By Liz Roscovius | Member
It’s 10:00 AM on a Friday and my phone rings. It’s our largest client and they need a new document written, reviewed, and released by end-of-day. Can I help?
Of course I can. I’m a project manager.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not a miracle worker, but I do work with several. It is only with the support of a great team that I—or any project manager—come close to doing so.
What is a project manager? According to some experts, the role of a project manager is, at a high level, to plan, execute, and finalize projects on schedule and within budget. This includes assigning resources and coordinating the efforts of team members, both internal and external, in order to deliver high-quality products that meet specific needs and requirements, comply with standards, address limitations, and respect business goals. It means tracking project milestones and providing status updates. It means proactively managing changes in project scope, identifying potential crises, and devising appropriate contingency plans to resolve issues and solve problems.
In the field of technical communication, many project managers also help define project scope and objectives and oversee quality control. They often act as a mediator between stakeholders and team members. On the client side, they build, develop, and grow business relationships. On the development side, they coach, supervise, and motivate team members to take positive action and be accountable for their assigned work.
In short, a project manager often plays the role of air-traffic controller, hostage negotiator, and den mother, all rolled up into one.
Air-traffic Controller
To many clients, schedule is everything. If, like my team, you develop a thousand or more documents per year for multiple clients around the world, you know what this means. Not all project requests are clear or complete, nor are they prioritized, so it’s frequently the project manager’s job to collect missing information and set priorities before assembling the team best suited to deliver. When everything’s a “rush,” this can present a real challenge.
Add international stakeholders, manufacturers, and team members, and the number of variables impacting success increases. Supporting global communication needs means more than working across varied time zones. You must understand and respect cultural differences because they often impact project scope and objectives. Simply defining appropriate translations can add time and complexity to an already tight schedule.
Hostage Negotiator
Poor communication can impact quality as well. While many clients might share similar project needs, many also have unique ones but fail to communicate those clearly, particularly in a rush situation. This means the project manager must have sharp listening skills and ask the right questions. She must be able to interpret what people really want, understanding that what they don’t say might be more important than what they do say.
Sometimes, words conflict with actions. For example, most clients like the idea of language edits, usability reviews, and professional translation because they know those improve overall customer experience. They may, however, balk at cost. Similarly, many technical reviewers say they want accurate and easy-to-understand documentation but resist putting effort into providing proper feedback. If, like my team, you have no product sample against which to verify content, this is critical. Project managers must gently, yet firmly, help stakeholders understand why every element is necessary and how they can contribute to overall doc quality.
Den Mother
From stakeholders to team members, project managers work with very different people. All can impact project quality, so it’s important that project managers understand and manage varied personalities effectively. Many clients, for example, have a general misunderstanding about what technical communication entails. The notion that content developers are somehow mind readers is, of course, ludicrous, and yet it exists, whether recognized or not. For a project to succeed, the project manager must educate clients to help set proper expectations.
At a project level, qualifications and availability must be balanced in a way that doesn’t compromise quality. Whether a team requires contractors or not, the project manager needs to know who has what skill sets and who is best suited to deliver.
Yes, a project manager’s job can be challenging, sometimes even frustrating. At the same time, it can be rewarding. When, at the end of a long, complex project, a client says employees liked a training guide, that promotional materials effectively promoted a product, or that a user manual helped reduce support calls and returns, it’s worth the effort.
I would share more, but I have a document to get out.
