The Responsibilities of Project Managers

Transcription

1 The Responsibilities of Project Managers The Jugglers Who Keep Translation Projects on Track By Hélène Pielmeier and Donald A. DePalma

2 The Responsibilities of Project Managers By Hélène Pielmeier and Donald A. DePalma Copyright 2013 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. Published by: Common Sense Advisory, Inc. 100 Cambridgepark Drive Cambridge, MA USA No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission requests should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Common Sense Advisory, Inc., 100 Cambridgepark Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140, , info@commonsenseadvisory.com. See for usage guidelines. Trademarks: Common Sense Advisory, Global Watchtower, Global DataSet, DataPoint, Globa Vista, Quick Take, and Technical Take are trademarks of Common Sense Advisory, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Information is based on the best available resources at the time of analysis. Opinions reflect the best judgment of Common Sense Advisory s analysts at the time, and are subject to change.

3 The Responsibilities of Project Managers i Table of Contents Topic... 1 How This Report Will Help You... 1 Findings... 3 Survey Methodology and Demographics... 3 Disparities in Responsibilities Prevail... 5 Coordinating Projects Is the Cornerstone of Project Managers Job... 5 Project Managers Rarely Stray from Language Tasks... 6 Project Managers Need Some Tech-Savviness... 7 Client Relationship Management Falls Partly on the PM... 8 LSPs Have Increased Vendor Management Assistance for PMs... 8 Project Managers Wear Many Hats... 9 The PM Range of Responsibilities Remains Constant Generalists Dominate the Landscape, but Specialists Have Their Place Team Size Matters When It Comes to Specialty Specialties Don t Remain Static over Time Title Influences the Odds of Having a Specialty Geographic Location Can Be a Predictor of the Type of Specialty Industry Certifications Play a Lesser Role Summary of Our Survey of Project Managers Analysis How to Assess Your Project Management Needs Step 1: Review Current Roles and Responsibilities Step 2: Evaluate the Pressures that Affect Your Projects Step 3: Identify Your Default Production Operating Mode Step 4: Determine Where Your Team Fits in the Natural Evolution of PMs Step 5: Assess Whether Your Team Is Handling Too Much Make the PM s Job More Manageable Option 1: Provide Focus to the Role Option 2: Trim Tasks that Divert the Project Manager s Focus Option 3: Develop Specialized Production Units Conclusions on our Analysis of Project Managers Responsibilities Implications Appendix Pure Project Management Tasks Dominate the Days of Project Managers Linguistic Tasks Show a Broad Spectrum of Responses Translation Memory and Desktop Publishing Are Less Predictable Project Managers Can t Fully Distance Themselves from Sales Project Managers Are Heavily Involved in Quoting Projects Project Managers Get Help With Vendor Management Tasks The List of Miscellaneous Tasks Can be Long for Project Managers Related Research About Common Sense Advisory Future Research Applied Research and Advisory Services Copyright 2013 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc. <Month 2013>

4 ii The Responsibilities of Project Managers Figures Figure 1: Profile of Respondents of the Project Management Survey... 4 Figure 2: Typical Responsibilities of Project Managers... 5 Figure 3: Prevalence of Project Manager Specialty Based on PM Group Size Figure 4: Evolution of Specialties during the Lifetime of LSPs Figure 5: Top PM Specialties Based on Where They Live Figure 6: Examples of the Degree of Involvement of Project Managers Figure 7: Examples of How Dimensions Affect the Ability to Produce Projects Figure 8: Production Operating Modes Figure 9: Evolution of the Project Management Function Figure 10: Items to Include in Project Manager Job Descriptions Tables Table 1: Number of Tasks Project Managers Routinely Handle Table 2: Project Manager Specialty by Responses Table 3: Prevalence of Project Manager Specialty Based on Title Table 4: Typology of Project Managers Table 5: Frequency of Project Management Activities by Title Table 6: Frequency of Language-Related Activities by Title Table 7: Frequency of Technical Activities by Title Table 8: Frequency of Client Management Activities by Title Table 9: Frequency of Quoting Activities by Title Table 10: Frequency of Vendor Management Activities by Title Table 11: Frequency of Miscellaneous Activities by Title Copyright 2013 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.

5 The Responsibilities of Project Managers 1 Topic Translation project management has substantially evolved over the last few decades. Technology advances have redefined the tools and, as a result, the project process has evolved with inventions such as desktop publishing tools, the internet, FTP, translation memory, machine translation, translation management systems (TMSes), and the cloud. A project manager s day-to-day tasks in 2013 are vastly different from what they were even just 10 years ago. Common Sense Advisory conducted a survey of 409 project managers to capture a snapshot of translation project management in this day and age. Here is what you will find in this report: Findings. We present the typical project manager responsibilities and workload issues, as well as the role of project management specialties. Analysis. We include a typology of project managers, a method to evaluate your project management needs, and solutions to make the project managers job more manageable. Implications. We offer insight on what this means for your company. Appendix. We provide detailed data by title for each of the 44 tasks we asked project managers to evaluate. Related research. We recommend other Common Sense Advisory research reports and briefs on related topics. How This Report Will Help You This report is designed for CEOs, managing directors, owners, and founders of language service providers, as well as their production managers and project team leads. In addition, anyone involved with project management in an LSP will find valuable data and guidance in this report. It will help you: Identify your own model. This report allows you to place your company s project management model within the typology of the six most common project manager types used throughout the industry. Copyright 2013 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.