Last Updated on September 13, 2023
An assistant project manager can be vital to the success of any digital marketing agency. Their job is to help keep everyone organized, informed, and on track for success! With so many moving parts in each project, it’s essential to know who needs what information at what time for projects to go smoothly. This means that a project manager needs the ability to keep track of multiple deadlines and prioritize them appropriately. Additionally, they will also need excellent communication skills as they interact with clients and internal stakeholders throughout all project stages—plus everything else we’ve outlined below!
The role of an assistant project manager
The virtual project manager engages with stakeholders from initial contact to ensure that their needs are met and that the team works towards an efficient, effective strategy. A stakeholder is someone who has a vested interest in the success of a project or initiative. This can be internal (for example, an employee) or external to your organization (such as a client). Because stakeholders can have different levels of involvement in a project, there are many kinds of stakeholders:
- Clients
- Managers/co-workers
- Vendors
The responsibilities of an assistant project manager
The assistant project manager will coordinate, monitor, oversee and organize projects to ensure that deadlines are met, and that necessary personnel are assigned to tasks and don’t overlap in terms of scheduling. Therefore, the assistant project manager will delegate tasks to different members of the team but also collaborate with different stakeholders. If there are any issues, they will problem-solve or negotiate to resolve the problem. Also, they might offer training but will report back and do so in a presentation.
When working in a marketing agency setting, their excellent communication skills (written & verbal) will shine, laying bare their good organizational skills and excellent attention to detail. Moreover, as they are used to working remotely, they can also work independently on multiple tasks at once while maintaining a high level of quality control on all projects they oversee throughout their shift/workday.
Specific tasks – schedule meetings as necessary or requested by clients or managers
Schedule meetings with clients
The assistant project manager or assistant project coordinator will maintain a calendar of all client meetings and ensure that all clients know their scheduled appointments. The assistant project manager will also ensure that all internal team members of the digital marketing agency are aware of the client’s schedule and prepare for the meeting as needed.
Schedule meetings with internal teams
The assistant project manager or project manager assistant will schedule meetings between the client and various departments within your digital agency, such as a designer, developer, or content strategist.
Schedule meetings with vendors
Suppose you work with vendors on an ongoing basis (such as an SEO firm). In that case, you may want to consider having them meet regularly with your team so they can keep up-to-date on the progress made by everyone involved in managing the account. This is especially important if your digital marketing agency works in multiple industries where there could be complex issues that require immediate resolution at any time during execution (e.g., legal compliance).
Defining the roles
The assistant project manager or project coordinator will define roles within a project, including internal employees and contractors, and identify resources that may need to be allocated to a project. Therefore, as the project manager, they will be responsible for managing all the various project tasks. This means that the project manager will have to stay on top of every aspect of your business, from planning and budgeting to overseeing vendors and contractors. While this is not an easy task, it can become even more complicated when you are working with multiple projects at once or if your company has a large team of internal employees who need to be involved in multiple projects simultaneously.
In order to manage both teams effectively, it’s vital for each project manager to identify their role within each individual project and what resources they will need available to complete their work effectively. The assistant project manager will define roles within a project, including internal employees and contractors, and identify resources that may need to be allocated to a project (if necessary).
The assistant PM or administrative assistant will also work directly with the client during pre-production meetings, where they review concepts before moving on to development; this helps ensure that there are no misunderstandings between the client and the digital marketing agency throughout any given phase of production within an overall digital marketing campaign strategy plan.
Ensuring open communications
The assistant project manager will help ensure that communication is open between all parties involved with the project scope.
As a project manager, communication is key to the success of their projects. To ensure that everyone involved with the project is on the same page, it is vital to ensure that they have clear communication lines between all parties involved. One way to do this is using a project management tool like Asana or Trello. For instance, these tools allow you and your team members to communicate in real-time about what tasks need to be completed, who will complete them, when they will be done, etc., helping keep everyone informed throughout the process.
Ensure deliverables are met in a timely manner
The assistant project manager will work with vendors to ensure deliverables are met in a timely manner based on the project’s scope. This may include:
- assisting with vendor selection
- ensuring you have the right vendors on board
- making sure you have the right deliverables from vendors
- ensuring that vendors are delivering on time and within the scope.
How do assistant project managers ensure the deliverables are within the right timelines?
The assistant project manager will work with managers to ensure that all clients and deadlines are on the same page. This includes making sure that everyone is communicating with each other and getting all the information they need to do their jobs.
The assistant project manager will help define required deliverables in relation to budgets.
The assistant project manager will help define required deliverables in relation to budgets. This includes:
- Assessing budget requirements
- Identifying deliverables for each project
- Understanding the scope of the project and ensuring that all required deliverables are met in a timely manner
The assistant project manager helps keep everyone organized, informed, and on track for success!
You may be thinking, “Wait a second. I’ve worked with project managers before, and they were great! Why would I need an assistant project manager?”
Well, it’s simple: the role of an assistant project manager is often overlooked. But the truth is that this position is critical to any successful company—and it can make all the difference between success and failure.
If you’re wondering what an assistant project manager does (and why they’re so important), read on!
The bottom line
As a project manager, your job is to ensure that projects run smoothly. The assistant project manager supports you with this by providing a wealth of information about the objectives and scope of the project, as well as keeping everyone organized and on track for success!
