1. Project Manager

If your first step into management is project management, then this is you!

As we discussed in Chapter 1, Why Do You Want to Become a Manager?, there are broadly three categories of managers in the software development context. Becoming a Project Manager (PM) is an increasingly popular way for developers, and techies in general, to transition into management. This is because project management is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and intrinsic part of most jobs, in software and IT in general, as well as in other industries.

Although the modern Project Manager is a versatile role, a key distinction is that it has no direct people- or line-management responsibilities. The main role of the Project Manager is to facilitate the process of delivering the project.

To achieve this, the Project Manager has three key responsibilities:

• Planning
• Controlling
• Reporting

Let's have a look at each of those responsibilities.