Solutions for Project Management

A for-profit organization’s project is intended to generate the maximum profit, whereas for a non-profit organization, profit is not the primary objective, but rather to serve humanitarian or environmental needs. These are just a few of the significant differences between a for-profit organization and a non-profit organization. Second, a non-profit organization is supported by donations from various sources, whereas a for-profit firm receives funding from bank loans, local investors, and sales revenue. Finally, A for-profit project is affected by taxes imposed by the government but a non-profit organization is exempted by the government from paying taxes. (Pinto 1995).

Please list three reasons projects fail in for-profits and what could a project manager do to mitigate these issues?  What should a project manager do if there are foreseeable events leading to a project budget becoming empty way before the end of the project?

Projects fail in for profit organisations due to; lack of visibility for all projects in all sections of the project team from the executive management, who are at the top level, the project manager, and the team members. All these members need access to the right level of information and at the right time to ensure that all aspects of the project are followed up. Lack of reports from any party results in cancellation or re-direction of the project, also, Organizations have many opportunities and initiatives that they hope to fulfill. By embarking upon such initiatives without a definite project, objectives causes overworked and usually unhappy team members. If the top management does not define the organization’s goals and the strategies to carry them out, the organization as a whole becomes unclear about the essential objectives, lastly, the lack of project prioritization from the executive management and project managers leads to overloaded resources. Visibility into resource workload should be delegated and resources allocated appropriately through proper communication channels.

Solutions

Projects should be published to a visible location through providing your team with a centralized system for publishing project schedules and empowering team members to update their tasks in the system which makes work easier for project managers and executives. Communication by executives is also essential on a daily basis. Project managers should also determine long-term goals and strategies and rank them in order of priority. Setting up risk assessment departments who evaluate all opportunities and determine which initiatives are most profitable and lastly, creation of a resource management grid that actively acts as the task manager. Top management should understand and be committed to invoke an organizational culture of planning and managing resources effectively. (Spinner 1989).

3. Please list three tips that a project manager can utilize if a project begins experiencing scope creep.

Scope creep results when project stakeholders tend to change requirements or miscommunication during a project’s lifecycle.A project manager should utilize tips like, Constant comparison between actual work performance and baseline scope to determine the difference between the current project and the original plan, Monitoring the project’s status and the baseline scope to ensure no extra requirements during execution of the project and determining the cause and degree of the changes found and decide the type of action needed, whether corrective or preventive and managing all change requests and recommended actions effectively via a set-out control process. (Smith 2000).

4. discuss what happens when you’re leading a project, and your team members are not the individuals you want. List and discuss three suggestions regarding how to utilize the talent you’re given.

The project manager should clarify about the project main purpose, establish a deadline date and let the entire team know the particular roles and responsibilities they will play during the process and try to build up some trust with the team by being responsible and accountable as the project managed and try to build a good working relationship with the team in order for the project process to run smoothly. (Ferraro 2005).

5. Some project team members become regular problems during a project. Discuss at one or more best practices for dealing with difficult team members

Some members may be highly skilled and talented, but due to the difficulty in dealing with such team members, the company’s overall success may be destroyed. Project managers can deal with difficult team members by; talking to the team regularly before and during the execution of the project. Talking facilitates adequate assessment of the selected team to understand each in the team better. It makes problem-solving much easier. Second, identify ground zero. A project manager should pinpoint the cause of the dilemma and try to come to common ground with any team member. By listening to all parties involved, the project manager will understand any underlying issues with the team before commencement or during the project execution.Third, Follow up on any solutions that were identified and give them time to work. This gives credibility to the project manager while giving team members the chance to work out their differences and lastly identifying the antagonist in the team. A project manager will make better decisions regarding the team once the member to blame has been identified. It also provides for a conducive environment for the rest of the members to carry out their tasks effectively.(Eisner 1997).

6. Please suggest one platform a project manager can use for managing virtual meetings and explain why you selected this technology platform.

Professionals and project managers who use virtual meeting platforms to conduct their business opt for Skype. This platform offers quite flexible services, even for small business. It is a favored platform among project managers because; Skype is free to users who already have the app and easy to use due to an easy user interface, it can be used on mobile devices which is a global trend and at a low cost to other individuals who don’t use the platform, it also supports group video conferencing which is appropriate to executives, project managers and team members because they can all be in the loop during the meeting and get immediate feedback and finally, Skype comes in different languages for different countries, and users can record all video chat sessions for future reference.(Weiss 1992).

7. List at least two (2) reasons why virtual project teams are becoming a common occurrence across all industries.

In the ever-changing business landscape, virtual process is gaining popular opinion than traditional methods due to their efficiency and effectiveness.Virtual project teams are becoming a universal preference because; Virtual teams are more engaged and offer extended team updates.Conducting a virtual meeting via an online platform at the comfort of your home or office can provide for comfortability for all members of a project thus better communication between all parties involved in the execution of a project.It also provides for immediate feedback across all channels at the same time and secondly, Remote workers tend to log more hours of work. By being comfortable while working on their tasks, members tend to be more productive and offer useful input for completion of a project.A company might prefer to use virtual platforms to carry out it’s meeting with team members due to this kind of meaningful contribution.(Smith 2000).

8. Discuss at least two (2) reasons why budget management a necessity in project management.

Project managers need to avoid added requirements in the project scope so as not to incur more expenses and exceed the project budget. This can be achieved through budget management by; helping in estimating cost, it helps share holders to know how much money is needed, it’s purpose and the particular time it’s needed this way avoiding future mistakes likes exceeding the set budget. It also helps in making plans about the project this could include plans to market the project, when the budget is set plans about the project are easily made in order not to exceed the planned budget and the project come to a halt. (Lewis 1998).

9. What should a project manager do if the spend begins to exceed their allotted budget?

There are several ways for a project manager to deal with that kind of situation, he or she should first reduce the project scope in the organisation then seek for more funding for the project from all the possible sources of the organization’s fund for example, his or her financial assisters, bank loans and fundings from different institutions, a project manager should also reassign the allocated resources to a resource of more alow cost in order to run and complete the project in due time and in the righ way. (Meredith 2000)

10. Briefly, discuss a few time management tips a project manager can utilize to increase their team’s productivity. How can procrastination within a team hinder that progress?

A project manager can improve his or her teams time management in various ways which include; making sure that the team completes each task at its own time before moving to the next task, this reduces the chances of ending up with an incomplete project. Secondly the project manager should make prior arrangements for the project to be done and at least controlled breaks from time to time to relax their brains and body in order to regenerate some energy to work on the project, also, make sure there is no kind of distraction around since working on a projects requires one’s full concentration and commitment. Finally he or she should schedule time to communicate with the team about important things to be done to avoid and correct mistakes.(Spinner 1989)

11. Why are deadlines and milestones essential to forwarding progress in project management?

How can procrastination within a team hinder that progress?

Deadlines and milestones are very essential in a project as ; they make a project more manageable as a project manager can divide the work into several phases and set deadlines for each stage, they give employees sense of accomplishment and self-worth when they finish the job before the deadline date and finally, they give the project manager a chance to identify a mistake in the work and correct it in due time.

How procrastination within a team hinders progress

Procrastination hinders that progress because; When a project is procrastinated the employees lose morale to work on it, and this decreases the work ethics generally, Procrastination also stresses the mind as one knows that he or she has some pending work to later than the expected time and when a project is procrastinated, it slows down other functions mostly in a company that would want to conduct marketing before the end of the project.(Kerzner 1998)

12. Provide at least three tips a project manager can do to prepare for leading a global team.

A project manager should start by building trust with the team by making sure to be responsible and accountable for everything happening in the project process, he or she should also ensure that the team understands the project to be carried out and the objectives of the project, their roles and responsibilities in every stage of the project lastly, The project manager should strive to achieve team cohesion and share the same vision with the team by encouraging dialogue and communication with his team, this helps greatly because as a results mistakes are corrected and working together becomes smooth. (Devaux 1999).

13. What type of personal development cultural awareness training would you recommend for a Project Manager?

For a project manager to be able to work manage a team of workers and the project, he or she should start by having emotional intelligence meaning that he it she be sensitive to what others feel and think and strive to consider their opinions with an open mind. Secondly, he or she should avoid premature judgments when working by collecting as much information about an issue as possible before passing judgments and finally, he or she should create a good working relationship and ensure good communication and dialogue with the team, this is very essential as the two parties correct many errors when they work as a unit. (Reiss 1996).

References

Devaux, Stephen. 1999. Total project control: A manager’s guide to integrated project planning, measuring, and tracking. New York: Wiley.

Eisner, H. 1997. Essentials of project management and systems engineering management. New York: Wiley.

Frame, J. Davidson, Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People, 3rd edition, Jossey-Bass, 2003, ISBN 0-787-96831-5

Ferraro, Gary, Cultural Dimension of International Business, The (5th Edition), Prentice Hall, 2005, ISBN 0-131-92767-1

Kerzner, H. 1998. Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, 6th ed. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Lewis, James P. 1998. Team-based project management. New York: McGraw Hill.

Meredith, J.R. & Mantel, S.J. 2000. Project management: A managerial approach, 4th Ed. New York: Wiley

Pinto, J.K. & Kharbanda, O.P. 1995. Successful project managers: Leading your team to success. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Reiss, G. 1996. Programme management demystified. London: E & FN SPON.

Smith, K.A. 2000. Project management and teamwork. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Spinner, M.P. 1997. Project management: Principles & practices. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Spinner, M.P. 1989. Improving project management skills and techniques. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Weiss, Joseph, and Wysocki, Robert, Five-phase Project Management: A Practical Planning And Implementation Guide, Basic Books, 1992, ISBN 0-201-56316-9