Project managers sit between administrators and end users, carrying delivery, adoption, and reporting accuracy all at once. This piece breaks down how organizational structure shapes the PM role, how to measure PM impact fairly, and how to communicate results to leadership, users, and admins differently.
Overview
Project managers are not just another Workfront user type. In most organizations, they sit between the system administrator and the end user, translating process into day-to-day behavior. They are often responsible not only for project delivery, but also for the quality of the data that leadership sees.
That means project managers often carry three responsibilities at once:
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Delivery coordination, to keep work moving
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Behavior enablement, to teach contributors how to use Workfront effectively
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Visibility management, to ensure project data is accurate enough to support reporting and decision-making
A project manager is often held accountable for project outcomes and reporting accuracy, even when the root issue sits elsewhere. Contributors may not update work consistently, leadership may want visibility without understanding the discipline required to maintain it, and admins may own the setup but not see the day-to-day friction inside active projects.
How your organization type changes your role
Project managers do not all operate in the same environment. The way your organization is structured can influence how much authority you have, how adoption is encouraged, and how much support you can expect from leadership or administrators, whether you're an embedded PM, part of a centralized PMO, on a dedicated PM team, or a doer-PM managing both process and delivery.
Tracking project manager impact
PM results in Workfront are always shaped by three groups: project managers create structure, visibility, and follow-through; end users keep task and project data current through timely updates; and admins make sure the system is configured in ways that support real execution. As you define metrics, be careful not to treat project health as a PM-only outcome. It's usually a shared outcome, with the PM acting as the coordinator and translator.
Managing outcomes, volume:
Create a year-over-year completed campaigns report in Workfront to visualize your team's output each year, track progress, celebrate wins, and identify risks early.
Managing outcomes, efficiency:
Demonstrating efficiency gains is a key way to earn executive trust and unlock future investment. Leverage the Core Value Dashboard Blueprint to identify trends, surface inefficiencies, and drive continuous improvement, then quantify total hours saved and translate that into business value.
Managing outcomes, advanced:
Go beyond standard reports with tools like cross-project predecessors, calculated custom fields, Business Case and Portfolio Optimizer, and Reporting Canvas to give leadership a clearer, more actionable view of project health.
Communicating project results
Effective communication bridges the gap between raw data and actionable insights. Project managers need to communicate differently depending on who they are trying to influence:
For leadership:
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Delivery trends
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Risk visibility
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Workload or bottleneck patterns
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What decisions or support are needed
For end users:
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What needs to be updated
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What "good" task hygiene looks like
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Why timely updates help the team, not just the PM
For admins:
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Where users are confused
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What fields, templates, or workflows are breaking down
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What causes reporting inconsistency
Workfront is an incredibly powerful tool, but its value comes down to how users and administrators use it. If configurations aren't set up properly and templates behave wildly, people avoid it. But if teams work through those difficulties because they see the potential on the other side, there's a tremendous amount of opportunity to grow.
— Tim Wyckoff, Creative Workflow & Operations Manager, Shaw Industries
Summary
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Visibility depends on consistent execution. Accurate reporting starts with strong daily habits like timely updates, clear ownership, and proactive follow-through.
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Healthy data strengthens accountability. When project information stays current and reliable, teams can respond faster and leaders can make better decisions.
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Project managers turn priorities into trusted execution. PMs create value by reinforcing accountability, improving visibility, and communicating results in ways that help teams and leaders stay aligned.
FAQ
What's the difference between an embedded PM and a doer-PM?
An embedded PM typically sits inside a business unit or team, while a doer-PM manages both the delivery process and the hands-on work itself, rather than having those split across separate roles.
Should project health metrics be tied only to the PM?
No. Project health is a shared outcome across PMs, end users, and admins. PMs coordinate and translate, but data quality and system configuration depend on all three groups doing their part.
How should a PM report results differently to leadership versus end users?
Leadership needs delivery trends, risk visibility, and the decisions or support they can act on. End users need clarity on what to update, what good task hygiene looks like, and why it matters to the team, not just to the PM.
What's one way to demonstrate PM efficiency gains to leadership?
Use a tool like the Core Value Dashboard Blueprint to surface inefficiencies and trends, then quantify hours saved and translate that into business value leadership can act on.