In any area of human activity the managerial position stands out as a key one. Especially if the person who holds it is not thrust into the leadership position by his\her superiors with no regard to what the rest of staff think about it (as in the case of the s.c. artificial promotion), but his\her rise to carear highs has been secured by an intensive personal and professional growth, and his "authority" status and professionalism been recognized on both sides - by the project participants and the clients.
In each area of human activity there are, of course, some specific conditions for acquiring the status /position/ of a Project Manager. In construction, for instance, the only person who can qualify to be a construction superintendent is the one who knows the exact number of bricks required for this or that piece of brickwork. These skills can only be acquired in the course of extended practice. As for the IT sphere (and web - development in particular), it is quite the same. And originally I was sure that a to-be a PM should primarily be a well-experienced programmer.
At this point I can formulate the following definition of this term:
Project manageris a skillful "architect" who not being directly involved in writing codes himself, distributes tasks among all parties, and makes sure that the agreed deadlines are kept and volumes attended. He also sees to that all resources necessary for the project completion be supplied in due course. Such a person is also qualified enough to run the team’s motivation and stimulation programmes, and acts as a connecting link between the client (customer) and the team, at that.
The above definition implies that a PM is, first and foremost, the person who has got high organizational skills. A good PM who is engaged in the IT-sphere can achieve similar results in various, not very specific (technologically) spheres, too. Incidentally, understanding and proper planning of the relevant business processes is a key requirement hereby. And it is in response to his\her psychological motivation effort and personal energy that performers are "encouraged" to show their useful activity.
I have essentially changed my viewpoint at the professional qualities needed in and requirements being in demand in the Web development project management only after I’d gotten the full scope of experience working as a PM in the InternetDevels company (never being a programmer myself, neither by profession nor by calling).