The Relationship Manager: The Next Generation of Project Management

Traditionally, project managers have been allocated a project and their role has been to deliver on time, to quality standards and within budget. With hindsight the client only recognizes what they really want once the project is delivered - and there is often a gap between expectation and final product. The project management role is now changing and the total impact on the business needs to be addressed more effectively - enter the relationship manager. The true role of the relationship manager is to act as an orchestral conductor; to go to the client and demonstrate his understanding of the client's short, medium and long-term objectives; to translate this into a form which the project team can address; and to receive from the project team a specification of the work to be undertaken, including plans, estimates and schedules, together with detailed work and cost breakdown structures to check that they have really understood what needs to be done and when - and only when the relationship manager is satisfied does he return to the client to sell value. This text has been written to fill the gap between technical and business aspects of successful project delivery. It provides practical guidance on how to make this new way of working a reality and details the skills and techniques necessary to make a success of contemporary developments in project management.