Project Management: A Managerial Approach Chapter – The Project Manager â 2006 John Wiley Overview • • PMs and Organizational Alignment Key PM Responsibilities Career Management PM “Realities” PM Selection PM Considerations © 2006 John Wiley Project Management and the Project Manager • The Functional Manager vs The Project Manager – Functional managers are usually specialists, analytically oriented and they know the details of each operation for which they are responsible – Project managers must be generalists that can oversee many functional areas and have the ability to put the pieces of a task together to form a coherent whole © 2006 John Wiley Functional Manager and the PM • The Functional Manager – Analytical Approach – Direct, technical supervisor • The Project Manager – Systems Approach – Facilitator and generalist © 2006 John Wiley Organizations and Functional Manager The Functional Manager â 2006 John Wiley Project Management and the PM • The PM © 2006 John Wiley Project Management and the PM • Major questions face the PM: – What needs to be done? – When must it be done? – How are the resources required to this job going to be obtained? • PM is responsible for organizing, staffing, budgeting, directing, planning, and controlling the project © 2006 John Wiley Responsibilities of a PM • Responsibility to the Parent Organization • Responsibility to the Client • Responsibility to the Team Members • Above all, the PM must never allow senior management to be surprised—be prepared to give “bad news” © 2006 John Wiley Responsibilities to the Parent Organization • • • • • Conservation of resources Timely and accurate project communications Careful, competent management of the project Protect the firm from high risk Accurate reporting of project status with regard to budget and schedule © 2006 John Wiley Responsibilities of the PM • Responsibility to the Client – Preserve integrity of project and client – Resolve conflict among interested parties – Ensure performance, budgets, and deadlines are met • Responsibility to project team members – Fairness, consistency, respect, honesty – Concern for members’ future after project © 2006 John Wiley Multiple Communication Paths • Most of the project manager’s time is spent communicating with the many groups interested in the project – Considerable time must be spent selling, reselling, and explaining the project – Interested parties include: • Top management • Functional departments • Clients • Members of the project team â 2006 John Wiley Communication Realities To effectively deal with the demands, a PM must understand and deal with certain fundamental issues: – – – – Must understand why the project exists Critical to have the support of top management Build and maintain a solid information network Must be flexible in many ways, with as many people, and about as many activities as possible throughout the life of the project © 2006 John Wiley Selecting the Project Manager • Some key attributes, skills, and qualities that have been sought in PM are: – – – – – – – – Strong technical background Assertive and successful functional manager Mature and calm Someone who is currently available Someone on good terms with senior executives Knows how to keep a team focused and inspired Experience in several different fucntions A person who can walk on (or part) the waters â 2006 John Wiley PM Selection Criteria Four major categories of skills that are required for the PM and serve as the key criteria for selection: – Credibility – Sensitivity – Managerial skills and adaptive leadership style – Ability to handle stress and conflict © 2006 John Wiley Credibility • The PM needs two kinds of credibility: – Technical credibility – • Perceived by key stakeholders as possessing sufficient technical knowledge to direct the project – Conversational competence – Administrative credibility • Keeping the project on schedule and within costs • Making sure reports are accurate and timely • Ensuring project team has material, equipment, and labor when needed â 2006 John Wiley Sensitivity There are several ways for project managers to display sensitivity: – Understanding the organization’s political structure – Sense interpersonal conflict on the project team or between team members and outsiders – Does not avoid conflict, but confronts it and deals with it before it escalates – Keeps team members focused on problems not people – Situational “radar” ability to sense when team members may try to “sweep things under the rug” © 2006 John Wiley Leadership Style • Leadership: “interpersonal influence, exercised in situation and directed through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals.” • Other attributes may include: – – – – – – – enthusiasm optimism energy tenacity courage personal maturity adaptability © 2006 John Wiley The PM “Moral Compass” • A PM must also have a strong sense of ethics Some common ethical missteps are listed below: – “wired” bids and contracts (the winner has been predetermined) – “buy-in” (bidding low with the intention of cutting corners or forcing subsequent contract changes) – “kickbacks” – “covering” for team members (group cohesiveness) – taking “shortcuts” (to meet deadlines or budgets) – using marginal (substandard) materials – compromising on safety – violating standards – consultant (e.g., auditors) loyalties (to employer or to client or to public) © 2006 John Wiley The PM Ethics Code - © 2006 John Wiley The PM Ethics Code - © 2006 John Wiley PM and Stress • Four major causes of stress associated PM role: – Never developing a consistent set of procedures and techniques with which to manage their work – Many PMs have “too much on their plates” – Some PMs have a high need to achieve that is frustrated by the tradeoffs – The parent organization is in the middle of major change © 2006 John Wiley Multicultural Communications and Managerial Behavior • The importance of language cannot be overstated – Communication cannot be separated from the communicator – Managerial and personal behaviors of the PM must be considered in the communication process • Structure and style of communications Managerial and personal behavior â 2006 John Wiley Multicultural Communications and Managerial Behavior • Structure and Style of Communications: – In the United States, delegation is a preferred managerial style – In cultures where authority is highly centralized, it becomes the project manager’s responsibility to seek out information – The manager of an international project cannot count on being voluntarily informed of problems and potential problems by his or her subordinates © 2006 John Wiley Multicultural Communications and Managerial Behavior • Managerial and Personal Behavior – In a society with highly structured social classes, it is difficult to practice participative management – There is an assumption that the more educated, higher-class manager’s authority will be denigrated by using a participative style – The more structured a country’s social system, the less direct managerial communication tends to be © 2006 John Wiley Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc All rights reserved Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted in section 117 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without express permission of the copyright owner is unlawful Request for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc The Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information herein © 2006 John Wiley ... Functional Manager – Analytical Approach – Direct, technical supervisor • The Project Manager – Systems Approach – Facilitator and generalist â 2006 John Wiley Organizations and Functional Manager... Functional Manager vs The Project Manager – Functional managers are usually specialists, analytically oriented and they know the details of each operation for which they are responsible – Project managers... for a project must be “borrowed” – At times, functional managers may become jealous if they perceive a project as more glamorous than their own functional area – Typically, the functional manager