Unit V Scholarly ActivityPreviously in the course, you were asked to think of a project you have been involved with at your place of employment.Think of that same project, imagine that you have been a

Project Manager Responsibility

William Fiedler

Columbia Southern University

Project Manager Responsibility

Project management is indeed indispensable to successful completion of projects. Organizations need to hire project managers with the right vision, skills and with the know-how to ensure projects are completed successfully and within the schedule. As such, project managers remain to be integral part of every organization right from small agencies to multinationals. In the same way as a doctor, they are able to lead a team and decide on actionable plans vital for the realization of the set objectives. It points traits that make a good project manager such as having an excellent entrepreneurial mindset to keep the project moving in the right direction. Therefore, the following paper focuses on activities that a project team needs to perform. Addition, it highlights the way the PMP influence each project team member to handle various tasks.

Activities that a Project team should perform

Project managers have a great influence in any company and thus their main task entails applying what they know not only to earn respect but also run the project to meet the desired goal. Particularly, I have been a project manager at SafeWays Taxi Company (SWTC) when it was newly incorporated and served as the overall in charge of operations. Some of the activities that my team performed in order to initiate, plan, execute, control, monitor and close processes included the following. Firstly, we engaged in active resource planning; it involved creating a clear and concise plan for executing and monitoring the project’s progress by taking into account available resources. In line with Martens & Carvalho, (2017), a good project manager gets his or her team involved in defining the project’s scope based on resources in place.

Secondly, I could organize and motivate the project team to ensure the project stayed on course towards improving operations for the company to gain a competitive advantage. Motivating team members was a great way to avoid them getting bogged down but inspired to maximize their full potentials. For example, we agreed to cut down on existing bureaucracies in order to steer a clear direction to realize the goal.

Thirdly, we controlled time management effectively and meant that meeting deadline was non-negotiable. According to Martens & Carvalho, (2017), a project’s success is measured based on whether it is delivered as scheduled. As a team, we had to set realistic timelines and I communicated them regularly to the every team member. Lastly, we did cost estimation and developed a budget and thus ensured the project was kept within that budget. Even if we met the company’s objective and delivered on time, I believed it would still be a failure in case the project suffered massive budget overruns.

How the PMP influence each project team member

Projects with well-designed project plans have the best chances for success. As a result, a project management plan (PMP) can influence each member of the project team positively as follows. Firstly, it would provide a shared vision towards the objective the project intends to accomplish. It is simply a common understanding which binds a team member to the rest of the team and thus causing everyone to work together Martens & Carvalho, (2017). Secondly, the PMP gives clarity on the roles of each team member in contributing to the project’s objective. Thirdly, it helps to keep people always organized and focused to the work of the project. This way, it helps to prevent extraneous tasks from dragging down other legitimate project tasks.

Lastly, it serves as a powerful communication strategy which supplements verbal interactions among team members and thus helps to save time. Therefore, the project management plan is considered to be a necessary and valuable tool to both the project team and stakeholders. In brief, the PMP provides guidance on the way changes and processes need to be reported, monitored and controlled with minimal conflicts experienced.

References

Martens, M. L., & Carvalho, M. M. (2017). Key factors of sustainability in project management context: A survey exploring the project managers' perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 35(6), 1084-1102.