Controller to Leader
What are the different levels of Project Manager?
Hey, fellow Leader 🚀,
I am Artur and welcome to my weekly newsletter. I am focusing on topics like Project Management, Innovation, Leadership, and a bit of Entrepreneurship. I am always open to suggestions for new topics. Feel free to reach me on Substack and share my newsletter if it helps you in any way.
One of the most misinterpreted notions of Project Management is the level of autonomy and authority attached to the role. Even job postings don’t have these definitions right and during discussions among friends and colleagues, there is a bit of confusion to understand what is the difference between a Project Manager and a Project Leader. Even, some folks call Project Leader a “Team Leader”, for lacking better knowledge. This post aims to clarify the different roles between:
Project Controller
Project Manager
Project Leader
Any level of a Project Management role is a pure delegation of authority from a Project Sponsor transferred to an individual (or set of people), to control, monitor, and steer the project to fulfill a series of objectives. The three levels addressed below are in fact, different levels of delegation provided by the Project Sponsor.
Project Controller
This role might be the training ground for that person who will be asking the team “Are we there yet?” during the Project lifecycle. Is not that person’s fault, but it’s indeed their role to monitor and control a set of KPIs and figures, to communicate the state of the project in all times.
This is a great way to train someone in Project Management and specialize in project scheduling and control. This role has no direct authority on the team, in the sense that the decision power is very limited. However, the main goal is to have the Project Sponsor or Leader informed about the different project aspects, and provide a clear visibility about the project’s execution.
This role can be considered a entry-level role, but an experienced Project Management professional could capitalize greatly on this role. Depending on the project, having access to decision-making staff is a great asset. An experienced Project Management practitioner on a big project, but in a project controller role, can capitalize greatly on influence and impact. Some Project Controller roles need experienced professionals due the project’s complexity and difficulty. Depending on the context, splitting the different levels of authority on the project can be highly beneficial.
Project Manager
This is the most famous role and the one which is the industry standard for addressing the profession. A Project Manager role is typically given to someone who is overseeing an entire project, from start to finish, and will be the main contact point for high relevant matters.
For example, a Project Manager is assigned to a project to helping preparing the scope, and the cost-benefit analysis, and manage the execution until the project’s conclusion. Note that I didn’t mention any reference to the Project Team because the Project Manager is not linked to a team per se. However, the role is linked to the project, on which may have different contributors that may or not, be dedicated to the project. The managing and assignment of the Project team is still made by the Sponsor, who will delegate the ability to control, monitor, and steer the project in a given set of conditions. The project team might come for pools of functions, and each pool has a dedicated Team Leader. For example, a Project Manager who has 3 IT Developers and 1 Tester, may have the team managed by the Team Leader assigned to the IT Developers pool and another from the Tester’s pool.
In practice, a Project Manager doesn’t manage the team. Only the project.
Project Leader
This is the highest level of authority a Sponsor can delegate to a Project Management professional. The main difference between a Project Manager and a Project Leader is the team management component. The Project Leader role, besides managing the project has also the responsibility to managing the staff assigned to the project.
This means the Project Leader is responsible for all aspects of the project, from methodology, scope definition, scheduling, control and monitoring, overseeing the day-to-day activity, and managing the team.
Ironically, is the role more confused with Team Leader, because of the team management part. Where in practice, the Team Leader role has no or little authority over the project execution. In scrum organizations, the Team Leader role might be assigned in some fashion to the scrum master role.
Also to note that Project Management is also confused with Product Management. Where a Product Owner has a different set of responsibilities than a Project Manager. Typically a Product Owner and a Scrum Master should report to a Project Manager or Leader, due to the fact each role has a different set of responsibilities inside the project. Is the Project Manager or Leader’s role to oversee the entirety of the project definition, execution, and finally the delivery.
That’s it. If you find this post useful please share it with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in this topic. If you would like to see a different angle, suggest in the comments or send me a message on Substack.
Cheers,
Artur