Adapting Management Expertise

 < Day Day Up > 



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.

Budget 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.



 < Day Day Up > 



PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide
PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, Third Edition (Certification Press)
ISBN: 0071626735
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 209

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net