Project Management - Responsibilities of the Project Manager - Essay Example

Project Management Table of Contents Task 1A 4 Responsibilities of the project manager 4 Transformational leadership 4 Transactional leadership 5 Situational leadership 5 Team leadership 5 Appropriate leadership style for the project manager 5 Task 2A 6 Functional Structure 6 Flat Organizational Structure 6 Matrix Structure 6 Appropriate organizational structure for Info-support 7 Task 2B 8 Importance of team development and building 8 Importance of delegating team roles 8 Importance of motivation 9 Task 1B 9 Task 3A 10 Project activity plan (using MS PROJECT) 10 Task 3B 10 Detailed budget 11 Task 1C 13 Viability of the project 13 Success criteria 13 Failure criteria 14 Task 3C 14 Project evaluation and completion report 14 Project objective 14 Project initiative 14 Project scope for client 15 Project scope for Info-supports 15 Project deadlines 15 Project budget 15 Project challenges 15 Project outcome 15 Reference List 16 Task 1A Responsibilities of the project manager The fundamental responsibility of the project manager is to direct the project from its initiating point and take it through to its concluding phase. The project manager has to ensure the fact that the project is completed within the specified deadline. The individual has to schedule all the activities associated with the project and make sure that adequate resources are allocated for those activities in order for the project team members to finish them on time (R. Medina and A. Medina, 2014). The project assignments have to be completely aligned with each other and the project manager has to make sure that there is a strong coordination and collaboration between the team members. Besides allotting the tasks unvaryingly among the project team members the project manager has to monitor the progress of the project on a regular basis. The remaining activities have to be scheduled depending on the current progress of the project. Such a thorough supervision will enable the project manager to ensure that the project is finished well before deadline albeit leaving the team with enough time to test the project outcome rigorously (Kerzner, 2013). It is the duty of the project manager to create a robust interconnectivity between the project team members so that information can be channelized effectively between project team members. Effective communication of information will allow the project manager to learn about the issues that arise in between the different assignment levels within the project subsequent to which they can be addressed appropriately. The project manager will also have to have foresightedness about the probable risk exposures of the project. In that way the individual will be able to make sure that proper contingency plans are at place in order to shield the project from such risks (Kelly, et al., 2013). Transformational leadership The fundamental trait of a transformational leader is that the individual goes beyond managing just the everyday operations and makes every effort to formulate strategies that are aimed towards taking the organization, functional department and the team members to the furthest level of performance and success. Leaders following this leadership style emphasize a lot on team building, collaboration, motivation and coordination between employees at several levels of the workflow within the organization (Wang, et al., 2011). This enables transformational leaders to bring the best out of their subordinates thereby enabling them to enhance their productivity and efficiency. By doing so they are able to accomplish change within the organization for a better cause. Transformational leaders are good at setting effective goals and incentives in order to encourage subordinates to achieve greater performance levels thereby providing them with ample opportunities to attain all round profession and personal growth (Avolio and Yammarino, 2013). Transactional leadership Unlike transformational leaders, transactional leaders emphasize on maintaining the day to day workflow process. They are sometimes described as leaders who are good at keeping the sea afloat. These kinds of leaders are known to use disciplinary powers as well as a broad range of incentives in order to encourage subordinates to give their best performance. The word ‘transactional’ indicates those types of leaders who believe in rewarding employees in exchange for their performance (Groves and LaRocca, 2011). This aspect of transactional leaders is somewhat similar to the authoritarian or compliance leaders explained in the Blake Mouton managerial grid. A transactional leader is not concerned about guiding his/her organization strategically in a pathway towards becoming the market leader. Rather these types of leaders have less foresightedness and their only concern is about maintaining the smooth flow of work on a daily basis (Antonakis and House, 2014). Situational leadership This leadership style, studied extensively by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey is about leaders who are keen to modify their leadership style depending upon the skill set of subordinates working under the leader. Leaders, following such a leadership style, must vary their leadership style in order to satisfy the needs of peers and subordinates based on changing business circumstances. There are four phases of this leadership style that depends on the maturity level of the employees: telling and directing (to manage employees with the least maturity), selling and coaching (to manage employees with medium maturity and medium skill), participating and supporting (to manage people with high skill but medium maturity), delegating (to manage people with high skill and maturity) (Anthony, 2015). Team leadership Team leadership style has been studied extensively by Blake and Mouton. The trait of leaders following this leadership style is partially similar to transformational leaders. Team leaders give equivalent focus on the well being of their employees as well as overall productivity of the company. These kinds of leaders emphasize a lot on building a leader-team member relationship based on respect and trust (Zeidan, 2009). In that way they are able to create a work environment where one member is able to respect and understand the strengths and weakness of another member. Team leaders believe in creating a robust line of communication enabling subordinates any issue freely. In that way they are able to identify any areas of improvement and inefficiency within the organization. Team leaders provide their subordinates with ample scope for attaining self development and also expect them to deliver the performance anticipated from them (Natale, Sora and Kavalipurapu, 2004). Appropriate leadership style for the project manager As far as the appropriate leadership style to be followed by Info-support’s project manager is concerned, the best approach will be to follow a blend of transformational and team leadership style. The project manager has to think out of the box thereby avoiding any clichés that is associated with a ‘been there seen that’ kind of leadership style. Going beyond maintaining the day to day workflow process within the company, the project manager has to have a vision thereby building the capability to push the company towards creating innovation. Given the fact that Info-support is a company operating in the IT industry, there is ample scope for the managers to bring about innovation within their work. In this case one of the fundamental determinants of innovation is the presence of a leader who successfully encourages his/her subordinates to bring out their best performance. They will have to give equivalent importance to the needs of the subordinates by compensating them with lucrative incentives in order to maintain their motivation level. Task 2A Functional Structure This organizational structure is established precisely because of the fact that each portion of the company is categorized according to the objective that is to be achieved. Companies having a functional structure have different functional departments such marketing, finance, sales and production. The functional structure works very effectively for organizations which are typically small in size. In this type of organizations each functional department can depend on the skill sets and knowledge inputs of people working in another functional department. One disadvantage of this functional structure is the fact that the collaboration and coordination between functional departments can be confined by the tentative boundaries of having the different departments work disjointedly (Lorette, 2015a). Flat Organizational Structure Several small businesses apply a flat organizational structure. This is perhaps because very few stages of management separate the top tier management from the analysis, secretaries and other junior staffs. This form of organization can work for companies which have lower than 20 employees. This organizational structure is even more effective in companies where managers employ a maximum or one or two people per functional department. One of the fundamental advantages of having a flat organizational structure is that strategic decisions can be made fairly quickly. Nonetheless this form of organizational structure lacks the archetypal bureaucracy of hierarchical organizational structures that have several levels of management (Writing, 2015). Matrix Structure Matrix organizational structure was developed as a means to integrate the best attributes from the functional organizational structure and divisional organizational structure. Matrix organizational structures serve as a groundwork enabling managers to create teams according to the requirement of particular projects. In that way managers are able to pool together a team of talented individuals from different functional departments of the company in order to suit the need of the project (Lorette, 2015b). Rather than recruiting departmental heads from different functional departments (which happens mostly in case of divisional and functional organizational structures) managers, following a matrix organizational structure emphasize more on recruiting project managers who have the capability to oversee the work done by individuals hailing from different functional departments of the company. Matrix organizational can prove to be enormously effective for companies whose operational zone covers a large geographical area. Nevertheless, one disadvantage of this organizational structure is the fact that it can often get confusing as a result of its complex levels of decentralization. Individuals working under such organizational structure may find it hard to identify the accurate chain of command which in turn may prove to be a barrier against the free flow of information between the lower level officials, middle managers and the top tier managers (Suttle, 2015). Appropriate organizational structure for Info-support Considering various aspects of all the organizational structure that has been mentioned in the above sections, Info-support is recommended to structure their organization on the basis of the matrix organizational structure. Nonetheless, one thing the managers need to ensure is to create a robust chain of command between the lower tier officials, the middle managers and the top tier managers. A stable line of communication needs to be established which will enable the lower level officials to convey any message directly to the middle managers and the latter can relay the same to the top tier managers. By doing so, the management will be able to put them in a better position to identify the strengths, weaknesses and loopholes within the operational processes. Following this evaluation, appropriate business decisions could be made in quick time. This is one way of saying them that matrix organizational structure will be instrumental in establishing a robust line of communication that will facilitate smooth exchange of information thus speeding up the managerial decision making process. By implementing this organizational structure, the management of Info-support will be able to appoint the individuals with appropriate skills within the project. They will have to appoint programmers who have broad knowledge about transaction processing system and management information system. They will have to pair up with an onsite manager from Wal-Mart and together they will be engaged in constant discussions regarding the development of a highly effective transaction processing system and the subsequent improvements that are to be made within this module. Matrix organizational structure facilitates such form of communication between two people who are situated at different places of the world. As mentioned above, matrix organizational structure is instrumental particularly for those companies whose operational coverage spans across the globe. Task 2B Importance of team development and building Team development and building are fundamental determinant of a company’s success. It is tremendously vital to build and develop an effectual team to ensure the successful conclusion of a project. Given the fact that Info-support is a relatively new company, it is important for the company to deliver on its promises which in turn will enhance its image as a highly reliable company. In order to successfully delivery on the promises it is important for the management to put in place a highly effective and skilled team who would have the expertise to attain the desired objective within the deadline. It is imperative for the management of Info-supports that they develop and build a highly efficient team. This is precisely because of the fact that a team comprising of efficient team members will be able to establish better collaboration and coordination among themselves. This will help them to work effectively towards a common objective. In addition, the managers will have to ensure that likeminded individuals are being appointed within the team. They need to understand the importance of understanding and respecting the strengths and weaknesses of each other. The managers of Info-support will have to develop in such a way that they are able to fill in the vacant spots created by weaknesses of other group members. In that way, an effective team can be developed who have a common objective to achieve. Effective team development and building will also enable the managers to build and develop that suits the needs and demands of the client. The team members will have to have adequate knowhow of all the requirements of the project which in turn will allow the team members to address any issues that may escalate in the future. Importance of delegating team roles It is the primary duty of the management to state the individual roles to the team members with absolute clarity. It is imperative for the team members to appreciate their roles in order to prevent any form of misunderstanding or miscommunication. Delegating team roles and responsibilities appropriately is one of the fundamental ways to distribute the workforce resources effectively. Moreover appropriate delegation of team roles enables managers to strengthen the collaboration and coordination between the team members. It is important for the team members to understand the contribution that is expected from them. This helps them to apply proper skill sets in order to deliver the performance as and when required. Moreover, having a proper understanding of the individual roles enables team members to interact with each other freely thereby allowing each and every one of them to work collectively towards the desired objective. Considering the fact that Info-support offers full flexibility to the employees to work in the way that is convenient, it is extremely important for the manager to elucidate the role of individuals specifically. This will allow the team members to work appropriately according to their own convenience and report the progress made by them on a daily basis to their peers as well as team managers (Belbin, 2012). Importance of motivation Arguably the most important determinant of organizational success, motivation needs to be channelized appropriately among each and every team members. It is regarded by organizational leaders as one of the key ingredients behind productivity and efficiency. As far as Info-supports is concerned, the managers need to constantly motivate the project team members in order to enhance their level of engagement towards their work (Fransen, Kirschner and Erkens, 2011). It is quite obvious that the team members may encounter certain events of failure during the overall course of the project lifecycle. In such situations, the project team members might become de-motivated which in turn may hamper their productivity and efficiency. Ergo, it becomes imperative for the organizational managers to keep the employees motivated in order to bring the best performance out of them. Employee motivation is a key determinant of an employee’s satisfaction level. A highly satisfied employee will always give his optimal effort in order to enhance his/her efficiency and productivity (Randall, Resick and DeChurch, 2011). Task 1B The entire process of developing the transaction processing system has been subdivided into four key operational phases: Management, design, implementation, acceptance evaluation, deployment and maintenance. Figure 1: Work breakdown structure Task 3A Project activity plan (using MS PROJECT) Figure 2: Project activity plan (part 1) Figure 3: Project activity plan (part 2) Critical path: 1 – 2 – 4 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 – 20. Task 3B Project budget January February March April May June July August Opening Balance $50,000 $47,000 $21,000 $57,000 $62,000 $48,000 $55,000 $60,000 income $7,500 $6,740 $8,400 $7,700 $6,500 $4,750 $8,840 $4,752 loan received $100,000 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 total available $157,500 $53,740 $29,400 $64,700 $68,500 $52,750 $63,840 $64,752 labour $7,500 $6,774 $13,700 $13,257 $13,700 $13,257 $13,700 $13,700 materials $4,750 $6,740 $4,540 $2,457 $3,774 $9,741 $6,457 $8,744 overheads $2,457 $2,544 $2,550 $2,578 $2,600 $2,545 $2,498 $2,483 Sundries $500 $550 $650 $455 $540 $600 $524 $600 bank loan $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 total expenses $18,207 $19,608 $24,440 $21,747 $23,614 $29,143 $26,179 $28,527 Detailed budget January Project manager = 150 * 31 = 4650 Functional managers = 91.93 * 31 = 2850 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+157 = 2457 Sundries = 100+400 February Project manager = 150 * 28 = 4200 Functional managers = 91.93 * 28 = 2574 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+244 = 2544 Sundries = 100+400 March Project manager = 150 * 31 = 4650 Functional managers = 91.93 * 31 = 2850 Systems analysts = 100 * 31 = 3100 Programmers = 100 * 31 = 3100 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+250 = 2550 Sundries = 100+550 April Project manager = 150 * 30 = 4500 Functional managers = 91.93 * 30 = 2757 Systems analysts = 100 * 30 = 3000 Programmers = 100 * 30 = 3000 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+278 = 2578 Sundries = 100+400 May Project manager = 150 * 31 = 4650 Functional managers = 91.93 * 31 = 2850 Systems analysts = 100 * 31 = 3100 Programmers = 100 * 31 = 3100 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+300 = 2600 Sundries = 100+440 June Project manager = 150 * 30 = 4500 Functional managers = 91.93 * 30 = 2757 Systems analysts = 100 * 30 = 3000 Programmers = 100 * 30 = 3000 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+245 = 2445 Sundries = 100+400 July Project manager = 150 * 31 = 4650 Functional managers = 91.93 * 31 = 2850 Systems analysts = 100 * 31 = 3100 Programmers = 100 * 31 = 3100 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+198 = 2498 Sundries = 100+424 August Project manager = 150 * 31 = 4650 Functional managers = 91.93 * 31 = 2850 Systems analysts = 100 * 31 = 3100 Programmers = 100 * 31 = 3100 Overheads (fixed costs) rent, electricity = 2300+183 = 2483 Sundries = 100+500 Task 1C Viability of the project The viability of the project’s successful completion can be evaluated by the factors that have been considered while preparing the project management plan. The team member is expected to finish the project well before deadline which in turn will provide them with ample time to rest the project outcome rigorously. Provided that the different levels of the project are approached in an appropriate manner as outlined within the work breakdown structure, it is expected that the project has a 98% chance of successful completion. It is important for the project manager to ensure that the team members strictly adhere to the timeline set for each and every activity outlined within the project activity plan. The viability of the project can also be established through the success criteria, and failure criteria. This will enable the project managers to learn about the aspects that will the project’s success as well as the aspects that may lead to the project’s failure. Success criteria Absolute involvement of project team members Management executive collaboration Clear communication of requirement Appropriate planning Pragmatic anticipations Small project deadlines Knowledgeable and experienced staff Clearly objective and vision Hard work and effort Failure criteria Inadequate team member involvement Ineffective management executive coordination Ambiguous communication of recruitments Unrealistic anticipations Inadequate resources Unrealistic activity deadlines Unclear objective and vision Technological incompetence (Attarzadeh and Ow, 2008). Task 3C Project evaluation and completion report Project objective The primary purpose of this project was to develop a transaction processing system for Wal-Mart retail so as to improve their management information system. Project initiative The underlying purpose of this project was to develop a transaction processing system that will fully automate Wal-Mart’s management information system. In order to complete this project within the stipulated deadline, a team of three people were involved in the project that included two officials from Info-support and another from Wal-Mart. The three were in constant contact with each other sharing key details regarding the project on a daily basis. Project scope for client The development of the management information system will allow Wal-Mart to collect crucial information that helps to support control and planning role of managers. Given the fact that the back end operations of Wal-Mart are very information sensitive, implementation of a robust management information system will enable the managers to decrease information load by a substantial margin. Project scope for Info-supports Working on this project provides ample scope for business development to Info-support. Working with a client of the stature of Wal-Mart will provide a global exposure for the company thereby establishing themselves as an entity which has got the necessary skills to provide quality services to other leading organizations in the world. Project deadlines All the activities outlined within the project were completed well before the stipulated deadlines thereby leaving the team members with ample to re-examine their work. Quit a lot of activities had slack or float time associated with them which meant that the team members had enough time to finish those activities before deadline. Project budget The investment behind the fulfilment of this project was estimated to be $500,000. A part of the project was funded through bank loan and the rest was funded through previously retained profits and organizational capital. The project was completed well within the allotted budget thereby posing no barrier to the successful completion of this project. Project challenges The major challenge faced in this project was availing the bank loan. Given the fact that Info-Support is a relatively new company, evaluating the company’s creditworthiness took a long time for the bank managers following which the loan was granted against collateral. Project outcome The outcome of this project was a robustly developed management information system that helped Wal-Mart to process intensive information useful for planning and control done by managers. It also enabled the company to reduce its information workload. Reference List Anthony, L., 2015. Define Situational Leadership. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 January 2015]. Antonakis, J. and House, R. J., 2014. Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), pp. 746-771. Attarzadeh, I. and Ow, S. H., 2008. Project Management Practices: The Criteria for Success or Failure. 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