Project Organisation 103 Chapter 5.1 MEANING OF PROEJCT MANAGER} A project manager is the person responsible for leading a project from its inception to execution. This includes planning, execution and managing the people, resources and scope of the project. Project managers must have the discipline to create clear and attainable objectives and to see them through to successful completion. The project manager has full responsibility and authority to complete the assigned project. A project manager's responsibilities include overall management, but he or she is seldom directly involved with the activities that actually produce the end result. The position also oversees any associated products and services, project tools and techniques to help ensure good practices. In addition, project managers are responsible for recruiting and building project teams, and making projections about the project's risks and uncertainties. The roles and responsibility of project manager to make sure that the customer is satisfied and the work scope is completed in a quality manner, using budget, and on time. The Project Manager has primary responsibility for providing leadership in planning, organizing and controlling the work effort t In other words, the project manager provides the leadership to project team to accomplish the project objective. The project manager coordinates the activities of various team members to ensure that they perform the right tasks at the proper time, as a cohesive group. to accomplish the project objectives. 5.2. ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1. Planning Planning is an essential duty of a project manager. Determining what needs to be done, who is going to do it, and when it needs to be done are all part of the planning process. Keep in mind that planning is an iterative process that takes place throughout the life of the project. Some key planning duties includ © Define and clarify project scope Develop the project plan104 Project Management (M.MS, Sem. IV) Develop the project schedule Develop policies and procedures to support the achievement of the project objectives 2. Organizing Organizing is about setting up the project team's structure. A major driver in this aspect is the company's existing structure. Companies are usually set up as functional, matrix, or projectized organizations. When organizing your project, you will need to take the company's structure into account. srs stcencanicnsceassaailll Some of the key organizing duties include... © Determine the organizational structure of the project team © Identify roles and positions © Identify services to be provided by extemal companies © Staff project positions 3. Leading Leading refers to carrying out the project plan in order to achieve the project objectives. Leading the project is one of the more challenging aspects for new Project managers because it involves a lot of "soft skills.” Skills such as communicating clearly, team motivation, and conflict resolution. Some key duties for leading projects include... © Setting team direction © Coordinating activities across different organizational functions © — Motivating team members © Assigning work 4. Controlling Controlling is all about keeping the project on track. Project control can be performed using a three-step process... © Measuring: Checking project progress toward meeting its objectives * Evaluating: Determining the cause of deviations from the plan © Correcting: Taking corrective actions to address deviations Some key controlling duties include... © — Defining project baselines © Tracking project progress © Project status reporting Determining and taking corrective actions tsProject Organisation 105 [5.3 TEAM DEVELOPMNET MODEL IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT Specifically the five stages a team goes through as it develops. The stages a team generally goes through are: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. As a project manager, a good understanding of these stages will help you guide a team from infancy to maturity. 1. Forming: ‘The ‘initial stage is the forming stage. At this point, team members are generally concerned about their role in the team and who calls the shots. As a project manager, you will have a dominant role in team building and people will be looking to you for guidance and reassurance. This stage can be relatively short in comparison to the other stages and may only last a meeting or two. 2, Storming: At this stage, the team addresses the problems they are going to solve and how they are going to function as a unit. Team members will become mot open with each other as they express their own ideas and thoughts and will often confront the project manager about certain aspects of the project. 3. .Norming: Team members will begin to settle to the task at hand. Conflicts will be resolved and they will develop “norms” around how they work together. A hierarchy is established and the project will start to progress at greater pace with less emphasis placed on team development. 4. Performing: At this stage, the project manager's job is easier. Team members will work together as a unit and significant progress will be made. Project management will focus on the delegation of work and on future team building. Less supervision will be required as the team will be highly motivated and independent. 5. Adjourning: The final stage is adjourning or as it’s sometimes referred to as, “mourning”. This is when the team is finished its project and is expected to break apart. The project manager should afford the team members time to celebrate a (hopefully) successful project. It is likely that there will be sadness and anxiety in a successful group who must finish their time together.106 Project Management (M.MS. Sem. IV) q 5.4 CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATION HANDLING IN PROJECT] MANAGEMENT Conflicts are a way of life in a project structure and can generally occur at any level in the organization. The project manager has often been described as a conflict manager. In many organizations the project manager continually fights fires and crises evolving from conflicts, and delegates the day-to-day responsibility of running the project to the project team members. Although this is not the best situation, it cannot always be preveniéd, especially after organizational restructuring or the initiation of projects requiring new resources Most common types of conflicts involve: * Manpower resources © Equipment and facilities © Capital expenditures © Costs Technical opinions and trade-offs Priorities © — Administrative procedures * Scheduling © — Responsibilities © Personality clashes Each of these conflicts can vary in relative intensity over the life cycle of a project Ways to Manage Project Conflict 1. Exercise power Yes, power is a way to solve conflict! However, this approach is best used sparingly or in situations where there are very high risks or dangers, such as staff safety. It begins with simply issuing a command to solve a conflict—and rests on the authority and confidence you wield in your position. 2. Withdraw/avoid The PMBOK Guide's conflict. management —_ guidance includes “withdraw/avoid conflict management.” In view, avoidance tends not to solve the problem very often. However, this approach is suggested for situations when you'll have a better result by withdrawing in order to be better prepared. Withdrawing or avoiding gives you time to calm down and think clearly about the problem. d estiProject Organisation 107 3. Compromise Compromise is one of the most popular ways to solve conflicts on projects. Each party gets their interests satisfied to a degree if the compromise is successful. 4. Call in the sponsor If you truly feel the conflict is beyond your capability to solve, ask your project sponsor for help. Before any meeting, brief your sponsor on the situation and come prepared with at least two solutions of your own. 6. Solve the underlying problem, not the symptom Not all conflicts are what they appear. When you're presented with a conflict, take the time to thoroughly understand what is causing it. For example, instead of repeatedly solving conflicts over late delivery, you can look for a systematic cause (e. expectations or goals). 7. Delegate” As the project manager, you have a great deal of work and responsibility to manage. By delegating conflict resolution to a trusted manager, you give that person a chance to grow. Of course, delegation does not eliminate your responsibility, so choose wisely. 8. Acknowledge the person first Some conflicts occur because a person's ideas and feelings are not being acknowledged as important. By taking the time to acknowledge your team member's problem, you could prevent any ensuing conflict from occurring. Try not to cut off people before they're able to express their feelings. Slow down! lack of training, poor communication, unclear 9. Call a meeting With the right preparation and ground rules, meetings are an effective way to solve project conflict. You can ask each party to present their side or make a short presentation. The formal structure of a meeting helps people structure their thoughts. By getting everyone in the same room you have a better chance of coming to a resolution sooner than later. Conflict in the workplace is an ever-present fact. By implementing effective conflict management practices, you can tum your challenges and disagreements into positive resolutions for everyone. Exercise 1. Explain the role and responsibility of project manager. Explain team development model in project management. 3. Explain conflicts and negotiation handling in project management. eis (5) (5 ] ©