Learn in the textbookProject Structure and Key Roles
DefinitionA project manager (プロジェクトマネージャ) bears responsibility for meeting the project's goals and is the manager who draws up the plan, checks progress and deals with problems.
ExplanationThe project manager is appointed in initiating and, in planning, balances the three constraints shown in the figure. The core of the job is not doing the work personally but planning, acting early on gaps between plan and actual results, and coordinating among the people involved. When a request arrives midway to change the work or the deliverables, it goes through change control (変更管理), which estimates the impact and decides whether to approve it.
AnalogyIt is like the site supervisor on a house build. Rather than raising posts in person, the supervisor sets the order of work, keeps an eye on material deliveries and crew bookings, and reshuffles the steps when something slips.
Memory hookManage comes from the Latin manus, "hand", and first meant handling a horse. Picture someone holding the reins and setting the direction for everyone.