Seven Top Competencies of a Project Manager - Essay Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Project management is a fast growing profession which is quite important withinthe framework of a huge range of industries and institutions; the value of this occupation increases day by day. As projects become more complex, diverse, and as more institutions move to management by projects, there is a notable increase in demand for competent project managers and the stakeholders working with them. Many studies focus on competency of effective project managers for a range of project types and project environments (Crawford, 1997). Role of the Project Manager The project manager has a significant role of ensuring execution of the project in different areas including planning, operation, monitoring, and control, as well as ending the project per se. Project managers coordinate activities of project team members to achieve the proposed objectives and the vision of the project. In their day-to-day functions, the projects managers have to focus on short and long-term activities. Conventionally, project managers focused on larger, more comprehensive projects. However, contemporary organizations give project managers the mandate to work with even smaller, less technical projects. The Project Management concept has received a lot of attention in the past few decades and has become a highly desired area in most of institutions and organizations. According to Muller and Turner (2010), one goal of a good project manager is to know how he/she is going to manage his/her project, know what to do if the implementation plan fails, to accomplish the project objectives and ensure integration of the inputs of all of the project stakeholders. Further, the role of project managers is diverse. Turner and Muller (2005) highlight that they determine how the project should set off. By good Integrated Management they help in determining, developing and managing the direction of the project, as well as the scope of the project. A good and well defined project must include best scope management practices that include planning, defining and managing the scope of the project. Another issue is on-time and cost management. Managers should develop budget and a good time plan such as developing a schedule, allocating resources and managing funds for the project for effective results. A good process gives good output due to quality management. There must be a task force to take care of the quality of the process in question such that it meets or even exceeds various quality parameters set but the laid down standards (Campus, 2002). Human Resource Management is vital and is the responsibility of the project manager. He/she needs to take care of his/her team, encourage and motivate members and make sure the team is on a pathway to success, which helps to ensure that the project implementation process moves in the right direction (Campus, 2002). Communication allows good information flow and hence communication management should be one of the critical aspects that project managers should strive to accomplish among senior and junior staff. The project manager needs to prepare a communication plan, communication technique and make sure that there is healthy communication, both internally and externally (Crawford, 2000). The manager is evaluated successfully against each of the factors affecting his/her communication skills. Risk and hazards are inevitable and, hence, there is need for project managers to establish strong risk management strategies. Various risks which exist in a project should be identified and a mitigation plan needs to be developed and implemented to ensure that the project is not affected at any point. A project manager determines success or failure of the project based on the work and procurement plans developed before ground breaking. The project manager has a role of ensuring that procurement plans are strategically positioned to enhance the accomplishment of the project objectives. Various materials needed during the project need to be procured and managed with the vendors and suppliers in a transparent way to enhance project success (Campus, 2002). Project competences in my own point of view include the following: first, planning and organizing. Project managers should have ability to determine appropriate measures for others to achieve the project goals, prioritize the measures and perfectly coordinate all steps of the process. Secondly, he she should be in a position to control the project. A manger should have the ability to control processes and activities in a result-oriented manner, ensures project progress and a well organised co-ordination of the measures. Thirdly, he or she should have good leadership qualities. He/she should motivate the project team to work together towards a common goal and to achieve co-operation within the team. He/she should be in a position to provide professional support, as well as the ability to delegate and monitor duties. A project manager should promote customer focus by ensuring customer-oriented quality standards (Crawford, 2000). Moreover in my opinion on competence, project managers plot or design a database management system or may prepare project documents in consultation with the others in the organization. The project manager therefore must assist with gathering business ideas and strategies for implementation. In order to excel, the project manager must be supported by the senior management. Turner and Muller (2005), mentions poor leadership as a failure factor during formation, build-up and close-out, but not in execution. Competence encompassing knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours is generally related to superior job performance (Campus, 2002). A number of good competencies for a good manger therefore exist. The question is, are the project management personnel competent to undertake any of the assignment or project? For the purpose of this assignment, I classify competency in three categories: Technical - the techniques of project management, behavioural – the professional characteristics of project personnel or the manager and contextual competences – this shows a good or bad linkage between the project and institutions involved. Turner and Muller (2006) showed the correlation of specific leadership dimension of the competency school with project success in different types of projects. According to Crawford (2000), project management knowledge, qualifications and experience, personality tests and performance based competence. A manager should encourage other staff to offer value to the client and the organisation. He/she should promote effectiveness of relationship among project team members in achieving project goals. He/she should have the ability to inspire and encourage others to perform. Therefore, it is of interest to know what different project managers can bring to a project or project-related activity through their knowledge, skills, knowledge and understanding of project management. Individual personality characteristics underlying his or her capability also define a project manager’s competence (Willcoxson & Millett, 2000). References Campus F. 2002. Project Manager Competency Development (PMCD). Framework Project Management Institute. USA. Crawford, L.H. 1997. “A global approach to project management competence.” In: Proceedings of the 1997 AIPM National Conference, Gold Coast, pp. 220-228. Brisbane: AIPM. Crawford, L. 2000. “Profiling the competent project manager.” In Project Management Research at the Turn of the Millennium: Proceedings of PMI Research Conference, 21 - 24 June, 2000, Paris, France, pp. 3-15. Sylva, NC: Project Management Institute. Willcoxson, L., & Millett, B., 2000. “The management of organisational culture”. Australian Journal of Management & Organisational Behaviour, 3(2), pp. 91-99. Muller, R., Turner, R. J., 2010. "Attitudes and leadership competences for project success", Baltic Journal of Management, Vol. 5, Iss: 3, pp.307 – 329. Turner J., & Muller, R., 2005. "The project manager’s leadership style as a success factor on projects: a literature review”. Project Management Journal. Vol. 36, no. 1, 49-61. Turner J., & Muller, R., 2009 “Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers.” International Journal of Project Management 28 (2010) 437–448. Read More