Software development project manager: Role in dedicated teams

In software development, a project manager isn’t just there to schedule meetings. They plan and oversee the entire project lifecycle, from the initial discovery session to final delivery, ensuring it’s completed on time, within budget, and aligned with your business goals.

If you're a client, your project manager is your primary point of contact. They keep you informed, resolve problems before they escalate, and ensure your vision translates into a functioning, high-quality product.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

• What software development project managers actually do
• The core skills they bring to the table
• What their day-to-day responsibilities look like
• How our project managers work with clients
• Tips for a productive client-PM relationship

Who is a software development project manager?

A software development project manager is the person responsible for managing the software project and making decisions to ensure a successful project outcome. Successful software project management requires an active manager, not a reactive one.

Essential responsibilities of software project managers include:

• Planning. Creating a project plan and risk management procedures.
• Organizing. Making decisions on project organization, resource, and task allocation.
• Directing. Overseeing daily operations and directing decision execution.
• Monitoring. Ensuring the required progress to meet predetermined timelines.

Essential skills of software development project managers

A software project manager needs a wide range of skills to perform well in their role. Since they’re responsible for the success of the entire project, they need to be organized, detail-oriented, communicative, and empathetic.

A crackerjack software project manager has these skills.

Budget planning

A project manager is responsible for planning the budget that’s appropriate for the client, as well as for achieving project goals. A bunch of things can go wrong with planning, so great project managers minimize risks by involving clients from the start.

When a project manager and a client plan the budget, they account for those things. For example, clients bring accurate budget data while project managers make realistic estimations based on it. That’s why this collaboration is one of the best ways to ensure project success.

Decision-making

When working on custom software projects, a project manager makes decisions daily. Besides decisions made during planning, they also have to make sure everything goes according to plan, which means tons of additional things.

That’s why project managers have specific strategies for making decisions. A common one is analytical, when the manager insists on having all the facts before reaching any conclusions, regardless of how long fact-gathering takes.

Risk management

Good project managers know the common types of risks software projects face, as well as ways to prevent, handle, and mitigate them. That’s why they work hard to identify, understand, and plan for risks that are unique to your project.

Then, project managers present their findings to clients. In addition to the analysis of potential risks, they will also come up with specific management strategies. A common strategy includes info about risk prioritization, monitoring, communication, and mitigating action.

Employee motivation

A top-notch project manager looks for ways to motivate the team and keep performance high. Motivation goes beyond checks and includes giving recognition, helping in difficult situations, encouraging a culture of openness, and trusting the team.

Together, these motivation areas have a very positive impact on software development teams. To achieve this goal, the next skill is essential.

Verbal and written communication

Frequent, clear, open, and honest communication is key to both high performance and motivation. A successful software project manager is respectful and can communicate transparently and honestly, both in speaking and writing.

This essential skill helps avoid tons of potential issues, including misunderstandings, interpersonal conflicts, delays, and unnecessary stress.

Knowledge of software project management styles

Have you heard about Scrum? This is a strategy development teams use to be as productive and efficient as possible. Good software project managers adhere to Scrum values to ensure a transparent and understandable development process.

If you’re not familiar with Scrum, your project manager will walk you through the entire strategy. We won’t talk about it here, but your manager must engage you in Scrum events: two-week planning (sprint planning), daily scrum (daily planning meetings), sprint review (work assessment), and retro (improvement planning).

Leadership

All the skills we’ve mentioned make up this one. An effective project manager and a leader can motivate, make effective decisions, and communicate clearly and transparently with everyone.

If you’re looking for a project manager for your software development, consider Globaldev. Here’s a Clutch review from our client about one of Globaldev’s professionals (and you’re welcome to read more):

“Oksana was very responsive at all stages of this project, she was very clear and ensured that we were kept abreast of all aspects of development and finances. She was also quick to adjust according to what worked best for us, for example while the bulk of communication between us and the development happened on slack, she quickly adjusted to the fact that our team worked better on WhatsApp and without hesitation continued the conversation there.

There was never a moment where she felt unreachable or difficult to work with. Deliverable timelines were met on a timely basis. In short Oksana is and has always been willing to go above and beyond.”

— Executive at Daberli

Software development project manager roles

We have a better idea of the importance of project managers in software development now. Let’s now go over the specific roles they perform during project execution, so you know more about their daily activities.

Leading the team

A software project manager’s leadership skills shine every day. Even though dedicated software development teams are highly organized, they still need a proficient mentor, problem-solver, facilitator, and motivator.

That’s why a project manager will be everywhere as the project starts. They’ll be there to give an appraisal for good work, lead meetings, point out shortcomings, encourage deeper cooperation, spot a potential problem, etc.

Watching over processes

Weekly meetings. Daily meetings. Check-ins. Messaging. Once again, project managers are everywhere, making sure that everything goes according to plan and deadline. That doesn’t mean interfering and disturbing, but rather coordinating.

Skilled project managers make this process more efficient with task management software (Jira, Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Monday.com, Zoho Projects, etc.). They create project tasks, timesheets, task statuses, budget statuses, top performers’ ratings, and other tools to streamline the process of competition.

Communicating with clients

Your project manager is your go-to person and the bridge between you and the development team. Need an update? Want clarity on a decision? Curious about what’s coming next? Just ask. They’ll keep you in the loop with regular updates, reports, and quick answers so you always know where things stand.

And since you’ll be talking a lot, don’t be surprised if the conversation occasionally drifts beyond the project. A quick chat about your weekend isn’t off-topic, but a sign of trust and a solid working relationship.

Managing risks

Risk management is an ongoing task for project managers. During the initial phase of software development, they work with developers to find and prepare for potential problems. Later, during project execution, they work on discovering and mitigating new and potential risks.

As a client, you will stay on top of all risks from the beginning thanks to the project managers. For example, they might recommend that you make small changes to the software to reduce a potential risk found during project execution.

Monitoring the use of the budget

Using both task management software and planning documents, software project managers keep an eye on the budget. They are aware of budget-related matters to prevent cost overruns.

While it might be okay for a software project to end up costing a few percent over the budget (new features, updated security, etc.), it’s a project manager’s responsibility to keep finances in order. This includes all finance-related tasks, such as estimating labor hours, dividing responsibilities, monitoring progress, closing out milestones, etc.

Motivating the team

Motivated developers are fast, efficient, and productive. That’s why team motivation is a daily task of good software project managers. They need to understand how to build team spirit, motivate everybody, and boost morale when things get a bit challenging.

To achieve these goals, project managers assign proper tasks (problem-solving, working to benefit others, and technical challenges, for example, are top motivators for programmers), conduct team-building exercises, give recognition and rewards, and do other things.

Resolving any occurring problems

Problems like conflicts occur in many software projects, and project managers are your first line of defense against them. They act quickly to minimize progress disruptions and instruct team members to contact them in case there’s something wrong.

So, in case there’s a problem that needs your attention, your project manager will let you know. In any case, their job is to find ways to resolve any issues as soon as possible.

Looking for ways to improve processes

Can we be more productive? Are there ways to reduce inefficiencies?

Project managers regularly analyze the effectiveness of work processes to find ways to improve performance and eliminate wasted effort.

While a project manager does most of this job themselves, significant decisions will be made by you. So, you’ll be aware of and involved in decision-making regarding any efficiency- and process improvement-related initiatives.

Ensuring effective communication within the team

To improve communication in the software development team, project managers employ many techniques. First and foremost, they establish an open-door policy — simply said, they encourage voicing concerns, asking questions, and pitching ideas at any time.

Also, they are responsible for deciding on online communication tools, training employees to communicate (if required), and handling any related issues and misunderstandings.

Finding continuous education opportunities for the team

Opportunities for professional development are one of the key job satisfaction factors for software developers. If they get those opportunities, they’ll be more likely to be highly productive, happy, motivated, and consequently, less likely to quit.

Besides project tasks, project managers look for ways to help the team grow. This means buying online courses, assigning challenging tasks when appropriate, and surveying the team to know their own needs.

How project managers work at Globaldev

Globaldev Group is a full-service software development company with over 15 years in the game, and more than 350 experts in-house. We work with both startups and large businesses in need of quality custom software.

We figured this was a good moment to highlight the people behind the process — our project managers. Every client at Globaldev works with a dedicated PM who’s involved from day one through to launch. That means you get consistent support, clear communication, and someone keeping a close eye on every detail from start to finish.

Here are a couple of reasons why you should choose Globaldev:

• Experience. View our client portfolio, see our awards, and read the reviews.
• Transparency. Our teams communicate effortlessly and share progress consistently.
• Non-disclosure. We protect your software idea properly with privacy policies and contracts.
• Easy monitoring. Check progress at any time via secure project management software.
• Complete service. Get access to all the brainpower needed to make your project go live.

How to collaborate with software development project managers

Haven’t worked with software development partners before? Want to know how to make your collaboration with your project manager successful? These tips will help.

Treat PMs like partners

Your remote dedicated team becomes a sort of branch of your company. So, it makes sense to treat a project manager as a partner rather than just a contractor because they’re kind of “running a branch.”

Share your vision and demands

Close and honest collaboration between a client and a software project manager is essential to define the most important project requirements and goals. Keep in mind that the manager wants to create a project according to your vision.

Meet frequently (even daily)

Regular video meetings ensure a consistent flow of information, so both the project manager and the client stay on the same page about everything. If your software partner adheres to Scrum principles, this means you can participate in meetings daily.

Use robust project management software

Project management apps like JIRA and Asana make it easy to follow project progress, timelines, achievements, and other helpful KPIs. So, your project manager will make sure you can track everything at any time.

Ask to provide regular team feedback

A good software project manager keeps a pulse on the team’s mood, work environment, and idea flow. Feel free to ask yours to keep you updated on how your team feels — this’ll help you be more involved and engaged.

Find a great software project manager

Having a skilled software development project manager is crucial to successful project completion. Even having the best product idea, the most skilled team, and a multimillion-dollar budget doesn’t guarantee success unless there’s a competent manager overseeing everything. If you’re looking for a reliable software development partner with skilled project managers at the core, schedule a call with our consultants or write us a line. We’d be happy to help bring your next project to life.