PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC

2100 Southwinds Circle

Birmingham, Alabama 35244

Presents

Project Management for

Managers/ Executives

Via

WEB BASED LEARNING

Author: William J. Scott, PMP, PE

PMA

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 Module # 2
Organizational Role Responsibilities and a Profile of an
Effective Project Manager

Structuring

The Traditional Structure (Functional Organization)

1. It is not processed focused.

2. It creates silos.

3. It is slow in response.

4. It is inflexible.

5. Power and communication flows vertically.

6. Work flows horizontally.

The Matrix Structure

1. It is process and customer focused.

2. It promotes teamwork.

3. It is rapid in response.

4. It is flexible.

5. Power, communication and workflow are aligned.

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 CEO

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PRESIDENT PRESIDENT PRESIDENT
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R
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T MANAGER 1A MANAGER 1B MANAGER 2A MANAGER 2B MANAGER 3A
I
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TEAM
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Project R
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Manager U
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TEAM
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TEAM
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TEAM
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 Role Responsibilities

Top Management (CEO, VP, GM, Directors)

1. Provides overall vision, policy, standards, mission definition,
objectives, and strategy for the business.

2. Empowers others with authority to perform.

3. Approves and shows support for The Project Management Process.

4. Assures adequate resources are available to support objectives.

5. Sets priorities.

6. Resolves conflicts.

Structuring: XYZ Organizational Structure

I reported for work on Monday morning, it was my first day as President of

XYZ Company in Houston, Texas. After I was shown my office, I took a
tour of the facilities, was introduced to the employees and my staff.

After all the hoopla died down, I took out the company’s organizational
chart and studied it. It was a typical functional organization, which looked
like:
President

VP Marketing Director of Director of VP EVP Director of

& Sales Engineering Purchasing Construction Finance & Proposals and
Project Management Accounting Legal
HR
Fan Division
Energy Division

VP VP VP
Self Contained Self Contained R&D
Remote Division Remote Division Product Development

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I immediately saw three things wrong with the above organizational
structure (I had significant previous experience within this industry.)

What do you think I saw?

The first thing was that HR was buried deep within the financial
organization. This was extremely unusual. I had always felt that people
were one of our key resources and that HR’s function always needed to
report to the very top. So, I took HR out of Finance and made the HR
manager a director and had him report to me.

The second thing I saw was that marketing, sales and proposals were
fragmented. Most of the time it took a combination of marketing, sales,
proposals, and sometimes engineering, project management, purchasing,
etc. to work as a team to secure an order. The way the current structure
was, the only person accountable for all of those activities was I, the
company President. While I was very used to being accountable for all that
goes on within the company (whether I knew about it or not), I was
uncomfortable not having one person I could delegate these responsibilities
to and give them the authority to book new business.

So, I moved proposals under the VP of Marketing and Sales and made him
accountable to me to book new business per the business plan.

The third area that drew my attention was the lack of an “Operations
Group” (accountable for executing the new business that
marketing/sales/proposals bring in.

So, I combined project management, purchasing, engineering, construction

and created a quality function and called this group “Operations.” I hired an
outside person to become VP of Operations, and I also hired a General
Counsel. The new organization looked like:

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 President

VP Marketing VP of Operations VP EVP General

& Sales Engineering HR Finance & Counsel
Proposals Project Management Accounting

Purchasing Energy Division

Construction Fan Division
Quality

VP VP VP
Self Contained Self Contained R&D
Remote Division Remote Division Product Development

Accountabilities and Responsibilities were rearranged as follows:

Now accountable for orders:

President and VP Marketing/Sales/Proposals

Now accountable for execution:

President and VP of Operations

Now accountable for HR:

President and VP of HR

Now accountable for Legal:

President and General Counsel

Now accountable for Finance/Accounting:

President and EVP Finance/Accounting

Functional Managers:
These people always think they are losers when a Project Management
System is initiated. But, nothing really changes for them. They still decide
who does the work, how the work gets done, etc. They also:

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1. Retain direct line authority over employees while functioning as a
supplier to the Project Management Process.

2. Set functional standards.

3. Are RESPONSIBLE for whom, how, and how well the project sub-
tasks are performed.

4. Empowers the project team members.

5. Assures that the team members obtain technical and resource

assistance when it is needed.

So, other than not being the project manager, what has really changed for
the functional Manager? Nothing really.

Project Manager (Leader)

1. Is the single focal point interface and commitment to the customer.

2. Functions as the initiator and integrator of the total Project

Management System and project process.

3. Initiates the process of planning and controlling of the project

assignment.

4. Establishes customer/supplier partnerships.

5. Negotiates and contacts with all suppliers and customers (internal

and external).

6. Manages by contract (hopefully written).

7. Accomplishes the project contract objectives.

8. Measures and reports performance.

9. Manages change.

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 An Effective Project Manager Must:

1. Function as a project general manager with full P&L accountability.

2. Identify and quantify all potential risks, identify what we do not know
and establish contingency plans.

3. Maintain a “Helicopter View” of the project while having the ability to

“bore into” any details…to question and challenge.

4. Be able to delegate and to know when to call on experts.

5. Be able to relate well to all people…. customers, superiors, and

subordinates.

6. Have a strong personal sense of commitment to safety, quality,

schedule and cost performance.

Skill Requirements:

There are three areas of skills necessary for carrying out the process of
management or project management:

1. TECHNICAL SKILLS – The ability to use knowledge, methods,

techniques, equipment, etc.

2. PEOPLE SKILLS – The ability and judgment in working with and

through people.

3. CONCEPTUAL SKILLS – The ability to understand the complexity of

the overall organization and manage the process.

The balance of skill requirements change as we go up to the management

ladder. Likewise, the skill requirements for the large complex system
projects are quite different than those for smaller, standard product
projects. See the chart below.

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 SKILL REQUIREMENTS VERSUS
MANAGEMENT LEVELS

General/Functional Project Management

Management

CONCEPTUAL
SKILLS
Top Management Systems Products
Project Mgr.
PEOPLE
Middle SKILLS
Management Engineered Product
Project Mgr.
First Level
TECHNICAL
Management Standard Product
SKILLS
Project Mgr.

Worker Team Member

THE COMMON DENOMINATOR THAT IS CRUCIAL AT THE

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT MANAGMENT IS:
PEOPLE SKILLS

Profile the Project Manager Exercise

Objective of This Exercise:

1. Identify the qualities, skills and characteristics of an effective Project

Manager.

What to Do:

1. Think.

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2. Do not evaluate as you go.

3. Use 80/20 rule.

1. Scribe your answers.

Deliverable:

A list of skills, qualities and characteristics of a good project manager.

TIME: 10/15 MINUTES

WRITE DOWN YOUR SOLUTION NOW

Project Manager Personal Skills Checklist

People Skills

1. Leadership

2. Communications – verbal, written, listening, presentation

3. Interpersonal

4. Selling

5. Conflict Management

6. Negotiation

7. Facilitation

8. Delegation

9. Team Building
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 Conceptual Skills

1. Process

2. Planning

3. Organizational

4. Problem solving

5. Financial

6. Time management

Qualities That Contribute To Excellence in Project Management

1. Self-motivated, self-confident, self-directing, self-disciplined, self-

commitment – sets positive example for others

2. Has ambition, drive, energy, enthusiasm, and motivation.

3. Has integrity, high values and a sense of justice – stands above

organization politics and gamesmanship.

4. Has high level of deserved self-respect and self-esteem.

5. Accepts role of leader with humility, enjoys the role, and is clearly
accepted and respected in the role.

6. Customer focused – action driven.

7. Is continually searching, learning, developing, expanding and above.

8. Demonstrates objectivity, as well as flexibility.

9. Is persistent, tempered with sound judgment.

10. Decisiveness avoids procrastination.

11. Is a “WINNER”!

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HOW DOES THE ABOVE LIST COMPARE TO YOUR LIST?

Influencing and Motivating Behavior

In order for Project Managers to do their best, they:

1. Must know what they are supposed to do, preferably in terms of an end
product.

2. Must have a clear understanding of what their authority is, and of its
limits.

3. Must know their relationship with other people.

4. Should have real time feedback as to how they are doing.

5. Must be shown concrete evidence that there are just rewards for work
well done.

6. Should know where and when they are falling short.

7. Must be made aware of what can and should be done to correct

unsatisfactory results.

8. Must feel that their managers have an interest in them as individuals.

9. Must feel that their managers believe in them, trust them, have high
expectations of them, and are anxious for them to succeed and
progress.

Company Software Purchase – TeamWork, Not Sizing Someone

Else’s Tiger (Based on a true story)

I was the general manager of an industrial drying company in Tennessee

several years ago. It was during that time that most businesses were
beginning to embrace the computer and word processing.

One day, my secretary into my office and told me I needed to make a

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Decision on the type of word processing software package the company
should use and standardize on.

Since I was not computer, word-processing or software literate at the time, I

thought she was kidding or talking to someone else. When I looked around
and saw that no one else was behind me, it dawned on me that she was
talking to me.

I asked her, why me? I told her that I was probably the least qualified
person in the building to make this decision.

My secretary told me that since the company intended to standardize on

the software package and this decision spanned multiple departments, only
I could make this decision.

I again explained that I didn’t know one software package from another and
that surely there was someone else better qualified to make this decision.
When she shook her head no, a though came to me.

So I told her why don’t you get all the users together, you chair the meeting
and let the people who will have to make it work and use it daily make a
recommendation for me to “approve”.

I knew that if the people who had to make the software work and use it on a
daily basis made this decision, it could never turn out to be the wrong
decision. Those people would never resist making the software package
work and using it and they would feel good about being involved in the
decision.

So the group got together and discussed the pros and cons of the various
choices. They considered technical, commercial, and cost. They
recommended we buy and standardize on Word Perfect. I, of course not
knowing any better, approved the decision and away we went.

Now, as time has passed, it has become obvious that while Word Perfect
was not the correct long-term solution, at the time it was the correct short-
term solution. In addition, we had a happy set of secretaries and
administrative assistants who never badmouthed Word Perfect, no matter
how difficult it turned out to be.

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When people have a say in the decision and you get their “buy in”; the
decision hardly ever turns out “wrong”.

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