Project management as a collection of qualities and characteristics

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Project management as a collection of qualities and characteristics

Project management has a progressively increasing significance for the contemporary organization. The project manager is indisputably a critical factor for the effective execution of every project and for this reason from decades on the academic researchers are trying to identify the qualities, characteristics and competencies, which he should possess. As a result, there are a great number of investigations and publications, devoted to his obligations, responsibilities, knowledge, skills and abilities. The goal of the paper is, on the basis of extensive theoretical research, to synthesize the qualities and characteristics of the contemporary project manager.

Professional qualities of the project manager. Throughout many years the critical path method (СРМ) and the «probability» techniques connected with it had been perceived as the essence of the project management - for this reason the project manager was expected to possess mainly competencies in the field of planning and control, leading to reduction of the time for project execution. Subsequently, it became clear that the project managers should lead and control projects often in the conditions of matrix structure, giving them very limited formal authority over the managed teams. This directed the attention towards the interpersonal skills, including aspects such as leadership, conflict management, motivation, team building, etc. [8, 134]. It established the concept of projects as «behavioral» rather than as «technical» systems [3, 21].

Today still quite often the project manager is chosen on the basis of his high qualification in some narrow technical area. But actually he is expected to possess skills for managing a quite complex activity, requiring integration of the technical, economical, organizational, informational, psychological and many other elements of the project. Above all project management includes two aspects, which need completely different skills and competencies. The technical aspect covers activities, connected with project planning, resource allocation, work organization, cost management, control, risk management, etc. The so called «hard» skills are needed for the successful execution of these activities. The socio-cultural aspect covers activities, connected with motivation of team, management of relations and conflicts, coping with crisis situations, etc. Their execution needs the so called «soft» skills. It is a fact that the project management's technical side is much more «visible» and since it is based on logic and common sense, it is relatively easier amenable to management. In this context the management of technical aspects is considered as a science, and the management of social-cultural aspects - as inclining to an art (since they include much more contradictions and ambiguities). Probably for this reason the managers tend to devote much more attention and time to improve their skills in the field of planning and control.

Technical skills. The project manager must be a specialist in the concrete project area or at least be clear about the appropriate terminology, as well as the basic project contents and all technologies used. In all cases he should know his work and understand the activities, done by the subordinates. At the same time it is not obligatory to be the best expert in the field, especially if he could rely on advisers.

Project management skills. The project presents a collection of many varied activities - not only and not always highly specialized. For this reason the manager can not afford himself to be highly specialized, nor yet to engage only with these activities, which lie in his narrow professional field. He is responsible for the whole project and therefore it is expected and required from him to be oriented towards attaining the result from the whole, and not towards the execution of separate tasks. Project manager should master specific techniques and methodologies in different functional areas. Here is included also his ability to determine the project's goal and purpose, and to effectively use all the resources available [7, 18].

The American Institute for Project Management has developed a global standard, which identifies 36 skills, allocated in the nine basic project management's functional areas - project integration management, project scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communications management, risk management and procurement management [10].

Conceptual and analytical skills. Project manager should possess the ability to make sense of the whole, simultaneously concentrating on the details [5, 5]. This quality is at the root of planning, developing schedules and setting priorities. The broad rationalization and comprehensive understanding of the complex project environment increase the effectiveness of the decision making and problem solving. It is namely the base for estimation of the potential risks, before their turning into serious problems, as well as the quick reaction toward them.

Project manager should realize the connections and mutual dependences between the great number of project elements and to understand the influence of changes in one of them on the other components [11, 32]. Not only he should sweep the complex, but should be able to make it simple - to catch the essence of a complex question or a problem and to present it in a simplified way. Analytical skills are the ground for taking reasoned and timely decisions through information gathering, analysis, choice and realization of the decisions.

Administrative management skills. Successful project managers possess the so called «hard» skills and are able to provide effective guidance during the basic management function - planning, organizing, leading and control. The manager is expected to know how to develop the project work plan and schedule, to coordinate the varied activities, to conclude agreements, to coordinate the spending of the available resources, to control the execution of work, to keep the project documentation, etc. [1, 15]. He must be able to closely follow the project activities and to timely identify the potential problems, threatening the project execution. In the human resource area he must be able to define the necessary roles, to find people with appropriate qualification for them, to provide them with the resources for doing the work, to help them understand the project goal, their own role (responsibility and obligations), as well as the others' roles.

Delegation skills. The inability for delegating tasks and authorities is a basic barrier before the project success. The inexperienced project managers have often difficulties with the transition to their new role and responsibilities. Obviously management seems a more difficult task than execution and they forget one basic rule: the team members are expected to do the real work, and the manager - to take responsibility the work to be done through them. This means that the project manager should be able to choose the right participants, whom to delegate tasks and the necessary resources and authorities for their execution. The unsuccessful delegation is always exceptionally harmful for the project, as doing the «somebody else's» work is the smaller evil. The more serious problem stems from the fact that the project manager is loosing his time, instead of managing and leading the team. This creates a vacuum in the general coordination of the project activities, which begins to disappear because of missing attention on behalf of the manager. He is expected to free as much as possible of his time, so to be able to pay attention to the needs of his people and the project itself. Besides everything else, the delegation is an act of respect and confidence in the subordinates' skills and abilities. It gives them the opportunity to develop professionally, by taking management tasks.

Leadership skills. In most cases the project management problems are of behavioral nature. Therefore the project manager could not be a technician, interested only in budgets and schedules - he is expected to possess the so called «soft» or interpersonal skills [9, 47]. He must understand the dynamics of human behavior and its influence upon the interrelations, perceptions and productivity. His better understanding of people, combined with effective communication definitely gives him a better opportunity to influence and motivate the team. The interpersonal skills include maintaining good relationships, communications, handling conflicts and finding compromises, negotiation, influence, support, persuasion, motivation and encouraging the participants to give their best in the project execution.

The greatest challenge before the project manager is connected with his ability to synchronize the efforts of a group of people, which are not directly subordinated to him [4,23]. He is expected to attract, retain and motivate talented participants with the limited resources, which are in his disposition. He needs skills to create a pleasant, exciting and meaningful working environment, which stimulates inspiration, motivation and commitment to the project goals. The effective project manager leads by example, not by words - he serves as a model for imitation, educates, instills priorities and inspires commitment through actions. He is able to quickly create a united team with common values and vision, which integrate the members and orientate them in a certain direction. He encourages the effective working relations, mutual trust and creativeness and is able to maintain the project team concentrated on the goal. Besides this he is able to bear responsibility for the work of the individual participants and to receive a feeling of accomplishment from it.

Personal characteristics of the project manager. Personal peculiarities are difficult to change and respectively could hardly be acquired in training programs. At the same time they have a great impact on the project manager's effectiveness and hence - on the success of the project and team.

Decisiveness and orientation towards action and results. The indecisiveness, anxiety and delay trouble the project execution, slow up the activity, damage the work moral and create ineffectiveness. For this reason there are needed skills for a quick goal setting and activity planning, for concentration upon the effective actions, problem solving and goal attainment [6, 35].

Tolerance towards ambiguity, readiness and ability to change. The project manager must be able to manage unstructured environment, characterized by many ambiguities and constant changes, and to turn the chaos into order. The project is a quite specific activity, always connected with some kind of change. Probably the manager will have to try things, which have not been done before. For this reason it is very important for him to have a readiness for change, to be able to manage it and to quickly adapt to the changing context. A conservative person, used to stick to established rules, could not be an effective project manager.

Stress and tension hardiness. The limited time, typical of projects, creates a great tension. Of course, it is perceived in a different way at the beginning and near to the end of the project. The oncoming of the deadline is a natural reason for tension, especially if a delay is already registered. This tension requires the manager to have self-control and be able to take decisions in such a situation. The absences because of illness and bad state of health trammel the work of all participants [2, 74]. Therefore hardiness to intensive loading and stress is necessary.

Stability, flexibility, adaptability. It is necessary stability with respect to the direction, flexibility in satisfaction of contradictory requirements toward the product and costs, adaptability to changing technologies, market forces, etc.

Of course, it is possible to point out many other requirements with respect to the personal qualities, such as honesty, reliability, working capacity, high level of intellect and education, good self-knowledge, ambition for self-elaboration, responsibility, activity, impressive appearance, common sense, initiative, strong self-confidence, etc.

As a conclusion it is important to emphasize that project management is a specific activity that needs specific knowledge, skills and competencies. Of course, it is impossible to find a person possessing all the qualities and characteristics presented above, but the good news is that not all of them are equally important for every project manager - their significance definitely depends on the concrete situation and most of all on the type of the executed project.

Bibliography

1. Andronov Е., М. Aleksandrova, L. Ivanova. Project Management in Bulgaria: State and Perspectives. «Avangard Prima», Sofia.

2. Andronov Е., М. Harizanova, М. Aleksandrova, etc. Project Management. «Stopanstvo», Sofia, 2007.

3. Belout A. Effects of human resource management on project effectiveness and success: Toward a new conceptual framework. International Journal of Project Management, 16 (1), 1998.

4. El-Sabaa S. The Skills and Career Path of an Effective Project Manager. International Journal of Project Management, 19, 2001.

5. Friess P. Modern Organizational Project Management: PM Competence for Individuals from a Systemic Point of View. Vienna, Austria, 1999.

6. Gillard S., J. Price. The Competencies of Effective Project managers: A Conceptual Analysis. International Journal of Management, 22, 2005.

7. Globerson S., O. Zwikael. The Impact of the Project Manager on Project Management Planning Processes. Project Management Journal, 33, 2002.

8. Kapur G. Project management for information, technology, business, and certification. Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

9. Lee, D., P. Sweeney, G. Shaughnessy. Developing Commitment and a Positive Team Environment. Philadelphia, USA, 1999.

10. Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2004.

11. Tomas P., J. Pinto. Project Leadership: A Question of Timing. Project Management Journal, 30, 1999.

Размещено на Allbest.ru