Adapting Management Expertise
Project management is a complex endeavor. Projects, like the previous example for Zings Sweater Company, have several knowledge areas that are unique to the discipline. Project managers typically need other
managerial
skills to be successful. Several of the skills you can learn from a book, but most skills come from experience, emulating others, and sheer talent. Let's take a quick look at some of the attributes of a successful project manager.
Communications
It's been said that project managers
spend
90 percent of their time communicating. That's understandable when you consider the meetings, the documentation of work, and the expression of ideas, requirements, and desired results that go into a project. Formal communications are mapped out in the Communication Management Plan, but the art of communicating comes from experience and practice.
Exam Watch
Communication skills are included as part of the Professional Responsibility portion of the PMP exam. We'll cover the Professional Responsibility information in Chapter 13.
Budg
et Management
All businesses have a responsibility to the monies they are allotted, have earned, and have
acquired
through donations. In project management, the work completed within a project must be measured for value and accounted for. The budget the organization has set for the project must be
guarded
. Ultimately, the success of the project should generate an increase in funds, productivity, or efficiency for the sponsoring organization.
Project Organization
Project managers must be organized. How much time has been
wasted
looking for documentation, contracts, or
permits
? How much money has been lost due to disorganization? How many projects have failed because the project manager did not keep and maintain accurate records? Organization is a methodical approach to storing and retrieving information, as it is needed. Organization does not require a spotless desk, thousands of labeled file folders, or archives of every project-
related
document. Organization requires thorough, fast, and reliable access to project data.
Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is giving and taking so that both parties can live with the outcome of the 'deal.' For example, your project may need more electrical
engineers
, while another project manager needs more business analysts. Can you and the other project manager come to agreement to offset each other's business needs? Is one resource more
valuable
than the other? Another example of negotiation: a stakeholder demands the project be completed within three months at a set budget. You know that the project, with its proposed budget, will take five months. Can you and the stakeholder come to a compromise between the project budget and the project schedule?
Team Leadership
Managing a project team is different than leading a project team. It has been said that you manage things, but lead people. In project management, you must create a relationship between the project team
members
and yourself to excite, motivate, and
inspire
the workers to move toward the strategy and vision of the project
deliverable
. Management requires that you organize, document, and enforce the project plan so that the work progresses to completion. The
marriage
of leadership and management is necessary for truly successful project management.
