Project management domande esame

CATEGORIES OF SKILLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

The categories of skills that should be considered in the selection of a project manager are:

• Ability to handle stress
• Leadership
• Ethics
• Sensitivity
• Credibility
• Management style

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROJECT MANAGER TOWARD THE PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS

The project manager's responsibilities to members of the project team are dictated by the finite nature of the project itself and the specialized nature of the team. Because the project is, by definition, a temporary entity and must come to an end, the PM must be concerned with the future of the people who serve on the team. If the project manager does not get involved in helping project workers with the transition back to their functional homes or to new projects, then as the project nears completion, project workers will pay more and more attention to protecting their own future careers and less to completing the project.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL MANAGERS AND PROJECT MANAGERS?

Functional managers are usually specialists in the area they manage. Being specialists, they are analytically oriented, and they know something of the details of each operation for which they are responsible.

A project manager usually starts the career as a specialist in some field. The project manager must oversee many functional areas, each with its own specialists. Therefore, what is required is an ability to put many pieces of a task together to form a coherent whole; the project manager should be more skilled at synthesis, whereas the functional manager should be more skilled at analysis.

The functional manager uses an analytic approach and the project manager uses the systems approach. The analytic method focuses on breaking the components of a system into smaller and smaller elements. The systems approach maintains that to understand a component, we must understand the system of which the component is a part.

And to understand the system, we must understand the environment of which it is a part. The functional manager is a direct, technical supervisor. The project manager is a facilitator and generalist. Both roles require specialized technical knowledge. The functional manager's knowledge must be in the technology of the process being managed. The project manager should be competent in the science of project management and have a reasonably high level of technical competence in the science of the project. In spite of the fact that the project manager is responsible for the project, the functional managers will probably make some of the fundamental and critical project decisions. The project manager is responsible for organizing, staffing, budgeting, directing, planning, and controlling the project. In other words, the project manager manages it, but the functional managers may affect the choice of the technology to be used by the project and the specific individuals who will do the work.

MOST

IMPORTANT PROJECT GOALS DURING THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE STAGES

The three most important goals are schedule, cost, and scope. During the formation stage, there's no difference in the importance placed on these three goals: the logic of this finding assumes that projects are designed to meet the client-set goals. If compromises must be made, each of the objectives is vulnerable.

In the buildup phase, schedule is more important than scope which in turn is more important than cost.

In the main program phase, schedule and cost have the same importance and both are more important than the cost.

At the phaseout stage, scope is most important than the schedule which in turn is more important than the cost.

CONTRAST CULTURE, MICROCULTURE, AND MULTICULTURE

Culture refers to the idiosyncrasies, belief systems, mannerisms, languages, and behaviors that are inherent to a specific group based on history and geographical location.

Micro-culture refers to a group of people within the culture that embraces their own

system of rules, behaviors/customs as a way to separate themselves from the mainstream (gypsies; hippies; bohemians).

Multiculturalism = embrace of more than one culture and the integration of all the customs, languages, mannerisms, and traditions but without losing each culture's uniqueness. It is the acceptance of each within one social group.

FOUR ISSUES FOR POTENTIAL CONFLICT DURING THE PROJECT FORMATION STAGE

During the project formation stage, most of the conflict is centered around the inherent confusion of setting up a project in the matrix management environment. At this stage, almost nothing about the project and its governance has been established. Four are the critical issues to be handled:

1. The technical objectives must be specified to a degree that will allow the detailed planning of the project buildup phase to be accomplished.
2. The commitment of resources to the project must be forthcoming from the senior management and functional management.
3. The priority of the project

With respect to the priorities of the other parent organization's projects must be set and communicated.

The organizational structure must be set. The type of structure chosen will have a major impact on the way in which conflicts are handled. The more standalone and independent the structure, the more authoritative the conflicts will be handled.

IDENTIFY THE TYPES OF LIKELY CONFLICTS DURING THE PROJECT BUILDUP, MAIN PROGRAM, AND PHASEOUT STAGES

This is the period during which the project moves from a general concept to a highly detailed set of plans. As the project's plans become detailed, conflicts over technical issues build and conflicts between the PM and the functional areas tend to predominate. Usually, the functional departments can claim more technical expertise than the PM, who is a generalist.

Schedules are still a major source of conflict in the main program phase of the project life cycle, though the proximate cause of schedule-related conflict is usually different.

than in the earlier stages. Project plans have been developed and approved by everyone involved, and the actual work is under way. The more complex the project, the more difficult it is to trace and estimate the impact of all the delays, and the more resources that must be consumed to get things back on schedule.

Like schedule conflicts, technical conflicts are frequent and serious during the main program stage. Also like schedule conflicts, the source of technical conflict is somewhat different than in earlier stages.

Schedule is the major source of conflict during project phase-out. If schedule slippage has occurred in the main program stage, the consequences will surely be felt in this final stage. During phase-out, projects with firm deadlines develop an environment best described as hectic. The PM, project team, and functional groups often band together to do what is necessary to complete the project on time and to specification. Cost overruns, if not outrageously high, are tolerated.

Best respects, these requirements is the principled negotiation. With principled negotiation, the focus should be on the interests of the counterparties rather than on positions: this means that knowing the other parties' interests allows the negotiator to find solutions that satisfy also the other party's interest without agreeing with their position. The people should be separated from the problem because people often tend to attack one another rather than focusing on the real problems. Objective criteria should be used to determine the quality of the outcome. Before trying to reach an agreement, options for mutual gain should be invented: the parties-in-conflict usually enter negotiation knowing the outcome they would like. As a result, they are blind to other outcomes. Nonetheless, as soon as the substantive problems are spelled out, some effort should be devoted to finding a variety of possible solutions that advance the mutual interests of the conflicting parties.

FOUR POINTS OF PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION.

The principled negotiation is a process of negotiation that aims to achieve a win-win result. The method is defined by four points:

1. Separate the people from the problem: the conflicting parties are often highly emotional and tend to attack one another rather than the problem. To minimize the likelihood that the conflict will become strictly interpersonal, the substantive problem should be carefully defined.
2. Focus on interests, not positions: when negotiation focuses on interests, the negotiator must determine the underlying concern of the other party. Knowledge of the other party's interests allows the negotiator to suggest solutions that satisfy the other party's interests without agreeing with the other's position.
3. Before trying to reach agreement, invent options for mutual gain: The parties-in-conflict usually enter negotiations knowing the outcome they would like. As a result, they are blind to other outcomes and are not

particularly creative. Nonetheless, as soon as the substantive problems are spelled out, some effort should be devoted to finding a wide variety of possible solutions that advance the mutual interests of the conflicting parties. Success at finding options that produce mutual gain positively reinforces win-win negotiations.

4. Insist on using objective criteria: rather than bargaining on positions, attention should be given to finding standards that can be used to determine the quality of an outcome.

WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF NEGOTIATION?

Negotiation is a field of knowledge and endeavour that focuses on gaining the favour of people from whom we want things. Negotiation within the firm should be directed at obtaining the best outcome for the organization, not winning.

WHAT ARE THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF CONFLICT?

1. Authority-based: when it is unclear who is responsible for what area of a project or task, conflict can occur. Territorial issues arise when decisions are made that appear to cross boundaries

of responsibility. To prevent this from happening