project management
Sri Navya Tatikonda
ppmp20009_lecture_week_3.pptx
1
Staffing a project
Regardless of the structure a project is only as good as the individuals within it:
Project management needs:
Project Manager
An assistant project manager
A project (home) office
Staff usually fulltime on project
A project team
Usually work out of functional units and only spend some of their time on a project
2
5 questions
Before staffing, five questions should be considered:
What are the requirement for an individual to become a successful project manager?
Who should be a member of the project team?
Who should be a member of the project office?
What problems can occur during recruiting activities?
What can happen downstream to cause the loss of key team members?
3
Staffing Environment
Two major types os problems
Personnel performance problems
Personnel policy problems
Personnel Performance Problems
Changed way of working
Adapting to working for two managers
Personnel Policy Problems
Us and them mentality – Different way of working and priorities
Grades and salaries for Project vs Functional (Grass is greener)
Project Manager
Usually has the greatest influence during staffing
Needs to have both technical and management expertise, inlcuding good communication
Characteristics needed include:
Honesty and integrity
Understanding personnel problems
Versatility, energy, toughness
Decision making ability
Risk and uncertainty evaluation
Which picture represents project management to you?
Is it all about how well the team works together?
Is it about building something out of disparate parts?
Is it about juggling multiple things at the same time?
What about identifying and managing your stakeholders, leveraging them?
Is it purely about delivery – tell me what you want and I’ll dig it up for you?
Is it all about the balancing act? Balancing the cost and benefits?
Is it about the schedule – the detail
Is it about a life cycle.
Class discussion. – get into groups as to the picture you think reflects project management more and discuss what that means to you. Come up with a definition of project management,
One member of each group to present this back to the class, discussing how the picture you choose aligns to the definition.
5
Project Manager Selection
Executive Decision
Experience vs potential
Another 5 Questions
What are the internal vs external sources?
How do we select?
Who do we provide career development in project management?
How can we develop project management skills?
How do we evaluate project management performance?
What is project management
Project initiation
Selection of the best project given resource limits
Recognising the benefits of the project
Preparation of the documents to sanction the project
Assigning of the project manager
6
The Project Manager
The person assigned by the performing organisation to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. PMBOK
Responsible for coordinating and integrating activities across multiple functional lines.
Integrating the activities necessary to:
Develop a project plan
Execute the plan
Make changes to the plan
Search the internet for Project Manager roles. What are some of the attributes they require?
Team building
Leadership
Conflict resolution
Technical expertise
Organisation
Entrepreneurship
Administration
Management support
Resource Allocation
7
PM Skills
Team Building
Leadership Conflict resolution
Technical expertise
Planning
Organisational (social architect)
Entrepreneurship
Administration
Management support
Resource Allocation
8
Special Cases in Project Manger selection
Part-time vs full-time assignments
Several Projects assigned to one project manager
Projects assigned to functional managers
The project manager role retained by the general manager.
Gary Heerkins (cited in Kerzner ch1, pg 11) provides several revelations of why business knowledge has become important for project managers.
9
The wrong project manager
Maturity
Breadth of experience not necessarily just the years of experience
Hard-Nosed Tactics
Micro-management can be problematic – need variety of leadership styles
Availability
Switching Project Managers between projects sometimes necessary to get best Project Manager for that stage of the project
The wrong project manager
Technical Expertise
Subject matter experts not necessarily best project managers
Customer Orientation
Being able to communicate with customer does not guarantee project success.
New Exposure
Risk of project failure if appointment only so employee can gain exposure to project management
Company Exposure
Just because person has worked in many areas of the organisation doesn’t necessarily mean they will make good project managers.
Project management office
Focal point of information for reporting
Monitoring and controlling time, cost and performance
Ensuring work required is documented and distributed appropriately
Ensuring work performed is authorized and funded
Integration
The Functional Members
Not always full time
Usually act as subject matter experts
May be reporting both to the project manager and to a functional manager
May be utilised for specific stages of the project e.g. planning and user testing
Undermining vs supporting project implementation
The aggressor
The dominator
The devil’s advocate
The topic jumper
The recognition seeker
The withdrawer
The blocker
The initiators
The information seekers
The information givers
The encouragers
The clarifiers
The harmonisers
The consensus takers
The gate keepers
Mistakes made by inexperienced project managers
Refer to the list on page 213-214 Kerzner.
Pick a common mistake and consider how an inexperienced project manager may try to avoid the risk.
History
Ancient History
Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, Mayans etc
Pre 1940’s – techniques started to develop – henry Gantt developed the Gantt Chart, there were techniques in risk management, budgeting being played with.
Post WW2 governments started to re-build economies and projects came into being more in the form we know today
1960’s to 1985 – new management techniques were developed and shared – quality management, Just in Time management, matrix management – all giving new frames on how we worked and how projects were being managed
1985-2009 – Started to see specialised project management firms starting up, project management was starting to be outsourced.
2009 – 2020 Project management becoming more specialised – project domains emerging and greater emphasis on strategic project management.Starting to see standards being adopted ISO 21500, hiring only qualified PMs for big projects etc
15
Morality Ethics and the Corporate Culture
Internally driven adversity
When managers ask you to take action that might be in the best interests of the company but is not aligned to your ethical beliefs
Externally driven adversity
When your customers ask you to take action that may be in the customers best interest (and possibly your companies) but is not aligned to your ethical beliefs
Professional Responsibilities
PMP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Four Sections
Responsibility
Respect
Fairness
Honesty
Conflict of Interest
Acceptance of Gifts
Go to the PMI Website and find the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Portfolio
Collect
Reflect
Share
Select
Questions?
Next week
Complete second portfolio entry
Readings and Resources
MOODLE!!!
