Projects and Their Management - Term Paper Example

A project manager is critical to the success of a project and requires both hard and soft skills Introduction The most important aspect in projectmanagement is the leader of the applications of strategies to complete an imperative initiative; it is the project manager that is the critical component to reach such success (Hicks, 2004). Project managers are an essential to the development of strategy and execution to several deliverables within a set timeframe for completion all based on the initial project charter (PMBOK, 2004). Thus, the project scope clearly defines the parameters for the project manager to adhere to the accordance of the project charter – that is authorizing such an initiative within outline confinements. In the enclosed review of what, how, and when certain needed skills or knowledge is warranted to defining how critical a project manager is to a project will show its overall importance in reaching success (Savory and Butterfield 1998). The focused areas are knowledge and application that outline the needed awareness in critical points that presents challenges from a less skilled profession to remedy a particular situation. In such an analysis, the outcome will provide the understanding to the true reasoning’s by the assumption that a project manager is the proactive measure to facilitating the project scope (Thill and Bovee, 2007). The evaluation on all the needed processes, interventions, identifying, traceability and monitoring - that has the definitions of what required skills are necessary to be deemed a capable project manager. Identified Required Knowledge and Usage of Application from a Project Manager The usage of core project management tools is essential to effectively monitoring the progress of the project. The project manager awareness of controversies is the important standpoints for the ability to showing how connections and distinctions relate to differences in a functional environment (O’Conor, 2000). The required knowledge and usage of application is the main pursuit for demonstrating the right skills necessary for identifying all needed tasks. It is in the identified and required tasks that dictates the necessary deliverables. Further, it is in the realm of many deliverables providing the assessment to the skills involved in meeting the set deadline of completion. The true understanding of the defined processes for making the project successfully happen provides the matrix to forming the right strategy of execution (Thompson and Bunker, 2006). The project manager’s skill set is in the decision making ability that will determine a successful outcome will occur or an unsuccessful outline. The senior project manager is about making the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, and the actual managing resources with the focus on completing specific deliverables within budget (Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, and Sutton, 2008). The needed quality and time restraints are the driving force that detects the project manager skill of decision making to either a successful outcome or a failure (Jennings, 2010). The building of the project manager’s skills are an integral part in determining if the planning of the project proves to being a profitable one – that is outline in the defined project scope. Therefore, the knowledge base is the streamline of implementing an entire project from start to finish for adhering to the time and budget constraint. The prowess of the project manager must realize the scope vision and elements required in facilitating the needed pace of meeting deliverables dates and expectations of quality. The successful project manager is visionary to foreseeing challenges that can prevent the finish of certain or all deliverables, especially within the critical point, that reference a keen eye of perception to keeping pace. The identification of the key metrics are the important element to considering how the approach the can or should be applied in meeting project scope goals. The project life cycle correlates to the determining factor of defining the metrics required identify all skills sets (Ingram and LaForge, 2006). These measures provide the means for the project manager to deciding on which special teams are equipped to meeting stakeholders expectations to the stated criteria’s of the scope initiative. The key metrics are a definition grid of assorting which appropriate measure is needed in the project for responding to the direction of the project manager. In most cases, such as, and IT project to create new database, i.e. Customer Relationship Management System (CRMS), the needed elements of quality, stated allowed defects or not, and proficiency markers are essential to rendering a desired outcome (Hinssen, 2011). In most proficient Fortune 500 companies, the constant needed for upgrading their systems requires a knowledgeable project manager - that has dealt with large budgets projects with a magnitude of deliverables to complete (Hunter, 2010). Respectively, the project team’s ability to render an understanding to the cultural considerations and approaches of project management of project teams in multidisciplinary and multi-national contexts are in effective research performed (Hicks, 2004). The selection of identifying key metrics such as cost, revenue, quality, effects, CPB, ROI, and net accuracy for forming a well adjusted platform of operating in knowledge based environment (Fleming and Koppelman, 2006). The selection of an effective tool to determining the best approaches in managing key metrics for assessing how companies should be more agile in controlling resources (Baron, 2009). It is in the manageability of controlling the resources that provide the planning strategy led by the project manager to execute accordingly. The identification process by the project manager reveals the levels of awareness and knowledge foundation to meeting the protocols of the project. In most challenges business environments, such as global initiatives, the primary goal is to sustain innovation in international platforms that hones on to the brand equity. In recent years, the soft drink industry, for instance, Coca-Cola demonstrated the many project initiatives requiring strong knowledge base of culture, social awareness, and technical ability to reach a higher demographic (Coca-Cola.com, 2010). In each of the planned initiative from produce development to brand identity in developing a productive means in accomplishing tasks objectives. The products are more a measure to determining what is needed in fully creating such outputs of production, in which, the process allows for a knowledge project manager to assess and correlate resources accordingly (Haritz-Menne, 2004). The main objective for the project manager is in the designing the right aspect to forming an assessment to facilitating protocols within the project cycle. The recent usage of effective technology more virtual projects are being completed by project manager knowledgeable in more areas than the basis assessment skills. The required knowledge of the phases of the project cycle provides a set skill set that addresses each element in the project. See figure 1: Project Cycle Process Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring Controlling Closure The acquisition of the project main resources provides the assessment to the importance of the project cycle in determining in what expectations of stakeholders to fruition. Therefore, the project manager ability to knowing how to apply effective communication and diversity in executing the project is imperative (PMBOK, 2004). The project manager needed focuses perfecting managing phone calls, email, extensive meetings, and productivity levels benefits the overall project cycle accountability (Thompson and Bunker, 2006). Thus, the eliminating of excess activities or resources being used is essential to implying a reasoning platform of illustrating a platform of accountability to arranging resources accordingly. The implications and cautions associated with a strong foundation of operation is in over use or negligence in project management applications applied that restricts the progression of the project initiatives. Therefore, the manageability of resources can save time, in which, is imperative in global initiatives such as Coca-Cola Corporation to promoting the brand identity in newer markets (Coca-Cola.com, 2011). In order to achieve such success, large companies are forced to have strategic project teams that understand the social networks present and utilize resources effectively to complete initiative. Thus, the key metrics in such cases where large corporations aim to set up new office branches and stores, the construction of facilities are complex and costly if the project is not managed properly. In any situation of similar caliber of globalization initiation from companies, a leader as a project manager must demonstrate awareness to the required knowledge base of operating within a project lifecycle. Regarding the area of an Iron Triangle the issue of constraints can affect the Critical Path and its duration by the managing of scope in planned time and cost, in which, each area parameter is a constraint within the key stages (Williams, 2008). That is why; the role of the project life cycle is in the collection of generally sequential project phases whose name and number are determining by the control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project. The usage of the project management software that the project manager strategically utilizes in aiding the team assist in meeting the life cycles phases of completion. In retrospect, it is in the focusing on cost estimating, scheduling, communication, collaboration, and configuration management that defines the success of the project. The end result is the detailed breakdown of the Work Breakdown Sheet (WBS) for formulating the start – to – finish dates, tasks, sub-tasks, and deliverables within the stated project scope (PMBOK, 2004). It is in the referencing of the assigned resources of specialist that the project manager effectively chooses the individual to complete the stated tasks. In doing so, the Microsoft Office Project Application is the central tool for conforming the project manager strategy that of the planned scope initiative (Noel, 2007). The management of the team and stakeholders are an imperative component to presenting the framework offering a foundation of democratize base to effectively operating from a scope perspective. Therefore, the skills applied by the project manager is in the ability to detect at a moment’s notice the assessment of current costs, revenue, quality, defects, CPB, ROI, and net accuracy when senior management team requests. The fundamental skills of knowing how to list tasks in a priority matrix offers the assurance those priority 1 items are fixed accordingly before priority 2. This approach reveals how the project manager is on top of critical maters that prevents overage of allowed budget and meets expectations of stakeholders. In querying on how can skills be applied in the project management context? The method is in the way of communicating a visual concept relating to a network diagram that hones on the continuous series of schedule activities linked with logical relationships in a project schedule network diagram (Weill, 2009). The assessment defining network diagram is in creating a new database software is in the creating the complete IT network connectivity for the business. The collection of a schedule activity dependencies are in the network diagram illustrating a path for forming a critical path method. In doing so, the skill set for the project manager is in the monitor and control project work process assessment, in which, the approach is the process of monitoring and controlling the processes required to initiate the project (Williams, 2008). Further, the method to effectively plan, execute, and close a project to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan and project scope statement. See Figure 2: Network Diagram – Creating a new IT network and Database software The often types of types of obstacles/challenges that can be encountered are delays in the precedence deliverable to completing the tasks. In troubleshooting, the project manager must be on top of all communication to knowing why and when such delays is to be remedy. In doing so, the project manager must communicate the Estimate of Completion (EAC) effectively to all stakeholders. In this approach, the skills maybe lacking what options could be considered if in fact the understanding of calculations, such as, Budget at Completion (BAC, to determining how much of a risk a particular delay will impact the project (Fleming and Koppelman, 2006). More than likely, the number implications are in the range of excess costs due to delays of completing a prior deliverable or tasks. Conclusion In the analysis of the role of the project life cycle that correlates to identifying phases involved to developing a sequence of project cycle. The completion of a feasibility study, a preliminary plan, or an analysis in the parameters of the project - that offers an assessment to the different types of projects. In the pursuit for identifying the types of projects, the ability of the project manager applying a skill set that covers the different phases or activities needed to completing the project on time (Williams, 2008). The driving forces that create the stimuli for a project is in the ability to knowing the types of problems, opportunities, and business requirements to identifying the cycle phase involved. Therefore, the key components in forming the relationships from each phase can achieve a well adjusted platform to defining which area is performing to the designated plan. The project manager skills and knowledge base directly affects the outcome of the project by assessing the elements required to reach completion. The project life cycle is the main artery to identifying the transitional actions at different phases of the deliverables that offers a distinguish project of products or service (Baron, 2009). Conversely, the recommendation on how positive results could be enhanced and negative results minimized is in the role of effective communication to state the needs of each phase within the project life cycle. In doing so, the project manager will demonstrate the required wider breadth of knowledge, analysis and evaluation ability to reaching the desired project outcome. Bibliographic Baron, David (2009) Business and Its Environment, Prentice Hall Coca-Cola.com (2011) The Coca-Cola Corporation, retrieved from http://www.coca-cola.com Fleming, Quentin & Koppelman, Joel (2006) Earned Value Project Management, 3rd Edition, Project Management Institute Haritz-Menne, Angelika (2004). Business Processes: An Archival Science Approach to Collaborative Decision Making, Records, and Knowledge Management Hicks, M.J. (2004) 2nd edn. Problem Solving and Decision Making Thompson Learning Hinssen, Peter (2011) Business IT Fusion, Lannon International Hunter, Richard (2010) The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value, Harvard Business Press Ingram, Thomas, LaForge, Raymond (2006). Management: Analysis and Decision Making. Oxford University Press, USA; New Edition Jennings, Marianne (2010) Business: IT Legal, Ethical and Global Environment, Cengage Learning Maizlish, Bryan (2010) IT Portfolio Management, Wiley John & Sons Mantel, Samuel J. Jr. & Meredith, Jack R. & Shafer, Scott M. & Sutton, Margaret M. (2008) Project Management in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Publishing Mullins, John (2006). Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach. Mcgraw Hill/Irwin Series in Marketing Noel, Michael (2007) Microsoft SharePoint 2007, Microsoft Incorporation Press O’Conor, Darren (2000) Business Planning, Scitech Educational – Peer Review, pg. 126, Business Planning and Business Forecasting, Proquest Database, HD30.28.026 200eb PMBOK Guide (2004) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Third Edition. PMI Global Standard Savory, Allan, Butterfield, Jody (1998) Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making. Island Press; REV edition Thill, John V. & Bovee, Courtland L. (2007). Excellence in Business Communication, Seventh Edition, Pearson, Prentice Hall Thompson, Darren and Bunker, Guy (2006) Delivery Utility Computing & Business – Driven IT Optimizing, Wiley John & Sons Wild, John J., Wild, Kenneth L., Han, Jerry C.Y., (2006). International Business, The Challenges of Globalization Williams, Meri (2008) The Principles of Project Management, SitePoint Incorporated Weill, Peter (2009) IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results, Harvard Business Press Read More