Interpersonal skills of a Project Manager


The interpersonal skills are so important that the project result depends on it directly or sometimes indirectly. They are becoming such a hot topic, that this specific subject even has its very own appendix in the updated PMBOK Guide – Fifth Edition (starting July 31, 2013).

 So why are interpersonal skills so important to project managers? Let’s take a look at 11 aspects of interpersonal skills stressed in the PMBOK Guide – Fifth Edition, to get a better understanding of how interpersonal skills shape your projects and shape your career.

1. Leadership: When you are able to lead from a place of trust and respect, rather than from using punishments to illicit fear, your project team will be able to accomplish so much more. When you are a good leader, you have the ability to get things done through others, and use each individual’s strength to the advantage of the entire team. To be a successful leader, you can’t just create a submissive team; you need to create an inspired team that shares your vision and understands how their contributions are helping to achieve that vision.

2. Team building: You can’t put together a group of people that seem to make a good team ‘on paper’ and expect reality to align with your expectations. And, unless you are really lucky, a team will need to proactively work on team building in order to be effective. The team can do this by openly and honestly talking about their expectations in their unique team roles, deciding how they will deal with conflict should it arise, and focusing on problems in terms of possible solutions, not in terms of blaming people for the problems.

3. Motivation: How do you get a committed team who will work hard toward a project’s goal? First, you need to find out how to motivate them. This task may be more difficult than you originally think, because not everyone is motivated in the same way. One person may be money motivated, while another is better by professional achievement and growth. Get to know your team and what motivates them, and develop a strategy to improve incentives that speak to those motivations.

4. Communication: As you most likely already know, communication, or lack thereof, can make or break a project team. While a communication plan can greatly help in ensuring effective communication, there are many other interpersonal dynamics that impact effective project team communication, such as cultural and communication style differences.

5. Influencing: The skill of influence is very powerful, and can be used either destructively or productively. You, as a project manager with good intentions, have it in your greatest interest to improve your influence skills to a level where you have the power to make significant changes and improvements in your project team and organisation.

6. Decision making: How will you and your team make important project team decisions? Will you as the project manager make decisions on your own, or will you involve your team for most decisions? It’s important to take some time to think about the decision-making process that will take place in your project team, as it will affect many other areas, such as motivation and team building.

7. Political and cultural awareness: The days are gone where a project manager can live in an isolated bubble of their particular circumstance and experience and expect to be able to relate to others. In today’s global environment, successful project managers do not only recognise and accommodate cultural diversity, they capitalise on it.

8. Negotiation: Think about how many times you negotiate every day. Whether it pertains to what you watch on TV that evening (if I get to choose the restaurant, you can decide what we watch afterward) to what currency in which your newest international deal will be conducted, negotiations permeate every part of our life. The more you listen to the other party and understand their needs and wants, as well as your own, the better you will be able to find a mutually beneficial solution that is win-win for both parties.

9. Trust building: Can you imagine working on a project team where each person only has their own interests in mind, and neither trusts or likes anyone else on the team? Neither can I. Trust is the foundation of a good project team, and give the entire team the flexibility they need to accomplish tasks in the way they best know how.

10. Conflict management: When we hear the word ‘conflict’, we often think of fighting, relationship deterioration, and stress. But this negative connotation does not have to be your project team’s reality. Turning conflict into collaborative problem solving is one of the best experiences a team can have, as it addresses the validity of dissenting opinions and aims to make the situation better than it was before.

11. Coaching: A project team reaches the ultimate level of productivity when each team member feels empowered to reach their full potential. When you invest in your team in the form of training and formal or information coaching, they will in turn invest in the project and organisation with their time, skill, and expertise.

PMP Exam Questions And Answers Webinar


In this 1 hour long webinar Cornelius Fichtner, PMP answers dozens of questions about the PMP Exam. In particular he looks at:
- What topics are on the PMP exam and how many questions per topic?
- Did the PMP Exam recently change?
- Is the PMP exam based on PMBOK® Guide 4th or 5th Edition?
- What is the PMP Exam passing score
- Where can I find good PMP Exam sample questions?
- How do I know that I'm ready to take the PMP exam?
- What is the best way of studying for the PMP Exam?
- What goes on a PMP Exam "brain dump" sheet?
And many more live questions asked by the audience during the webinar.

How to Develop a Logical Framework (Logframe)

  

The Logical Framework approach enables the main elements of a program to be concisely summarized and brings structure and logic to the relationship between program purpose and intended inputs, planned activities, and expected results. If used with flexibility this approach to planning encourages creative thinking and promotes participatory engagement between all parties throughout the program life-cycle. PMEL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) Leads will better understand how to develop a logframe to serve as a useful tool in their program planning to ensure that the projects endure.

What is the Project Life Cycle ?

  

  Every project has certain phases of development.  A clear understanding of these phases allows managers and executives to maintain control of the project more efficiently.

  By definition, a project has a beginning and an end and passes through several phases of development known as life cycle phases. These phases are varied depending upon the industry involved but all follow the same basic steps.
  It is important to realize that the project life cycle for each project may differ, in both the number of phases it may have and the detail within each of these phases.

 The phases are generally sequential, and their names and numbers are determined by the management and control
needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project, the nature of the project itself, and its area of application.


 Characteristics of the Project Life Cycle
 Projects vary in size and complexity. All projects can be mapped to the following generic life cycle structure:

 -Starting the project,
 -Organizing and preparing,
 -Carrying out the project work, and
 -Closing the project.

Organizational Process Assets



  Organizational process assets are the plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. They include any artifact, practice, or knowledge from any or all of the organizations involved in the project that can be used to perform or govern the project. These process assets include formal and informal plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases, specific to and used by the performing organization. 

   The process assets also include the organization’s knowledge bases such as lessons learned and historical information. Organizational process assets may include completed schedules, risk data, and earned value data. Organizational process assets are inputs to most planning processes. Throughout the project,the project team members may update and add to the organizational process assets as necessary.

Enterprise Environmental Factors :

  Enterprise environmental factors refer to conditions, not under the control of the project team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project. Enterprise environmental factors are considered inputs to most planning processes, may enhance or constrain project management options, and may have a positive or negative influence on the outcome.

  Enterprise environmental factors vary widely in type or nature. Enterprise environmental factors include:

  -Organizational culture, structure, and governance

  -Geographic distribution of facilities and resources;

  -Government or industry standards (e.g., regulatory agency regulations, codes of conduct, product standards, quality standards, and workmanship standards);

 -infrastructure (e.g., existing facilities and capital equipment);

 -Existing human resources (e.g., skills, disciplines, and knowledge, such as design, development, legal, contracting, and purchasing)

 -Personnel administration (e.g., staffing and retention guidelines, employee performance reviews and training records, reward and overtime policy, and time tracking);

  -Company work authorization systems;

 -Project management information system (e.g., an automated tool, such as a scheduling software tool, a configuration management system, an information collection and distribution system, or web interfaces to other online automated systems).

Organizational Influences On Project Management

 
An organization’s culture, style, and structure influence how it’s projects are performed.

  The organization’s level of project management maturity and it’s project management systems can also influence the project.

  An organization’s culture and style affect how it conducts projects.

  Cultures and styles are learned and shared and may have a strong influence on a project’s ability to meet its objectives.

  A project manager should therefore understand the different organizational styles and cultures that may affect  a
project. He needs to know which individuals in the organization are the decision makers or influencers and work with them to increase the probability of project success.
 In light of globalization, understanding the impact of cultural influences is critical in projects involving diverse organizations and locations around the world. Culture becomes a critical factor in defining project success, and multicultural competence becomes critical for the project manager.


Organizational Structures

Organizational structures range from functional to projectized, with a variety of matrix structures in between.



Functional Organization

 The classic functional organization, shown in Figure 2-1, is a hierarchy where each employee has one clear superior. Staff members are grouped by specialty, such as production, marketing, engineering, and accounting at the top level. Specialties may be further subdivided into focused functional units, such as mechanical and electrical engineering. Each department in a functional organization will do its project work independently of other departments.


Matrix Organization

  Matrix organizations, as shown in Figures 2-2 through 2-4, reflect a blend of functional and projectized characteristics. Matrix organizations can be classified as weak, balanced, or strong depending on the relative level of power and influence between functional and project managers.



Weak Matrix Organization

   Weak matrix organizations maintain many of the characteristics of a functional organization, and the role of the project manager is more of a coordinator or expediter.
  A project expediter works as staff assistant and communications coordinator. The expediter cannot personally make or enforce decisions. Project coordinators have power to make some decisions, have some authority, and report to a higher-level manager.

Balanced And Strong Matrix Organizations

  Strong matrix organizations have many of the characteristics of the projectized organization, and have full-time project managers with considerable authority and full-time project administrative staff. While the balanced matrix organization recognizes the need for a project manager, it does not provide the project manager with the full authority over the project and project funding.



Projectized Organization

At the opposite end of the spectrum to the functional organization is the projectized organization, shown in Figure 2-5. In a projectized organization, team members are often colocated. Most of the organization’s resources are involved in project work, and project managers have a great deal of independence and authority.
  Projectized organizations often have organizational units called departments, but they can either report directly to the project manager or provide support services to the various projects

What Does A Great Project Manager Look Like ?


 The project manager is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. The role of a project manager is distinct from a functional manager or operations manager.     

    Typically the functional manager is focused on providing management oversight for a functional or a business unit, and operations managers are responsible for ensuring that business operations are efficient.

  Depending on the organizational structure, a project manager may report to a functional manager and to program or portfolio manager who is ultimately responsible for enterprise-wide projects.

  In this type of structure, the project manager works closely with the program or portfolio manager to achieve the project objectives.

   In general, project managers have the responsibility to satisfy the needs: task needs, team needs, and individual needs. As project management is a critical strategic discipline, the project manager becomes the link between the strategy and the team. 

 Effective project management requires that the project manager possess the following competencies:

  -Knowledge :Refers to what the project manager knows about project management.

  -Performance : Refers to what the project manager is able to do or accomplish while applying his or her project management knowledge.

 -Personal : Refers to how the project manager behaves when performing the project or related activity.

Personal effectiveness encompasses attitudes, core personality characteristics, and leadership, which provides the ability to guide the project team while achieving project objectives and balancing the project constraints.

5 Traits of a Great Project Manager

   Every organization invariably has some great- and some not so great-project managers.

 The great project managers will be in high demand as long as organizations have problems to solve;So what are the differentiating factors that cause some PMs to rise to the top of their field-and how can you be sure you’re one of them?

 Based on the experience of great project managers , the best of them share the following five key characteristics:

·        -Drivers
·        -Organized
·        -Consistent
·        -Challengers
·        -Learners


So let’s look at each of these characteristics:

Drivers: 

  Far and away, the differentiating characteristic of a great project manage is drive. It doesn’t mean being driven in your career or having a type “A” personality, rather, having a simple focus on driving the project forward.
  The job of a project Manager is to preempt the issues no one else can see, to look into the future and steer the ship, to make everything possible is done to deliver a successful project.
 A great project manager will chase people down and make sure things get done.
The Best project managers are impatient with themselves and others. They report bad news quickly and don’t let it fester.

Organized:    
 The best PMs are also the most organized.They maintain the best data on their projects and have the most complete notes.They seem to know more about the project than anyone else involved and can vary quickly pull up information as needed.

There is no mystery here. They do this because they are organized.

When the information related to your project is documented and organized, you will not spend much time chasing people when it was needed.

Consistent: 
  The best project managers are consistent ,even when no one else around them is. They think through their communications and make sure everyone regularly receives the information they need. You can depend on a consistent project manager. They are prepared with answers to questions. The team also works harder for a consistent PM because they know they will be “called on to the carpet” if they are not prepared.
Challengers: 
  The best project managers question challenge those around them to do great work. They do not agree to deadlines or other directives without first questioning assumptions and authority when necessary. They ask great questions and find ways to elicit the information they need. Asking questions such as, “Have you thought about…?” 
LEARNERS

  The very best project managers are always learning. Each new and interesting mistake is seen as an opportunity to learn - and to inspire others by communicating those lessons. Learners incorporate new techniques to make their job easier and projects more successful. They search for knowledge and find it all over the place. They realize that they can only get better and, surprisingly, are usually the most humble PMs in an organization. They are not only a sponge for information - they also share their knowledge with others, admit their mistakes and, as a result, gain the loyalty of others.

Project Management Office(PMO)


   A project Management Office , abbreviated to PMO, is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the  organization.

   The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.
  The PMO is the source of documentation , guidance and metrics on the practice of project management and execution.

  The responsibilities of a PMO can range from providing project management support to being actually responsible for the direct management of one or more projects.


  There are several types of PMO structures In organizations, each varying in the degree of control and influence they have on projects within an organization, such as:
       -Supportive: Supportive PMOs provide a consultative role to projects by supplying templates, best practices, training, access to information and lessons learned from other projects. This type of PMO serves as a project repository. The degree of control provided by the PMO is low.

     -Controlling: Controlling PMOs provide support and require compliance through various means. Compliance may involve adopting project management frameworks or methodologies, using specific templates, forms and tools, or conformance to governance. The degree of control provided by the PMO is moderate.

    - Directive: Directive PMOs take control of the projects by directly managing the projects. The degree of control provided by the PMO is high.


 A primary function of a PMO is to support project managers in a variety of ways which may include, but are not limited to:
- Managing shared resources across all projects.
-Identifying and developing project management methodologies, best practices, and standards.
-Monitoring compliance with project management standards , policies and procedures by means of project audits.
-Coordinating communication across projects.

What is Project Management ?


More specifically, what is project? It’s a temporary endeavor (effort) undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.
   A project is temporary means that ; it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.
  A project is unique means that ; it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal.
   A project team often includes people who don’t usually work together-sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies.

Examples of projects:
     -Development of software for an improved business.
     - Construction of a building, or a bridge.
     - Expansion of sales into a new geographic market.

   Project Management  is then the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
Project management is accomplished through the appropriate application and integration of the 47 logically grouped project management processes, which are categorized into five Process Groups.

These five Process Groups are:
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing 
- Controlling and Monitoring
- Closing

  Due to the potential for change, the development of the project management plan is an iterative activity and is progressively elaborated throughout the project’s life cycle.

  Click Here To Get Project Management Documents Now!

Program And Portfolio Management



1. Program Management

   A program is defined as a group of related projects, subprograms, and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

 Programs may include elements of related work outside the scope of the discrete projects in the program.

 A project may or may not be part of a program but a program will always have projects.


  Program management is then the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a program in order to meet the program requirements and to obtain benefits and control not available by managing projects individually.



 2. Portfolio Management

  A portfolio refers to projects, programs, subportfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives. The projects or programs of the portfolio may not necessarily be interdependent or directly related.

For example, an infrastructure firm that has the strategic objective of “maximizing the return on its investments” may put together a portfolio that includes a mix of projects in oil and gas, power, water, roads, rail, and airports. From this mix, the firm may choose to manage related projects as one program. All of the power projects may be grouped together as a power program. Similarly, all of the water projects may be grouped together as a water program. Thus, the power program and the water program become integral components of the enterprise portfolio of the infrastructure firm.

  Portfolio management is then the centralized management of the process, methods and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMO) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects.


 The objectives of portfolio management are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to schedule activities to best achieve an organization’s operational and financial goals.
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