Name the categories of skills that should be considered in the selection of a project manager. The skills to be considered are technical and administrative creditability, political sensitivity, and an ability to get others to commit to the project; otherwise known as leadership. (Meredith, Pg 129. ). Technical and administrative functions should be essential job knowledge. Political sensitivity means knowing how to adapt and communicate to everyone. Getting others to commit to the project, or leadership is setting a vision and guiding the team in the right direction.
Discuss the PM’s responsibilities toward the project team members. The PM has many responsibilities towards the team members. Whereas they are the ones completing the work, one may argue they are the most important stake holder(s). Also, because a project is temporary in nature, they may not be normal team members. They include communication, team development, motivation, setting goals, leadership, delegation; follow up, accountability, and more.
Also, many times, he or she will also have to help them return to their normal functions as they exit the project. What are the differences between functional managers and project managers? The functional manager is often specialized in one area. He or she is devoted to that particular area (marketing, operations, sales, etc. ) and specializes in its performance. They know their own particular operational sequences well, and can analyze/attack it.
A project manager usually has been a functional manager at some point, but is now more generalized as a project manager. A PM is more skilled at synthesis and uses the systems approach, whereas FM is more skilled at analysis, and uses the analytic approach. Discussion 1: Smithson Company Ms. Smatters is indeed correct in assuming she needs a separate non-functional PM. The existing functional managers seem to all be good in their own right. Very analytical, experts in their discipline, and have led the company to many years of sustained success.
Currently, however, there are obstacles ahead that not one discipline has the answer to. Loosely stated, they are all individually good players on the team, but the team itself is underperforming. A coach, or a project manager, is needed to become more of a generalist and bring the opportunistic areas to light and work on improvement. A PM is needed simply because of the downturn in company performance. A systems approach brought by a PM will be a great way to identify the areas that need development.
By investigating the cross-functional areas, he/she will identify which functional managers can work together. Although one extra position is needed, the individual expertise of the functional managers could be significant contributors to a project team. Not many other changes would even have to be made from a staffing standpoint. The PM could use existing skill sets and managers to build projects based upon competing with the web industry. The cost would be minimal (one position) and the reward could be great.
