Critical Thinking in Project Management - Assignment Example

Critical Thinking Questions - Project Management What is the purpose of Critical Success Factors? Provide 5 examples Critical Success Factors or CSFs are significant determinants of achieving success within project management. They are the key areas upon which success could be either deemed as established or unsuccessful right from the onset. CSFs are important as they outline the exact mechanism through which success could be made possible. The main purpose of CSFs is indeed to find the major pointers upon which the project could be based upon and the results could be reached with the help of these very pointers. Examples include: Achieving sales figures: to boost the project management domains immensely Cutting down on costs: to help the financial side of project initiatives Time availability: to ascertain the exact duration before project could meet its end Resource allocation: to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the system at hand Funding: to reinvigorate the tasks with budgeting issues 2. What are the main challenges of a Project Manager? The main challenges of a project manager include: To make his voice heard: The project manager needs to get his voice heard amongst his sub-ordinates so that the work gets done quickly and efficiently Ability to make sound decisions: These decisions are very crucial to the outcome of a project and decision-making remains as one of his most potent tools Training of staff He must make use of his staff and train them properly so that adequate handling of his project is accomplished Resourcefulness A project manager must understand how and where his resources are going to be used and who will deliver what kind of result in the wake of adversity Ownership The project manager needs to take personal responsibility for the work that he has been assigned as well as the people who work under him Risk-taking & Goal-oriented The project manager should be ready to take risks as and when required (Dinsmore, 2006) 3. What are the main activities of a Project Office? The main activities of a project office include the scheduling of all tasks that come under the domains of the very project in the first place as well as handling events in line with the project undertakings. The project office is the focal point of project initiatives and is thus looked upon as a central point or hub within the project realms. The project office co-ordinates with the different offices which are working hand in hand towards the completion of this very project and also instruct these different offices to prioritize tasks and activities from time to time. The project office holds the main objectives and goals which will be achieved with the timely completion of the project at hand as well as provides the different project related individuals with the much needed knowledge and information required for the sake of the project which is being undertaken. The project office is the home (base) for the project manager and he bases his troops at this very project office in essence. (Lewis, 2007) 4. What are the main reasons for Project Failure? How could those failures been avoided? Provide examples The main reasons for project failure could be summarized as follows: Lack of isight: A project usually fails when there is lack of understanding with relation to the goals and objectives Lack of c-ordination: A project fails to live up to expectations when the different players and entities within it do not co-relate with each other and when there is a miss between their tasks and initiatives Ill-conceived plans and initiatives: A project would most likely fail if the plans are not developed in a cohesive manner and the initiatives undertaken in a wrong fashion These failures could be avoided by: Sound planning: Planning step by step could be the key Tact and vision: Always helpful to keep the vision and end point in mind Measurement: It is important to measure the project’s development schedules on a proactive basis Accountability: The failures and shortcomings should be addressed by placing the accountability tag on all the relevant stakeholders to elicit more logical response from them 5. Are changes good or bad in a project? Explain Changes are both good and bad as far as a project is concerned. This is because the application of this change warrants the goodness or the worse nature related with the very same. The changes could be deemed as good if they bring out the positives within the set tasks that are being deployed for the completion of the project. However the changes could be regarded as bad and ill-timed if they happen at the wrong phases. Making short-term changes could mean havoc and problems for the project but then again having changes to plug the weaknesses within the project can have positive impacts towards the successful completion of the project. Thus changes could be measured for their good or bad after-effects. However what is important is that the project must sustain the change in an abundant capacity and the end result must be one of success and accomplishment for the project indeed. 6. What are the impacts of Change Management? Provide examples The main impacts include the following: Different projects operate differently. This does not mean that their working methodologies might not be the same but then again there are a lot of similarities in their work ethics, styles and ways and means It brings one to the point that these different projects have managers who work solely for the different functions within the various phases and it is up to these project managers as to how they execute their undertakings and measures on a regular basis The basic purpose of change is to bring the whole list of activities and tasks of the project on a common platform, a place from where the project manager is better able to draft his undertakings and eventually execute the manner in which these policies are basically run after the decisions are made on those very aspects of consideration An example is of the manner under which a complete project has been changed/amended at the discretion of a project and one that has been seen as a successful exercise at the very end of the project tasks 7. What does Exception Management signify? Provide examples Exception management is the area which takes into consideration the different practices related with the investigation, handling and properly resolving of various occurrences by either the skilled staff or with the facilitation of software tools, all of which come under the domains of the project manager. Exception management is an advancing field within the project management regimes and is sure to take over quite a few tasks in the coming times. It takes care of the special cases which arise within the different phases of the project management initiatives and these could be regarded as short term measures as well. An example of exception management is seen when weather changes ask the project manager to allow usage of skilled staff in place of the software tools as the danger of electrocution exists, which essentially could mar the backup regimes stored within the computers. The manpower makes sure that the electrocution aspects are under their hold before they carry out the different tasks, under the auspices of the project itself. 8. What is the purpose of Team Building? What are the challenges? A group needs to be a single whole to perform in the best manner possible and it is only possible when the group members realize their attachment and involvement with the group. It needs to be emphasized here that the success of a group is the success of each and every individual who worked hard and toiled for it to achieve in the first place and vice versa. Rather than pinpointing the weaknesses of certain group members, focus should be more on exploiting the strengths and hitting on the areas where potential opportunities can come out from, within an individual who is a part of a group. This will definitely increase the chances of better team performance and positive results. (Sachs, 2002) The challenges include the cultural diversities which exist within the teams. The impact of demographic diversities in a group means that more efforts are needed to be put in place so that each of the group members knows what his duty is and whether this person is communicated about the roles that are asked of him, both in the short term as well as the long run. Moreover, demographic changes mean that the leader has to focus more on a particular set of people or at times, the ones who are not very easy going along with the whole group. 9. How to make a Project Team tick? How to motivate the Team? A project team will tick if it sees that the project manager (leader) appreciates their work and is working hand in hand with them. A project team needs sound motivation right from the top to remain focused towards their job. They must be contented that their work is being looked upon with a sense of commitment and achievement at the end of the day. The motivation aspect is immensely significant because every individual wants to listen to good things about his inputs and no one adheres to taunts and discouraging remarks on a constant basis. A project team must remain united in its cause and display the best traits which a whole group can possibly demonstrate. It is important that the different tasks are openly hailed by the project manager and the people responsible for carrying out those tasks are congratulated on their respective efforts. 10. What are the most important Project Manager tasks to perform in the Initiation Phase? Provide 10-15 tasks The most important tasks within the initiation phase include: 1. Setting the project team in order 2. Looking at the goals – both short term and long term 3. Understanding the financial avenues of the project 4. Cost cutting measures right from the beginning 5. Allocation of resources at his disposal 6. Reporting levels to top bosses 7. Utilization of resources in a cost-effective manner 8. Adherence to proper guidelines and standards 9. Industrial practices’ know-how 10. Gathering of sound and adequate knowledge beforehand 11. Remaining motivated and keeping others tick to the project is the key in the initiation phase 12. Moving on to other phases as and when required (Frame, 2002) Bibliography DINSMORE, Paul C. (2006). The AMA Handbook of Project Management. AMACOM FRAME, J. Davidson. (2002). The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. Jossey-Bass LEWIS, James P. (2007). Fundamentals of Project Management. American Management Association SACHS, Michael L. (2002) Is “TEAM” a Four-Letter Word? USA Today Vol. 130 Word Count: 1,764 Read More