A Project Manager's Role - Research Paper Example

The importance of a Project Manager I. Introduction Project management is the invention of fast paced technology, modern way of operating business, and a spur of globalization. A company that is involved in globalization needs project management and a manager who has the skill in organizing the components of a project. The project can be development of a new product, launching of new services, or a marketing campaign. A project is not part of a normal business operation and is created only for a specific purpose, or temporary. Necessarily, a project has the necessary timing of a beginning and an end, has to consume resources, and is subject to fund limitations and therefore the need for a project manager is more pronounced. Within an organization, projects are organized, and each project is considered a self-contained business unit. The project manager becomes the leader of this sub-unit, and all the staff reports to the PM. The project has tenure and decisions are left to the discretion of the PM. The topic proposes to develop a new product as a strategy to add on value to an established market. It will identify strategies needed by a project manager in project development and in the end emphasize importance of its role. II. Importance of the topic A study on the importance of a project manager cannot be overlooked because several projects fail due to poor execution of project Managers. PMs have become indispensable to an organization since they form the basis of what is achieved in the organization. Therefore, this report would be a significant addition to various literatures that defines the importance of a project manager. Understanding reasons why a program manager fails would be significant for decision makers who will ultimately appoint qualified project managers to a very delicate position. As special projects are burdened with risks, knowing what brings them would avoid pitfalls of a mistake. III. ANALYSIS. The roles of a Project Manager (PM) The role of a project manager is a tedious one as it includes formulating and evaluating cross functional decisions that enables an organization to achieve its objectives. Project manager is a job title often given to managers in construction projects, petrochemicals, architecture, and other services that produce products and services. His role is to minimize risks and uncertainties that are inherent to the project. Are the qualities of a good project manager hard to find? Curtis, J (2012), commented in his study that what makes a good PM is the result of good management practices. I concur with his beliefs that if a Project Manager does not have appropriate skills; he is set to a disadvantage. Knowing the tools for project planning is a benefit and at the outset a PM must have comprehensive planning and clear direction. The study of Curtis, J. (2012) found out that 50% of project failures were due to poor management. His repeated studies confirmed projects continued to be in crisis and providing negative results because projects are off budgets, off schedule, have deficient delivery requirements or non-delivery at all. As cited by Curtis, J, the Global Computing Firm IBM said success or failure of a project depends on Project Management (54%); Business (21%); People (14%); Method 10%; and Technical (3%). As shown, a large part of failure is due to poor management. His study, that is more related on IT operations, projects that the IT industry is a crisis situation because of deficiencies of project managers. According to MPUG (2013), the roles of a PM have several components and these will be identified in succeeding paragraphs a. Developing visions. The first step to strategic management and role of a Project Manager is to develop a mission/vision and a sense of what the organization hopes to establish. A corporate vision is the focal point of direction for the team who works in multiple demands. Companies set up a vision as a way of evaluating existing project opportunities. A vision is the organization’s dream. A vision is a short statement that proclaims the beliefs of the organization. As a PM this vision should be clearly understood by team members and stakeholders. It should be inspiring and easy to communicate. An appropriate vision Statement, for instance is “Healthy Community” or, “promoting a healthy community through introduction of healthy foods” since KFC is promoting food. b. Formulating, implementing, and evaluating. Strategy formulation is the process of planning and making decisions in organizing strategic plans. It is defined as an “entrepreneurial activities based on decision-making, something that requires only few individuals, and have great need of logical skills and initiatives (Management Study Guide, 2008). Implementing is basically the operational process wherein all the forces are drawn into action, and basic skills of a PM is displayed and put to use. PM’s role becomes administrative, as his actions will be based on decisions. Evaluating is as important as formulating because it sheds light on the success of the plan on the desired result. Evaluation is important because of the need to build up inputs for a new strategic planning. Experiences may add up as inputs and references for a new project deal. Evaluation is desired because of urge for feedback, awards or rewards, and to judge validity of choice. Evaluation is significant in order to set a benchmark of performance and as a means to make corrective action in case it is needed (Management Study Guide, 2008). c. Cross-functional decisions. A project manager has the responsibility of integrating a team of expertise that will work together on completion of the strategies and at the same time work within the organization. The core of his relations is described in Fig. 1 Fig. 1. Core Relations of a PM The project manager is in the center that requires him to have a working relationship with all the stakeholders of the company. As part of his duties, he needs to be in constant touch with every part of the organization. For that he must have excellent skills in communication and remain in contact with vendors and suppliers to avoid crippling of projects in case of communication breakdown. He has to work with the Accountant for monitoring budget and expenses, and for any changes needed that requires budget realignment. Pinto, J. stressed the significance of project management in achieving strategic objectives of the organization. On this, he believes the on the value of a project manager because management will depend on his managerial, technical and financial skills to sustain strategies. Effective management means a PM must be aligned with stakeholders. Successful PMs must make every effort to get participation of stakeholders because of their interests in the progress of the project. He can do this through kick-off ceremony, general meetings and submitting circulars. He has also to consider satisfaction of clients that the company will serve, as happy clients form the nucleus of the business and will ultimately determine success. d. Achieving objectives. A Project Manager should set a clear objective that is derived from the mission. An objective that is clearly defined is more likely to be achieved. An objective is a short statement of what the PM wants to achieve. It should also include indicators for assessment. For instance, Our mission is “promoting a community by providing healthy food”. Suitable objectives are to: To penetrate 80% of Chinese market with own baked KFC deserts by end of 2013; with an ROI of 25%. Objectives should be specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, and time sensitive. A PM can achieve these objectives by making the objective controllable by seeing to it that each one believes of its success. A PM should be able to convince stakeholders to agree on the objectives so that each one will work for it. IV. Synthesis and integration Projects have to be managed professionally to avoid costly mistakes and delays, so PMs must have all the necessary expertise, training and a keen understanding of the company’s overall objectives. PM today faces difficult challenges as they steer projects into completion. Trends also show their continuing importance in the organization and the need to upgrade skills. a. Trends. Based on the assessments provided by analysts, there is a clear trend for continuous importance of a project manager on several fields of development. Ward, L. (2011) said that trends identified by global consultants and top executives include building project manager’s influence, accelerating new leadership and communication skills, and increased use of informal learning approaches such as social media. Ward, L. also said that the trend for PM is towards global opportunities, in particular, emerging markets such as China, India and Middle East. These countries are said to be in shortage of competent PMS to manage large infrastructure projects. However as there is an increasing need for PMs, many of them are still struggling due to lack of expertise and training. In discussing trends for 2013, McCafferty, D, (2013), an Executive Vice President at ESI, a project management training company, disclosed that trends focus on the need to improvement of skills, processes, and overall management. Companies need experts who will take control of projects and deliver maximum results. McCafferty, in his article, detailed the pressures on their organization to hire only PMs that can take control of projects and get maximum results. This could be a tall order since training and development to make one an expert takes a longer time, so a scarcity of a good PM can be felt. In concurrence, Dalchen, D. (2012), Director of the National Centre for Project Management claimed that trend requirements for a PM are: he /she should be innovative, understands project entrepreneurship, has the ability to deal with time critical projects, be aware of human elements, can take the consequences of critical decisions, considers stakeholders involvement, can drive people into a collective action and cause social change. Dalchen, D. figured out that new trends in project management, is generic to all PMs. He suggested that accomplishments, successful projects, problems and project failures be openly discussed so that others may learn. A very important lesson stressed here is that pitfalls of PMs are ineffective communication, ineffective leadership, eliminating diagnostics, and focusing more on administrative and not results. b. Challenges of a project manager Seeing that project management is gaining acceptance, hiring, promotion, and ascendancy will depend on competency, talent, and expertise. As the work gets complex, managing and coping with internal and external changes become an equally challenging role for PMS. Project Managers are challenged by the magnitude of project complexities. Results of ESI surveys cited on Lee, E. (2013) showed that PMs are challenged by the ability to cope with the changing requirements that needs development of skills side by side. Further, they are being pressed by competition. PMS sometimes face uncontrollable environment that challenges outcome of project. PMs may at times lack communication skills that become a setback in communicating to stakeholders, manage global projects that requires understanding of cultural differences, and non-centralized messages that may result to different interpretations. Lee’s findings in her research also suggest concurrence with previous studies mentioned here. As with other authors, she underscored need for effective communication skills, skillful management of people particularly of those with different cultures, working relationships with stakeholders, and working on budget and time constraints These findings are further modified by Project Auditors study (2006), that stated “PMS are challenged by failure to understand the full scope of work ; failure to understand the stakeholders; optimistic schedules, and working in a culture that doesn’t support project management”. Too many schedules sometimes become unrealistic. The study of Project Auditors capsulated all other research findings wherein the process of project management must be tied together to form a project management culture in order to avoid failures. This culture should be composed of integrated processes, corporate culture, motivated personnel, management support, training and education, and tools and templates. I think this theory is acceptable since the application of project management in a project is simultaneously done and linked to one another. Based on the researches, it is clear that there is a need for project managers, particularly on global assignments and big projects of multi-nationals. However, hiring is limited by skills, management competency, and leadership. This is the challenge that should be met by all those aspiring to be one. As an area that is new, efforts of the educational institutions should be geared on training and educating potential leaders and employees to be a good PM since there is an good opportunity for those who will qualify. References Curtis, J. (2012). The importance of a Great Project Manager. Quotient. Retrieved from http://quotient.net/blog/2012/6/25/the-importance-of-a-great-project-manager/ Dalchen, D. (2012). New Trends in Project Management. Association for Project Management. Retrieved from http://www.apm.org.uk/blog/new-trends-project-management#.UWEmh3dPW1s Lee, E. (2013). Eight Key Challenges that Every Project Managers need to face. Ezine Articles Retrieved from Ezinearticles.com/?Eight-Key-Challenges-That-Every-Project-Manager-Needs-to-Face&id=2773323 MPUG, (2013). What is Project Management? Retrieved from http://www.mpug.com/education/what-is-project-management/#.UTWjjnfD21s McCafferty, D. (2013). Ten Predictions for Project Management in 2013. Baseline. Retrieved from http://www.baselinemag.com/project-management/slideshows/ten-predictions-for-project-management-in-2013/ Pinto, J, (2010). The Organizational Structure, Chap 2, pdf, p. 39, Retrieved from Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage. 2nd ed, Pub. By Prentice Hall. Management Study Guide ( 2008). Strategy Evaluation Process and its Implementation. Retrieved from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategy-formulation-vs-implementation.htm Project Auditors. (2006) Top Challenges in Project Management. Western Energy Institute. Costa Mesa, USA. pdf. Pp. 1-5 Retrieved from www.projectauditors.com/.../... Ward, L. (2011). Top Ten Project Management Trends for 2011. Project Times. Retrieved from http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/top-10-project-management-trends-for-2011.html Read More