Chapter 3: The Role of the Project Manager

Roles of Project Manager in correlation to roles of an orchestrator

-Membership and roles -Responsibility for team -knowledge and skills

The project manager, in the context of across disciplines, may take on the responsibility of:

-an informal ambassador by educating the organization as to the advantages of project management with regard to timeliness, quality, innovation, and resource management

personality characteristics or traits include:

-authentic -courteous -creative -cultural -emotional -intellectual -managerial -political -service oriented -social -systematic

Qualities and skills of a leader:

-being a visionary -being optimistic and positive -being collaborative -managing relationships and conflict -communicating -being respectful, courteous, friendly, kind, honest, trustworthy, loyal, and ethical -exhibiting integrity and being culturally sensitive, courageous, a problem solver, and decisive -giving credit to others where due -being a life-long learner who is results- and action-oriented -focusing on the important things -having a holistic and systematic view of the project, taking into account internal and external factors equally -being able to apply critical thinking and identify him or herself as a change agent -being able to build effective teams, be service-oriented, and have fun and share humor effectively with team members

Complexity as a characteristic or property of a project is typically defined as:

-containing multiple parts -possessing a number of connections between the parts -exhibiting dynamic interactions between the parts -exhibiting behavior produced as a result of those interactions that cannot be explained as the simple sum of the parts (emergent behavior)

In regards to strategic and business management skills, the project manager should determine how these business and strategic factors could affect the project while understanding the interrelationship between the project and the organization. These factors include:

-risks and issues -financial implications -cost versus benefits analysis, including the various options considered -business value -benefits realization expectations and strategies -scope, budge, schedule, and quality

In regards to strategic and business management skills, the project manager should apply the following knowledge and information about the organization to the project to ensure alignment:

-strategy -mission -goals and objectives -priority -tactics -products or services (deliverables)

In regards to strategic and business management skills, the project manager should be knowledgeable enough to explain to others the following aspects of the organization:

-strategy -mission -goals and objectives -products and services -operations -the market and the market condition, such as customers, state of the market and time-to-market factors -competition

The three dimensions of complexity

-system behavior: the interdependencies of components and systems -human behavior: the interplay between diverse individuals and groups -ambiguity: uncertainty of emerging issues and lack of understanding or confusion

The PMI talent triangle focuses on 3 key skill sets:

-technical project management: the knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to specific domains of project, program, and portfolio management. The technical aspects of performing one's role -leadership: the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to guide, motivate, and direct a team, to help an organization achieve its business goals -strategic and business management: the knowledge of and expertise in the industry and organization that enhanced performance and better delivers business outcomes

The project manager's sphere of influence can include:

-the project -the organization -the industry -the professional discipline -across disciplines

A common denominator in all projects is:

People. people can be counted but they are not numbers.

Definition of Project Manager

The project manager is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives

power is often supported by:

other people's perception of the leader so it is essential for project managers to be aware of their relationships with other people

At the root of many leadership and management skills and qualities is the ability to deal with:

politics

integration can take place at three different levels:

process, cognitive, and context levels

The project manager, in the context of the professional discipline, views continuing knowledge transfer and integration as very important, and these includes:

-contribution of knowledge and expertise to others within the profession at the local, national, and global levels -participation in training, continuing education, and development: in the project management profession, in a related profession, in other professions

The project manager, in the context of the organization, also works to:

-demonstrate the value of project management -increase acceptance of project management in the organization -advance the efficacy of the PMO when one exists in the organization

In comparing leadership and management, management is:

-direct using positional power -maintain -administrate -focus on systems and structure -rely on control -focus on near term goals -ask how and when -focus on bottom line -accept status quo -do things right -focus on operational issues and problem solving

In regards to strategic and business management skills, the project manager should be knowledgeable enough about the business to be able to:

-explain to others the essential business aspects of a project -work with the project sponsor, team, and subject matter experts to develop an appropriate project delivery strategy -implement that strategy in a way that maximizes the business value of the project

In regards to technical project management skills, the top project managers consistently demonstrated several key skills including, but not limited to the ability to:

-focus on the critical technical project management elements for each project they manage. this focus is as simple as having the right artifacts readily available. at the top of the list were: critical success factors for the project, schedule, selected financial reports, issue log. -tailor both traditional and agile tools, techniques, and methods for each project -make time to plan thoroughly and prioritize diligently -manage project elements, including, but not limited to, schedule, cost, resources, and risks

In comparing leadership and management, leadership is:

-guide, influence, and collaborate using relational power -develop -innovate -focus on relationship with people -inspire trust -focus on long range vision -ask what and why -focus on the horizon -challenge status quo -do the right things -focus on vision, alignment, motivation, and inspiration

Some of the most common leadership styles include:

-laissez faire: allowing the team to make their own decisions and establish their own goals, also referred to as taking a hands off style -transactional: focus on goals, feedback, and accomplishment to determine rewards; management by exception -servant leader: demonstrates a commitment to serve and put other people first; focuses on other people's growth, learning, development, autonomy, and well being; concentrates on relationships, community, and collaboration; leadership is secondary and emerges after service -transformational: empowering followers through idealized attributes and behaviors, inspirational motivation, encouragement for innovation and creativity, and individual consideration -charismatic: able to inspire; is high energy, enthusiastic, self confident; holds strong convictions -interactional: a combination of transactional, transformational, and charismatic

In choosing a leadership style, there are major factors to consider including:

-leader characteristics (attitudes, moods, needs, values, ethics) -team member characteristics (attitudes, moods, needs, values, ethics) -organizational characteristics (its purpose, structure, and type of work performed) -environmental characteristics (social situation, economic state, and political elements)

Comparison of leadership and management

-management is more closely associated with directing another person to get from one point to another using a known set of expected behaviors -leadership involves working with others through discussion or debate in order to guide them from one point to another

Various forms of power include:

-positional: formal position granted in the organization or team -informational: control of gathering or distribution -referent: respect or admiration others hold for the individual, credibility gained -situational: gained due to unique situation such as a specific crisis -personal or charismatic: charm, attraction -relational: participates in networking, connections, and alliances -expert: skill, information possessed -reward oriented (ability to praise, monetary or other desired items) -punitive or coercive: ability to invoke discipline or negative consequences -ingratiating: application of flattery or other common ground to win favor or cooperation -pressure based: limit freedom of choice or movement for the purpose of gaining compliance to desired action -guilt based: imposition of obligation or sense of duty -persuasive: ability to provide arguments that move people to a desired course of action -avoiding: refusing to participate

The project manager, in the context of the industry, stays informed about current industry trends that may include:

-product and technology development -new and changing market niches -standards -technical support tools -economic forces that impact the immediate project -influences affecting the project management discipline -process improvement and sustainability strategies

The role of the project manager is twofold when performing integration on the project:

-project manager play a key role in working with the project sponsor to understand the strategic objectives and ensure the alignment of the project objectives and results with those of the portfolio, program, and business areas. In this way, PM contribute to the integration and execution of the strategy -project managers are responsible for guiding the team to work together to focus on what is really essential at the project level. this is achieved through the integration of processes, knowledge, and people

As conditions change, who should the Project Manager be continuously working with to keep business and project strategies aligned?

Project sponsor

It is more accurate to say project contains complexity than it is complex. T/F

TRUE

Complexity within projects is:

a result of the organization's system behavior, human behavior, and the uncertainty at work in the organization or its environment

Personality refers to

individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving

Politics involves:

influence, negotiation, autonomy, power

Definition of Strategic and business management skills

involve the ability to see the high level overview of the organization and effectively negotiate and implement decisions and actions that support strategic alignment and innovation. This business knowledge is also known as DOMAIN knowledge

Definition of Leadership Skills

leadership skills involve the ability to guide, motivate, and direct a team. these skills may include demonstrating essential capabilities such as negotiation, resilience, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.