Ability To Identify And Resolve Problems

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

ABSTRACT 3

INTRODUCTION 4

ATTRIBUTES OF A SUCCESFUL PROJECT MANAGER 5

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSESS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGER 7

DEVELOPING AND IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT SKILLS 9

CONCLUSION 10

REFERENCES 11

ABSTRACT

What makes a successful project different from others? Is it the commercial value of the project, or is it the satisfaction of the people involved in it, or is it the respect to time and cost constraints? A general understanding leads us to the conclusion that there are a whole lot of factors which influence project success; further a crucial one among them is the project manager and his influence in delivering a successful project. What makes a project manager successful? The answer lies in the skill set that he possesses, which is the most significant aspect of his personality that can be used for influencing a project’s result. We see in this paper that has been compiled using studies conducted by various researchers, the different types of skill that are needed to make an able project manager are his planning and organizing ability, supervision, communication, leadership, technical know-how of work related items, physical robustness among others like flexibility, creativity, analytical ability, patience and perseverance.

INTRODUCTION

Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technolo -gist continue to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future

For about three years as a project manager, I failed to listen to my team members and came across as arrogant. The one thing I learned from experience is that right action gets right results and wrong action gets wrong results. This kept driving me compulsively to consider what attributes I needed to possess if I ever was going to be an outstanding project manager.

Project management, as a profession, has changed through the years and has produced many good project managers who have risen to higher levels, consulted world-wide, and often started their own organizations due to their broader understanding of business principles. Within the project management profession, a manager quickly becomes well-known in a very short period of time; clients identify those project managers who are good and those who cannot perform well.

Attributes of a Successful Project Manager

In this segment, we’ll discuss the need for the project manager to have:

General knowledge of project management

Understanding of technology and some technical background

Ability to work successfully as a problem resolution professional

Make timely and critical decisions

Effectively select and manage a team of skilled IT resources

Have a professional approach when dealing with management, the team, and the customer

These are just a few more of the key areas of expertise that the project manager needs to possess.

Knowledge of Project Management

The first step for a newcomer to become qualified in project management is to complete a program of education. Meeting with others who are learning about project management is helpful, but it takes time. Alternatively, a prospective project manager can gather the information on his or her own. Those new to the profession don’t always need degree programs or pay large sums of money just to learn project management. Many of the world’s leading project managers learned their skills and techniques from experience and on-the-job training. That’s where the best secrets lie, and that’s why I thought sharing my experiences with project management would be helpful.

Technical Authority

The majority of organizations that employ project managers insist that the project managers be able to take technical decisions and that they possess the necessary technical skill sets to be on a similar level as the technical staff.

Project managers who are not well versed on the technical level find themselves (1) isolated, (2) lacking in credibility, (3) not consulted technically on major development issues, (4) not taken seriously, and (5) possibly even provided with false information. Project managers who understand the technology and can use it practically can apply such knowledge with outstanding results.

I always encourage project managers to make technical decisions if and when an opportunity arises, or to be involved in any way possible, by playing the role of facilitator or negotiator with the staff.

Ability to Identify and Resolve Problems

Problems will arise on any project, no matter how much planning and efforts have been made to avoid them. Recovering from any such problem means that the earlier the project manager can address the problems, the better. Identifying problems may require the project manager to review tasks with resources in order to find the real causes of these problems. If the causes are not within the manager’s own control or authority, then he or she must go to the project sponsor and seek advice there.

Ability to Make Decisions

An important attribute of any project manager is the ability to make decisions on a project. In meetings, project managers are often challenged to make decisions that are crucial in moving the project forward. If the project manager cannot effectively make decisions, the project surely fail.

Ability to Select and Manage a Project Team

It is important that the project manager be able to draw up a preliminary list of people who will be needed on the project. Key factors or selection criteria that should be kept in mind when selecting team members are:

Candidates have the skills and expertise for the project

Candidates are available to remain for the full duration required on the project

Candidates are team players

Candidates are results-orientated and can set goals

Candidates are optimistic about the project and outcome

Candidates are trustworthy

Candidates are able to work on multiple tasks in isolation

Having a Professional Approach

Project managers should want to be considered as professionals. The status affects the quality of life for all people on the project, organization, and even in society.. The following is a code of ethics that project managers should use to help maintain their professionalism:

As project manager, I will strive to maintain high professional standards in the preparation and delivery of my projects, and I will be held accountable for the success or failure of those projects.

Regarding the actual work aspect of my project, I will strive to provide the leadership, trust, tools, and support to ensure all projects are completed on time, within cost, specification, and to my clients’ requirements.

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Successful Project Manager

Strengths of Project Managers

The project manager role is one which requires a good variety of skills. This means that it is a great type of job if you want to learn new things and practice skills which you might not get to try out in other positions.

Clearly some of the strengths you need are more important than others, and here are the top 5.

1. Ability to See the Big Picture

If there is one person in the team who needs to see the big picture at all times it is the project manager. Others can get caught up in the fine details but you always need to know what the end objective is. The fact that you are involved from the start and get to see all of the high level documentation means that this should actually be easier than it might sound

2. Lots of Enthusiasm

An enthusiastic project manager can make sure that the team members enjoy their days at work and get more done as well. I guess that you might fall into one of two camps; a naturally enthusiastic person or one who needs to find a way of getting into this frame of mind.

3. Clear Thinking

It is easy to get muddled in a long or especially complex project. This is nothing to be ashamed of but I think it is how we react to this situation which most matters. As the project leader you need to be sure that you can clear your mind of all confusion and show the way forward to the rest of your team.

4. Patience

This might seem like a bit of a strange strength to mention at first glance. However, a lot of projects are long, drawn out affairs and you won’t want to lose your patience while you are part of the way through it. If you are an impatient sort of a person then splitting the piece of work into different sub-projects might help you stay focused and under control while you is ticking off one milestone after another.

5. Leadership

The most important person in the project is the person leading it but they can’t do everything on their own no matter how hard they try. Your team will play a huge part in the success of the work so you need to be sure that they are fully focused and ready to get stuck in. The leadership skills you will need are hard to define as what you need to do will vary from one project to another.

Weaknesses of Project Managers

A weak project manager will be unable to deal with the pressures of a job that may require making difficult choices.

1. Unclear Objectives and Goals

Although it is important for a project manager to have sharp instincts to foresee problems and make snap judgments, relying too much on instinct and not having a formal agenda or a clear, written statement of objectives can be detrimental to the success of the project.

2. Ignoring Risks and Threats

A weak project manager will ignore risks and threats to the success of the project and take too many chances. A weak manager will underestimate or undermine risks and proceed with the project without deliberation..

3. Undermining Individuals and Teams

A project manager does not complete the project, he manages it. The project is completed by individuals who may or may not be working at the same place or even at the same time. It is important for the success of a project that managers have confidence and inspire confidence in his team

4. Ignoring Opportunities

A weak project manager will be unable to visualize, see or grab opportunities when they present themselves, instead taking the cautious approach to project management.

Developing and Improving Project Management Skills

Inaccurate and incomplete assessment of a candidate of his leadership skills, attitude and knowledge of managerial skills lead to downgrading of project results considerably. Hence there is a need for the proper implication and application of attributes that the project manager possesses.

We now discuss a few strategies that could be used to increase the effectiveness of the managerial and administration skills of a manager.

Increasing pre-appointment training – Project managers get into the managerial position after an experience which is more or less solely based on a technical experience for example in engineering. Managerial skills which are prerequisites for the project manager job may not be present. Often training is received in a do-or-die situation on the job. Proper training if at all, may not be present. Hence training before being elevated to the position is beneficial if not necessary to develop such managerial skills.

Establishing a mentor system – Appointing a role model might be a good way to develop managerial skills required for a project manager. Project management experience that the mentor possesses could be utilized by the new appointee. Time should be spent between the two such that managerial attributes are cultivated. Developing plans for career development should be done such that there is a broad-spectrum development of his or her managerial skills as project know-how and experience is gained.

Careful selection of potential project managers – Identifying potential project managers is an essential part of organizational techniques. Successful engineering and construction skills are opposite to successful project management skills. We see that technical skills that are exhibited by an engineer help him being promoted to a managerial level, and he sticks to the technical side of things and essential managerial skills are not present which leads to hampering of project success.

A strategy to overcome this kind of a problem is to instill a policy that allows early detection of project managers, and develop them such that they have a ready batch of future managers at hand.

Early identification of career path requirements – Linked to the previous point, companies should identify dual career paths for both technical and managerial workers such that each worker excels in his own field of expertise. For the technical path, the company should adopt a proportionate performance enticement such that it is attractive and the workers stay to their field of interest.

Determining key management skills to develop – Training all people in all characteristics of management is not appropriate or even necessary. Managers could have specific areas to develop such as their human interaction skills, leadership skills or administration skills depending on the requirement of the trainee. Finally, a project manager’s training and progress should be focused on development of managerial competencies and not just related to technical and management skills.

CONCLUSION

Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago. The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups’ work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project man- agers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news: canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique!

This paper has analyzed a series of articles and books which have dealt on the topic of the requirements of a manager to be successful in attaining project success. The general understanding is that managers need to perform their work without any difficulty and provide results as required, but realization of the on-job scenario shows that a proper manager needs to carry an extensive skill set to perform his job properly. We have also seen how there is a link between types of skills that are needed for various phases of a project as well as different types of projects. A lot of experts agree on the core capabilities that a manager should have in order to be an effective manager, while some have put forward different views on the same topic with varying importance on such points. We have also dealt on how skills of a project manager could be better harnessed in order to improve the chances of having a better project outcome.