Final Project Report

Running head: PROJECT TEAM AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT 1

PROJECT TEAM AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

Project Team and Stakeholder Management

Tomorrow Amos

Argosy University

Project Team and Stakeholder Management

Project Communications and Interactions between Project Manager, Stakeholders, and the Project Team

Project success is highly dependent on how communication and interactions are achieved during performance. It is mainly the duty of the project manager to choose and implement effective communication and interaction approaches that work with every stakeholder. For District 4 Warehouse Move, the project manager will act as the link between stakeholders and facilitate interactions and communications. When such a project is ongoing, the team among other stakeholders tend to look up to the manager meaning that he must lead and show how various functions such as communication and interactions will be attained (Kerzner, 2013). For instance, referring to the Work Breakdown Structure, there are status meetings that will be organized with the aim of making a communication to the project team. In such a case, the project manager may assemble cross-functional teams and inform their individual and joint responsibilities meaning that he will serve as the link between parties and stakeholders.

Additionally, the communications and interactions will work through enabling access to resources that will aid in communication between the various parties and stakeholders. For instance, in communicating with the vendors, some technological tools may need to be used. The project manager should put in place official tools for communication in a bid to ensure that there is a standard channel for communication between the various parties. In doing so, some barriers to communication such as utilization of numerous media for communication will be addressed.

Issues to be considered about when forming the Project team

The project team will need to be concerned about several issues before he can form the project team as follows. First, he will need to be wary of skills and competence of members tasked with various roles and responsibilities. Individuals’ assigned roles must be able to handle them in a manner that meets expected quality in a timely manner (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). For instance, electrical technicians and plumbers must be competent individuals with a history of quality work. Additionally, in forming the team, the manager needs to ensure that the members are effective communicators and time managers. As reiterated above, communication has an influence on the success of a project. There are instances when members from cross-functional teams will need to work together meaning they will need to communicate effectively. They must also be effective time managers so as to avoid delays in the activities. All these can be accomplished through running quick background checks on members in a bid to ensure that the best are getting into the teams.

Further, the manager will need to consider resources available such as budgetary allocations. Teams should be made up of individuals that will be compensated without compromising the budget allocated. This means that the number should be optimal. Finally, the team should be made up of individuals that are self-driven and motivated to see successful completion of the project. This will help avoid issues such as underperformance and need for supervision during project activities.

Situational Factors that might affect Project Performance

There are a number of situational factors that might influence project performance as follows. First, stakeholders may come from different backgrounds which may affect project performance due to disagreements and conflicts. Actually, when working with cross-functional teams and vendors from different backgrounds their perceptions of different processes and activities may be different which is likely to cause conflicts and disagreements (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). A project manager must have approaches of resolving conflicts and disagreements.

Resource constraints may also influence the performance of project. In some cases, the projected use of resources may have been underestimated calling for more resources to be deployed. In such a case, delays may be experienced which might have an impact on the overall timeline of the project. More so, in a situation where resources need to be shared, there is high likelihood for conflicts and delays meaning the overall timeline of the project may be negatively influenced. The project manager needs to foresee these issues and put in place measures for addressing them.

Pitfalls a Project Manager may want watch out for

The success of the project is highly dependent on the interactions and performance of the team members as they are the ones that will physically do the job. In this light, the project manager will need to watch out for all pitfalls associated with the laxity of the team members. They will need to be talked to and motivated so that their performance can be aligned with the overall objectives and goals of the project. Actually, the manager should be close ties with the team members so that any issues arising can be known and addressed in a timely manner (Meredith & Mantel, 2011). More so, the manager can put in place performance evaluation measures so as to learn about the trends of the project teams. In essence, though there are several sources of issues during project performance those arising from project team may have more significance hence a project manager may need to watch out for issues associated with the project team.

References

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. New York, NY: Wiley & Sons.

Meredith, J., & Mantel, S. (2011). Project Management: A Managerial Approach. New York, NY: Wiley & Sons.