The Lead Role for Project Success - Assignment Example

PROJECT MANAGER Indeed project management is one of the most challenging roles and duties in the context of a project team. In any project, there is always a series of life cycle stages which are underwent. In this regard, the project manager should be in a position to effectively adapt to these different situations in the most effective way. More importantly, it should be noted that project management is characterized by a lot of changing demands and managers must always find ways and means of meeting such demands. There has always been a question on whether project managers should have expert judgment on the subject matter in question. However, it should be noted that it basically depends upon the situation and in some cases, it is quite important for experts to take up the role of project management. Project management is usually a wide area involving a wide array of things. In the process of developing a new technology or implementing a highly technical process in an organization, it is imperative that the whole process is conducted by a person who has technical knowledge in the workings of such technology. The present world is very dynamic and new technology comes by the day. In this case, it normally takes much time before people get acquainted with such technology. It is therefore important for the project manager to be an expert in the field so as to offer the necessary instruction or guidance on how the whole field should be handled. In a highly technical working environment like NASA, it is almost impossible to have a project manager who is not an expert in the project. This is because there is a high degree of technical excellence required and there is no room for any mistakes. As such, a project manager in such a case is required to have knowledge on the technology in use (Wysocki, 2010). It has always been seen that in situations where project manager do not have expert knowledge on the subject matter, challenges often arise. For instance, a layman in medical equipment might not really realize that such equipment require a lot of maintenance which might be very expensive. In that case, some of the advice directed to the project manager might be ignored since the manager does not clearly understand the weight of the whole issue. Having a project manager who has knowledge on the subject matter is very important as it greatly saves time and cost of executing roles. This is because the manager already understands much of the operations and does not really need to study the process much. On the contrary, a lay project manager will require a lot of instruction from the experts and this can drag back the whole process. On the other hand, it is realized that project management is essentially a management role and it therefore require somebody with knowledge on management. In this case, it is important to emphasize that not everyone can be a manager since management skills are not realized in all. As such, project management can be best tackled by people who have experience in management and not necessarily on the technology in question. The role of a manger is always to ensure that things get done in the appropriate way and time.in this case, a manager should have the ability to use experts’ opinions in order to benefit the whole project. People who are experts in certain fields will always place much focus ad attention on such areas and this can be detrimental to the other areas within the same project. In this case, it becomes much valuable if the project manager is a general management practitioner who can effectively apply the principles of management to the project. The role of a project manager is essentially management and not solving technical problems. As a manager, the project manager should effectively delegate duties and responsibilities to the right person and ensure that everything within the project operates well. In this regard, if the project manager is an expert in the process, they would be tempted to fix the technical problem instead of overseeing the whole process. It has always been realized that separation of roles is an important step in ensuring the success of any process. In this case, a technical expert should remain on his role while a manager should be focused on management. However, this clear separation of duties is always difficult to realize in situations where the project manager is an expert. Such a manager is always keen on specific details and this denies other functional areas within the project the proper management required. More importantly, the principles of management always cut across the board and remain the same irrespective of the nature of operations. These principles can always be acquired by everybody who is interested in management. It therefore eliminates the need for having expert knowledge as a project manager (Lock, 2004). As long as a manager has the ability to study situations and make relevant decisions, the whole project is likely to succeed. One role of management is essentially directing which involves making things done through people. In this regard, a project manager can utilize the best technical expertise for the project while they might totally be laymen on the subject under consideration. In any management situation, there are always two sets of skills at play i.e. technical skills and leadership skills. For a manager all the two sets of skills are very important for the success of the project. It is nevertheless possible for the project manager to operate without the technical skills since they can be obtained elsewhere. However, in the lack of leadership skills, the whole project cannot progress in the right manner. In any project, there are always a number of people and processes involved. Such a system therefore needs guidance and management so as to be coordinated in the right manner. The project manager should therefore be well versed in the core aspects of management in order to coordinate and plan the operations in the most effective way. More importantly, the manager should have the ability to identify challenges before they can cause harm to the project. In conclusion, it is important to note that while technical expertise is very important in any project, it is basically leadership skills that can ensure the success of the whole process. I therefore support the idea that a project manager does not really need to be an expert in the subject matter. References Lock, D. (2004). Project management (9th ed.). Aldershot, England: Gower. Wysocki, R. K. (2010). Project management process improvement. Boston: Artech House. Read More