Leading and Managing the Team
The purpose of the essay is to analyse the works and the responsibilities of a project manager. There are a number of activities undertaken by a project manager in order to successfully execute a project. One of such activities is leading the team. Leadership is recognized by its accomplishments and effective leadership will be reflected in the task performed (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). Apart from leading the project it is the role of the project manager to manage the project as well. However, there is a striking difference between the leader and a manager. Leaders not only manage the team members but inspire them to remain focused and have a long term goal. Not only leadership, there are a number of responsibilities of a project manager while managing of a project. The project manager has an overall liability for initiation, planning, design and execution of a project. Apart from that, a manager is responsible for taking the important decisions of the project. The various aspects and the activities undertaken by the project manager are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Among a number of duties performed by the project manager, leading the project team is one of the most important activities. A project manager is expected to perform a number of duties starting from direct supervision to an indirect influence, from management of hard technical details to controlling the different issues faced by the project team (Pinto 2015). Therefore, it can be said that the role of a project manager encapsulates in a number of ways starting from the role of a mini CEO to someone who is responsible for successful completion of the project to managing the project resources and project needs (Muller 2017). Apart from leading a project, the project manager has to perform certain other essential duties and activities which are discussed in the following sections.
While leading a project, a manager is needed to perform a number of tasks, the most significant one being acquiring the resources of the project. The resources of a project mainly refer to the different materials and the resources which are necessary for successful accomplishment of the objectives of a project (Sunindijo 2015). It is often seen that a majority of the projects are under defined in their concept stage and therefore a lack of resources in the project can be observed. There are a number of reasons behind the unavailability of the resources. If the project goals and objectives of the project are vague, there is a possibility of lack of resources in the project. Another major reason behind the lack of resources is unavailability of the sponsor of the project. The lack of resources in a project can be also because of deliberate understatement of the requirements of the project. These are some major reasons behind the resource unavailability (Hornstein 2015). However, regardless of the reasons behind the lack of the resources in a particular project, it is the responsibility of the project manager to acquire the resources of the project. There is no doubt in the fact that in majority of the projects, a budget constraint is faced along with an inadequate human resource. However, the project managers make use of different tactics to manage the resource shortfalls which includes negotiation. This is necessary as the resources are needed to be negotiated with the top management.
Acquiring Project Resources
Another essential activity performed by a project manager is to motive and build a sturdy project team. It is a process of moulding a diverse group of experts in developing a cohesive and a collaborative team (Heagney 2016). Team building is one of the most important aspects of project management as it ensures completion of a project according to its aims and objectives. Team building and motivating the team to deliver the work in a given schedule is a complex task as the project manager needs to understand the human behaviours in order to build an effective team (Galvin et al. 2014). The human challenges faced in the team is quite complex to manage and therefore it is one of the most important activities performed by the project manager. In order to propel a team the project manager needs to understand the capabilities of the team members.
It is expected that a project manager will have a vision to identify the project scope and develop a project plan. The project scope is needed to identify in order to ensure successful execution of the project (Mir and Pinnington 2014). The project manager is expected to ensure completion of a project within a scheduled time and for that the project manager needs to have a vision of improving the project in every step.
One of the most important activities that are expected from a project manager is communicating effectively with the team members (Too and Weaver 2014). Negotiation is an activity that is needed in a project and therefore it is essential for the project managers to engage in an effective communication with the team members. Furthermore, an effective communication serves other crucial purposes associated with the project. The status and the progress of the projects are effectively communicated with the team members through this process (Burke 2013). However, the communication in the project is a two way process and therefore it is the duty of the team members as well to engage in an effective communication with the manager
Project manager is mainly responsible for scheduling a project and therefore time management is an important activity that is performed by a project manager. Apart from activities and resource planning, controlling the time of a project is an important responsibility (Heagney 2016). In order to effectively perform the activity, the project manager defines and sequences an activity according to the time available which in turn helps in time management. Time management is therefore considered an important aspect of project scheduling.
Motivating and Building an Effective Project Team
A good and effective project manager particularly knows the process of delivering a project within a set project budget. In order to meet the expectations of the clients, it is essential to deliver the project within the scheduled time and within the set budget. If by any chance a project goes over budget, the project cannot be termed as successful (Harrison and Lock 2017). The activities performed by the project managers to avoid any massive overruns in the project are frequent reviewing the budget and the project progress according to the project plan. In order to ensure that the customers’ satisfaction is achieved with the project it is the responsibility of the manager to deliver a project within a scheduled time and within the set budget of the project.
Another major activity that is performed by a project manager or is expected from a professional project manager is management of the project risks (Larson et al. 2014). Risks and issues are inevitable in a project and therefore, it is the responsibility of good project managers to meticulously identify and evaluate the risks in a project. Effective identification of the risk and its mitigation ensures successful delivery of a project. Risk management is an important phase of project management. Risk management is an important aspect of project management as it identified the risks and issues in a project. The risk management should be a structured process and the lead of the project is responsible for timely execution of the risk management process. Risk matrix is generally prepared by the project lead to prioritize the risks present in a project by evaluating its severity and probability of occurrence.
These are the major activities undertaken by a project manager in effective management of the project. The following section discusses the characteristics possessed by an effective and professional project manager.
There are a number of characteristic traits of a project manager and possession of these characteristics is expected from a professional project manager. An effective project manager leads by example and is technically competent enough to handle the different technical challenges associated with the project (Too and Weaver 2014). One of the major responsibilities of a project manager is build an effective project team and persuade the team to work for successful completion of the project. All these qualities are expected from a project manager who is leading a project.
The purpose of the essay is to discuss the different processes and the activities that are expected from a profession project manager. Leadership is an effective quality of a project manager as it is necessary to lead and motivate a team. The essay discusses the essential characteristics that a project manager should possess in order to effectively manage a team. Apart from being an efficient leader, a project manager needs to be a good negotiator as well. The essay establishes the fact that a project manager should be a good motivator in order to encourage the project team for completing the project within a given schedule and within a set budget. The various aspects and the activities that are generally expected from a professional project manager are discussed in the essay.
References
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Galvin, T., Gibbs, M., Sullivan, J. and Williams, C., 2014. Leadership competencies of project managers: An empirical study of emotional, intellectual, and managerial dimensions. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing, 6(1), p.35.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp.291-298.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E.W., Gray, C.F., Danlin, U., Honig, B. and Bacarini, D., 2014. Project management: The managerial process (Vol. 6). Grandview Heights, OH: McGraw-Hill Education.
Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International journal of project management, 32(2), pp.202-217.
Muller, R., 2017. Project governance. Routledge.
Pinto, J. 2015. Project Management. Pearson Education UK.
Sunindijo, R.Y., 2015. Project manager skills for improving project performance. International Journal of Business Performance Management, 16(1), pp.67-83.
Too, E.G. and Weaver, P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), pp.1382-1394.
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