Project Coordinator

Hello,

I got an test invitation to write about project coordination role which is described in below:

Automotive and Surface Transportation portfolio (AST) has the mandate to advance product and process technologies for producing more fuel-efficient, affordable, and environmentally-responsible ground vehicles and to deliver engineering solutions to complex technology challenges facing surface transport industries, including heavy vehicle and rail.

The Project Management Coordinator supports Project Management activities, develops and maintains project plans using SAP Project Systems. In collaboration with Project Managers, he or she implements project plans within the PS Module of SAP, changes to those project plans via the change approval process, monitors project data quality and resolves any identified problems. The incumbent provides recommendations for the continuous improvement of project management processes and tools. The Project Coordinator provides administrative and coordination support for the Project Management Support Office Team Lead, Project Managers, and other Research Officers.

Do you have any idea what type of questions they might ask me?

Of course the duties and responsibilities should be clear but what is meant by a laughing pad ?

Hi Rami,
As your thread relates particularly to my current position I felt it was a good time for me to contribute!
I am a project coordinator currently, but as my role has progressed I have indeed become more of a junior project manager. When I first started in my role I understood my position description and knew that it was very "admin based". But I made it clear with my employer that I wanted to offer more than this. Once I was up to speed with the admin side and operating as the administrator for our project server, I began to co-manage projects with my superior, and after just over a year I am now managing projects on my own within the business.

Like other and yourself have said, it is crucial to communicate the roles and responsibilities at the very beginning, and I think any PC with the drive to become a PM will do so. I feel a lot of PC roles are admin based, but I also feel it is partly up to the person within that role to ensure that they are not simply seen as admin support. By being in this position you are in the passenger seat with experienced project managers who you can learn a lot from, and use this to shape your own PM expertise and put this into use to eventually become a driver also.

I think Vincent meant launching pad, Rami.

Rami, the easiest analagy would be to see the project manager as the project CEO and the project coordinator as the project COO.

If your project is small enough you can handle both CEO and COO roles.

You may find that you need more than just a COO. You may need a project office to handle all PM work. If that's the case, I would make the PC manager of the PO.

Based on the 3 pages of conversation, it sounds like most Project Coordinator (PC) responsibilities are administrative or tactical in nature. I can understand the training purpose when PC is designed to be a start point to help the individual grow into Project Manager (PM) responsibilities. But, I'm wondering - if its an ongoing role how efficient is it to have a PC supporting the PM? It seems that if the PC is going to do work like update project schedules, handle communications, etc. the PC needs a lot of the same knowledge as the PM. It seems like there would be some duplication of effort with the 2 participating in the same calls/meetings or with the PM spending much time explaining info to the PC so that the PC in turn could input it to a tool? Help me understand how this combo of roles can work together efficiently day-to-day?

Based on the 3 pages of conversation, it sounds like most Project Coordinator (PC) responsibilities are administrative or tactical in nature. I can understand the training purpose when PC is designed to be a start point to help the individual grow into Project Manager (PM) responsibilities. But, I'm wondering - if its an ongoing role how efficient is it to have a PC supporting the PM? It seems that if the PC is going to do work like update project schedules, handle communications, etc. the PC needs a lot of the same knowledge as the PM. It seems like there would be some duplication of effort with the 2 participating in the same calls/meetings or with the PM spending much time explaining info to the PC so that the PC in turn could input it to a tool? Help me understand how this combo of roles can work together efficiently day-to-day?