JPM & PM Responsibilities
Quick Tip!
The responsibilities outlined in this article are flexible. JPMs and PMs should work together to determine the best course of action for their project.
Helpful Staff for this Topic
Who’s Who?
The Junior Project Manager
Junior Project Managers (JPMs) are Corps employees from any of our five teams outside of the PM Team. To be a JPM, you must complete several weeks of training, which is led by the PM team.
JPMs manage anywhere from 1-5 projects depending on experience, available hours, and desire to JPM.
The Project Manager
The Digital Corps has a dedicated PM Team. As such, employees hired onto the PM Team spend all of their hours…PM-ing. Like the other teams, these students complete one full semester of training.
PMs manage approximately 10-15 projects depending on the workload of the semester.
Responsibility Breakdown
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, these responsibilities are flexible, hence the dotted lines. PMs and JPMs should communicate often to determine the best responsibility breakdown for your project.
Most of the responsibilities listed are fairly clear, but read on for more details.
Shared Responsibilities
Agendas
The JPM and PM collaborate to create meeting agendas. Some PMs schedule weekly time to meet with JPMs. Other PMs will simply review the agendas that their JPM makes. Either way, agendas must be posted in the channel two hours before your meeting.
Review the article on creating agendas for more details on the content of agendas.
Communication with the Team
Both the PM and JPM are expected to communicate frequently with your team. This communication takes the form of in-person check-ins, channel updates, and project meetings.
Quick Tip!
Avoid communicating in direct messages. Chances are that someone else will want to know what you are talking about, too.
DMs should be reserved for personal matters that may affect a project.
DMs should NOT be your first form of communication for a project.
Establish your communication expectations early in the project kick-off. Who will do check-ins? Who sends reminder messages in the channel? The JPM and PM need to be on the same page so you avoid the “I thought you were doing that” scenario.
JPM Responsibilities
Basecamp
One of the primary responsibilities of a JPM is to maintain a project’s Basecamp. Your PM can offer guidance with due dates or with how tasks should be broken up, but it is the JPM’s job to keep it up to date.
Review the Basecamp 101 article here for a walkthrough of the entire process.
Note-Taking
While the creation of agendas is a shared responsibility, recording a meeting’s official notes usually falls on the JPM’s shoulders.
As you take notes, consider the following:
- expected due dates
- feedback or revisions discussed
- the review process for a deliverable
As previously mentioned, these responsibilities are flexible. So, if the JPM is leading the meeting, they can expect their PM to take official meeting notes..
For more tips on note-taking, review the “Note-Taking Best Practices” article.
Break-out Meetings
Break-out meetings are special, one-off meetings that are scheduled on a case-by-case basis. Do your developers need to think through a problem together? Has your UX-er had scheduling conflicts with the designers?
Pay close attention to these roadblocks that your team might mention. They may benefit from a break-out meeting.
The JPM should create an official calendar invite and be sure to include a location. In-person meetings need to include BC205 as the location.
PM Responsibilities
Client Emails
The PM will often be asked to draft client emails, however, the sending of said emails is a staff responsibility.
Depending on the client, this email draft may either go through the formal review process or it might just be shared directly with the staff member that will send it.
People Management
This is an informal term that the PM team uses to describe some of the help a PM can provide. Think of “people management” as helping to balance workloads, adjusting timelines, and helping to prioritize a student’s task list.
If you ever feeling overwhelmed, feel to ask a PM to help you review your workload and determine how you might get a handle on it.
Scheduling Weekly Project Meetings
The PM of a project is in charge of scheduling the weekly project meeting. They find the best time for the most people to attend.
In large projects, where there may not be a single time for everyone to meet, multiple project meetings will be scheduled.
Giving Extensions
The PM will work with staff to determine what extensions can be given.
JPMs are not allowed to give extensions without first communicating with their PM.
If a JPM is approached by a team member to ask for an extension, they need to communicate with their PM, who will help make the final decision.
Staff Responsibilities
Cancelling a Weekly Meeting
A JPM and PM should request a meeting cancellation 24 hours prior to the scheduled time. There should be a concrete reason for the cancellation.
Examples include:
- The team is waiting for client feedback.
- The project is on hold.
- The team needs additional time to meet a tight deadline.
NOTE: If Staff approve of a meeting cancellation, the JPM and PM need to make sure to cancel the outlook invite as well as notify their team in the channel.
Excused Absences for a Weekly Meeting
If anyone needs to miss a meeting, they need to request the absence in advance. Use the “Report Absence” workflow found in the lightning bolt icon in the #official-business slack channel.
For Clarification on Responsibilities…
Remember, these responsibilities are flexible and will likely look different for every project. The JPM and PM should discuss expectations of one another early in the project process to avoid potential miscommunication.
If you’re ever unsure of what is expected of you, start by asking your PM for clarification. If you both need clarification, ask Brandon for additional help.
