Software project manager is the person who manages software projects. She or he will be attached to the project from the beginning to the end and continue with the life cycle of the software. It is impossible to write a standard list of responsibilities a software project manager. The job varies with organization and product being developed. However, following are the responsibilities most software project managers have to deal with.
- Proposal writing
- Project planning and scheduling
- Estimating project cost
- Monitoring and reviewing
- Building team and evaluation
- Reporting
Responsibilities of Software Project Manager
Proposal writing
Project proposals are documents with objectives of the project being developed, cost and scheduling estimation, justifying why the job should be awarded etc. Project managers, with experience enough can estimate cost and schedule timeline for software development. However, there is no set guidelines for writing project proposals, it is a skill that is developed with experience of handling various projects.
Project planning and scheduling
Planning and scheduling a project involves identifying the activities, milestones and deliverable versions of the final projects that can be reviewed. It must include a detailed timeline for its activities, milestones and deliverable. Planning and scheduling are also steps of software development.
Estimating project cost
Project cost involves a summation of costs of resources required that may include software, hardware, personnel, accommodation and other concerns involved in the development and support of the software product in question.
Monitoring and reviewing
Project monitoring is a continuous activity throughout the development of the product where the project manager compares progress & cost reports with planned progress and cost reports in a timely manner. Most organizations have some formal mechanism to monitor progress but skilled project managers can achieve clear idea of the project progress by discussing with members.
Building teams and evaluation
Project managers must use their experience to interview new personnel to the development team or have to use progress reports of existing members to include them in the development team for a particular project. The target is to find and include most skilled personnel in the fields required but that also depends on various factors like amount of investments for project, availability etc.
Reporting
Project managers are responsible for reporting project progress to client and his/her organization. In addition to that, they might also have to write concise, coherent documents that abstracts critical information from detailed reports.