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Q. 1 A successful project manager should have special traits. Critically examine these traits with reference to a construction project.
Construction managers supervise and direct people to make sure a building project is completed safely, on
time and within budget. This may be the construction of a new building or the maintenance of an existing
one. The cost of a building project may range from several thousand pounds to hundreds of millions.
The work could include developing a programme of work for the project, supervising the building work,
making sure the site is safe, and reporting on progress to the client who is paying for the work. They also
supervise the preparation of the site and communicate with a wide range of people, including the public
and professionals such as architects, engineers, estimators and surveyors. Construction managers have daily
contact with the site workforce and have frequent meetings with subcontractors.
Project Managers interact with different types of people at different level s within the organization and
outside the organization. Since their responsibilities include directing and coordinating various resources
throughout the life cycle of the project, it is important the Project Managers have certain characteristics to
ensure project success. There are five main characteristics they are
1. Flexible – Flexibility is required for a PM especially when dealing with new team members who may need specific , firm direction to get started. PM should be able to adopt various styles of leadership (Authorative, Colloborative etc) with various people.
2. Credible – PM should be Trust Worthy, Competent, Dependable and honest.
3. Tolerant – Considering the fact that the Resources, Goals and Objectives are often vague, PM Should be tolerant. A Non Tolerant Project Managers becomes stressed when working with ambiguous projects. While dealing with varied group of stakeholders having different objectives and opinions, Project Managers should be able to approach each group with understanding and Tolerance for successful project completion
4. Innovative - PM should be innovative with solutions as the Resources and capabilities needed to complete a project may be scarce.
5. Available - As there are many aspects of managing a Project Managers must be available to spend time with various people involved in the project for ensuring project success.
The Skills of Successful Construction Project Manager
There are eight skills a project manager require to ensure success they are
1. Technological Skills – Effective project manager should be familiar with degree of technological knowledge to complete the project. This will help identifying Alternative solutions and
communicating risks associated to technology to various stake holders and to route the problems to the right SMEs for solution
2. Organizational Skills – Although you may not need intense technological skills but it is important that PM has a deep Organization skills ( Organizational policies, procedures & Planning) This would help in analyzing the Scope, Time, cost, quality and risk.
3. Communication Skills – This is the most important skill that a PM should have. This deals with keeping the stakeholders well informed by Timely distribution of project data and updates to stakeholders
4. Team Building - PM should be proficient in Facilitating team meetings, conflict resolution and handling diverse team. Should ensure motivation and empowerment of team members by encouraging the Suggestion and recommendations of the team and allowing the team share their opinions
5. Coping – This implies Project Managers should be creative with solutions and flexible with results and they need to Patient and persistent with stakeholders. Coping with stakeholders is necessary for successful solution.
6. Negotiation – Since there are varied stakeholders with varied objectives , It is important for a Project Manager to persuade and negotiate the terms of Project , Resources and results
7. Content - Project Managers should be knowledgeable in the subject matter. Knowing the subject matter without having to consult with SME would reduce project duration time. Uninformed project managers have to prolong tasks by days to wait for responses from experts
8. Leadership - Project Managers should be positive, decisive, motivating, empowering and energetic.
Q. 2 Why time management, communication and motivation are given more importance in the project management environment in contrast to traditional management environment? Describe your answers with reference to the practical project management situation.
What is the project environment?
Today, there is a growing awareness and concern for the impact of infrastructure and facility construction
on the physical environment. Fortunately, today's technological disciplines responsible for such work are
becoming attuned to the idea of mitigating the adverse impacts of their projects. Certainly the project
manager needs to be similarly concerned about the project's technology, and manage accordingly. This
applies to both the implementation and shorter term practical construction impacts of the project as well as
its conceptual development and consequent long term impacts. However, today's project manager also
needs to be attuned to the cultural, organizational and social environments of the project. Understanding
this environment includes identifying the project stakeholders and their ability to affect its successful
outcome. This means working with people to achieve the best results, especially in the highly technical and
complex environments such as those involving modern day construction projects. Therefore, it is essential
that the project manager and his or her project team are comfortable with, and sympathetic towards, their
cultural, organizational and social surroundings. This leads to the possibility of influencing the project
environment in a positive way, for the better reception of the change which the project is designed to
introduce. For example, peoples' typical resistance to change will no doubt be evident amongst some of the
stakeholders. Others may have vested interests or personal or group agendas which are only indirectly
related to the project. If these can be identified in good time, they may be dealt with proactively and in such
a way that the corresponding risks, which are otherwise likely to undermine the success of the project, can
be significantly reduced. Failure to take such an approach will inevitably lead to a less than optimum
project outcome.
Dimensions of the Project EnvironmentFor convenience, and working outwards, the project environment may be thought of in terms of the project
time environment, the internal project culture, the original corporate culture, and the external social
surroundings. For those who have not had experience of a construction project "in the trenches" so to
speak, it is sometimes difficult to capture the feeling of pressure, stress and ultimate satisfaction of a
project well accomplished, which the construction project management process offers. For the first timers,
many experience bewilderment as to what is really happening around them. Yet, most projects, if they are
well run, exhibit some very typical but distinguishing features as they run their course.
The Project Time Environment - Four Distinct Project Phases
It will be seen that there are, or should be, four distinct project periods which make up the typical life span
of a well run project. These phases are shown as
Concept
Planning
Execution
Transfer.
The Internal Project CultureThe culture which develops within a project is often a reflection of the leadership style and organizational
structure which is adopted for the project. This can vary considerably according to the size and nature of
the project, but in any case has been dealt with extensively in the project management literature, and will
not be repeated here. However, to the extent that the melting pot of participation and coordination
represents the project's internal cultural environment, it is worth considering because it needs to be
managed,. A typical situation is shown in Figure 2, in which the project group to be managed will
eventually consist of consultants, contractors and specialists, as well as the owner's staff of advisors and the
project control team itself.
Influencing the Project's Cultural EnvironmentThe project manager of the successful project will recognize the need to spend some effort in influencing
the project's cultural environment for the benefit of the project stakeholders. Every project team member,
indeed every member of the workforce, needs to be persuaded to convey the attitude that, just as they are
stakeholders, every other project stakeholder is also important. It means inculcating a universal attitude
which says "We care!", and a commitment to service, even if it sometimes hurts. It also means creating a
project management environment in which every decision and action is designed to make the stakeholder's
experience better than it would have been had the project not been implemented. It requires a focus on the
quality of the stakeholder's experience at every stage of the project, rather than an overriding preoccupation
with computer printouts and weekly progress reports. Since this relationship mirrors the project
manager/team relationship, it is clear where the process must begin. For in both the short and long term
runs, it is through good team relationships that good project management practices can be achieved. By
attending to what the team members need in order to perform their respective contributions, the project
manager can establish effective relationships with them. These characteristics of help and support as a
cohesive team are, in time, passed on to the project's stakeholders. This positive environment seldom goes
unnoticed. In developing project management strategies at the outset of the project, the project's executive
should recognize the important contribution that the role of human resources development and, specifically,
project management training can make towards improving the project's cultural environment. Such training
provides a powerful tool in developing competency and commitment to the project, in improving team
performance, and ultimately, in final project quality.
Effective Internal Project Management StrategiesProjects fail for many internal reasons, some of them technical, some of them managerial. However, even
the technical failures can often be traced back to a failure on the part of the project's executive management
to recognize and deal with these inherent managerial risks. On the other hand, probably the majority of
apparently successful projects do not reflect their optimum potential either. As a matter of project
experience, a number of prerequisites have been identified with the successful project. While these
prerequisites do not necessarily guarantee success of future projects, their absence may well lead to sub-
optimal success, if not outright failure. The Project's Executive has a vital role to play in achieving project
success and should therefore insist on the following:
Executive Support - The Executive must clearly demonstrate support for the project management
concept by active sponsorship and control.
External Authority - The project manager must be seen as the authoritative agent in dealing with all
parties, and be the responsible and single formal contact with them.
Internal Authority - The project manager must have the necessary managerial authority within hisorganization to ensure response to his requirements.Commitment Authority - The project manager must have the responsibility and authority to control thecommitment of resources, including funds, within prescribed limits. The results of these decisions mustbe both accountable and visible.Project Manager Involved in All Major Decisions - No major technical, cost, schedule, orperformance decisions should be made without the project manager's participation.Competence - The project manager and his team members must be competent. Other functionalpersonnel assigned to the project must also be competent.Project Team - The project manager should have a say in the assembly of his project team, which willhelp him to obtain their personal commitment, support and required quality of service.Management Information Systems - Effective project management information and control systemsmust be in place.The Project's External SurroundingsOn some projects, events external to the project sometimes come as a surprise to the project managerand his team and are therefore seen as obstacles to progress. However, as noted earlier, projectsgenerally exist only because of that external environment and so it is essential for the project team torecognize that they must also be responsive to it.What is this Project External Environment?It includes the established and latest state-of-the-art technology in which the project is based, itscustomers and competitors, its geographical, climatic, social, economic and political settings, in fact,virtually everything that can impact its success. These factors can affect the planning, organizing,staffing and directing which constitute the project manager's main responsibilities.This external environment represents a complex set of inter-dependent relationships, which constantlyreact with the project as it is brought into reality. Conversely, most projects are intended to impact theenvironment in one way or another, and this is particularly true of infrastructure projects. Therefore, forthe project to be ultimately successful, these inter-dependencies must be taken into account.Even more important, the factors noted above have a habit of changing during the life of the project,especially if the project takes a number of years to complete, and is brought on-stream in phases. Thistranslates into a high degree of uncertainty or risk surrounding the project, as a result of its externalenvironment. In fact, the greater the degree of interdependence, the greater the degree of uncertainty,and the greater the challenge for the project manager and his team.Managing the Project Environment Page 9 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] the Same for Every ProjectClearly, the environment will not be the same for every project. In fact, it is likely to be determinedprincipally by three considerations, namely:The product or service resulting from the projectThe technology and the manner of its application, andIts physical location
To identify potential difficulties stemming from the project's stakeholders, assess their probability ofoccurrence, and to try to head them off in advance, the project team must learn to interact frequentlywith those individuals and institutions which constitute the most important elements of the project'sexternal environment. Together with the project's sponsors, owners and users, these people constitute theproject's direct and indirect stakeholders.Effective External Project Management StrategiesPrerequisites for avoiding internal project failure, or at least sub-optimal results, were discussed earlier.However, it has also been noted earlier that external conditions and events also represent uncertainty andrisk to the successful accomplishment of the project. These conditions have been linked to the externalstakeholders of the project. Therefore, it is essential to develop a sound stakeholder environment.Developing a Sound Stakeholder EnvironmentJust as the means of influencing the project's cultural environment, as described above, was one ofdeveloping the right attitude, so it is with developing a sound stakeholder environment. Perhaps thisattitude is best reflected by adopting a mind set that reverses the traditional organization chart hierarchy.In other words, place the project stakeholders at the top of the chart, followed by the front-line projectteam members, and on down to the project manager at the bottom. Perhaps the project team will then bebetter visualized as a truly service organization, designed to serve the best interests of a successfulproject outcome, both perceived and in reality.Some suggested steps in this process include:Learn how to understand the role of the various stakeholders, and how this information may beused as an opportunity to improve both the perception and reception of the projectIdentify the real nature of each stakeholder group's business and their consequent interest in theprojectUnderstand their behavior and motivationAssess how they may react to various approachesPinpoint the characteristics of the stakeholders' environment and develop appropriate responsesto facilitate a good relationshipLearn project management's role in responding to the stakeholders drive behind the projectDetermine the key areas which will have the most impact on the successful reception of theproject.Managing the Project Environment Page 10 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] always that even a minor stakeholder group may discover the "fatal flaw" in theproject and which could bring the project to a standstill!Identifying The Project StakeholdersOne technique for dealing effectively with the project's external environment is to prioritize the requiredstakeholder linkages by conducting a stakeholder analysis. Such an analysis would be designed first toidentify all the potential stakeholders who might have an impact on the project, and then to determinetheir relative ability to influence it.Stakeholder GroupingsProject stakeholders may be recognized in any of the following groupings:Those who are directly related to the project, for example suppliers of inputs, consumers ofoutputs, and managers of the project processThose who have influence over the physical, infra- structural, technological,commercial/financial/ socioeconomic, or political/legal conditionsThose who have a hierarchical relationship to the project such as government authorities at local,regional and national levels, andThose individuals, groups and associations, who have vested interests, sometimes quite unrelatedto the project, but who see it as an opportunity to pursue their own ends.
Stakeholder CategoriesHaving identified the various stakeholders, each may be assigned to a category according to theirrelative ability to influence the project. Three categories are envisaged, namely:Those who are controllableThose who are influencable, andThose who need to be appreciatedWithin each category, each stakeholder may then be further rated by degree of importance according totheir ability to influence the project. Appropriate members of the project team can then prioritize theirefforts accordingly to maintain the necessary stakeholder linkages, and thus give rise to the best chancesof ultimate project success. If the project is large enough, or the stakeholder linkages are sufficientlyintense, the project team's efforts may be assigned to a specific group within the project team. EnterProject Public Relations.Project Public RelationsTraditional management has long since recognized the classic Input-Process-Output model with itsmanagement feedback loop for controlling output, see Figure 3. Dynamic managers also recognize thatopening communication channels in both directions constitutes a powerful motivator at the operativelevel. Whether quality information is presented in verbal, written or graphical form, improvement inManaging the Project Environment Page 11 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] can be quite remarkable. Indeed, many knowledge workers demand it, and the Japanesehave built their industrial reputation on the "quality circle", which uses this principal.Figure 3 Traditional management feedbackThe principal is just as true in the field of projects, though regretfully much less evident on constructionprojects. Nevertheless, on a major project, especially if it is publicly funded, providing a generalinformation center is quite normal. A more proactive stance, or positive feed forward, is usually knownas Public Relations, or just PR, and plays a vital in the favorable influence of the environment of acomplex project. This public relations feed forward concept is shown in Figure 4.Figure 4 Public relations feed forward conceptTo a surprisingly large extent, the project team's ability to exercise this positive feed forward willdetermine their ability to control the project in terms of its final cost and schedule.The Public Relations PlanGood public relations requires a strong identity, a planned program and concrete goals, and commenceswith appointing someone to be responsible. That person must be outgoing and positive, yet able andwilling to listen. He or she must be capable of preparing carefully constructed text and presentations,and be able to work through a program systematically. Like every other major function of the projectmanagement process, the PR function should be conducted like a sub-project.In developing a PR plan, the following eight steps are recommended. It will be noted that many of therecommendations made earlier are incorporated.Managing the Project Environment Page 12 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected]. Know the project organization and its objectives thoroughly2. Determine who the interested publics will be and the characteristics of each3. Establish the relative importance of each to the project, and in particular, identify the "high risk"areas4. Assess the current reputation of the sponsoring organization as it is perceived by each of theinterested groups5. Determine appropriate action in each case6. Develop strategy, resource requirements, priorities and schedule which are in sympathy with theproject itself7. Implement the PR program
8. Continuously monitor the effectiveness of the program during its execution, and adjust asnecessary for optimum resultsEnsuring the Effectiveness of the PR PlanWhat are the hallmarks of successful PR? Here is a top ten check list of a good public relations program:1. Develop quality information about the benefits of the project2. Care and concern genuinely expressed for the project's stakeholders3. Timely (rapid) response provided to information requests4. Information requirements anticipated and provided ahead of time5. Genuinely sincere appreciation expressed to a stakeholder for their inquiry6. Flexible personal responses provided, where special issues dictate7. Recovery from inevitable lapses of services during implementation, in ways that impress8. Project team members empowered to make decisions to solve urgent and obvious problems9. Stakeholder-friendly policies and procedures established10. Stakeholder-friendly facilities available both during project implementation, as well assubsequentlySome Practical ExamplesAdvanced Rapid Transit SystemA local government authority conceived an ambitious project to design and build 22 km of light,intermediate capacity, rapid transit system through densely populated areas. Innovative features includedlight driverless cars, magnetic traction, steerable wheels, and fiber optic based communication andcontrol systems. The cost of the project in 1986 was about $800 million (Canadian).With such a high profile project, a decision to establish a public relations function was taken at an earlystage. At the outset, the cost of the system was thought to be exorbitant. However, figures weredeveloped and shown graphically in the display center to show that the estimated cost was realistic whencompared with similar systems built with similar capacities elsewhere.Safety of the automatic driverless trains was another major concern. A major strategy in the projectimplementation plan was to fast-track a one kilometer test section of the permanent elevated part of theManaging the Project Environment Page 13 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] through to complete temporary operation, at a very early stage. This section provided invaluabledesign and construction experience. In addition, it was used for five months to give free rides to morethan 300,000 visitors from all over the world, while construction of the rest of the system continued.During construction, the alignment community was recognized as the most important stakeholder. Allhomes within each area were kept informed of progress by a local news letter. In addition, a construction"hot line" was established to receive complaints day or night, with someone available to visit the sceneat the earliest opportunity. The practice worked well and paid dividends. Perhaps the most satisfyingevidence was to be seen in the shift of attitude on the part of the local newspapers.These strategies undoubtedly did much to build confidence, assuage stakeholder concerns, and enabledthe project to be completed early, within budget, and to a high performance level. The cost of the PReffort amounted to approximately 0.6% of the total project budget.Proposed Liquid Natural Gas FacilityA private company planned to build a facility to export liquid natural gas. The project would include 800km of pipeline, a liquefaction plant, a marine terminal and a fleet of ships to deliver the product to thecompany's customers. Planning approval required environmental impact and socio-economic benefitstudies, and to succeed would require the majority support of all those impacted by the project.Assistance with public relations was obviously required, and a local public relations firm was hired.Their major asset was in knowing local dignitaries and media representatives and in being able toprovide quick and favorable access to them. Very positive relationships were established with localauthorities and the local populations.
World Class FairThe local government authority conceived the idea of a five-and-a-half month long transportation fair tocommemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city of Vancouver. The site, which is withinwalking distance of downtown, had to be expanded several times to the final size of 70 hectares toaccommodate the 41 countries that finally took part.The financial success of the project was heavily dependent upon exhibitor participation on the one handand attendance on the other. A major promotional effort was therefore obviously a necessary part of theproject. However, to be successful, the project also needed the support of the local communities, whoinitially viewed the whole enterprise with considerable skepticism.Therefore, a public relations effort was established quite separate from the hard-sell marketing effort.The basic philosophy of the program was to create public interest, awareness and excitement, establish asense of ownership and thereby increase the number of local visitors. Particularly with publicly fundedprojects, it is worth bearing in mind that the stakeholders who stand to gain the most are not necessarilythose who are impacted the most. In practice, they are likely to be the "vocal minority", while the formersit on the side lines as the silent majority.Managing the Project Environment Page 14 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] the early stages of the project, the construction site became embroiled in a major labor dispute. Itbecame a test case for retaining closed union shop conditions on government work. The government, onthe other hand was determined that every company should have an opportunity to participate. Theproject organization tried to negotiate a compromise with the unions and the government threatened tocancel the fair.Fortunately, the public relations communication with the media had been steady, open and honest.Through the media, the issues were taken back to the public, and the majority public opinion eventuallyprevailed. Except for the original four or five days lost, there were no subsequent labor interruptions. Indue course, the fair was opened on time, within its prescribed budget, was very well attended and highlysuccessful. The cost of the PR effort was of the order of 0.4% of the project cost.Water Storage Barrage ConstructionFurther afield, and some years ago, a well known national construction company secured the first majorwater retention barrage construction project in Bihar, India. At the time it was the longest barrage in thecountry. However, the entire area was known for its local labor problems.The local village heads and leaders were invited to meetings in which the project, and particularly thearrangements for employment were explained. Even though by law the company must employ its ownmen first, the local elders were pleased to be consulted, and work was found for their people bysubcontracting. Certain tribes expected special recognition and treatment, if peace on the site was to bemaintained. This too was carefully nurtured.The company also gave great attention to the facilities needed by its employees and their families.Necessary schools, shops, tailors, hair dressers, a butcher, dhobi, atta grinding shop, and so on, were allprovided. Similarly, necessary buildings and facilities for messes for vegetarians and non-vegetarianssections, South Indian and North Indian and Punjabi were also provided. Transportation was provided tothe local school, and outsiders were admitted to the project hospital facilities, which provided freemedical attention. An activity club was established where all levels of the project staff could play andrelax together.As a result of these and many similar considerations, the project was completed on time and in peace,including the periods of seasonal retrenchment and at the end of the project. This was a considerableachievement given the time and place. Even though the project was built some years ago, the need forcultivating a favorable impression amongst the native tribal groups was well recognized.Clearly, the project management of the day understood the importance of managing the projectenvironment.
Two recent hydro projectsIt seems that water storage schemes are becoming increasingly vulnerable to environmental concerns.As if to emphasize the points made earlier, the following newspaper articles are perhaps worth quoting.Managing the Project Environment Page 15 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] The Indian Express, Bombay, January, 1990."The controversial Tehri hydel power project in Uttar Pradesh is likely to go through, perhaps with somechanges to satisfy agitating environmentalists...After a marathon five hours of talks. . .chaired by theMinister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi, the environmentalists lost someground as it was decided to resume work which was suspended earlier this month...."The meeting highlighted the clear divide between the groups for and against the project, and thetechnical data and arguments presented by both sides confused even Mrs. Gandhi..."From The Sunday Spectrum, Calgary, Alberta, March 1990."Activity continues at Oldman Dam site...There is. . .a hub of frantic construction, even though nearly aweek ago three Federal Court of Appeal justices jerked the province's building Licence and orderedneglected environmental studies."Clearly, there is still trouble ahead!Consultants in Constructive Citizen ParticipationToday, project sponsors and administrators are finding themselves spending more and more of their timeand resources simply reacting to conflict and crisis. To the surprise of many, they are discovering thatmuch of this is coming from the community around them, because now people have very differentvalues, goals and assumptions. As we have seen, this trend is likely to accelerate.In fact many project delays and postponements and cancellations are unnecessary. Mistrust stems fromuncertainty, poor communication, inadequate information exchange, basic philosophical differences, andgeneral lack of credibility. Mistrust leads to confrontation, polarized positions, inflexibility, andentrenched adversarial roles. Each party needs to at least understand, if not entirely accept, the legitimateand differing interests, roles and expectations of the other.Very often, the issue in the public's mind is not so much how to stop the project altogether, but how tohave their concerns integrated into its strategic planning. However, once conflict has developed, specialdedication and skill is required in its resolution. Better still is the constructive participation of thecitizenship at the outset.Consequently, consultants are now to be found who have developed various techniques for workingconstructively with stakeholder conflict, or who specialize in acting as independent mediators throughcommunication, education, analysis and soliciting alternative courses of action.SummaryClearly, the project manager's job is no longer confined to controlling events within his or her ownproject organization. It is no longer sufficient to think of project management as simply the monitoringof time and cost by planning, scheduling and resource leveling, as many software programs might haveManaging the Project Environment Page 16 of 16AEW Services, Vancouver, BC © 1990, 2001 Email: [email protected] believe. Nor even is it sufficient to include the many other organizational tasks of the projectmanager, as leader of the project team.Vitally important as all these things are, these are not sufficient for effective and successful projectmanagement in today's dynamic world. What is equally important - often more so to achieve asuccessful project outcome - is the need to track the project's linkages to the external environment. Thisis especially true of infra-structure projects which place emphasis on development and innovation andmust respond to increasingly rapid change.The reason is simple. Every construction project exists for a purpose relating to, and within, itssurrounding environment. Therefore, its creation and implementation must be responsive to itsenvironment by maximizing the benefits, as far as possible, to all the stakeholders, and minimizing the
adverse impacts by deliberate mitigation. Clearly, how the project manager works within the project
environment can make all the difference between the success of the project and its failure.
Q. 3 A system is a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole. Do you think that the project consists of sub-systems? Elucidate in detail.
“In every great endeavor we wish to achieve, twice as much hard work is needed for us to give”. I believe in this statement and every project manager would definitely agree. A project manager sees to it that everything goes well as planned and if problems may arise as they usually do, a resolution is immediately implemented. To be able to create a successful project, one must go through the project management steps carefully completing each and every project management phases. Here is a guide of the project management phases:
1. Team Assembly
No man is on an island. Same is true in undergoing a project. It is a collaboration of different minds working together to come up with a cohesive idea and plan out the strategies needed to execute the project successfully. In creating your team make sure that you have different people from a variety of fields to have the most brilliant ideas on hand.
2. Project Initiation
Identification of the project definition, objectives and approach are discussed in this phase. It is important to have your goal in mind before starting to brainstorm into the scope and specifications of your project to serve as your guide throughout the duration of the project.
3. Project Planning
Among the project management steps, I would say this is very important since the foundation and backbone of the project will depend on the planning stage. If a complete and thorough planning is done the probability of setbacks and problems along the course of the project will be highly prevented. As a project manager you would need to use management-level planning to map out an overview of resources, acquisitions, subcontracts and costs. It is expected of you to estimate, plan and oversee all phases of the project management phase. As a project manager you need to include your team or set up a committee to execute project planning.
4. Project Execution
In this project management step the project manager needs to know the importance of delegation. Each task needs to be delegated to everyone to achieve efficiency in delivering results. It is also helpful since easy tracking can be done through small teams or groups working together as one to achieve a single goal identified on the Initiation phase. Use a project management software to give a constant overview of how the project is going in terms of scheduling, cost control, budget management, resource allocation,
collaboration software, communication, quality management and documentation or administration systems especially in large scale projects. Then collaborate with your team to hold meetings and conferences to provide feedback solve challenges and aid in decision making. Communication is essential in making your project a success to determine degree of dependency among team members and to foster camaraderie.
5. Project Leadership
What sets apart a manager and a leader? Some might not even know the slightest difference. A leader leads by example by that it means he embodies in himself the values of providing quality service to others. He is passionate in helping his team members be productive and resourceful without demanding for results right away. A leader knows and understands his team members weaknesses and strengths which he works around to motivate them to do their best and work collaboratively to produce excellent results.
6. Project Monitoring and Controlling
In any project you need to be able to allocate your resources effectively. Project software is available to oversee your costs, resources and financial capability throughout the project. Highest quality is achieved by constant monitoring and project tracking. Standard Quality is the goal being obtained in this phase to be able to present a high quality result.
7. Project Presentation
This phase is close to completion of the project wherein majority of what was planned has already taken place. The client will have a preview of the project outcome before it is officially launched to be able to change, update or do some minor revisions. The project manager will have the responsibility in presenting to the clients since he is the head of the organizing team. Effective communication skills are needed to undergo this phase impressively.
8. Project Conclusion
At any project close there should be a complete documentation, audit and feedback. Regardless of the success of the project, proper transition of work processes and deliverables should be done. Proper documentation of processes should have been established with sufficient data for the operation of the system and to also provide basis for future projects and maintenance.
Being a project manager has a lot of work. You have to be passionate in helping your team to be able to yield good results. It is not all theories and principles. Though there are a lot of resources on how to use project management steps wisely and effectively to help you along the way.
Q. 4 At what stage of project life cycle the project manager should be appointed? Should the project manager be given training inside or outside the organization and should be trained with respect to several project management functions or for specific function? Explain with the help of example.
Managing projects have observed that projects have special characteristics that can be exploited to manage them more effectively. One of those areas somewhat peculiar to the project environment deals with project phases:
Projects go through definite and describable phases; Each phase can be brought to some sense of closure as the next phase begins;
Phases can be made to result in discrete products or accomplishments (e.g., test results) to provide the starting point for the next phase;
The cost for each phase begins small and increase throughout the project, culminating in development, procurement, and the operations and support phases;
Phase transitions are ideal times to update planning baselines, to conduct high level management reviews, and to evaluate project costs and prospects.
Projects should be structured to take advantage of the natural phases that occur as work progresses. The phases should be defined in terms of schedule and also in terms of specific accomplishments. You should define how you will know when you are finished each phase and what you will have to show for it.
The Project Management Institute defines four major project phases: initiation, planning, execution and closure. One could make the case that almost every project goes through these four phases. Within these phase are smaller gradations. Some methodologies suggest decomposing projects into phases, stages, activities, tasks and steps.
Cost and schedule estimates, plans, requirements, specifications, and so forth, should be updated and evaluated at the end of each phase, sometimes before deciding whether to continue with the project. Large projects are usually structured to have major program reviews at the conclusion of significant project phases. These decision-points in the life of a project are called Major Milestones.
The following illustrates how the concept of project phases is incorporated into a new product development methodology.
This illustrates the linking of major milestone review meetings with the completion of each phase. Milestone decisions are made after conducting a major program review where the project manager presents the approved statement of requirements, acquisition strategy, design progress, test results, updated cost and schedule estimates, and risk assessments, together with a request for authorization to proceed to the next phase.
The early phases will shape the direction for all further efforts on the project. They provide requirements definitions, evaluation of alternative approaches, assessment of maturity of technologies, review of cost, schedule and staffing estimates, and development of specifications.
Milestone completions can be defined in terms of "exit criteria" as well as by calendar dates. Using "event based" schedules rather than date-based schedules ties project phase completions to the successful achievement of predetermined criteria such as completion of testing, demonstration of prototypes, adequacy of technical documentation, or approval of conceptual designs and specifications.
A relatively short-term or technically straight-forward project may have only one approval event, following a proposal or feasibility study. Nevertheless, the project manager should report to customers and interested senior managers at intervals to keep them up to date on project progress and to ensure the continuing soundness of the project direction and requirements.
On small projects, if no formal agreements are written, the project manager should deal with customers and sponsors in an informal yet somewhat contractual way. This means managing expectations and making clear agreements about what will be produced and when.
If project phases take place over many months or even years, it is vital to provide interim deliverables to give the customers and sponsors a sense that work is being accomplished, to provide an opportunity for feedback, and to capture project successes in documented form.
The project planning process should be built around the project life cycle. Particular care should be given to defining the work to be accomplished in each phase. This should include definition of the deliverables to be produced, identifying testing and demonstrations to be completed, preparing updates of cost and schedule estimates, re-assessing risks, and conducting formal technical and management reviews.
If your project runs into an immovable obstacle and progress comes to a complete halt, you may want to declare victory and bring that phase to a close. This can be done by documenting the work already completed, and then writing a report describing the work successfully completed and defining the steps required should project sponsors decide to proceed.
Project Approval and Appointment of Project Management Team Stage: This is the final stage where the project is officially approved, the necessary funds are allocated and the Project Management Team (apart from the Executive and the Project Manager who have been appointed in the Design Stage) is appointed.
Figure 1-4: The three stages of Project Initiation
The specific steps/ activities involved in each one of the above stages, as well as the order in which they are undertaken are presented in the following flowchart (Figure 1-5). Analytical description and guidance on how to perform each of these steps/ activities, is given in the following subchapters (1.4 – 1.6).
It is noted that the activities, tools and techniques involved in each of the other phases of the Project Life Cycle are described in Chapter 7 of this Guide.
Q. 5 The role conflict, communication problem, lack of team definition, members commitment and senior management support are the among the key barriers that hinders the effective team building process. What approaches can be helpful to cope with these barriers. Assume any practical situation.
Successful teams produce extraordinary results in all areas of business, in sport, in communities and in voluntary bodies to name a few. Teams often fail to realise their potential because barriers get in the way of success. What are those barriers and how can you overcome them?
Barrier 1: Individual agendas
People are use to looking after themselves. We have all probably been told or heard someone say that you need to look after number one. In other words focus all of your attention on your agenda rather than the team agenda.
Solution: When on a team, focus on the unique contribution that you make to the overall team results and put the team results at the forefront.
Barrier 2: Silo thinking
In organisations, the attainment of a result will depend on all those in the process working together. Take for example a hospital. Someone needs to make the initial appointment for the patient to see a doctor. If the doctor identifies that the patient needs an operation, they will have to go on to a waiting list, be notified of when their operation will be, have the necessary pre-operation assessments done. Once they are admitted, arrangements need to be made to get them to the theatre on time, plans made for their discharge, including home support and medication.
Each of these tasks will require contributions from different departments and it is all too easy, especially when people are busy and stretched to fall into silo thinking. In other words, viewing challenges in isolation without considering the impact on other parts of the process and most importantly the customer (in this case the patient).
Solution: Make the time for teams to understand the impact of their actions or inaction on others and in particular the customer.
Barrier 3: Lack of trust
Most people need to be confident that others will deliver to fully embrace team working. In other words they need to have trust. Building trust takes time, effort, commitment and belief. There is no magic formula but actions speak louder than words.
Solution: Commit and follow through on actions that you have agreed to carry out and show that you can be trusted to deliver.
Barrier 4: Vagueness about what is to be achieved
Teams need to know what they have to achieve. In other words they need specific and measurable outcomes. Teams are often formed with vague goals like improve retention, reduce errors or reduce the reporting cycle to name just a few. This vagueness is a guaranteed recipe for a dish called disappointment.
Solution: Set specific and measurable outcomes for teams to address like, for example, reduce sickness levels by 2% by 30 June.
Barrier 5: Absence of conflict
In teams, particularly in organisations who are performing well, conflict is often missing. We are doing well, so we can rest on our laurels and not rock the boat might be the motto. Conflict should not be seen as a something negative but a constructive way of getting the best from everyone.
Building a team is one of the most challenging tasks of a leader. Like building a business, creating a good team is a truly tough endeavour that every leader must take upon.
One of the most frustrating things you can experience as a leader is to continually try, but experience difficulties and obstacles in human relationships continually.
Make no mistake, human relationships are everything in teams. After all, that's what teams are: people striving for a common goal.
There are several evident barriers to team success that are common to most teams; let me describe some of them. Hopefully, if you're struggling with managing your team, you can identify with some of these issues and realize it's a problem.
Three Barriers to Building a Team
1. Poor Leadership
Everything flows from leadership. And when there's a problem in the team, usually, it's the leader's fault. Either he's not giving enough direction to his team, or he's not communicating enough.
Remember, when there is a problem with the team, look to yourself first. Do you think you gave enough instructions for your team to fully understand what you're telling them? Are you committed to your goals, and it came out through a speech that you gave them?
If you're not sure, you can always ask someone in the team for feedback about yourself. Be ready for criticism; after all, you're asking so that you can improve.
2. Poor Communication
Communication is the key of life; and more so in teams. You need to have a lot of communication amongst the team members, and the team members with you.
With communication, you can eliminate a lot of misunderstandings, ambiguity and hence possible conflict from the team. A team with bad communication often has a lot of mistrust, politics and backstabbing. Everything is under the table, because nothing is brought upon the table.
This often causes the dynamics to breakdown. Because information is not shared openly or timely, the team cannot operate at its full potential.
3. Poor Team Dynamics
Teams can fail because some people just cannot work with others. For example, if you have two extremely opinionated team members in the team, you'll be seeing conflict all day. Also, if you have team members that are 'yes' men; people that are just passive and wait for orders, you won't see a lot of participation and open discussion in the team.
How to overcome these barriers
It's not easy, pulling a group of diverse individuals together to work as a team. Barriers abound, in the form of fierce territoriality, incentive systems that reward individual rather than collective achievement, and mistrust spawned by an acquisition, merger, or major internal restructuring. Yet at a time when companies are increasingly relying on cross-functional teams at every level to generate innovative ideas, it's more crucial than ever to tap the fresh thinking that teams can provide.
How to overcome barriers to teamwork and unite an unlikely group of collaborators? Present them with an irresistible challenge, advise management consultants Patrick McKenna and David Maister in First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals (Free Press, 2002).
Team challenges can take numerous forms—including a high-profile project, a process-improvement crusade, an enemy to be vanquished, or a chance to become the "winning underdogs." A crisis and pressure to complete a daunting task in a tight time frame (launching a new IT system, initiating a brand campaign) represent additional types of challenges. "A burning platform or aggressive deadline leaves team members no time to stall, hide, or point fingers," says Allan Steinmetz, CEO and founder of Inward Strategic Consulting, an internal branding firm in Newton, Massachusetts.
Regardless of the many forms team challenges can take, they share a purpose: fulfilling the deep need that most people have to be part of something larger than themselves. "People value this feeling more than anything else," maintains Judith Glaser, author of Creating We: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking and Build a Healthy, Thriving Organization (Platinum Press, 2005).
But defining a challenge, and then inspiring your team to meet it, takes real savvy. "Managers must first be genuinely interested in helping people excel," says Maister. "They also have to understand that shifting from individual work to teamwork isn't an intellectual process, it's an emotional one. You have to seduce people step by step into collaborating as a team."
Effective managers use the following tactics:
1. Share as much information as you canShare with your team as much information as possible about why their effort is so important to the company. "People want to be in the know," says John Coleman, CEO and founding partner of The VIA Group LLC, a marketing services firm in Portland, Maine. "I make our people feel like insiders by telling them about our company's challenges."
Glaser encourages her clients to "open up your company's closets. Put the brutal facts on the table—whether it's 'We slipped this quarter' or some other difficult news. You'll make people want to protect your company." Sharing information in this manner can spur teams to rally together and establish a shared vision for what they need to accomplish.
Katie Buckley, a senior organizational development consultant at Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Siemens Medical Solutions U.S.A., united business-unit leaders by challenging them to develop a graphic depiction of the company's competitive strategy as part of a nine-month development program in 2004. The team's effort resulted in a diagram that lays out the cause-and-effect links required for the company to leave rivals scrambling.
"We've grown through acquisitions," she says. "The challenge is in the integration—we strive to form complete solutions for customers."
After seeing the company's strategy in graphic form, "business leaders now realize they have to balance allegiance to their units and to the company, balance our future needs with today's needs, and put their 'enterprise' hat on," Buckley says. "They clearly see not only where we want to go as a company but also how we'll get there."
2. Provide the right amount of guidanceInvite team members to share ideas for surmounting challenges. Glaser advises clients to "help people articulate the unique contributions they can offer. Ask them: 'What are your ideas? What innovation can you bring to this effort?'" But balance this participation by providing guidelines for generating ideas and making decisions.
Brian Zanghi, president and CEO of Nashua, New Hampshire-based Pragmatech Software, took this approach with his executive team soon after he joined the company. His goal was to promote more cross-functional collaboration, and it proved a delicate task. Half the members of his executive team were new themselves, and the organization had a hierarchical culture.
"We had few cross-functional initiatives, and decisions escalated to a single point," he says. When Zanghi challenged his team to work across functions, several "old guard" members became uncomfortable. "Some of them wondered what their role was now and didn't know how to collaborate with their peers," he says.
To overcome these barriers, Zanghi asked team members to draw on their own expertise to generate ideas for cross-functional initiatives. "I don't micromanage; that kills creativity and collaboration," he says.
But he did provide some necessary structure to their brainstorming by testing ideas with such questions as "How will this idea get customers to use our products faster than before?"
3. "Stretch" your people beyond their current skillsDraw people into a challenge by offering them the chance to use skills they don't normally exercise in their day-to-day work. By "stretching" beyond their skill set, people gain experience thinking in fresh ways—a key ingredient in effective team collaboration. They can also become a great source of innovative ideas.
Stacy DeWalt, vice president of marketing for management services and enterprise accounts at Stamford, Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes, recently used this approach with her team. She brought twenty-five people together who had deep expertise in different areas—advertising, public relations, and the Web—to brainstorm ideas for how to change the perceptions of the firm's target audience and to elevate the importance of its products and services to the "C" level audience.
DeWalt then assigned people with different expertise to subgroups and challenged them to generate ideas outside their normal sphere of responsibility. Mass communication specialists, for instance, were charged with developing suggestions for direct-response marketing programs.
4. Make it fun, actionable, and visibleTo put team collaboration into overdrive, inject fun into your team's challenge. DeWalt, for instance, designed her team's brainstorming session to mimic the TV series The Apprentice, in which Donald Trump presents aspiring businesspeople with a challenge and then "fires" mediocre performers.
"Our CMO played Trump," DeWalt says. "He told the group we were out to 'fire' our competitors."
But DeWalt made it clear that there was more to the exercise than just fun. "We told the team that the company would fund their best ideas, so people knew their brainstorming was actionable." Participants also discovered their work would be visible. After the session, the groups gathered the easels on which they'd recorded their ideas and carried them to the boardroom on the sixth floor. "All the VPs and the CMO were there," says DeWalt. "People realized they had the executive team's endorsement."
DeWalt's reward? Four of the team's best ideas have found their way into corporate or business-unit marketing plans. Moreover, participants have begun collaborating more to seize advantage of one another's perspectives.
One young woman enamored by "makeover" series on TV suggested a "mailroom makeover." Intrigued by her pop-culture perspective, some of her brainstorming partners have invited her into other programs to get more of her ideas.
A postsession survey revealed additional important results: "People said they felt empowered," DeWalt says. "They responded, 'You're investing in us and giving us visibility. We want to step up and help. You're challenging us but making it feel safe to be creative.'"
5. Help people "feel" the challengeDesign exercises that let your team experience their challenge viscerally. Consider the tactics used by executives in General Motors' Saturn division when they recently challenged retailer teams to generate new ideas for fulfilling Saturn's purpose: to "surprise and delight" customers.
"We wanted them to experience surprising and delighting at a gut level," says Chris Bower, manager of Saturn's retail strategy and customer experience. So the company designed a core-values training course in which each retail team built a bicycle to learn how best to work together. Next the teams had to design a "delivery experience" meant to surprise and delight a new owner of their bike.
After the teams developed their strategies, facilitators brought children from the local community into the room and presented them as the new bike owners. Neither the youngsters nor the Saturn teams knew of the plan ahead of time. "The teams not only surprised and delighted the kids," says Bower, but they experienced those feelings themselves.
Team members thus gained a visceral understanding of what they were trying to achieve. The "surprise and delight" they themselves experienced during the exercise
