Project Managers and Functional Managers - Assignment Example

I. Compare and contrast typical leadership style, qualities and competencies between Project managers and Functional managers. In your answer make reference to the theories of power and leadership. Illustrate your answer with examples that highlight the differences between project and functional management practices. A. Introduction While the tasks in an organization can be structured in different manners, the type of structure determines the type of specialized management within the company. Because the structure dictates the relative role and concentration of power within the organization, the leadership styles vary as the leadership requirement, based on the nature of the job and the authority that the job holds also vary. Such is the case for the notable differences between functional managers and project managers. While both types of managers require technical expertise, leadership, ability to plan, people skills, and ability to work within budgets and schedules, the requirement for the role of the project manager requires greater interpersonal and communication skills. This paper aims to delve with the similarities and differences of the two types of managers with focus on the required competencies of their respective roles, as well as the leadership requirements which make the appropriate styles vary. B. Body Project management is a type of management, like functional management, where the organization revolves around the fulfillment of tasks in order to accomplish a certain project. A project manager is tasked to head an individual project in line with the goals and strategies of the firm (Srivannaboon 2006). The major difference between project management and functional management lies within the type of organization of the tasks. While functional or traditional management focuses on a type of specialty such as marketing, finance, human resource, or production when the tasks are organized (Pitagorsky 1998), project management focuses on the accomplishment of the certain project as regards the organization of tasks. A functional manager heads a certain function of the company, which is usually referred to as departments. A project manager heads a project team. Departments are composed of persons with similar work specialty, such as finance, marketing, or sales (Pitagorsky 1998); while project teams are composed of diverse set of individuals, specializing in each of the functions of the company (Dunn 2001). Being managers, both the functional and the project manager must have the following abilities: “leadership, planning, communication, organization, technical expertise, control, problem-solving and decision-making, ambition, energy, and initiative, as well as ability to motivate their followers (Dunn 2001, 5).” Because both are smaller sets of organization within the company, both functional and project managers should be adept in budgeting and cost management, as well as the ability to inspire a vision within their department or team in order to set appropriate goals (Dunn 2001). Because of the difference of structure, there are also differences in terms of competencies, as well as the leadership styles and concentration of power between the two types of management (Brown & Agnew1982). For example, for a functional manager, her power is indicated by her authority through her position (Wellman 2007). Because her task is to ensure that the certain function that her department holds fulfill its role in the systems of the company, she is expected to hold the department as a group. She needs to delegate the roles and tasks among her subordinates, as well as inspire them to do those tasks. Her leadership style can vary from being: directive—“letting followers know what is expected of them, schedules work to be done, and gives specific guidance as to how to accomplish tasks (Robbins 2005, 325);” supportive—“friendly and shows concern for the needs of the followers (Robbins 2005, 325);” or participative leadership—consults with followers and uses their suggestions before making a decision (Robbins 2005, 325).” Functional departments are usually structured like a pyramid, where the functional manager sits on top. On the other hand, a project team, because of its diversity in terms of talent, does not recognize the sort of hierarchy that the functional department has. Being a project manager means that she must have also been a part of another function before; she now heads the project alongside the other people from different functions irrespective of their positions (Schmid & Adams 2008). The project managers position does not grant her the power the functional manager with the latters position in the hierarchy (Wellman 2007). In order to fulfill the project therefore, without the power of the functional manager, a project manager should have better interpersonal and communication skills in order to influence and persuade the rest of the team to act to achieve the goal (Henderson 2008). Her leadership style must be more flexible, and not dependent on the position that she has; in line with the trait theory of leadership, where the ability to lead depends on a certain personality trait, that enables a leader to effectively influence the followers in line with fulfilling a task to finish the project (Gehring 2007). A project manager should have the ability to bond the team of individuals from different specialties and diverse backgrounds to act as one team, in order to accomplish the project (Schmid & Adams 2008). The role of the project manager demands greater interpersonal and communication skills that include conflict resolution and negotiation. This is because she has to fulfill her responsibility even without the full authority that the functional manager has over her department by her position. C. Conclusion Functional and project managers both require a good deal of technical expertise, planning skills, interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to budget and control their departments or teams expenses. Also, both types of managers should be able to inspire a vision within their departments and teams in order to create a set of goals they are expected to achieve. However, the difference in the competencies required among the two types of managers is determined by the difference in how the tasks are structured. Functional structures, because the tasks under this structure are grouped according to similar specialty, the functional manager sits on the top of the hierarchy, with authority in relation to her position—this is her power, which influences her leadership style. Because a project manager does not have the same authority as the functional manager, better interpersonal and communication skills are required in order for this type to influence the other members of the team to achieve the same goal. She has to deal with different individuals from various departments, irrespective of the positions, placed in a team to accomplish the project. Her leadership style is determined by her personal trait and ability to serve as the facilitator, in order to make these individuals create a team with a unified purpose—to accomplish the project. II. The tools and techniques of Project management are directly applicable for the management of large capital projects, such as in the construction industry or for the development of new products and processes. Produce an argument to counter this statement and illustrate how project management is applicable to wider programmes of organizational change. A. Introduction This paper discusses project management, its definition and the tools and techniques that are used and developed over the years for it. As project management is a specialized form of management that focuses on accomplishment of one purpose or goal in line with the organizations overall goals, the drive to make the projects more efficient and least costly have lead to the utilization of these tools. However, these tools are not limited to project management alone. Project management tools deal both with the planning—listing down activities and how they would contribute to a greater plan, and then the execution of the project. These tools are then useful for organizational change as well. As all approved projects entail change, these tools that both deal with the planning and execution of the plans, which is about the changing the status quo into a desired state by addressing the needs of the people involved with change are also crucial to organizational change and its wider programmes. B. Body Project management is defined by Srivannaboon as “a specialized form of management, similar to other functional strategies, that is used to accomplish a series of business goals, strategies, and work tasks within a well-defined schedule and budget (2006, 89).” Because project management is very results-specific, in order to accomplish vital projects, as a discipline it has evolved over the years. Certain tools that project managers can use have been developed in order to ensure accuracy in timing as well as cost estimates, which is very critical for very large-scale projects (Sanders 1995). With these tools, project management has been utilized for the management of large capital projects such as in the construction industry, and for the development of new products and processes. Some of these tools include “Gantt charts, critical path analysis, PERT, planning cycles, Kotters 8-step change process, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder management, and influence map (MindTools.com 2009).” Most of these tools aim to note down all the activities, as well as their respective dependencies and prerogative activities in order to fulfill the project, in the least costly method—that is, in terms of time and money. Tools like the Gantt charts, and the critical path analysis, as well as PERT list down these activities. Gantt chart also serves as a better timetable, which depicts the length of each activities as well as the requisites. As for the critical path analysis, the shortest path in order to accomplish the project—which means, eliminating unnecessary activities which can cost the company both time and money, is determined for doing the project in the most economical manner. Conducting a planning cycle determines how the plan is to be carried out from the determination of the opportunity up to the plans implementation. While the four tools delve with the accuracy of implementation and execution of the project, the other four deal with the softer side of the project management—people (Henderson 2008). These tools include Kotters 8-step change process, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder management, and influence map. These four are crucial, in that without them the project manager lives in a fantasy world where resource allocation is not an issue, and the top management will grant every prospective project the company finds great. Because projects cannot take place without the support of people from the companys inside environment, these are also crucial (Sanders 1995). Kotters 8-step change process deals how change can be best implemented in order to unfreeze the status quo and go to a desired state (Julian 2008). Various projects, especially when executed require changes within the company—from the shuffling of participants for the team, the resource allocation issues, etc. Therefore, this tool is also crucial to project management. Within a company, there are interests that these changes, brought by projects can affect. These interests belong to stakeholders—shareholders, company employees, government, customers, suppliers, unions, environment, etc—all the groups that would be affected by the necessary change. A project will not pursue if there are oppositions from any of these, which is powerful enough to create a deterrence. Therefore, it is important to address the concerns of these groups before any change can be implemented. As apparent in their use which is most critical to pursuing something worthwhile within the organization, at the same time dealing with the issues that change brings, these tools are not only applicable to project management, but also to organizational change. For wider programmes of organizational change, the tools that deal with determining the activities, as well as their requisites can be used, such as the Gantt chart, critical path analysis and PERT. In order to make the change less costly in terms of resources, critical path analysis and PERT can also be used to determine the fastest route to achieving the state that the change sponsor intends to reach. Most importantly, the tools that deal with the people side are most applicable when enacting organizational change programmes. Organizational change programmes, like any project within the company inspires chaos because of prospective dissolution of status quo, then the interests of various parties that have stake within the organization. Stakeholder mapping, stakeholder analysis and management, and influence maps can be used in order to address the issues of these parties as regards change, and determining the course of actions appropriate in order to make reach a desired state. C. Conclusion As project management is a specialized form of management that focuses on accomplishment of one purpose or goal in line with the organizations overall goals, within a given time frame and budget, this form has evolved as a discipline over the years. The focus on accomplishment of projects in line with the companys business goals, in the most efficient and least costly manner have enabled it to incorporate tools such as Gantt charts, critical path analysis, PERT, planning cycle, etc. These tools ensure accuracy and precision by listing down activities in order to determine the activities where the least resources will be used for the projects. Project management also deals with the people, as apparent in tools such as the 8-step change process, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder management, and influence maps. These tools, however, are not limited to project management alone. Change, which is apparent as in any kind of project is addressed by these tools. Therefore, these tools can also be used by programmes that deal with organizational change. Reference List Brown, J. L. & Agnew, N. M. (1982 November/December). “The balance of power in a matrix structure.” Business Horizons. Volume 25. Issue 6. P. 51-54 Retrieved on August 29, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=a619ea52-070e-4056-89ae-30944bb33e65%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=8947077#db=buh&AN=8947077 Dunn, S. C. (2001 June). “Motivation by project and functional managers in matrix organizations.” Engineering Management Journal. Volume 13. Issue 2. Page 3-9. Retrieved on August 29, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=c1d9c6c9-4373-46f7-85ca-ece634254dd3%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=4884103#db=buh&AN=4884103 Gehring, D. R. (2007 March). “Applying traits theory of leadership to project management.” Project Management Journal. Volume 38. Issue 1. Page 44-54. 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Retrieved on August 29, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=5&sid=e38bc08e-9bc8-49ac-ae1c-135143632ce8%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=9505305726 Schmid, B. & Adams, J. (2008 June). “Motivation in project management: The project managers perspective.” Project Management Journal. Volume 39. Issue 3. Page 60-71. Retrieved on August 29, 2009 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=21&did=1502576101&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1251687322&clientId=25727 Srivannaboon, S. (2006 December). “Linking project management with business strategy.” Project Management Journal. Volume 37. Issue 5. Page 88-96. Retrieved on August 29, 2009 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=86&did=1187236111&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1251687912&clientId=25727 Wellman, J. (2007 June). “Leadership behaviors in matrix environments.” Project Management Journal. Volume 38. Issue 2. 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