How to Make the Project Coordinator Role Effective | Video

The Project Coordinator role (and others like it) are a great entry point into the world of Project Management. But what do you need to do to be effective in the role?

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Project Coordinators

Project Coordinators support the Project Manager in constructing plans, coordinating resources, monitoring progress, reporting, and communicating with stakeholders. They help keep projects or programs on schedule, within budget, on scope, to quality requirements, and working efficiently.

Interpretations of the Project Coordinator Role

There is a wide range of interpretations of the role description for a Project Coordinator – across different geographies, different sectors, and – let’s face it – in every different organization. And there are a lot of adjacent job titles with such significant overlap in usage that it makes sense to treat them all as one. For example, we also have:

• Project Officer
• Project Administrator
• Project Admin
• Project Controller
• Project Support Staff

Don’t be seduced into trying to interpret these words rigidly. While you may be able to, someone else may have entirely different associations for these terms. What matters is the individual Job or Role Description.

Effective Project Coordinator

Since it is so hard to answer the question ‘What do they do?’ in a definitive way, let’s instead answer the question ‘How can they do it in an effective way?’

I’ll divide my answer into three sections:

1. Technical Project Skills
2. Additional Capabilities
3. Attitudes

You will notice that the attitudes list that is the largest!

Technical Project Skills

• Scheduling
• Budgeting
• Data gathering
• Risk Management
• Project monitoring and measurement

Additional Capabilities

• Data Analysis and Summary
• Data presentation
• Software – Project and Office 
• Note-taking
• Numeracy and financial modeling 
• Procurement
• Personal time management 
• People skills
• Report preparation
• Deliver presentations
• Facilitate workshops
• Mediate conflict
• Negotiation

Attitudes

• Can do
• Willingness
• Organized
• Listening
• Willingness to work through repetitive tasks
• Attention to detail
• Collaborative
• Diligence
• Resilience
• Reliability
• Integrity
• Innovative
• Embracing technology
• Consistency
• Growth mindset

Recommended Videos to Help with Project Coordination

Carefully curated video recommendations for you:

• The Project Control Paradox | Video
• How to Maintain Document Version Control on Your Project | Video
• 10 Ways to Say Thank You to Your Team | Video
• The Single Best Team Effectiveness Tool | Video
• Real Project Team: What Will You Do to Create One? | Video

Recommended Articles to Help with Project Coordination

• Monitoring and Controlling: What is The PMBOK 7 Measurement Performance Domain?
• Project Document Management: How to Organize and Manage Project Information

What Kit does a Project Manager Need?

I asked Project Managers in a couple of forums what material things you need to have, to do your job as a Project Manager. They responded magnificently. I compiled their answers into a Kit list. I added my own. 

Check out the Kit a Project Manager needs

Note that the links are affiliated.

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For more of our videos in themed collections, join our Free Academy of Project Management.