A Project Manager is necessary, useful, and profit centering for many businesses, but not all. Many of our clients wonder where their internal needs lie: do they need to bring a Project Manager on board, or do they simply need help with overall company process and administration?
One example of a scenario where Project Managers become necessary is when a company is comprised of many implementers. For instance, a web design company with several developers, a video production company with several editors, or a training program with several educators.
A PM becomes the communication hub, internally and/or externally, where timelines, deadlines, and holistic project needs find their center. Your company’s efficiency will suffer if team-wide work flows are consistently interrupted by communications, task management, and context switching. Project Managers save the day by driving project needs, standing in front of interruptions, and overcoming obstacles so implementers can stay on task.
Another example of a scenario where a Project Manager makes sense for a business is when a team is too small or lacks the bandwidth to take on the responsibilities of a PM. For instance, an author whose team doesn’t have the capacity or interest in being the liaison with publishers, editors, or retailers.
No matter what your company’s team looks like, Project Managers are universally successful when processes and systems are established and abided by team-wide. Project Managers can implement these solutions or step into existing ones, but your company’s success with a Project Manager will depend on whether the systems work for the team. Therefore, it is important that company wide enrollment in administrative process and personnel exists before adding another person into the mix. If your business is new, take the time to carefully select systems and processes that work for your landscape before expecting seamless management. If you’re stuck on how to assess system and process effectiveness, Satiated Artists can help.
If you don’t have a Project Manager working with you already, it might be that at least one of your team members is indirectly assuming this role by doing things like holding meetings, assigning work, or following up. We’d guess that you’d much rather that team member spends their time where they are most valuable, and where they were hired for in the first place. You don’t want to be paying your copywriter to chase your client around for assets, you want that copywriter writing. Don’t get to the point where someone in your company is riding in the backseat of every member of the company just to make sure everyone is doing the things they said they were doing. This is the danger zone where a Project Manager becomes life changing.
If you’d like to discuss potential PM or process needs, send a note to laura@satiatedartists.com!