The PROJECT Manager

By :
Anoop Kr. Verma
Kumar Saumitra
Himanshu Goel
Neeraj Yadav
Neha Asija
 Overview
• Project Management and the Project
Manager.
• Special demands of the Project Manager
• Selecting the Project Manager
• Problems of Cultural Differences
• Impact of Institutional Environments
• Multicultural Communications and Managerial
Behavior.
 Project Management and the Project
Manager
• Functional Manager Vs the Project Manager
• Project Responsibilities
• Career Paths
 Special demands of the Project
Manager
• Acquiring Adequate Resources
• Acquiring and Motivating Personnel
• Dealing with Obstacles
• Making project goal Trade-offs
• Failure and the Risk and Fear of Failure
• Breadth of communication.
• Negotiation
 Selecting the Project Manager

• Credibility
• Sensitivity
• Leadership and Management Style
• Ability to handle stress
 Problem of Cultural Difference
• Technological
• Institutional (Structure of the Society)
• Language
• Arts or Aesthetics
 Impact of Institutional Environment
• Socioeconomic Environment
• Legal Environment
• Business Cycle as an Environment
• Technological Environment
 Being an effective project manager is an ongoing challenge.
 Two seemingly contradictory viewpoints have been advanced about
what is required to be a good project manager.
1) Good project managers understand the critical problems
which face them and are prepared to deal with them.
2) Managing projects well requires a set of particular attributes
and skills.
 But, are these 2 viewpoints really at odds with one another? Let us
see…….
 Study Of Project Manager Problems & Skills

 Questionnaires were filled by project managers who came from variety of

technology-oriented organizations.

 Typical project manager-37 year old male, had 9 people reporting to him, &
was responsible for a small to moderate size project within a matrix
organization structure.

 Two open ended questions were asked—about skills necessary to be a

successful project manager & investigated the most likely problems
encountered in managing projects.

 Responses to these questions were content analyzed.

 Each respondent comment was first coded and then recoded several times
as patterns of responses became apparent.
 Problems in managing projects
 There were eight categories in which responses can be clustered together.
 Resources inadequate(69)
 Meeting unrealistic deadlines(67)
 Unclear goals/direction(63)
 Team members committed(59)
 Insufficient Planning(56)
 Breakdown of communications(54)
 Changes in goals & resources(42)
 Conflicts between departments or functions(35)
 Inadequate resources (time-”having to meet unrealistic deadlines) was the
most frequently mentioned.
 Respondents pointed out that resource allocation problems were usually
created by senior management.
 Vague goals & insufficient planning lead to mistakes in
allocating the resources needed by project managers.

 Project manager’s challenge is to handle communication

breakdowns as they arise.

 Point to be noted that less than one in ten project

mangers mentioned directly a “technological” factor as
significantly causing them problems in managing a project.
 Project Manager Skills
•Good communication skill in terms of
listening and persuading.
•Should be a good planner.
•He/She should have organizational skills
like goal setting, analytical ability.
•Should have a good team building skill.
•He should have a vision.
 Continued…
• The one who can set an example, energetic
and have positive attitude.
• A project manager should be flexible,
adaptable.
• Important coping skills like patience full,
persistence.
• He/She should have technological skills in
terms of knowledge and experience.