Nt1310 Project Management Assignment
Project management assignment
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
The essay discusses basic prices of project management. The first part tackles the initial technical aspect of project planning where scheduling is done to determined logical flow of activities. At this stage, a critical path is determined and project is visualised using Gantt chart and network diagram. Importance of network diagrams is also discussed. The second case discusses general skills and competencies that are needed to successful project management. A range of skills are classified by various authors. In this article, skills that are discussed include technical, communication, people management, and leadership and motivation skills. …show more content…
2.0 Task A: Project scheduling
2.1 Network diagram
2.2 How timing of activities was done
Timing of activities was done using a scheduling technique where the main aim to list and arrange activities in a sequence that leads to realisation of the final goal, which is completion of the goal in time, in the required quality and using the planned goals. In scheduling, a Gantt chart was drawn which helped visualise when all activities were to be accomplished, where there was start and finish time. Relationship between activities was worked out finally when coming up with a network diagram, whose purpose was to provide a visualisation overview of flow of all activities and how they relate with each other.
2.3 Determination of total float
This is the time that a project can be delayed without affecting the time of completion of the whole project or without affecting the project schedule. This was calculated by getting the difference between the latest finish and the earliest finish. It could also be calculated from getting the difference between latest start and earliest start of the whole project (Lester, 2007).
2.4 Determination of the critical path
Critical path is determined by summing up the durations of activities during which no activity can be delayed without affecting the schedule of the project. This is the longest path that the project can take and which determines shortest time that a project can take to be fully completed. To determine activities which are critical, calculation of earliest time to start and latest to finish time was calculated to find the slack time. Where activities had a slack time of zero, the activities was considered as critical; it meant the activity could not be delayed or started earlier as then it would delay the whole project. The activities have these conditions: ES=LS and EF=LF. The critical path had also to flow continuously, carrying all the activities which determine the earliest time when the project would be carried.
2.5 The earliest the project can be completed if it started on 9 May 2011
The earliest time the project can be completed is 28 August 2011.
This was calculated by calculating the time of all possible critical paths and taking the shortest. A project could have more than one critical path on basis that it carries activities from beginning to the end. The time of all critical activities was carried added to the beginning date (9 May 2011), excluding weekends.
2.6 Effect of the duration of the project if the following happened:
a) If P delayed by 1 day: This would not affect duration of the project, it is not a critical activity. The slack time is not zero in this and therefore has no effect on duration of the project duration or completion date.
b) If activity Q is delayed 1 day, the project duration would also not be delayed. Also, Q is not a critical activity considering that its ES≠LS and EF≠LF. ES-LS and EF-LF=1, hence not a critical path because of the one day float.
c) A 2 day delay during activity M would not affect the duration of the project. ES≠LS and EF≠LF. ES-LS and EF-LF=2, which means the activity has a float of 2 days which means the project can be delayed by this duration without affecting the schedule of completion …show more content…
time.
2.7 Importance of network diagrams
These are important because they are used to visualise schedule of all activities from which a project manager can then decide when a project can be completed at the earliest. Using a project network diagram helps calculate durations of various activities which then determine the how the whole project would be completed. Accurate visualisation helps one to see which programmes cab be run concurrently, hence reducing project duration. Having a bigger picture of the whole project can help in assigning resources, forecasting and timing when certain activities must be completed to achieve a desired overall project (Luckey & Phillips, 2011).
3.0 Task 2: Skills and competencies of project management
Project management is one of the undertakings that any organisation would have to undergo at of point of its existence as long as it would entail achievement of certain specified goals.
However, depending in the goal to be achieved, it is also one of the most challenging but which need to be managed effectively if it is to succeed. The reason why projects become imperative in any organisation is because an organisation has basic roles such as maintaining profitability and customer relationships which must be maintained while at the same time, they have to change or undertake new frontiers to enhance the stated and other objectives. Hence, there is need to balance all these parallel tasks effectively (Grande-Bretagne,
2009).
There are several activities which need to be managed if a project is to be successfully completed while achieving the three main criteria of completing in time, completion with the required quality and using the estimated cost. Hence, quality, cost and time must all be attained in successful projects. The competencies discussed here include risk management, communication, planning, scheduling skills, team leadership, management of stakeholders, quality management principles and project control, tracking and measurement. Other skills include fast decision making, problem solving ability and negotiation skills (Neil, 2013). These can be summarised in three basic skills which are understanding the business environment, management of people and technical or administrative duties (CBC, n.d.). Coping or personal skills are also added as those that required one to be flexible, persistent, creative and ability to work under pressure (Murch, 2001). Other classification of these skills include responsibilities and authorities; functional and actions; fundamental levels of management and leadership and motivation (Turner, 1999).
3.1 Communication skills
These would require the project manager to be able to initiate a project, plan for it and guide the stakeholders in understanding why it is necessary and what it would accomplish after is completed. This is part of communication but understanding the needs of an organisation and business environment is one of the hallmarks of project manager. In this case, a project manager would identify what, why and when a goal is needed to be accomplished by an organisation. Communication is a core role in project management because it entails articulately linking or coordinating all stakeholders so that they all work collaboratively to achieve designated goals. Support from the stakeholders, who might include the community, customers, shareholders or the government is needed because they are the ones that determine if they are to support it or not. In this project, the PM is supposed to coordinate the suppliers of all equipment, the fitters on the time and how long they are expected to take in their respective tasks.
Communication is wide and can include the various elements such as active and effective listening, preparing the message, determining the recipients and how the message is to reach the recipients effectively. According to Kliem (2008), communication should serve both interests of the project manager at the project and also the stakeholders. As such, there is need to understand that to the latter, information is superior and preferred rather than data that may be voluminous, confusing and empty. The communication style chosen should consider the culture, medium, beliefs and values of recipients. Communication style should be flexible to accommodate change of these elements (Rick A. Morris, 2008). Another significant element is that is reporting, where the project manager agrees what to reported and how often it is to be done. Frequent reporting is necessary, which means it is a never ending process from the day a project is conceived.
To be effective in communication, there has to be a communication plan and often, there is a person to whom this is delegated to. In communication plan, the elements include the how, what, where, how and to whom the message is to be targeted. Among the tools of communication include knowledge area, process groups, the industry type and size, reports and forms to be used and managing or reporting tools. According to Dow and Taylor (Dow & Taylor, 2010), most projects fail because of poor or lack of grasp of these tools. Campbell (2010) also noted that there is correlation between ability of project manager in effectively communicating and success of a project. Ability to communicate effectively helps the manager to grasp issues that need to be done, who is to do them and guiding them to achieve desired goals.
3.2 Management skills
Management requires the project manager to recruit able and experienced people that would accomplish certain tasks successfully. At the core of management, like any other task, there are the basic attributes of planning, organising, implementing and monitoring and control. These are actions that any manager is required and in recruiting, a manager identifies who is to do what and when. As a project manager in Smalling Company, the required staff, i.e. the General Manager, Assistant Managers, Administration staff and sales staff should be elected from the lot of qualified and experienced people proven to deliver as per the goals of the organisation. Planning is a classic function of any project management activity where the project manager decides what is to be achieved and by whom depending on where the project is at the moment (Richman, 2011). It is an important function that ensure the stakeholders receive what was planned for, which means a project manager has to have a final picture of the final product basing on the current scenario.
Planning also involves the aspects of cost, schedule, scope and quality (Heldman, 2011). There are many meetings, schedules, resources and stakeholders that need to be attended to in the course of project management and all these need planning. Project plan is the first tool that comes determines what a project would look and as a pilot tool, there is need for it to be articulate and adeptly crafted. Although it is complete in itself, it is often updated as the project progresses as there are contingencies that cannot be foreseen at the initial stage of the project (Parker, et al., 2008). Often, a project manager needs to come up with a hierarchical plan where at the top, there is least detailed activities while at the lower level, they are more detailed.
Monitoring and controlling are also components of management where a project is tracked to ensure all the parts fit and are done as per the plan. These functions lead to realisation8 of the desired quality of a project using the planned cost. The functions need to be done periodically as the project progresses so that at the end of the day, in case something goes wrong, corrective action can be initiated at the earliest stage. In effective controlling, current progress is checked with the document so that the quality cost and time are as per the plan in the project plan document. Current and forecast variance are also computed and all possible alternatives brainstormed early in advance so that is there is direction at the time when change is needed. This is where the plan is updated and is common in most if not all projects, especially those that are big (Richman, 2006). Sometimes, monitoring and controlling are classified under performance management where there are set targets, key performance indicators and a certain fashion of reporting and evaluation is agreed and executed throughout the organisation.
Directing involved literally ordering something to be done by the subjects and this is what is done in this case. Directing has to bed under recruitment and guiding what the team member are to achieve. It is also a function of delegation where a leader chooses the right personnel to undertake certain functions.
3.3 Technical skills
This is a combination of several skills that ease the process of executing several functions of a project. Although some project manager prefer to delegate these to junior staff that are technocrats such as programme and network, it is essential that a project manager acquainted with process of handling these technical aspects. Thus, a project manager is expected to complete these tasks using computer where use of various software and hardware tools is expected. When a project manager is not informed in these technical details, it is imperative that a person to whom these duties are delegated to be able to perform and deliver the required quality. However, even quality is not delivered, a project manager that does not have these skills would not know if the job was well done or not. Whether the project manager knows this or not, the ultimate responsibility rests with the holder of the office and not people to whom duties were delegated (Murch, 2001).
It is accepted that some of the technical skills might not be possessed by the project manager and as such, the person is supposed to have a technical skills group which includes IT experts. These are people that use project management software, assign resources with it an generate various reports when they are needed (Cagle, 2005).
3.4 Personal/coping skills
These are more of personal traits that are needed to help in successful project management. This is because a project is complicated set of activities that need to be coordinated harmoniously such that the final goal is delivered as planned. It can be stressful and quite enervating. Personal or coping skills such ability to organise, withstand intense pressure and work beyond normal schedule is needed. Besides being a group of people working to achieve a common goal, it must be stated that a person that has interpersonal skills that unites and links these people is needed. A project manager must be able to relate with all subjects well (Levin, 2010).
The person also ought to be proactive where issues and plans are prepared before they happen. In so doing, the element of risk management comes to play. This is the function that is delegated to a person in a team whose job is to monitor progress of a project and identify all possible risks that may affect its successful delivery. According to Royer (2002), there are five steps that need to be followed in typical risk management process. There has to be a person to whom opportunities are assigned, identification of all risks and opportunities, distribution of opportunity and assessment and a decision on the steps to be followed. The main reason for the steps is assigning of responsibility to all people involved in execution of several tasks while exploring possible opportunities and risks. It should be noted that this is done not at the end or beginning of the project but alongside the process of project delivery. Risks start from the top to the bottom of the project. An example is where stakeholders especially the management fail to support the project hence denying its funding and kick-off stage. In proactive risk management, the project manager is to explore all possible reasons why that could happen and resolve it before presenting the project document to the stakeholders.
3.5 Leadership and motivation
A project management is a group of people that are united by a common function of delivering a designated goal. A project manager is the person that uses assigned resources to achieve that goal. This is the person that also needs one to double as leader where all workers are led, motivated and guided to follow this strategic goal. A project manager must be fluent and artful enough it motivating a team that is to achieve various tasks. According to Morris and Pinto (2010, p. 6), “leadership determines the effectiveness of the project planning process and it also impacts effectiveness of the management team”. Theories of motivation should also be used by the project manager and be applied so that they workers are “stimulated’ to achieve certain goals from tasks.
4.0 Conclusion
Project management is sometimes noted as an important characteristic of successful organisations. It should be because a project may be a strategy that a businesses needed to accomplish to achieve certain goals at a certain point in future. Thus, it is a function that cannot be avoided but which must be handled as sometimes, it may determine success or failure of an organisation. Successful project management requires a set of learned or innate skills such as in coping and personal skills where a person needs to be strong-willed and committed to accomplish tasks because the goal, depending on how complex it is, cannot be cheap.
References
Cagle, R. B., 2005. Your Successful Project Management Career. New York: AMACOM.
Campbell, C. A., 2010. The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project With a. New York: Joghn Wiley & Sons.
CBC, n.d. Project Management Competencies. [Online]
Available at: http://www.d2i.ca/files/Project_Management_Competencies.pdf
[Accessed 28 December 2013].
Dow, W. & Taylor, B., 2010. Project Management Communications Bible. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Grande-Bretagne, 2009. Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
Heldman, K., 2011. PMP Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Kliem, R. L., 2008. Effective Communications for Project Management. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Lester, A., 2007. Project Management, Planning and Control: Managing Engineering, Construction. 5th ed. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Levin, G., 2010. Interpersonal Skills for Portfolio, Program, and Project Managers. Vienna: Management Concepts Press.
Luckey, T. & Phillips, J., 2011. Software Project Management For Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Morris, P. & Pinto, J. K. eds., 2010. The Wiley Guide to Project Organization and Project Management Competencies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Murch, R., 2001. Project Management: Best Practices for IT Professionals. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Professional.
Neil, W., 2013. Core Competencies of a Project Manager. [Online]
Available at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Core-Competencies-Project-Manager-89398.S.93636213
[Accessed 28 December 2013].
Parker, D., Craig, M. & Craig, M. A., 2008. Managing Projects, Managing People. Sydney: Macmillan.
Richman, L., 2006. Improving Your Project Management Skills. New York: AMACOM.
Richman, L., 2011. Improving Your Project Management Skills. 2nd ed. New York: AMACOM.
Rick A. Morris, B. M. S., 2008. Project Management That Works: Real-World Advice on Communicating, Problem Works. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Royer, P. S., 2002. Project Risk Management: A Proactive Approach. Vienna: Management Concepts Press.
Turner, J. R., 1999. The Handbook of Project Based Management: Improving the Processes for Achieving Strategic Objectives. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
The essay discusses basic prices of project management. The first part tackles the initial technical aspect of project planning where scheduling is done to determined logical flow of activities. At this stage, a critical path is determined and project is visualised using Gantt chart and network diagram. Importance of network diagrams is also discussed. The second case discusses general skills and competencies that are needed to successful project management. A range of skills are classified by various authors. In this article, skills that are discussed include technical, communication, people management, and leadership and motivation skills. …show more content…
2.0 Task A: Project scheduling
2.1 Network diagram
2.2 How timing of activities was done
Timing of activities was done using a scheduling technique where the main aim to list and arrange activities in a sequence that leads to realisation of the final goal, which is completion of the goal in time, in the required quality and using the planned goals. In scheduling, a Gantt chart was drawn which helped visualise when all activities were to be accomplished, where there was start and finish time. Relationship between activities was worked out finally when coming up with a network diagram, whose purpose was to provide a visualisation overview of flow of all activities and how they relate with each other.
2.3 Determination of total float
This is the time that a project can be delayed without affecting the time of completion of the whole project or without affecting the project schedule. This was calculated by getting the difference between the latest finish and the earliest finish. It could also be calculated from getting the difference between latest start and earliest start of the whole project (Lester, 2007).
2.4 Determination of the critical path
Critical path is determined by summing up the durations of activities during which no activity can be delayed without affecting the schedule of the project. This is the longest path that the project can take and which determines shortest time that a project can take to be fully completed. To determine activities which are critical, calculation of earliest time to start and latest to finish time was calculated to find the slack time. Where activities had a slack time of zero, the activities was considered as critical; it meant the activity could not be delayed or started earlier as then it would delay the whole project. The activities have these conditions: ES=LS and EF=LF. The critical path had also to flow continuously, carrying all the activities which determine the earliest time when the project would be carried.
2.5 The earliest the project can be completed if it started on 9 May 2011
The earliest time the project can be completed is 28 August 2011.
This was calculated by calculating the time of all possible critical paths and taking the shortest. A project could have more than one critical path on basis that it carries activities from beginning to the end. The time of all critical activities was carried added to the beginning date (9 May 2011), excluding weekends.
2.6 Effect of the duration of the project if the following happened:
a) If P delayed by 1 day: This would not affect duration of the project, it is not a critical activity. The slack time is not zero in this and therefore has no effect on duration of the project duration or completion date.
b) If activity Q is delayed 1 day, the project duration would also not be delayed. Also, Q is not a critical activity considering that its ES≠LS and EF≠LF. ES-LS and EF-LF=1, hence not a critical path because of the one day float.
c) A 2 day delay during activity M would not affect the duration of the project. ES≠LS and EF≠LF. ES-LS and EF-LF=2, which means the activity has a float of 2 days which means the project can be delayed by this duration without affecting the schedule of completion …show more content…
time.
2.7 Importance of network diagrams
These are important because they are used to visualise schedule of all activities from which a project manager can then decide when a project can be completed at the earliest. Using a project network diagram helps calculate durations of various activities which then determine the how the whole project would be completed. Accurate visualisation helps one to see which programmes cab be run concurrently, hence reducing project duration. Having a bigger picture of the whole project can help in assigning resources, forecasting and timing when certain activities must be completed to achieve a desired overall project (Luckey & Phillips, 2011).
3.0 Task 2: Skills and competencies of project management
Project management is one of the undertakings that any organisation would have to undergo at of point of its existence as long as it would entail achievement of certain specified goals.
However, depending in the goal to be achieved, it is also one of the most challenging but which need to be managed effectively if it is to succeed. The reason why projects become imperative in any organisation is because an organisation has basic roles such as maintaining profitability and customer relationships which must be maintained while at the same time, they have to change or undertake new frontiers to enhance the stated and other objectives. Hence, there is need to balance all these parallel tasks effectively (Grande-Bretagne,
2009).
There are several activities which need to be managed if a project is to be successfully completed while achieving the three main criteria of completing in time, completion with the required quality and using the estimated cost. Hence, quality, cost and time must all be attained in successful projects. The competencies discussed here include risk management, communication, planning, scheduling skills, team leadership, management of stakeholders, quality management principles and project control, tracking and measurement. Other skills include fast decision making, problem solving ability and negotiation skills (Neil, 2013). These can be summarised in three basic skills which are understanding the business environment, management of people and technical or administrative duties (CBC, n.d.). Coping or personal skills are also added as those that required one to be flexible, persistent, creative and ability to work under pressure (Murch, 2001). Other classification of these skills include responsibilities and authorities; functional and actions; fundamental levels of management and leadership and motivation (Turner, 1999).
3.1 Communication skills
These would require the project manager to be able to initiate a project, plan for it and guide the stakeholders in understanding why it is necessary and what it would accomplish after is completed. This is part of communication but understanding the needs of an organisation and business environment is one of the hallmarks of project manager. In this case, a project manager would identify what, why and when a goal is needed to be accomplished by an organisation. Communication is a core role in project management because it entails articulately linking or coordinating all stakeholders so that they all work collaboratively to achieve designated goals. Support from the stakeholders, who might include the community, customers, shareholders or the government is needed because they are the ones that determine if they are to support it or not. In this project, the PM is supposed to coordinate the suppliers of all equipment, the fitters on the time and how long they are expected to take in their respective tasks.
Communication is wide and can include the various elements such as active and effective listening, preparing the message, determining the recipients and how the message is to reach the recipients effectively. According to Kliem (2008), communication should serve both interests of the project manager at the project and also the stakeholders. As such, there is need to understand that to the latter, information is superior and preferred rather than data that may be voluminous, confusing and empty. The communication style chosen should consider the culture, medium, beliefs and values of recipients. Communication style should be flexible to accommodate change of these elements (Rick A. Morris, 2008). Another significant element is that is reporting, where the project manager agrees what to reported and how often it is to be done. Frequent reporting is necessary, which means it is a never ending process from the day a project is conceived.
To be effective in communication, there has to be a communication plan and often, there is a person to whom this is delegated to. In communication plan, the elements include the how, what, where, how and to whom the message is to be targeted. Among the tools of communication include knowledge area, process groups, the industry type and size, reports and forms to be used and managing or reporting tools. According to Dow and Taylor (Dow & Taylor, 2010), most projects fail because of poor or lack of grasp of these tools. Campbell (2010) also noted that there is correlation between ability of project manager in effectively communicating and success of a project. Ability to communicate effectively helps the manager to grasp issues that need to be done, who is to do them and guiding them to achieve desired goals.
3.2 Management skills
Management requires the project manager to recruit able and experienced people that would accomplish certain tasks successfully. At the core of management, like any other task, there are the basic attributes of planning, organising, implementing and monitoring and control. These are actions that any manager is required and in recruiting, a manager identifies who is to do what and when. As a project manager in Smalling Company, the required staff, i.e. the General Manager, Assistant Managers, Administration staff and sales staff should be elected from the lot of qualified and experienced people proven to deliver as per the goals of the organisation. Planning is a classic function of any project management activity where the project manager decides what is to be achieved and by whom depending on where the project is at the moment (Richman, 2011). It is an important function that ensure the stakeholders receive what was planned for, which means a project manager has to have a final picture of the final product basing on the current scenario.
Planning also involves the aspects of cost, schedule, scope and quality (Heldman, 2011). There are many meetings, schedules, resources and stakeholders that need to be attended to in the course of project management and all these need planning. Project plan is the first tool that comes determines what a project would look and as a pilot tool, there is need for it to be articulate and adeptly crafted. Although it is complete in itself, it is often updated as the project progresses as there are contingencies that cannot be foreseen at the initial stage of the project (Parker, et al., 2008). Often, a project manager needs to come up with a hierarchical plan where at the top, there is least detailed activities while at the lower level, they are more detailed.
Monitoring and controlling are also components of management where a project is tracked to ensure all the parts fit and are done as per the plan. These functions lead to realisation8 of the desired quality of a project using the planned cost. The functions need to be done periodically as the project progresses so that at the end of the day, in case something goes wrong, corrective action can be initiated at the earliest stage. In effective controlling, current progress is checked with the document so that the quality cost and time are as per the plan in the project plan document. Current and forecast variance are also computed and all possible alternatives brainstormed early in advance so that is there is direction at the time when change is needed. This is where the plan is updated and is common in most if not all projects, especially those that are big (Richman, 2006). Sometimes, monitoring and controlling are classified under performance management where there are set targets, key performance indicators and a certain fashion of reporting and evaluation is agreed and executed throughout the organisation.
Directing involved literally ordering something to be done by the subjects and this is what is done in this case. Directing has to bed under recruitment and guiding what the team member are to achieve. It is also a function of delegation where a leader chooses the right personnel to undertake certain functions.
3.3 Technical skills
This is a combination of several skills that ease the process of executing several functions of a project. Although some project manager prefer to delegate these to junior staff that are technocrats such as programme and network, it is essential that a project manager acquainted with process of handling these technical aspects. Thus, a project manager is expected to complete these tasks using computer where use of various software and hardware tools is expected. When a project manager is not informed in these technical details, it is imperative that a person to whom these duties are delegated to be able to perform and deliver the required quality. However, even quality is not delivered, a project manager that does not have these skills would not know if the job was well done or not. Whether the project manager knows this or not, the ultimate responsibility rests with the holder of the office and not people to whom duties were delegated (Murch, 2001).
It is accepted that some of the technical skills might not be possessed by the project manager and as such, the person is supposed to have a technical skills group which includes IT experts. These are people that use project management software, assign resources with it an generate various reports when they are needed (Cagle, 2005).
3.4 Personal/coping skills
These are more of personal traits that are needed to help in successful project management. This is because a project is complicated set of activities that need to be coordinated harmoniously such that the final goal is delivered as planned. It can be stressful and quite enervating. Personal or coping skills such ability to organise, withstand intense pressure and work beyond normal schedule is needed. Besides being a group of people working to achieve a common goal, it must be stated that a person that has interpersonal skills that unites and links these people is needed. A project manager must be able to relate with all subjects well (Levin, 2010).
The person also ought to be proactive where issues and plans are prepared before they happen. In so doing, the element of risk management comes to play. This is the function that is delegated to a person in a team whose job is to monitor progress of a project and identify all possible risks that may affect its successful delivery. According to Royer (2002), there are five steps that need to be followed in typical risk management process. There has to be a person to whom opportunities are assigned, identification of all risks and opportunities, distribution of opportunity and assessment and a decision on the steps to be followed. The main reason for the steps is assigning of responsibility to all people involved in execution of several tasks while exploring possible opportunities and risks. It should be noted that this is done not at the end or beginning of the project but alongside the process of project delivery. Risks start from the top to the bottom of the project. An example is where stakeholders especially the management fail to support the project hence denying its funding and kick-off stage. In proactive risk management, the project manager is to explore all possible reasons why that could happen and resolve it before presenting the project document to the stakeholders.
3.5 Leadership and motivation
A project management is a group of people that are united by a common function of delivering a designated goal. A project manager is the person that uses assigned resources to achieve that goal. This is the person that also needs one to double as leader where all workers are led, motivated and guided to follow this strategic goal. A project manager must be fluent and artful enough it motivating a team that is to achieve various tasks. According to Morris and Pinto (2010, p. 6), “leadership determines the effectiveness of the project planning process and it also impacts effectiveness of the management team”. Theories of motivation should also be used by the project manager and be applied so that they workers are “stimulated’ to achieve certain goals from tasks.
4.0 Conclusion
Project management is sometimes noted as an important characteristic of successful organisations. It should be because a project may be a strategy that a businesses needed to accomplish to achieve certain goals at a certain point in future. Thus, it is a function that cannot be avoided but which must be handled as sometimes, it may determine success or failure of an organisation. Successful project management requires a set of learned or innate skills such as in coping and personal skills where a person needs to be strong-willed and committed to accomplish tasks because the goal, depending on how complex it is, cannot be cheap.
References
Cagle, R. B., 2005. Your Successful Project Management Career. New York: AMACOM.
Campbell, C. A., 2010. The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project With a. New York: Joghn Wiley & Sons.
CBC, n.d. Project Management Competencies. [Online]
Available at: http://www.d2i.ca/files/Project_Management_Competencies.pdf
[Accessed 28 December 2013].
Dow, W. & Taylor, B., 2010. Project Management Communications Bible. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Grande-Bretagne, 2009. Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. Norwich: The Stationery Office.
Heldman, K., 2011. PMP Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Kliem, R. L., 2008. Effective Communications for Project Management. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Lester, A., 2007. Project Management, Planning and Control: Managing Engineering, Construction. 5th ed. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Levin, G., 2010. Interpersonal Skills for Portfolio, Program, and Project Managers. Vienna: Management Concepts Press.
Luckey, T. & Phillips, J., 2011. Software Project Management For Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Morris, P. & Pinto, J. K. eds., 2010. The Wiley Guide to Project Organization and Project Management Competencies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Murch, R., 2001. Project Management: Best Practices for IT Professionals. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Professional.
Neil, W., 2013. Core Competencies of a Project Manager. [Online]
Available at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Core-Competencies-Project-Manager-89398.S.93636213
[Accessed 28 December 2013].
Parker, D., Craig, M. & Craig, M. A., 2008. Managing Projects, Managing People. Sydney: Macmillan.
Richman, L., 2006. Improving Your Project Management Skills. New York: AMACOM.
Richman, L., 2011. Improving Your Project Management Skills. 2nd ed. New York: AMACOM.
Rick A. Morris, B. M. S., 2008. Project Management That Works: Real-World Advice on Communicating, Problem Works. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Royer, P. S., 2002. Project Risk Management: A Proactive Approach. Vienna: Management Concepts Press.
Turner, J. R., 1999. The Handbook of Project Based Management: Improving the Processes for Achieving Strategic Objectives. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.