At 8:40 a project manager opens three things before email: the risk log, yesterday's status notes and the calendar for the sponsor check-in. None of that is writing code or laying bricks. A project manager owns the plan, the schedule, the budget, the risks and the communication that keep a team pointed at one agreed result. The sponsor owns the reason and the money, and the team owns the craft.

That split sounds tidy and rarely is, which is why "what are a project manager's roles and responsibilities?" keeps being asked in every office that runs projects. This guide answers it in four cuts: a single working morning, the five phases of a project, the line between the manager, the sponsor and the team, and the way the job grows from junior to senior. The IAPM Certified Project Manager (CPM) appears near the end, because that exam tests exactly this division of duties.
What does a project manager actually do on an ordinary morning?
Picture a Tuesday in the middle of a project, with no crisis scheduled. The manager's first half hour is reading, not meeting. The risk log shows one item that has moved from "possible" to "likely": a supplier has hinted that a delivery may slip by a week. Yesterday's notes show that one of the testers is blocked by a missing access request. The calendar shows a sponsor check-in at 11:00 and a change request waiting for a decision.