My Project Management Approach

Presented by: Loren Karl Schwappach

Colorado Technical University

PM600-1103A-02-P2-T2 : Project Management Processes in Organizations

For: Professor David Bowers

1

Good day everyone. Today I am back with another presentation on project management, the benefits, organizational structures and impacts, and my unique qualifications.

Today we will cover the following topics:

Benefits of Project Management

Project Management Within Various Types of Organizations

My Approach to Project Management

2

To begin, this today’s presentation I would like to talk to everyone here once again about the benefits effective project management can bring to organization. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

When project management is conducted efficient and effectively organizations such as HLR, Inc. can expect: an alignment of organizational resources, measurable results and benchmarks, increased organizational awareness and learning, and compliance with regulatory requirements. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

An alignment of company resources occurs when organizational priorities are aligned with project goals and is brought about when senior managers and leadership are provided with up-to-date status information on the project and metrics. This enables leadership and management to align projects with ever changing business priorities. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Measurable results and benchmarks for improving future planning and allocation of resources also occurs by effective project management and allows for rapid estimates of project requirements and applicable stages with increased accuracy. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Projects using sound project management techniques and a creative project manager further gain from organizational learning brought about through better documentation, reflection opportunities, and increased learning and awareness through project reviews. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Compliance with regulatory requirements is possible with consistent use of standardized project management practices such as the practices and tools offered by a project manager proficient in the use of the PMBOK guide. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

There are also benefits to time and money brought about through efficient project management techniques these include: creating a competitive advantage, reduced duplication of work, better cost management, and reduced expenses. In effect saving time and money while increasing quality and productivity. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Reduced duplication of work is possible when redundancies between project deliverables are eliminated, communication is increased, and learning curves are reduced when a skilled project manager is leading the project. This leads to better cost management and cost/risk predictions and results in reduced corporate expenses which can save millions. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

3

To continue the discussion on the benefits of project management. It has been repeatedly proven that there are other clear–cut benefits when applying project management techniques to a companies overall business strategy.

Efficient project management can create the capability for an organization to supply products and services with reduced delivery costs through the use of well thought-out project management methodology by preventing excessive costs without thorough consideration. (Egeland, 2010, para. 4)

Effective project management typically allows businesses to deliver products or services more efficiently to the market than competitors due to the continuous process monitoring and resource efficiency it creates. (Egeland, 2010, para. 5)

Enhanced project management provides a focus advantage streamlining products or services to the clients needs provided through the constant information updates. (Egeland, 2010, para. 6)

Equitable project management allows for increased production of quality deliverables by including structured testing phases and quality control measures. (Egeland, 2010, para. 7)

Enthusiastic project management gains the advantage of incorporating customer participation and communication and allows for businesses to better accommodate and understand customer requirements. (Egeland, 2010, para. 8)

Energetic project management allows for improved methodologies and increased capability in predicting future project needs and concerns. (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 4) It also allows for improved risk management and enables managers to make more informed decisions and cost predictions. (Mulcahy, 2002, pg. 3, para. 4)

Enlightened project management allows for early problem identification (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 4)

Finally, project management is a promoter of teamwork and increased communication across departments in an organization.

With all of these benefits it is hard to imagine why anyone would ever choose not to practice project management techniques and assign the best manager possible.

4

In order for a project manager to be successful there are many aspects of the organization that must be considered. These aspects include the organizational culture, management style and techniques, process maturity involved, and the organizations structure towards aligning corporate goals with project goals. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Corporate culture can have devastating effects on the success or failure of a project. This practices around staffing, rewards and recognition programs, leadership and employee skill development, attitude, work and life balance, and underling values and code of conducts. In order for a project to succeed all stakeholders (leadership, managers, project members, customers) must understand contribute towards the projects success. There must be reward and recognition programs in place to motivate and inspire management and employees, and leadership must provide the project manager with the tools and supreme authority on all project resources. The project manager must also have a good relationship with the line manager to ensure productive utilization of man power. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Management styles which effect project management success or failure involves the decision making, information sharing, team building, and governance. The project manager is assigned as the sole responsibility for a projects success and all barriers preventing that success must be eliminated if a project is to succeed. This includes management andleadership that like to micromanage projects and resources. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

The corporations project maturity is also a deciding factor in determining a projects success. Project maturity involves the attitudes towards using accepted PM practices, number and types of processes, adherence to procedures, and amount of process improvement undertaken. Corporations new to project management will have a harder time benefiting from and utilizing project management than those that are use to the practice. The project manager and project team make all the difference here.

Organizational structure also plays a huge role in a projects success. This will be discussed further on the next slide. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

A project manager has the greatest amount of organizational support when: work in the corporation is focused on projects, the organization has used and recognizes the importance of project management, the organization follows and rewards standard practices in managing projects. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

5

The three types of corporate structures that should be considered for effective utilization of project management are functional, project based, and matrix structures. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

The functional structure is the most traditional type of organizational structure. In the functional structure every employee has one defined boss. Departments are function based, such as marketing, technology, customer support, finance, engineering, information technology, and production. There is often a unique, structured hierarchy and projects are usually limited and focused inside each department. Communication between departments is often strained and cross developmental projects are extremely rare. This type of organization can be the hardest for project managers involved in cross departmental projects and involves the greatest communication and participation. This is the type of structure at HLR, Inc. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Project based organizational structures are the easiest for successful project management. These types of organizations are founded upon project management principles. Employees may have a home department but work is always project based. Employees in departments are often grouped into functional project based groups designed to provide max efficiency and communication. This type of organization is very common for software companies. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Matrix based organizations are a mix between project based and functional based. People are assigned two or more bosses and annual reviews and rewards are based upon their performance assigned these through multiple bosses. Communication and consensus are imperative in this type of organizational structure. A project managers influence is highly dependant up the authority and control given to him over corporate resources. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

Some organizational impacts on project management include: the influence the project manager has to successfully complete a project and maximize a projects utilization of corporate resources, the ability for a project manager to select and motivate the project management team, the ability for the project manager to communicate with stakeholders, department heads, customers, and team members, and the project managers decision making capability. (Colorado Technical University Online, 2010)

6

As I made mention in last weeks meeting, The PMBOK defines a project manager as “The person assigned by the performing organization to achieve the project objectives” (A Guide to, 2008, pg. 444)

Remember, the project manager is the ultimate person responsible for the successful completion of a project within specified quality performance requirements, time and schedule constraints, scope and budget constraints, and so that the end customer is satisfied. The project manager is also the leader of the project management team and is responsible for managing the efforts and performance of the team.

The PMBOK specifies that project managers should be knowledgeable about project management (a wide grasp of the areas involved in the project is also a useful aid), be consistently high performers, and have the ability to guide the project team while achieving project objectives. (A Guide to, 2008, pg. 13).

As the person responsible for the success of the project, the project manager is given sole responsibility and control of all aspects of the project including creating the project management plan and related plans, ensuring the project stays on track (within schedule and budget), identifying, monitoring, and responding to risk, and generating correct and timely reporting of metrics. (A Guide to, 2008, pg. 26)

Successful project managers utilize several useful techniques in order to deal with their often dual responsibilities and ensure project success. Some of these techniques include, understanding the role of the stakeholders while effectively communicating and influencing the stakeholders in order to maintain project support, strategic planning followed by efficient and decisive actions, managing the project rather than becoming managed by the project, and keeping their eyes focused on the finish line.

The project manager has several roles and responsibilities. Some of the project managers roles include the role of a planner, communicator, implementer, integrator, evaluator, manager, and leader.

The integrator role of a project manager includes the requirement that the project manager can integrate necessary activities needed to develop, execute, and adapt the project plan. (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 12)

The role of a good communicator is essential for any project manager and demand that the project manager maintains an interpersonal role, informational role, and decisional role.

The project managers interpersonal means that the project manager must be an honest, capable, dependable, personable and effective leader. The project manager is responsible for dealing successfully with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, developing an environment of team unity, resolving team disagreements, focusing team members towards milestones, motivating team members toward reaching goals, and constructing positive relationships with stakeholders and the project team members.

The project managers informational role requires that the project manager be able to coordinate and lead team meetings, providecritical feedback on project results, phases, problems encountered, and quality of deliverables.

The project managers informational role requires that the project manager be proficient at using his expertise to make sound judgments without alienating others through the decisions made.

Finally the white page Competencies for Project Managers (Wourms, 2002) states that project manager should also be motivators, good communicators, be able to talk the talk, understand and follow standard project management methodology, be able to coach the project team, and have an active, wide and diverse grasp of technological understanding (essential for IT project managers). (Wourms, 2002)

7

Before selection of a project manager can be made an organization needs to understand the skills involved in project management. A project manager should have the following set of skills in order to successfully bring a project to fruition. The project manager should have a project related technical background and experience in project management and be capable of successfully utilizing the PMBOK guide for practicing solid project management methodology. (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 149)

The project manager should have the talent for planning, organizing and delegating project scheduling, planning, meeting, and teaching sessions.

The project manager should have good interpersonal skills and maintain a healthy relationship with senior management and leadership.

The project manager should be well diversified and have multiple disciplined experience in areas such as marketing and engineering.

The project manager must be a leader, team builder, and motivator.

The project manager should be an excellent communicator with good listening skills and be able to talk the talk.

The project manager will perform hours of analysis and streamlining of project resources so he/she should have good systems analysis and risk management skills.

The project manager needs to be flexible and yet persistent in order to ensure the projects success.

According to the article What Makes a Good Project Manager (Bigelow, 2000), successful project managers display the following skill sets. Successful project managers have “love of their work … and embracing the challenges, clear vision … and communicating this vision, strong team building skills…and setting positive tones, structure and alignment…creating the environment and direction, strong interpersonal skills…listening to and leading their teams, discipline…completing each phase of the project properly, and communication skills…knowing when and to whom to communicate” (Bigelow, 2000, pg. 1)

8

As a project manager I can offer the following skill sets essential to HLR Inc.’s successful departmental wide project success.

Communicating with others is one of the most vital roles as project manager and requires a strong utilization of people skills. I have an excellent relationship with the leadership and management at HLR Inc. I have met with many of the departmental heads and have a good understanding of their views and responsibilities. One of the largest difficulties faced by this project is the need for interdepartmental cooperation. Luckily the CIO of HLR Inc. has provided his full and unconditional support to me for ensuring this projects success. I have setup weekly meetings with department managers to ensure max cooperation and understanding and have been provide an excellent tiger team made up of wide and diverse group from each department.

As a member of the IT department with a bachelors degree in computer engineering and a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, and years of experience managing projects while serving in the United States Air Force my technical skills are top-notch. This will provided invaluable benefits for decision making and the streamlining of resources as well as increasing my ability to communicate with the customer, stakeholders, and department heads.

My extensive time in the Air Force and at HLR Inc. have given me extensive managerial skills and an ability to control resources allocated and associated with efficiency and dependability while exercising leadership skills required to build and maintain a top-notch team.

A have the ability to handle problems before they affect performance whether originated by the customer, stakeholders, or team.

I always maintain a respectful, professional, and productive relationship with leadership, management, and project team members, and offer the motivation and energy in leading others to achieve towards their max potential.

I am able to keep projects and deliverables organized and practice excellent time management.

I can switch gears when managing multiple projects and deadlines and am able to think differently in order to resolve problems that arise.

I am also extremely creative, and have a widely diverse set of tools attributes that have led to my continual success and phenomenal performance over the years.

Finally, I have the experience necessary to guarantee my team’s and this project’s success.

9

Today We Covered:

• Benefits of Project Management

• Project Management Within Various Types of Organizations

• My Approach to Project Management

Does Anyone Have Any Questions?

10

References

Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management - A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Colorado Technical University Online. (2010). INTD670 Phase 2: Influencers and Benefits of Project Management [Multimedia presentation]. Retrieved July 19, 2011 from Colorado Technical University Online Virtual Campus, INTD670-1103A-10: https://campus.ctuonline.edu

Colorado Technical University Online. (2010). INTD670 Phase 2: Project Management and Organizational Structures [Article]. Retrieved July 19, 2011 from Colorado Technical University Online Virtual Campus, INTD670-1103A-10: https://campus.ctuonline.edu

11

Mulcahy, R. (2002). The Organizational Benefits of Project Management. RMC Project Management, Inc., Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://swqualitymentors.com/Documents/Org%20Benefits%20of%20Proj%20Mgt.pdf

Egeland, B. (2010). “Strategic Organizational Benefits of Project Management”. Project Management Tips, Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://pmtips.net/strategic-organizational-benefits-project-management/

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (4th ed.). (2008). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.

12

Wourms, B. (2002). Competencies of IT Project Managers Art, science, leadership, and managership combined . PM Solutions, Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://www.pmsolutions.com/uploads/file/Expert%20Series%20-%20Competencies%20of%20IT%20Project%20Managers.pdf

Bigelow, D. (2000). What Makes a Good Project Manager. PM Soulutions, Retrieved July 20, 2011, from http://www.pmsolutions.com/uploads/pdfs/good_pm.pdf

[Untitled image of girl drawing PM benefits, time, quality, and money]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://www.liquidplanner.com/storage/lp3/benefit-project-management-for-the-win.png

13

[Untitled illustration of two men reaching out]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://pmtips.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/business-strategy.jpg

[Untitled image of girl juggling PM goals]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://lisamdrake.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/management.jpg

[Untitled illustration of a man juggling three colored balls]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://www.platinum-cpd.com/pmforhr.html

[Untitled image of a man shouting through a cone]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://www.goalkeeper.rs/public/images/blog/3.jpg

14

[Loren Karl Schwappach, An Image of Me on Facebook]. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001172187062

[Untitled animated question mark]. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from: http://desertpeace.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/animated-question-mark.gif

15