Course: Project Management Level: MBA INSTRUCTIONS: a) All written assignments must be well organized, presented in an easy-to-ready format, and neat. If your hand writing is not legible, type or compose the written assign ass ignmen ment. t. Mo More reov over er,, pa pay y pa parti rticu cular lar clo close se at atten tentio tion n to gr gram amma marr sp spell ellin ing g punctuation and understandability. Communication is extremely important in this course. b) Documentation is likewise very important. Un-supported statements or opinions are worth less to the reader reader, who desires desires to veri verify fy your finding. finding. Complete Complete and specific documentation is mandatory. Also your reference should be to primary sources, except I rare unusual situations. c) Quoting should be kept to an absolute minimum. d) Assume for each assignment that you have been given research to do on behalf of the client. The information you prepare will be used by your supervisor as he or she meets with the client or with the revenue agent.
Q:1 Pr Proje oject ct ma manag nagers ers ar aree us usual ually ly ded dedica icated ted and com commi mitte tted d to the proje pr oject. ct. Who sho should uld be” loo looki king ng ove overr th thee sh shoul oulder der” ” of th thee pr proje oject ct manager to make sure that the work and requests are also in the best interest of the company? Does your answer depend on the priority of the project? Give practical examples from your employing organization.
Effect Ef fective ive pro projec jectt team lea leader dershi ship p is pro probabl bably y the mos mostt imp import ortant ant fac factor tor tha thatt wil willl determine whether or not a project will be successful. Without leadership, project teams splinter into smaller groups and slowly drift apart to work on their own set of objectives resulting in a lack of effective communication, conflicting roles and responsibilities, redundant work, and all too often, rework. If a project manager does not establish a leadership role and a clear set of responsibilities for the project team at the start of the project, it will be difficult to develop a cohesive and high performing team. A critical factor in conditioning a team for success is for the project manager to take the time to establish expectations about team performance before that actual scope of work and project details are introduced. The project manager is, in many ways, similar to the coach of a sports team. The coach seeks out talent, identifies potential in each player and plans
to develop those players who need some additional support. That additional support is most effective when it comes from other team members The more experienced or skilled players create an environment of support that in turn creates a team wide feeling of confidence. It all begins with effective leadership. Upon approval of a project and the signing of the charter, the project manager begins the planning process. In an ideal world, the project manager has the opportunity to select the project team and picks the most skilled and qualified resources to perform the project’s activities. More realistically, the project manager is provided with a pre-selected team or must settle for whoever is available at the time. A true leader will not dwell on who has been assigned to the project but will identify the potential of each team member. Imagine a project manager speaking to his or her team for the first time and saying “Well, you’re not what I really wanted but I guess you’ll have to do.” How would each person react to a statement like that? Can you expect commitment and dedication to achieving project objectives? It is most likely that you will receive minimum support and will have to spend great amounts of time micro-managing. To create an environment that will encourage the project team to step up to the challenges of the project, the project manager should invest some time and effort in the very early stages of the project planning process to establish a foundation for team work that will lead the team to success. The management science identifies several team member roles that a project manager may encounter. There are Destructive Roles and Supportive Roles and every project manager should be aware of their existence. The goal is to emph emphasi asize ze and con contin tinual ually ly enha enhance nce sup suppor portiv tivee rol roles es whi while le dis discour couragi aging ng destructive roles. The project kick-off meeting is an ideal setting to introduce a project manager’s expectations around the supportive roles and also create awareness among the project team members about the undesired u ndesired destructive roles. Destructive Team Members
The Aggressor
Criticizes the team members, challenges ideas, deflates egos
The Dominator
Manipulates and tries to take over
The De Devil’s Advocate
Finds fault in ev everything an and ch challenges any
idea The Topic Jumper
Switches from one idea to another, creates imbalance an inability to focus
The Recognition Seeker
Always argues for his or her position, attempts to take credit for successes
The Withdrawer
Does not participate, withhold information
The Blocker
Provides multiple reasons why ideas won’t work
It is clear by the descriptions of these roles that they would be undesirable on any project team. By introducing and explaining these roles during the project kick-off meeting and their negative impact on the project, the project manager can set expectations about what behaviors should not be displayed during the project life cycle. Explaining what is not desired is only a part of the expectation setting process. The project manager should, upon reviewing the undesired destructive roles, immediately focus on the supportive roles.
Supportive Project Team Member Roles
The Initiator
Looks for new ideas, uses phrases like – “Let’s try this!”
The Information Seeker
Tries to become more informed, looks for resources and supportive data. Offers to research for the benefit of the team
Information Givers
Share what they know, increase the knowledge of the team
The Encouragers
Shows vi visible su support fo for ot other pe peoples
ideas. The Clarifier
Helps make sure that everyone understands and issue or a decision
The Harmonizer
Creates a unified feeling among the team
The Gate Keeper
Ensures that all information is relevant and the team stays focused on the issue at hand
Working with a team that is actively displaying and practicing the supportive roles described in the table will significantly increase the chances for project success. By explaining these roles at project start up, the project manager effectively sets expectations for overall performance and proactively encourages the team to establish an environment that will make the work of the proje project ct more enjoyable and possibly fun. The key here is for the project manager, as the leader, to prevent the destructive roles from developing by actively displaying the supportive roles and acknowledging team members when they display the desired characteristics of the supportive roles.
Q: 2. Would a cost-benefit analysis be easier or harder to perform in traditio trad itional nal or pro project ject mana manageme gement nt orga organiza nization tional al stru structur cture? e? Expl Explain ain your answer with the help of practical example. Cost/Benefit Analysis
You may have been intensely creative in generating solutions to a problem, and rigorous in your selection of the best one available. However, this solution may still not be worth implementing, as you may invest a lot of time and money in solving a problem that is not worthy of this effort.
Cost Benefit Analysis or cba is a relatively* simple and widely used technique for deciding whether to make a change. As its name suggests, you simply add up the value of the benefits of a course of action, and subtract the costs associated with it. Costs are either one-off, or may be ongoing. Benefits are most often received over time. We build this effect of time into our analysis by calculating a payback period. This is the time it
takes for the benefits of a change to repay its costs. Many companies look for payback on projects over a specified period of time e.g. e.g . three years. How to Use the Tool:
In its simple form, cost-benefit analysis is carried out using only financial costs and financial benefits. For example, a simple cost benefit ratio for a road scheme would measure the cost of building the road, and subtract this from the economic benefit of improving transport links. It would not measure either the cost of environmental damage or the benefit of quicker and easier travel to work. A more sophisticated approach to building a cost benefit models is to try to put a financial value on intangible costs and benefits. This can be highly subjective - is, for example, a historic water meadow worth $25,000, or is it worth $500,000 because if its environmental importance. The version of the cost benefit approach we explain here is necessarily simple. Where large sums of money are involved (for example, in financial market transactions), project evaluation can become an extremely complex and sophisticated art. Example:
A sal sales es dir direct ector or is deci decidin ding g whe whethe therr to imp implem lement ent a new comp compute uterr-bas based ed con contact tact management and sales processing system. His department has only a few computers, and his salespeople are not computer literate. He is aware that computerized sales forces are able to contact more customers and give a higher quality of reliability and service to thos th osee cu cust stome omers rs.. Th They ey ar aree mo more re ab able le to me meet et com commi mitm tmen ents ts,, and ca can n wo work rk mo more re efficiently with fulfillment and delivery staff. His financial cost/benefit analysis is shown below: Costs:
New computer equipment: 10 network-ready PCs with supporting software @ $2,450 each 1 server @ $3,500 3 printers @ $1,200 each Cabling & Installation @ $4,600 Sales Support Software @ $15,000 •
• • • •
Training costs: Computer introduction - 8 people @ $400 each Keyboard skills - 8 people @ $400 each •
•
Sales Support System - 12 people @ $700 each Other costs: Lost time: 40 man days @ $200 / day Lost sales through disruption: estimate: $20,000 Lost sales through inefficiency during first months: estimate: $20,000 •
• •
Total
cost:
$57,000
Benefits: Tripling of mail shot capacity: estimate: $40,000 / year Ability to sustain telesales campaigns: estimate: $20,000 / year Improved efficiency and reliability of follow-up: estimate: $50,000 / year Improved customer service and retention: estimate: $30,000 / year Improved accuracy of customer information: estimate: $10,000 / year More ability to manage sales effort: $30,000 / year •
• • • • •
Total
Benefit:
$180,000/year
Payback time: $114,000 / $180,000 = 0.63 of a year = approx. 8 months Note: The payback time is often known as the break even point. Sometimes this is is more important than the overall benefit a project can deliver, for example because the organization has had to borrow to fund a new piece of machinery. The break even point can be found graphically by plotting costs and income on a graph of output quantity against $. Break even occurs at the point the two lines cross.
Inevitably the estimates of the benefit given by the new system are quite subjective. Despite this, the Sales Director is very likely to introduce it, given the short payback time. Key points:
Cost/Benefit Analysis is a powerful, widely used and relatively easy tool for deciding whether to make a change.
To use the tool, firstly work out how much the change will cost to make. Then calculate the benefit you will from it.
Where costs or benefits are paid or received over time, work out the time it will take for the benefits to repay the costs. co sts.
Cost/Benefit Analysis can be carried out using only financial costs and financial benefi benefits. ts. You You may may,, howe however ver,, deci decide de to inc include lude int intangi angible ble it items ems wit within hin the analysis. As you must estimate a value for these, this inevitably brings an element of subjectivity into the process.
Larger projects are evaluated using formal finance/capital budgeting, which takes into account many of the complexities involved with financial Decision Making.
This is a complex area and is beyond the scope of this site, however books on capital budgeting are shown on the side bar Cost Benefit Analysis
A cost benefit analysis finds, quantifies, and adds all the positive factors. These are the benefits. Then it identifies, quantifies, and subtracts all the negatives, the costs. The difference between the two indicates whether the planned action is advisable. The real trick to doing a cost benefit analysis well is making sure you include all the costs and all the benefits and properly quantify them. Should we hire an additional sales person or assign overtime? Is it a good idea to purchase the new stamping machine? Will we be better off putting our free cash flow into securities rather than investing in additional capital equipment? Each of these questions can be answered by b y doing a proper cost benefit analysis.
Q:3 several authors contend that technology suffers in a pure product organizational form because there is no group responsible for longrange planning, planning, wher whereas eas the pur puree func function tional al organ organizat izationa ionall tend tendss to sacr sa crif ific icee ti time me an and d sc sche hedu dule le.. Do yo you u ag agrree or di disa sagr gree ee wi with th th this is statement? Defend your choice with examples. Every Every organi organizat zation ion faces faces an ever-pr ever-prese esent nt tensi tension on between between shortshort-ter term m and long-t long-term erm results. What promotes the one often hinders the other. Yet every manager must strive for both: performing well today and, at the same time, building for a strong future. As Peter Drucker put it, "He must...keep his nose to the grindstone while lifting his eyes to the hills - which is quite an acrobatic feat." In most organizations, performing such a deft double act is the job of the annual planning cycle.The process on paper looks something like this: The corporate center issues guidance to the business units on desired overall financial results and invites managers to develop multiyear plans. Managers are asked to submit plans with with the highest highest net present present value and to bid for the resources resources they need to implement them. Each business unit discusses its strategy with the corporate center, whi which then hen adds adds up all all the the reso resour urce ce requ reques ests ts and and per performa ormanc ncee proj projec ecti tion onss. Inevitably, there is a gap: more resources requested and less performance promised than the the top-d top-dow own n guidan guidance ce requi require res. s. Mana Manage gers rs are are encou encoura raged ged to revi revise se thei theirr plan plans. s. Resources are prioritized according to payback rates and whether they are discretionary or not. Attention is given to the long term by developing multiyear plans and considering net present value. Pressure is put on the short term through upfront guidance, by using payback rates and isolating discretionary spending. The result is an accommodation between short-term results and long-term investment. Well, that's how it's supposed to work. But for many companies, the reality reality is quite different. different. Perhaps the following will sound familiar. The center positions its upfront guidance as just that - guidance. Yet ever every yone one know knowss that that it is a toptop-do down wn tar target get that that dare dare not not spea speak k its its nam name.
The business units know what strategy they want to pursue from the outset, and so spend their "strategy development" time developing a case for their preferred plan. Managers make sure to implement the strategy with a view that technology does not suffer. A technology plan can sound like another piece of bureaucracy, but don't be fooled. There is no substitute for thinking through what you need and how you will meet those needs. Technology planning is the process that will help you save money on technology, buy what you need, and use technology as a tool to accomplish your organization's mission. Technology planning is the magic ingredient that will help you to:
Funders will be much more likely to give money for technology if you can show them the m a technology plan.
The technology planning process can expand your horizons and help you see new ways in which technology can further your mission.
Purchasing hardware, software and networking equipment can c an be overwhelming. If you don't plan, it's easy to end up with something that is way too complicated or doesn't do what you need it to. There's no substitute for thinking through your goals and researching possible solutions.
You probably do not need nee d the fanciest system on the market. Planning allows you to figure out how to spend less and still meet your needs.
Bad technology decisions can ca n leave you suffering for years. A faulty system can send your stress level through the roof and make you lose crucial data and capabilities. capa bilities.
How many hours of staff time have you lost to those niggling technical problems? A technology plan will help you streamline staff use of technology, and put systems in place that will make technology a useful tool for staff, not a stumbling block.
If the person who knows your technology leaves, leav es, what will you do? A technology technology plan
can save you by providing documentation doc umentation of existing systems as well as future plans.
Setting up a technology team and ensuring management and staff buy-in will allow you to get started with the whole organization behind you. See the article "Establish Leadership and Support" in either the Management or Staff version for more information.
The first step in planning is to assess your existing technology. What do you have in place? How well is it working? See the article "Assess Resources" for more information.
Why do you need technology? What will new technology techno logy help you do that you can't c an't do already? Defining your needs will enable you to choose the most efficient solutions. See the article "Define Your Your Needs" for more information.
The next step is to research existing technology technolog y options and decide on ones o nes that meet your needs at a minimum cost. See the article "Explore Solutions" for more information.
Your written plan should document your resources, needs ne eds and solutions, as well as your budget. See Write the Plan" for more information.
You can now use your technology plan as key element in seeking technology funding. See TechSoup's Funding section for more information.
Setting a timeline, assigning responsibilities and evaluating your progress will make your plan a reality reality.. See the article "Implementing Your Your Technology Plan" for more information. with one or more aspects of the technology planning process. See the article article"Do "Do I Need Help?" to think through whether you have the expertise to do the plan on your own. See the article "Getting Help with Your Your Technology Technology Plan" for information on how to find a technical assistance provider, consultant or volunteer to help you. Don't despair! Help is available. Technology Technology planning is no simple matter, but it is a rich, powerful process. In the long term, it can reduce your headaches tenfold, and lead you to use technology to further your mission in ways you never dreamed of. While admittedly painful to acknowledge, I agree that far too often organizations bring a team of consultants and employees together to build a glossy document entitled IT Strategic Plan that results in no dollar and sense benefit. No matter which side you have been on, practitioner or employee, you can concede that there is validity to the thought
that creating an IT Strategic Plan provides little value and can be construed as a sales vehicle for consultants to propose the coveted high dollar implementation project. I think we have all heard the ‘buy this Magic Box and all your problems will be solved’ pitch before. To me, it is no wonder the industry is left with tainted cynicism for the term IT Strategic Plan. Well th then en I am co conf nfuse used. d. Wh Why y it is sta state te th that at or organ ganiz izati ations ons ne need ed te techn chnolo ology gy Strategy? What sense does this make to implement if it offers no value?
Well, as my grandma Toots used to say sa y ‘You ‘You can not judge a book by its cover.’ cov er.’ That is to say, just because you have a shiny document entitled IT Strategic Plan does not mean that you have implemented technology Strategic Plan, or more importantly, that you have ‘working management’ on board - carrying out the tactical action that aligns with the strategy. What does working management have to do with this? Don’t we simply need an executive sponsor?
Hold the phone, let me explain what I mean - Today with all the focus on getting executive management on board, this problem is a non-issue in most organizations. In fact in most cultures the strategic vision is already there to some extent. More often than not th ther eree is a di disc scon onnec nectt be betw tween een ex execu ecuti tive ve (s (str trat ateg egic ic)) an and d wo work rkin ing g (t (tact actic ical al)) management within an organization. The problem lies in building the tactical roadmap and executing on that plan which falls under working management. Without Without the tactical alignment and execution, Technology Strategic Plan is only a document.
Q: 4 one of the major controversies in project management occurs over whether the project manager needs a command of technology in order to be effective. Consider the following situation: You are the project manager on a research and development project. Marketing informs you that they have found a customer for your product and that you must make major modifications to satisfy the customer’s requirements. The engineering functional managers tell you that these modifications are impossible. Can a project manager without a command of technology make a viable decision as to whether to risk additional funds and support marketing, or should he believe the functional manager mana ger,, and tell marketing marketing that the modi modifica fication tionss are impossible impossible? ? How can a project manager, either with or without a command of technology, tell whether the functional managers are giving him an optimistic or a pessimistic opinion?
The project manager manages the project on a day to day basis. He must plan the work, organize it and ensure that corrective measures are taken, so that the project is finished within time and budget. The project manager must also re-evaluate the plan if access to resources is not as expected. The project manger must work internally within the project
and in relation to the base organization. He must arrange for effective interfaces between the project and the base organization. The project manager must anticipate events. He cannot expect the project members will just pop up when the project needs them. He must plan, plan, neg negot otia iate te wi with th li line ne ma mana nage gers rs,, mo moti tivat vate, e, in insp spir ire, e, co concl nclude ude agr agreem eement entss on cooperation in the project and see to it that the resources appear at the right time. The project management is different from line management, and it demands other skills. It is characteristic trait of the project work that the project manager manages people who do not work together together on a daily basis, and therefore therefore do not know each other in the same way as colleagues in base organization. The project manager must create a sense of common cause among people who originally are strangers. Project management should be regarded as a distinct profession requiring specialized knowledge and skills. Most people accept the fact that you cannot become a line manager until you have gone through throug h a basic “apprenticesh “apprenticeship” ip” where you acquir acquiree the relevant knowledge, experience and interpersonal insight. But it is depressing to see, even in organizations whih set high standa sta ndards rds for lin linee man managem agement ent,, how the sam samee sta standar ndards ds are not app applie lied d to pro projec jectt managers, even for very important projects. Too little effort goes into developing good project managers. Since project management is probably more difficult in general than line management (because of unknown tasks and unfamiliar people), higher requirements for training and experience should actually be set for a project manager than for a line manager. The project manager should be educat edu cated ed in th thee fi fiel eld d of pr proj oject ect ma manag nagem ement ent.. It is now po poss ssib ible le to ac acqui quire re bas basic ic professional skills through courses and training programs. Experience as a “rank and file” project member is also necessary. An organization should spend time and money training its projects managers. You cannot be a line manager without a solid background. Some believe that anybody can be a project manager. Qualities of a Project Manager:
One som someti etimes mes see seess spe specif cifica icatio tions ns for the per person sonal al qual qualiti ities es req requir uired ed of a pro projec jectt manager mana ger.. He sho should uld,, for exam example ple,, hav havee dis distin tinct ct lea leader dershi ship p qua qualit lities ies (ch (chari arisma sma), ), be respected respect ed by his team, have the ability to communi communicate cate with superi superiors ors and subord subordinates inates and be able to represent the project externally in a favorable manner. Such lists often gives a picture of a person who is superhuman, and are usually of little use. There is no sense in dreaming away and demanding supernatural qualities of a project manager. When an organization must choose a project manager for a project, it is necessary to choose from among those who are available. The project manager’s personal character is important, but for most practical purposes there is little value in comparing a person with a li list st of su super per qualit qualitie ies. s. In Inst stead ead it is im impo port rtan antt to hav havee an id idea ea of th thee es esse sent ntia iall requirements for a project manager’s success. And since it is often extremely difficult to know whether a person will succeed as a project manager, it is also useful to know what type of person should be avoided absolutely. A project manager must be capable of formulating a realistic description of the present situation in the project. At the same time he must be able to manage if there is a variance between what the present situation is and what it should be. He should also have the ability to see what types of measures will be
effective. The project manager must observe progress in the project very closely. closely. He must be able to assess the situation realistically. A dreamer (who only sees through rosecolored glasses) or an optimist (who believes that everything will sort itself out as it goes along) is of no use. Realism in the evaluation of the present situation must apply to both factual matter and people. The reporting proformas which are described earlier are of course,, very useful tools for develop course developing ing an accurat accuratee descri description ption of the present situation. situation. The project manager on the other hand, must be concerned with both factual matters and people. He must be able to sense the mood of the project and form a realistic picture of the team members’ situation. He must support them and assist them in the realization of the goals. Assisting means pushing reverse people forward and controlling dominant ones. In general, a proj project ect manager must be flexible by nature, so that he will be able to change course along the way. He must be action oriented, that is he must be willing to try new measures if there is deviation between the plan and reality. Through a constant evaluation of what works and what does not what, including his own contributions, helpful or not, a project manager can continually improve his competency. A project manager should have professional qualifications in the field covered by the project, although there may be expectations in very large projects. It is felt that the project manager should be an ‘active coach’; he should be able to direct and perform special work related to his professional area. This does not mean that he should be able to do more than everyone else, but he should be sufficiently qualified to be able to lead profe professi ssional onal dis discus cussi sions ons in the pro projec ject. t. We bel believ ievee tha thatt a pro projec jectt man manager ager who is unfamiliar with the professional issues in the project will lack the respect of his team. The project manager should be able to guarantee the quality of the results produced by the project. In order to be able to do this he should preferably have a professional background which will enable him to judge the quality of the results. Assessing the situation in hand, I am reminded of an event from the history. Just after taking his office, US President J.F. Kennedy announced in a public meeting that his country was to put a man on moon by the end of that decade. People including scientists from NASA criticized the president’s president’s decision saying that since things were to be done don e by NASA, the president should not make such announcement, as implementation of the same was seemingly not possible at that time. However, in the lateral years the world witnessed that the will of the president was too strong as first man landed on moon on 22nd July 1969. Following on to this example I would definitely, as a project manager, support the marketing department’s requests and explore the possibilities of bringing about technological changes in the product patterns.
Q: 5 Sa Sale leem em Ahmed Ahmed is a de depa part rtme ment nt ma mana nage gerr wi with th th thir irty ty ye year arss of experience in the company. For the last several years, he has worn two hats and acted as both project manager and functional manager on a vari va riet ety y of pr proj ojec ects ts.. He is an ex expe pert rt in hi hiss fi fiel eld. d. Th Thee co comp mpan any y ha hass
decided to incorporate formal project management and has established a project management department. MR. Ali Nawaz a thirty year’s old employee with three years of experience with the company has been assigned as project manager. In order to staff his project, Mr. Ali Nawaz has requested from Mr. Saleem Ahmed that Mr. Rashid Butt (a personal frie fr iend nd of Mr Mr.. Na Nawa waz) z) be as assi sign gned ed to th thee pr proj ojec ectt as th thee fu func ncti tion onal al representative. Mr. Butt is twenty six years old and has been with the company for two years. Mr. Saleem agrees to the request and informs Mr. Butt of his new assignment, closing with the remarks. “This project is yours all the way. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. I’ll be too to o bu busy sy wi with th pa pape perw rwork ork as th thee re resu sult lt of ou ourr ne new w or orga gani niza zati tion onal al stru st ruct ctur ure. e. Ju Just st se send nd me a me memo mo on once ce in a wh whil ilee te tell llin ing g me wh what at’’s happening.” During th During thee pr proje oject ct ki kicko ckoff ff me meeti eting ng it bec becam amee obv obviou iouss to bo both th Mr Mr.. Nawaz and Mr. Butt that the only person with the necessary expertise was Mr. Saleem. Without the support of Mr. Saleem the time duration for project management could be expected to double. This sit This situat uation ion is id ideal eal for role role pla playin ying. g. Pu Putt you yourse rself lf in the place of Mr.Saleem , Mr. Nawaz, And Mr. Butt and discuss the reason for your actions. a) How can this problem be overcome?
This is the situation where the project manager has to combine his expertise and skills with his team members, and lead from the front. Effective project team leadership is probably the most important factor that will determine whether or not a project will be successful. Without leadership, project teams splinter into smaller groups and slowly drift apar ap artt to wo work rk on the heir ir ow own n set of ob obje ject ctiive vess res esul ulti ting ng in a la lack ck of ef efffec ecttiv ivee communication, conflicting roles and responsibilities, redundant work, and all too often, rework. If a project manager does not establish a leadership role and a clear set of responsibilities for the project team at the start of the project, it will be difficult to develop a cohesive and high performing team. A critical factor in conditioning a team for success is for the project manager to take the time to establish expectations about team performance before that actual scope of work and project details are introduced. The project manager is, in many ways, similar to the coach of a sports team. The coach seeks out talent, identifies potential in each player and plans to develop those players who need some additional support. That additional support is most effective when it comes from other team members The more experienced or skilled players create an environment of support that in turn creates a team wide feeling of confidence. It all begins with effective leadership. Upon approval of a project and the signing of the charter, the project manager begins the planning process. In an ideal world, the project manager has the opportunity to select the project team and picks the most skilled and qualified resources to perform the
project’s activities. More realistically project’s realistically,, the project manager is provided with a pre-selected team or must settle for whoever is available at the time. A true leader will not dwell on who has been assigned to the project but will identify the potential of each team member. Imagine a project manager speaking to his or her team for the first time and saying sa ying “Well, “Well, you’re not what I really wanted but I guess you’ll have to do.” How would each person react to a statement like that? Can you expect commitment and dedication to achieving project objectives? It is most likely that you will receive minimum support and will have to spend great amounts of time micro-managing. To create an environment that will encourage the project team to step up to the challenges of the project, the project manager should invest some time and effort in the very early stages of the project p roject planning process to establish a foundation for team work that will lead the team to success. The management science identifies several team member roles that a project manager may encounter. There are Destructive Destructive Roles and Supportive Roles and every project project manager should should be aware of their existence. The goal is to emphasize and continually enhance supportive roles while discouraging destructive roles. The project kick-off meeting is an ideal setting to introduce a project manager’s expectations around the supportive roles and also create awareness among the project team members about the undesired destructive roles.
b) How do you get Mr.Saleem to support the project?
As prescribed in the supportive role of a project manager, Mr. Saleem should exactly follow fol low the these se pre precept cepts. s. The tabl tablee giv given en bel below ow (al (also so give given n abov abovee in ques questio tion n No. No.1). 1). Working with a team that is actively displaying and practicing the supportive roles described in the table will significantly increase the chances for project success. By explaining these roles at project start up, the project manager effectively sets expectations for overall performance and proactively encourages the team to establish an environment that will make the work of the proje project ct more enjoyable and possibly fun. The key here is for the project manager, as the leader, to prevent the destructive roles from developing by actively displaying the supportive roles and acknowledging team members when they display the desired characteristics of the supportive roles.
Supportive Project Team Member Roles The Initiator
Looks for new ideas, uses phrases like – “Let’s try this!”
The Information Seeker
Tries to become more informed, looks for resources and supportive data. Offers to research for the benefit of the team
Information Givers
Share what they know, increase the knowledge of the team
The Encouragers
Shows vi visible su support fo for ot other pe peoples ideas.
The Clarifier
Helps make sure that everyone understands and issue or a decision
The Harmonizer
Creates a unified feeling among the team
The Gate Keeper
Ensures that all information is relevant and the team stays focused on the issue at hand
c) Who should inform upper level management of this situation?
A hierarchal organization is often used and recommended when organizing a p roject. This principle princ iple is however, not always advisable advisable as it has been seen that an uncrit uncritical ical use of a hierarchical structure inevitably leads to problems. For very large and long term projects which whi ch wo work rk on is isol olat ated ed ta task skss an and d ar aree st staf affe fed d ma main inly ly by fu full ll-t -tim imee em empl ploy oyees ees,, th thee heirarchial structure may be appropriate. But it is not when the project is to be integrated with the base organization, and will therefore, to a great extent, affect and involve people in large sections of that organization. The strength of a hierarchical structure is that it descr des crib ibes es th thee re resp spons onsib ibil ilit itie iess of th thee or orga gani nizat zatio iona nall un unit itss wh whic ich h ap appea pearr on th thee organi org anizat zation ional al cha chart. rt. It sho shows ws the chai chain n of com comman mand d bet betwee ween n dif differ ferent ent uni units ts in an organization. This method of organization, however, has many built in limitations with regard to what have been expecte expected d from good project organization organization.. Keeping in view the drawbacks of a hierarchal structure, often organizations switch to matrix. In such an orga or gani niza zati tion, on, gr group oupss and in indi divi vidu dual alss ar aree ar arra rang nged ed in va vari riou ouss co cons nste tell llat atio ions ns of resp re spon onsi sibi bili liti ties es an and d au auth thor orit ity y, de depe pend ndin ing g on th thee ma matt tter er in invo volv lved ed.. Th This is is th thee organizational aspect most of the companies want to utilize in projects. The matrix structure is used for example, in companies which sell several types of products and which whi ch ar aree es esta tabl blis ishe hed d in se sever veral al re regi gions ons.. Su Such ch a com compan pany y may hav havee a re regi gion onal al organization, where each region has a regional director, a regional management and staff in a set hierarchy. But in addition the company has an organizational division according to product with a product manager for each product having authority also over the regional staff that is connected with that product. The workers are therefore, subordinates to the regional director in matters such as those concerning work in the region, and to the produc productt man manage agerr in oth other er suc such h as tec techni hnical cal pro product duct question questionss and mar market keting ing.. The traditional role of a manager is that of commander or captain of the ship. In many ways this is the role model which most managers are exposed to at an early stage in their career. Command and control is an easy role to fall into, both because we see examples all around us all the time, and perhaps because there is something tempting about the power of becoming a manager where people have to do as you say. However easy it is to fall into, the command and control model has serious drawbacks. It can mean that staff
are limited in the degree of initiative they take, and constantly refer back to the manager for instructions, making more more work in the long run. run. In particular long serving serving or skilled staff may become demotivated if they do not have enough responsibility, or feel that they are not trusted. Managers must work to make the total effect of their team’s work meaningful. They have to quickly get to know their team’s activities, the strengths and weaknesses and ensure that the team is working together, not duplicating each others work. wor k. The activiti activities es hav havee to be bal balanc anced ed and focused focused tow toward ardss an ult ultima imate te goa goal. l. This is rarely as simple simple as merely handing out the tasks in in a project plan. Team members will each have their own ways of working and some will be stronger stronger than others. There will be tasks that take longer than expected, and there will be regular obstacles and unexpected priorities to deal with. Thus coordination within the whole organization is also the major and appropriately suited job for the project manager, who should inform the above situation and every other situation rising out of a routine or crisis, to the management. d) When should upper level management be informed?
Inform Info rmin ing g th thee to top p ma mana nage geme ment nt of ea each ch an and d ev ever ery y st step ep is no nott co cons nsid ider ered ed as an encouraging act. The project manager should inform the top management as and when he really has to. e) Would any of you answers change if manager Mr.Nawaz and Mr. Butt were not close friends?
I do don’ n’tt th thin ink k so so.. Mr Mr.. Na Nawa wazz an and d Mr Mr.. Bu Butt tt,, th thou ough gh goo good d fr frie iends nds,, wo work rked ed fo forr th thee organization as professionals. Maintaining relationships and dealings can be seen here in the perspective of manager role as politician as the world of work is always a political world, and being a manager is a political job. Taking a more political role is often a hidden, unspoken part of management, but it is an important part of your success as a manager.. Manage manager Managers rs must negoti negotiate ate often difficult relatio with th al alll so sort rtss of relationships nships wi stakeholders and it pays to pay attention to growing these relationships in all directions. Being political can also mean improving your personal and professional networks. The majority of new jobs and promotions are gained through contacts and already establ est ablish ished ed rel relati ations onship hips, s, so the suc succes cessfu sfull man manager ager wil willl alw always ays pay att attent ention ion to maintaining and increasing their networks, within and outside the organization. So, being pure professionals, Mr. Nawaz and Mr. Butt would have established their relationship, even if they were not good friends from earlier.
