Project Management Social Media Research Centre †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Project Management Social Media Research Centre. Answer: Responsibilities A project manager is an individual who is tasked with the role of taking the responsibilities for the attainment of the projects objectives. Whenever an organization appoints an individual to act as the project manager it transfers the responsibilities of achieving the project to him, with the organization retaining the accountability for the outcome. For this purpose, its upon the manager to ensure his roles are clear to enable him deliver to the satisfaction of the organization. In general, some of the project managers responsibilities include planning. This simply means defining what the project is designed to accomplish, how, when and in what manner. Its the responsibility of the project manager to come up with the objectives of the project and define the required resources needed to put the project in place. The plan is the general blueprint upon which the direction and success of the project t will be determined. As the planner, he also takes responsibility to make changes in the project plan and follow up to ensure the changes are integrated effectively in the initial plan and all the project team members are tasks in line with it.(Kerzner, 1989) In addition to the planning responsibility the project manager is also tasked with the organization of the project. Here he is supposed to come up with a structure that will lead to the project operating at an optimum point i.e. maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Upon approval of his plan he is supposed to staff the project appropriately with effective coordination, control and well-designed communication channel. The key task in organization is recruiting the right people with the right skills to implements the various elements of the project.(Murphy, 1974) Furthermore, he is also the director. A project consists of various personnel with different skills and working in different components of the project its upon the manager to ensure that he leads and motivates the individuals to work towards a single objective as set in the project plan. As some of the team members may come in at different times, a link is needed to ensure their work are related to the objective thats where the project manager comes in.(Kerzner, 1989) Finally, he controls the activities under the project. Since he is the one responsible to the organization for the outcome of the project its upon him to set the standards of performance, measure the staff performance and make comparisons. In case of deviations he is supposed to take necessary measures to ensure everything goes back to track. Role of management to the project The management is responsible for selection of the project to be pursued. They are tasked with evaluating the various option and coming up with the projects which are in line with the business profit optimisation objectives (Ireland, 2006) in addition they organize the strategies for the projects, they come up with techniques of how the project will be managed, now the work of the project manager is to follow the design already established with the management team. Its also the role of the management to track the progress of the project and analyse its performance in relation to the set objectives. They also review and set new guidance where necessary. In their change of original plan, they consider the effect of the changes to the overall project and give the project manager appropriate recommendations. In addition, they allocate to the project manager the necessary resources needed for proper and timely accomplishing of the project. Together with the resources the management also natures the project manager through mentorship and training to give him adequate knowledge and skills to accomplish a project successfully.(Bjeirmi, 19996) Project management standards, methods, techniques and tools Project management is the use of a set of tools and techniques to divert the use of resources towards achievement of a specific, complicated one-time objective within the constraints set by the organization.(Carter, 2000) The management of a project is divided into four phases with each phase accorded relevant techniques Project initiation phase: here the techniques applicable include defining the initiation team, the customer association with the project, the initiation plan, procedures for managing the project as well as the management environment. The second is the project planning, here we have description of scope, feasibility and other available options. This technique help the team understand the project contents standards for measuring success and definition of project competition. Separating the project into tasks is another technique here the purpose is to break down the project into separate tasks which can be assigned to individuals to facilitate project progress. After dividing the project into tasks, we now pre-calculate the needed resource and develop a plan for the resources, the purpose here is to collect the resources and distribute them in an effective manner. Finally, the project manager will form a preliminary schedule, generate a communication line develop the standards and fina lly set a baseline plan for the project. (Payne, 1998) The third phase of the project is the execution. Under this phase, the manager will apply the techniques of implementing the baseline plan. Thats to say he will hire and train the new team members on their roles allocate them resources and monitor them for quality delivery. Thereafter he will compare the progress of the project to the baseline and act on the changes observed on the baseline project.(Payne, 1998) In the same phase, there will be maintenance of complete record of activities conducted so far. For understandably purposes he is also tasked with sharing the project progression details with the other team members and alert them of any changes in the original plan. Finally, we proceed to the closing phase, here the techniques will be project closing. Giving notification to all the relevant parties on the completion of the project finalising the documents and records to enable conducting the project review. Afterwards a post project review is conducted to generate strengths and weaknesses of the delivered project, techniques used to generate them as well as the management procedure. After all the above the project manager then make sure all contractual terms of the project were met. For purpose of mitigating the challenges of project management there are several tools which are available to help in the task. Some of the tools are manual while others are electronic its upon the manager to select the tool which best fit the available task considering his resources. One of the tools is the PERT, this involve the use of PERT charts as well as the Critical Path Method(Kerzner, 1989) Then there is the use of Gantt charts, this indicates the calendar time job allocation. It applies graphic representations to indicate start, elapsed and time of completion of any task inside the project. They are more useful in tracking status of the projects components. These tools are still evolving and will soon see development of software which can handle the tasks in a more efficient time saving manner.(Schimmoller, 2001) Areas of knowledge For a project manager to be able to carry out his responsibilities to the required standards by the organization he is required to possess certain skills.(Posner, 1987) In a wider term, he should have the management skills: due to the changes in the expectations of the project manager, they are currently expected to have more of the management skills than the traditional technical skills in project operation. One such managerial skill is the process skill. This is much of working with processes and tools. The manager should understand how to interpret the various statistical analysis and come up with the best management methodologies.(Posner, 1987) He should let the technical team carry out the actual projects and restricts his work to the general perspectives. In addition, he should also find solutions to various problems. As a project is undergoing tackling by the technical teams, it is prone to encounter problems at certain stages. The manager should be able to identify it early enough and put in place measures to mitigate it. With adequate problem solving techniques he should be able to break down a complex problem analyse it get to its root cau se using analytical thinking then get away to solve it.(Nicholas, 1989) In line with their job product managers use most of their time negotiating for support, resources and other form of equipment. Even though he needs assistance from other specialists such as lawyers in the negotiations he need the skill as well since he is expected to make the various beneficiaries not interested in the project see its benefits and hence find a ground for supporting its success.(B. N. Baker, 1974) As a good negotiator, he will be able to generate a common ground for various parties to partner for the benefit of the project. Good management skills also equal to acceptable conceptual skills. The project manager is the integrator for this he needs to see the project as whole, predict how changes in one component of the project will affect the other parts get the interrelation between the donors, developers and the final beneficiaries and with this have a clear vision of the overall goal. With complex projects the skill become more of a necessity to the project manager. (Oakland, 1989) Another wider area of knowledge he supposed to have is the interpersonal skills. This the ability to understand other peoples attitude and the general human dynamics this way the manager can work efficiently as a team leader. Leadership skills is a component of the interpersonal skill, a project manager is a team leader i.e. he achieves his objectives through people, due to this he needs to make them have a clear vision of the tasks a head and the expected results. In addition, there is the communication skills. The project managers are expected to update the organization with the progress and challenges facing the project on the other hand he is supposed to delegate duties as well as make the employees understand the project in addition to whats required of them. All this needs the communication skills for the others to understand him better. To add into the above skills efficient behavioural skills will be another advantage to the manager. Because he works with a large pool of people his attitude and conduct is necessary in motivating the other team members for this reason the behavioural skills will be well utilised. Problems facing the project manager One of the major challenges the project manager will face is lack of enough authority to handle the responsibilities allocated to him. Though this depends much on the organization structure the gap between responsibility and authority is wider in functional organizations. To compensate for this lack of adequate authority the manager needs to possess high technical skills which will enable him command respect from the other team members in addition he will have to rely on his leadership abilities and fluent communication Unrealistic objectives are another challenge the project managers face, often the organizations based their targets in their desires and what they intend to achieve without considering what the project contains. With the project manager given the responsibility of meeting the project objectives, he is set up for struggles as he tries to desperately fit the project within the set boundaries. A solution to this problem should be a well analysed customer needs and coming up with a realistic solution to the demands. From here the organization should make formal plan and hence set the project as per the achievable business needs.(Murphy, 1974) With everyone in a firm having his own personal objectives in terms of optimising his career, its upon the project manager to align these diverse objectives to realise that the project success depends on the collective efforts of all members. This way he will be able to prevent the team members from using his project resources to advance their own technical success. To achieve this the project manager needs to possess a strong interpersonal skill. Another challenge hindering the effective performance of them is the dual responsibility. The organization often expects the project managers to perform in their job responsibilities while on the other hand excelling in the project management. This situation makes it difficult for the manager to make decisions because of the perpetual conflict between his two tasks. In addition, he may have to report to two different branches of the organization.(Hugh, 1986) With both expecting success the situation becomes more complex. A solution may be trying to use his planning skill optimally to divide the time allocated to each task. References N. Baker, D. F. (1974). Project management in the public sector: success and failure patterns compared to private sector projects. National Technical Information Services. Bjeirmi, A. K. (19996). The role of project management in achieving project success. International Journal of project Management. Carter, J. A. (2000). Grant winner's toolkit: Project Management and Evaluation. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Hugh, M. P. (1986). Preconditions of success and Failure in major projects. Kinnington Oxford: templeton college, the oxford center for management studies. Ireland, D. L. (2006). Executive Management's Role in Project Management. International project management association. Kerzner, H. (1989). Project Management a system approach to plannang ,scheduling, and controlling. New York: van nostrand Reinhold. Murphy, B. B. (1974). project management in the public sector: Success and failure patterns compared to private sector. National technical Information Services. Nicholas, J. M. (1989). Successsful project management: a force-field analysis. Oakland, J. S. (1989). Total Quality Management. Oxford: Heinemann. Payne, J. a. (1998). Management basics. Adams Media Corporation. Posner, B. Z. (1987). What it takes to be a good project manager. Project Management Journal, 51-54. Schimmoller, K. B. (2001, May). The changing Face of project Management. power Engeneering, pp. 28-30.