Comparing and Contrasting Diverse Roles - Research Paper Example

These common roles are as follows; Role as a Leader A project manager has to lead, manage and administer the resources of a project (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2003). These resources are both tangible and intangible. For instance, tangible resources are finances and materials of a project. Intangible resources are people’s skills. The nature and diversity of these resources makes the role of a project manager very demanding. A project manager needs to lead the team. Projects are not completed without a competent team.

In order to get the best out of the people working on a project, they need to be lead and often they need to be lead from the front. That is why the project manager needs to be equipped with the right leadership skills. The role of a leader often requires developing, modifying and implementing project plans. Along with these qualities, a leader also has to bring in the necessary interpersonal skill set to effectively lead the team towards the goals. There is hardly any contrast in the roles of a project manager and the role of a leader.

Every step of the management requires appropriate leadership skills. . That is why continuous improvement and learning is mandatory for a super job at project managing. Whatever skill and education the project manager has, the manager needs to pass it on to the project team members. The manager needs to show team members how to do certain things. That is where a project manager needs to be a mentor for team members. Mentoring for the project manager involves teaching team members right on the job.

This type of mentoring can be related to on the job training. Here comes the contrast; the job of a project manager is to manage the project and not teach the team members new skills. If the project manager is busy teaching the team members about their job skills, project managing can suffer. This is a tough thing for the project manager to balance both these aspects. Role as a Manager This is the prime role of a project manager, to manage. There is no contrast between this role and the main task of a project manager.

Team building for a project is also the job of a project manager and especially when there are different types of teams. These various types of teams depends on the task at hand as well as the resources available (WHO, 2007). Team building also requires managing the individuals that make up the team. The manager needs to know which individuals are best with their specific skill sets and how to best utilize them. As stated earlier, there is no contrast between the work of a project manager and the role of a manager.

These tasks go hand in hand, reinforcing each other. The managerial roles require managing all variables of a project; time, cost, resources. Facilitator roles Sometimes a big project requires more than one project manager for its successful completion. In such scenarios, a project manager needs to play the role of