Project Management BBA & MBA Lecture 789 Project Initiation Project Manager: The Man Responsible for Project Success Course Lecturer: Farhan Mir

High-level Project Organization Chart Senior Leadership Project Leadership Project Work Teams Sponsor Advisory or Steering Team Project Leader Project Manager Core Team Functional Team Serve as champions for the project and provide high-level direction, authority, decision-making and resources for the project. Supports the sponsor(s) and project leader. Provides high-level direction, input, and decision making. Provides the subject matter expertise and day-to-day planning and implementation for the respective functional area(s). Resolves issues and escalates when required. Provides project management, process improvement, and change management process expertise, tracking, and reporting. Provides subject matter expertise and functional ownership and accountability for project results. Provides day-to-day leadership for the planning, implementation, and closing of the project. Resolves issues and escalates when required. Assesses change management needs and develop strategies. Implements communication plan. Leads the individual functional teams. Project Resources Critical resources that can be brought in as subject matter experts as needed. Executive Sponsor

Roles of a PM Manager Facilitator Communicator oversees and manages the work and the employees Facilitator ensures that all resources and work are available when needed and that any problems are resolved Communicator must effectively communicate with senior management, client, project team, and other participants (vendors, dept. managers, etc.) as needed (which is frequently)

Project Management and the Project Manager The Functional Manager vs. The Project Manager Functional managers are usually specialists, analytically oriented and they know the details of each operation for which they are responsible Project managers must be generalists that can oversee many functional areas and have the ability to put the pieces of a task together to form a coherent whole

Functional Manager and the PM The Functional Manager Analytical Approach Direct, technical supervisor The Project Manager Systems Approach Facilitator and generalist

Organizations and Functional Manager The Functional Manager

Project Management and the PM

Career Paths – Who Could become Project Manager? – May be You When working for a company, you will be asked to be part of a project while doing many other things. With experience, you will be asked to lead a project. Usually start with a small project, hopefully it becomes your first success story. Other more challenging projects will come later. With experience, you will manage simultaneous projects. Director of the PMO? (depends on your personality, skills, successes)

Project Manager Responsibilities Responsibilities to the Parent Organization Responsibility to the Team Members

Responsibilities to the Parent Organization Conservation of resources Timely and accurate project communications Careful, competent management of the project Protect the firm from high risk Accurate reporting of project status with regard to budget and schedule

Responsibilities of the PM Responsibility to project team members Fairness, consistency, respect, honesty Concern for members’ future after project

12 Rules for Project Managers Two researchers conducted many interviews with senior project managers in which they asked a simple question: “What information were you never given as a novice project manager that, in retrospect, could have made your job easier?” The results were summarized into 12 rules for new PMs. Source: J. Pinto and O. Kharbanda, “Lessons for an Accidental Profession,” Business Horizons, March-April 1995. Part 2 - Project Managers

12 Rules for Project Managers Understand the problems, opportunities, and expectations of a project manager. Recognize that project teams will have conflicts, but this is a natural part of group development. Understand who the stakeholders are and their agendas. Realize that organizations are very political and use politics to your advantage. Realize that project management is “leader intensive” but that you must be flexible. Part 2 - Project Managers

12 Rules for Project Managers Understand that project success is defined by four components: budget, schedule, performance criteria, and customer satisfaction. Realize that you must build a cohesive team by being a motivator, coach, cheerleader, peacemaker, and conflict resolver. Notice that your team will develop attitudes based on the emotions you exhibit—both positive and negative. Part 2 - Project Managers

12 Rules for Project Managers Always ask “what-if” questions and avoid becoming comfortable with the status of the project. Don’t get bogged down in minutiae and lose sight of the purpose of the project. Manage your time efficiently. Above all, plan, plan, plan. Part 2 - Project Managers

Identifying and Summarizing Demands on the PM A number of demands are critical to the management of projects: Acquiring sufficient resources Acquiring and inspiring personnel Dealing with obstacles Making project goal trade offs Dealing with risk and failure (perceived or otherwise) Maintaining multiple channels of communication Negotiation

Acquiring Sufficient Resources Resources initially budgeted for projects are frequently inadequate Sometimes resource trade-offs are required Subcontracting is an option Project and functional managers perceive availability of resources to be strictly limited Competition for resources CAN turn into “win-lose” propositions between project and functional managers

Acquiring and Inspiring Personnel A major problem for the PM is that most people required for a project must be “borrowed” At times, functional managers may become jealous if they perceive a project as more glamorous than their own functional area Typically, the functional manager retains control of personnel evaluation, salary, and promotion for those people lent out to projects Because the functional manager controls pay and promotion, the PM cannot promise much beyond the challenge of the work itself Violation of “Unity of Command” principle

Dealing with Obstacles One characteristic of any project is its uniqueness and with that come a series of crises: At the inception of a project, the “fires” tend to be associated with resources As a project nears completion, obstacles tend to be clustered around two key issues: Last minute schedule and technical changes Uncertainty surrounding what happens to members of the project team when the project is completed

Making Project Goal Trade-offs There will be trade-offs that will affect project goals of any project: cost, time and performance. Design / formation stage: no significant difference in the importance of the three goals Build-up stage: schedule is primary goal, followed by performance, which is in turn significantly more important than cost Final stage/phase-out: performance is significantly more important than cost

Making Project Goal Trade-offs Relative importance of project objectives for each stage of the project life cycle:

Multiple Communication Paths Most of the project manager’s time is spent communicating with the many groups interested in the project Considerable time must be spent selling, reselling, and explaining the project Interested parties include: Top management Functional departments Clients Members of the project team

Communication Realities To effectively deal with the demands, a PM must understand and deal with certain fundamental issues: Must understand why the project exists Critical to have the support of top management Build and maintain a solid information network Must be flexible in many ways, with as many people, and about as many activities as possible throughout the life of the project

Selecting the Project Manager Some key attributes, skills, and qualities that have been sought in PM are: Strong technical background Assertive and successful functional manager Mature and calm Someone who is currently available Someone on good terms with senior executives Knows how to keep a team focused and inspired Experience in several different fucntions A person who can walk on (or part) the waters

PM Selection “Criteria” Four major categories of skills that are required for the PM and serve as the key criteria for selection: Credibility Sensitivity Managerial skills and adaptive leadership style Ability to handle stress and conflict

Credibility The PM needs two kinds of credibility: Technical credibility – Perceived by key stakeholders as possessing sufficient technical knowledge to direct the project Conversational competence Administrative credibility Keeping the project on schedule and within costs Making sure reports are accurate and timely Ensuring project team has material, equipment, and labor when needed.

Sensitivity There are several ways for project managers to display sensitivity: Understanding the organization’s political structure Sense interpersonal conflict on the project team or between team members and outsiders Does not avoid conflict, but confronts it and deals with it before it escalates Keeps team members focused on problems not people Situational “radar”--ability to sense when team members may try to “sweep things under the rug”

Leadership Style Leadership: “interpersonal influence, exercised in situation and directed through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals.” Other attributes may include: enthusiasm optimism energy tenacity courage personal maturity adaptability

Problems of Cultural Differences Project managers must adapt to the social/cultural environment in which they are workings This is especially true when the project is in another country There can be real problems on international projects when a culture’s opinion of some group are different from the firm’s

The PM “Moral Compass” A PM must also have a strong sense of ethics. Some common ethical missteps are listed below: “wired” bids and contracts (the winner has been predetermined) “buy-in” (bidding low with the intention of cutting corners or forcing subsequent contract changes) “kickbacks” “covering” for team members (group cohesiveness) taking “shortcuts” (to meet deadlines or budgets) using marginal (substandard) materials compromising on safety violating standards consultant (e.g., auditors) loyalties (to employer or to client or to public)