteristics and good training.
Managers deal with their employees in different ways. Some are strict with their staff and like to be in complete control, whilst others are more relaxed and allow workers the freedom to run their own working lives (just like the different approaches you may see in teachers!). Whatever approach is predominately used it will be vital to the success of the business. “An organization is only as good as the person running it”.
There are three main categories of leadership styles: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic.
Autocratic (or authoritarian) managers like to make all the important decisions and closely supervise and control workers. Managers do not trust workers and simply give orders (one-way communication) that they expect to be obeyed. This approach derives from the views of Taylor as to how to motivate workers and relates to McGregor’s theory X view of workers. This approach has limitations (as highlighted by other motivational theorists such as Mayo and Herzberg) but it can be effective in certain situations. For example:
When quick decisions are needed in a company (e.g. in a time of crises)
When controlling large numbers of low skilled workers.
Paternalistic managers give more attention to the social needs and views of their workers. Paternalistic Managers are interested in how happy workers feel and in many ways they act as a father figure (pater means father in Latin). They consult employees over issues and listen to their feedback or opinions. The manager will however make the actual decisions (in the best interests of the workers) as they believe the staff still need direction and in this way it is still somewhat of an autocratic approach. The style is closely linked with Mayo’s Human Relation view of motivation and also the social needs of Maslow.
A democratic style of management will put trust in employees and encourage them to make decisions. They will delegate to them the authority to do this (empowerment) and listen to their advice. This requires good two-way communication and often involves democratic discussion groups, which can offer useful suggestions and ideas. Managers must be willing to encourage leadership skills in subordinates.
The ultimate democratic system occurs when decisions are made based on the majority view of all workers. However, this is not feasible for the majority of decisions taken by a business- indeed one of the criticisms of this style is that it can take longer to reach a decision. This style has close links with Herzberg’s motivators and Maslow’s higher order skills and also applies to McGregor’s theory Y view of workers.
Summary of management styles
Description Advantages Disadvantages
Autocratic:
Description: Senior managers take all the important decisions with no involvement from workers
Advantage: Quick decision making. Effective when employing many low skilled workers
Disadvantage: No two-way communication so can be de-motivating. Creates “them and us” attitude between managers and workers

Paternalistic:
Description: Managers make decisions in best interests of workers after consultation
Advantage: More two-way communication so more motivating. Workers feel their social needs are being met
Disadvantage: Slows down decision making. Still quite a dictatorial or autocratic style of management

Democratic:
Description: Workers allowed to make own decisions. Some businesses run on the basis of majority decisions Advantage: Authority is delegated to workers which is motivating. Useful when complex decisions are required that need specialist skills
Disadvantage: Mistakes or errors can be made if workers are not skilled or experienced enough

 

[jber82]

Where I work they are the same thing. We manage the engineering/budget/schedule/construction. Mainly because our marketing group are idiots and are constantly in CYA mode.

http://engineerhumor.com/

 

[MechEng2005]

Where I work they are basically the same thing as well. Titles are used fairly interchangably for all positions though (One second somebody refers to me as a drafter, the next I'm a project manager...). This is especially true as people have recently had to start wearing more hats.

I get the impression that Project Manager is used when somebody is trying to explain to me why it was my responsibility to make sure somebody else did their job and babysit all aspects of the project I'm working on. "Project Engineer" just sounds too much like I'm only going to be held accountable for the engineering. Turns out, I'm supposed to be "managing" the shop, purchasing, inventory, etc...

-- MechEng2005

 

[Pulpeng]

A project manager is just that. He manages projects.

Helps build charters, action plans, budgets, reports, schedules, communication plans, project teams. Reports on earned value, etc....

It's actually quite extensive if you get good at it. That's why there has been such a push for designations like the

http://www.pmi.org

and the Project Manager Professional (PMP) designation. It requires 4500 or 7500 hours to acheive and quite a bit of schooling. I used to think anyone could call themselves a project manager, but now going through it I would say to be a good one is a lot harder.

 

[boffintech]

In addition to the other items listed a good project manager must have really good upper body strength. This is so when he's throwing you under a bus he won't strain himself.