Stakeholder roles: Functional Management Working productively with the company’s functional management is important to the success of any project. “Management,” in this case, refers to functional management, also known as line management. These can be department managers, first-level supervisors, or executive vice presidents. With the exception of a project-oriented organization, functional managers are responsible for…
Tag: Management
How To Define Projects and Get Your Stakeholders On The Same Page
How do you define projects? Who is responsible for what? Who has authority? What are our goals? How do we communicate? In most organizations, these questions were answered long ago; the unique nature of projects, however, means that all of these questions have to be addressed each time a project begins. How they are answered…
Project Management Functions
Setting realistic expectations, fostering agreement among all parties, and then delivering the product is frequently challenging and always requires a wide array of techniques. From a high level these techniques can be grouped into the three project management functions. Project definition lays out the foundation for a project. There are two activities involved in this…
The Evolution of the Project Management Discipline
From the time humans first worked together to build a shelter or cultivate a crop, there have been projects and project management. Yet it has been only since World War II that a formal project management discipline has emerged. During and immediately after the war, the U.S. government was engaged in enormous weapons development projects.…
Managing Projects, 6 Challenges You Should Know
Work that is unique and temporary requires different management disciplines. Because managing projects have different characteristics than ongoing operations, they pose a brand-new set of challenges. Here are some of the challenges that project managers could face: Personnel. Every project has different personnel needs. The number of people needed—and their different skill sets—is different for…
5 Ways to Improve Project Success
Project management has been called both an art and a science. Below, you will see how mastering the science of project management provides a foundation for the art of leadership. The reasons to improve project success are common to both. There is no question that the best project managers are also outstanding leaders. They have…
How to Develop Effective Business Writing Skills
It’s a source of amazement and some amusement that many articulate people are reduced to blubbering incompetents when required to put their thoughts down in a written form. Some people are intimidated by a blank piece of paper or computer screen. Let’s examine why this feeling of panic overtakes individuals who otherwise appear to be…
How to manage your promotion. Is the Game Worth the Prize?
Being an outstanding manager and concurrently working up to the next rung on the ladder is a constant in almost every manager’s career—unless he loses interest in gaining a promotion. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to pay the price of moving to the next level. Preparing for your promotion That is healthy if…
Office Politics: Playing the Game
As you may already know, you’re judged by the performance of your area of responsibility. The people who report to you are as important to your future as are the people to whom you report. That leads directly to the matter of office politics. It exists everywhere. People recoil at the idea of office politics,…
Can an Understudy Contribute to Your Promotion?
As soon as you’ve mastered your job, you must start looking for an understudy. The reason for this is clear. Decision makers are going to be less likely to promote you if doing so will create an operational void. By having an understudy who is prepared to take your position, you make yourself a better…