Project Management Notes

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The Keys To Successful Project Management... SOURCE: Walden University Database

PROJECT:
A project is a well-defined set of professional activities or tasks done to deliver
a specific service, product, or result for a client in accord with an agreed on
time and cost budget. For the purposes of this chapter, the service, product, or
result could be any output considered to be within the domain of I/O psychology.
The client typically would be an organization, although conducting a vocational
assessment for a friend would still be considered a project from a definitional
perspective. Projects come in all sizes and shapes, and frequently one project can
lead to another.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics needed to achieve the objectives of a project. It has become a
recognized discipline, and in many respects is a much larger profession than the
domain I refer to in this chapter. For example, advanced degrees (often masters of
science) are offered in project management by many business schools. Alternatively,
I would imagine it is the rare I/O educational program at any level that discusses
project management. The discipline seems to have many of its origins in work
initiated by the military to monitor, schedule, and control contractual obligations
for various defense programs. Today, one can become certified as a project
management professional, and with the proper credentials join the Project
Management Institute. This organization was founded in 1969 to foster the growth
and professionalism of project management. Appendix 26.1 at the end of this chapter
contains a bibliography of references for consideration by the reader interested in
gaining more knowledge about the domain of project management.

PROJECT MANAGER:
In the most straightforward sense, the project manager is the individual
responsible for all project management activities. But the role is really a complex
and multifaceted one. I have assembled a personal list of descriptors for a project
manager, and I present them alphabetically because I have no basis for concluding
that one descriptor is more important than any other. Project managers are
administrators, advisors, analyzers, cheerleaders, coaches, communicators,
coordinators, cost controllers, creators, decision makers, delegators,
facilitators, leaders, managers, mentors, negotiators, organizers, peacemakers,
planners, problem solvers, quality controllers, schedulers, team builders, and
visionaries. Although this list is no doubt imperfect or incomplete, it provides a
sense of the various roles the project manager
must fulfill, often performing several of the roles almost simultaneously.

Although I have been reluctant to assign any type of values to the above
descriptors, Posner (1987) quantified the frequency of use for various project
management skills. Posner asked 287 individuals attending project management
seminars to identify what skills made a difference in successfully managing a
project. The results of that survey found that communication skills (both listening
and persuading) were endorsed as essential by 84% of the respondents. Next,
organizational skills (analyzing, planning, and goal setting) were considered
critical by 75% of the respondents. The third most frequently endorsed competency
was team building (defined as having empathy and providing motivation and esprit de
corps), which was endorsed by 72% of the survey participants. Leadership skills
(including being energetic, delegating, and visionary) was mentioned by 68% of the
respondents. In fifth place at 59% was coping skills (defined as having
flexibility, persistence, patience, and creativity). In sixth place at 46% was
technical skills (experience, knowledge regarding the project). In general I am in
agreement with this rank order, although I believe leadership and team-building
skills are not as distant from communication skills as Posner's research would
suggest.

During my career as the senior manager of a consulting practice, I have always told
new consultants that there are really only two levels of growth to be pursued in
the field of consulting: project management and ownership. One of the primary ways
I have evaluated the success of a consultant has been on the basis of his or her
progress in developing and executing in the role of project manager.

Most of the training for a project manager is on the job; this is possible because
of the multiple roles each consultant fulfills during a relatively short period of
time. A consultant can be the project manager of one assignment and be a project
team member on two other assignments, regardless of that person's "level." This has
been true for me as well as all the other senior members of our firm's consulting
staff. In more formalized organizations, this may not be the case; when consultants
fulfill both the project manager and team member roles, this supports a matrix
management organization. In my judgment, the matrix management process is most
appropriate for the daily operation of a professional organization and directly
supports a project management environment. One of my reasons for this assertion is
that matrix management permits both the consultant and project manager
opportunities to fit skills and interests to project content and responsibilities.
Another strength of matrix management is that it reduces consultant downtime. A
potential negative for some consultants is the requirement for multitasking, often
over very short time periods.

Alternatives to matrix management include those identified by Caan, Wright, and

Hampton (1997), such as the military model, Projects in Controlled Environments
(PRINCE), and what is called the soft analysis technique. The military model
emphasizes detailed protocols and "doing it by the book." The other two strategies
require high levels of participative planning by project team members and by
external reviewers in the soft analysis technique. These strategies are focused
primarily on project problem solving and scheduling functions.

Because, in my opinion, a large part of one's success as a consultant is evaluated

by her or his progress in becoming a project manager or carrying out project
management duties, a frequent question to me has been, What does it take? Again, I
could mention many attributes, and they would underlie the previous alphabetical
list that I presented. However, a few qualities are particularly important; again I
list them in alphabetical order: collegial, deductive, ethical, flexible,
intuitive, sensitive, technically competent, and tolerant of ambiguity. In essence,
a successful project manager will have a satisfied project team that delivers a
superior quality service, product, or result to a highly satisfied client.

A final thought about becoming a successful project manager is the requirement to

recognize and properly balance multiple responsibilities. A project manager has
responsibilities to the client, the consulting firm (employer), the project team
members, and possibly to the public at large (e.g., certain types of consulting for
a law enforcement agency). These responsibilities are particularly important when
the project manager is in such roles as administrator, communicator, facilitator,
negotiator, organizer, or problem solver. Under any circumstance, when client-
consultant problems rise, the project manager should be able to resolve them.