Project Management Triangle - Assignment Example

Argument: “A Project Manager should not have other managerial responsibilities" Introduction A project manager is a person who is responsible for achieving goals of the projects that are under his supervision. He is in contact with the client and serves as an intermediary connection between his firm and the clients. He should have full knowledge about the client’s requirements; only then he will be able to deliver a desired product. He needs to identify and understand their requirements, then make achievable and realistic objectives for the project. The project manager manages the resources assigned to him for the projects so that there is no possibility of delays in the delivery of the product. Project Management Triangle One of the biggest challenges for a project manager is to maintain the Triple Constraint- time, quality and cost. The project manager has to strike a balance between these three variables so that the resulting outcome of the project is commendable. Heldman (2002, p.49) explains that quality is usually considered to be the most important factor and the project manager has to make sure that the quality of the product or service is not compromised at any stage of the project. At the same time has to ensure that the required quality is achieved within the scheduled time and cost. Therefore the aim of the project manager is to ensure that the quality is achieved without the project being overrun or over-budget. Heldman (2002, p.50) states that there usually exists conflicting interests of stakeholders in a project. An important role of the project manager is to manage the conflicting requirements of these stakeholders. Some of these variables may be compromised but only if the client is fully aware of it for e.g. a client may require the quality of the product to be very high and does not mind the extra cost that is incurred in getting that quality. In some cases, the on-time delivery of the product is very important to the client at the cost of accepting a moderate quality product. The project manager needs to make decisions about which variable needs to be given highest priority over the other variables and then executes the project plans accordingly. Difference between Operations and Projects In an organization, there can be two classifications in terms of responsibilities and the nature of work- operations and projects. There are some common characteristics of operations and projects which are; • They are performed by people • To be performed within limited resources • They are all planned, executed, and controlled Heldman (2002, p.46) states that the differences among these two are that operations can be termed as the repetitive or routine work done in organization; it is not anything new or innovative. Whereas, projects are said to be unique in nature which means that they have a certain degree of innovation, therefore planning and monitoring is considered more important. The degree of operations assigned to a project manager is different in every organization as some organizations do not assign any organizational operations to project managers so that their project management activities are not affected. Organization Structural Models Karen (2001, pg.1) states that there are a number of ways in which organization can be structured and thus project managers are assigned their duties accordingly- they are sometimes structured by products and functions. All organizations are structured in one of three models: functional, projectized, or matrix. They are explained below; Functional Organization Structure Heldman (2002, p.55) explains that this is the most common type of structure in which the organization is broken down into departments and the work in these departments is specialized. New Product  Development Solutions states that in this kind of a structure, a project will be performed in different departments at different stages. Some people will do their part on the project and then pass it off to another department. Therefore diverse authority is observed. Weak Matrix In this type of structure, the project manager has to overlook the functional aspects of the project but only in a limited manner with limited authority. The functional manager enjoys full authority over the functional operations and resources assigned to the project. Balanced Matrix The two managers; project manager and financial manager share equal powers over the project and the operational functions. This structure is difficult to maintain as it is complicated to maintain the balance between the powers of these two figures. Strong Matrix This structure leans towards the projectized structure mentioned later. The major difference between the strong matrix structure and the projectized approach is that the team members have at least two bosses in strong matrix- project manager and functional manager. However, in this approach project manager enjoys almost full authority over the project and is not assigned any operational or functional responsibilities other than the project itself. Projectized Organization Structure In this structure, the project manager is entirely responsible for the project. All the resources that are required to achieve a specific goal are grouped together to form a self-contained team which is led by a project manager. Computer Software Training (2009) explains that this organization revolves around the projects that are undertaken, project managers are the ones with the most authority and at times they report directly to the top management of the organization. The project manager is not assigned any other operational functions or responsibilities other than the project. He is independently answerable for all the outcomes of the project as there are no other managerial figures associated with the planning, execution and controlling of the project. The extent of the functional manager’s involvement in the project is limited to provide their technical knowledge or to assign resources if needed. Analysis of the Argument Karen (2001, pg.2) agrees with the concept that project managers should not be given other responsibilities and states that it is adapted in many organizations where quality, cost are schedule are given prime importance. The structural model that serves best for this statement is the Projectized Structure. This structure is preferred by the project managers themselves as they enjoy full authority over the project. However there are several pros and cons with this model which shall be discussed: Pros Gaeta (2008) explains that since project manager enjoys complete authority over the project, he has the power to make all the decisions regarding the project. The project manager is the person who possesses a complete knowledge about the requirements of the project therefore he is the most suitable person to make decisions. This way, he is able to deliver a better product to the client. Estimated cost to be incurred in the development of the project is decided within the project boundary. The amount of resources needed is also decided by the project manager. He is the most suitable person for this kind of decision-making because he has the appropriate technical knowledge and understands the complexity of the project, rather than a manager from another department making these decisions for the project. If the project manager is not assigned other responsibilities then he will be dealing with only a set of people i.e. his team members. In such a situation, it is easier to keep track of their performance, strengths and weaknesses. The team members also feel comfortable in this structure as they have only one manager to please and satisfy with their performance. They need to go to only one manager for their problems and grievances. There exists a comfortable and clear communication path amongst the team members and the project manager since there is no hierarchy of managers to follow. The project manager does all the initial planning and budgeting therefore he is well-aware of what he wants from the project and the team members. Due to this clear image of the objective, he is able to get the project finished in accordance with the deadlines. Verma (1995) states; the fact that the project manager can focus all his attention to the project serves very well to the projects which are complex in nature or have not been undertaken by the team member before. In such cases, constant monitoring and communication regarding the direction of the project produces a commendable product. On the contrary, if the project manager is assigned different task outside the boundaries of the project then he will not be able to supervise the progress and provide technical help to his team members (when needed). Project manager and team members portray a spirit of loyalty to the projects therefore work harder for its quality and success. Public Procurement Directorate (2008, pg.9) states that as the project manager and team members are both totally focused and involved in the project, therefore they can react quickly to the changing client’s requirements. Youker (1977) states “The planning and reporting system in a project organization can be fairly simple because the team is in close proximity”. Cons Once the project manager gets used to this structure where he enjoys all power and is not assigned any other responsibility, it gets difficult for him to go back to a weak matrix. This model is a little expensive to maintain as one of the important resources i.e. the project manager will be only performing responsibilities pertaining to the project. Brown (1997, pg.3) states that it has been noticed that project managers tend to occupy some team members and company’s resources even if they are not needed at that particular time, they keep the employees for a “just in case” need. The might cause the resource to be wasted as they might be idle without any work. Therefore, there might exist inefficiency in the utilization of the resources. As mentioned earlier, one of the advantages of the project manager and the team members being assigned to a single project is of the loyalty to the project. But this can also have a bad effect on some of the employees as they start having a “we-they” attitude towards the other teams in the organization. Public Procurement Directorate (2008, pg.9) states that more resources might have to be hired in a situation when an organization wants the projects from a certain area to be run simultaneously. Although an overlap might be created among the resources that have expertise in that area. This increases the resource cost for the organization. In a project based organization, there is an element of uncertainty among the team members regarding their fate (in-terms of work) after the project ends. A resource that might be employed for a specific project might get free after the project concludes and stay without any work. Concept of “Learning Organization” Brewin (2001, pg.2) explains that technical knowledge plays an important role in the service industry as the customers expect their service-providers to be updated with the current knowledge. It has been researched that people with similar areas of expertise tend to learn more from each other via discussions and brainstorming sessions. This creates the concept of “learning organization” which is witnessed in the projectized structure. Since the project manager is focused only on on-going projects therefore he encourages brainstorming sessions and discussions which help everyone increase their technical knowledge. Conclusion Project manager can be considered the leader who guides the team in achieving some goals and objectives. Project manager has to be become a leader and not a manager; since manager is different from a leader. Leader has a great vision and a plan to get the work executed by his team members in a motivating manner. Whereas a manager will try to perform his managerial activities in the most efficient manner and get work done in the routine methods. A project manager has different responsibilities in different organization since every organization follows a different structural model. In some organizations project managers are assigned duties that involve managing things outside the perimeter of the projects, whereas in others the responsibilities are centered on the projects only. With reference to the advantages stated in this report, it can be concluded that the project manager should not be assigned duties other than the project as it will affect the outcome of the project. The project manager should be the bearer of prime authority on the project as he is the one who understands the requirements of the project and thus the client. The project manager leads a team of employees who are totally focused on a specific project, therefore the outcome is commendable and of high quality. References Brewin. J., 2001, Communities of Practice in the Projectized Organization, Expert Series, [Online] Available at: http://www.pmsolutions.com/uploads/pdfs/comm_of_practice.pdf Brown. K., 1997, Project Management: A Managerial Approach, Meridith and Mantel Computer Software Training, 2009, Understanding Risk Management / The Project Environment pt.2, [Online] Available at: http://www.vtc.com/products/PMIRiskManagementProfessionalPart1/UnderstandingRiskManagement/81521 Gaeta. E., 2008, PM vs. Matrix Organization, UCSC, [Online] Available at: http://svprojectmanagement.com/pm-vs-matrix-organization Heldman. K., 2002, PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide, SYBEX, Inc.CA, ISBN: 0-7821-4106-4. Karen. R., 2001, The Functional to Matrix Transition, PM Solutions, [Online] Available at: http://www.pmsolutions.com/uploads/pdfs/function_matrix.pdf New Product Development Solutions, Organizational Structure, [Online] Available at: http://www.npd-solutions.com/orgstructure.html Public Procurement Directorate, 2008, Public Procurement Best Practice Guide, [Online] Available at: http://www.publicprocurementguides.treasury.gov.cy/OHS-EN/HTML/index.html?7_2_3_organizational_structure.htm\ Verma V. K., 1995, The Human Aspects of Project Management, Project Management Institute, Vols 1-3, PA, US, [Online] Available at: http://www.maxwideman.com/issacons3/iac1358/tsld003.htm Youker. R., 1977, Organizational Alternatives for Project Managers, Project Management Quarterly. Vol. VIII, [Online] Available at: http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2003/youkerorgalt.pdf Read More