Project management intro

Project management is an act of looking at available resources and trying to find the most efficient way to assign them to the various tasks in the project workflow. Resource planning takes both significant understanding of the skills of team members and the tools they have available to do their jobs. But when done well, it can be highly rewarding.

Project Management Challenges within Corporate Projects

1. Deadline - Setting excessively idealistic due dates so as to keep customers glad is a genuine mistake. The manager must take into account the unavoidable actuality that due dates slip for some reason. The key is dealing with those progressions adequately and knowing the careful status of your undertaking at any one time this can be a problem with Indian managers as they don’t know how to say no when its required. They may say "we will try our LEVEL best". Whereas the American managers may decline the project at instance if the project deadline is not so suitable according to their company as company image is also a factor to be taken care of

2. Undefined Goals – It means whenever goals are not stated clearly, the entire project and team can be into problem, that’s why it is the most common challenge. For ex in India When upper management fails to agree to or support undefined goals, then the entire project can be in question which will have no chance of success. This can hamper the decision making of a manager as he may fail to identify the key team roles of the multicultural project .Hence it is the responsibility of project manager to understand the clear objective of the project and then layout the plan and execute it according to the team he has. Belbin (1981) has nine team roles which must be identified by the project manager for the efficiency of the project which can be very helpful.

3. Scope Changes – which is also known as scope creep, this happens when project management permits the venture's extension to augment past its unique destinations. Customers and directors may request changes to a project as may be the client is not sure of what he wants so his Requirements are unclear and it takes a solid project manager to assess every solicitation and choose how and if to execute it, while conveying the consequences for spending plan and due dates to all stakeholders. In Indian manager may work hard on the data given by the client and present the data but will not like any kind of changes in other words he may resist to that while an American manager would try to take the anticipate a future change in advance as end users are not involved from the beginning in the scope definition.

4. Inadequate Skills for the Project – A project or a process sometimes will require a skillset that the project's team is not aware of. This creates a challenge for Project management training to invest time and money in order to gain that skill. For example an online portal like Expedia would like to outsource their air ticketing team to a manager in India where the skill software is Sabre. Now a project leader will determine the needed competencies, assess the total available workers and suggest the skill training, or outsourcing or hiring additional staff, keeping in mind the errors the new staff is going to make or the higher salaries he has to afford for trained staff has to be judged because the service delivery agreement (SLA) is the most important thing to generate revenue

5. Improper Risk Management – It is very important to learn to deal with and plan for the risk in project management. It is to be understood that projects rarely go exactly to plan. Most of the time the risk evaluation is not finalised in the initial phase of the project when the plan and goals are set. Indian Managers may gather input according to their understanding and may ignore the risk factors involved with it which may develop lack of trust. Also knowing which parts of a project are most likely to veer off course are key issues of the project manager's job. Risk tolerance is therefore a typical desirable project manager characteristic because it can hamper the entire project whereas the American managers may include the expertise to predict the future and anticipate the risk in this dynamic world.

6. Poor Communication – Project managers provide direction at every step of the project, so each team leader knows what's expected. Effective communication to everyone involved in the project is crucial to its successful completion.

o Project management training includes an emphasis on written and oral communication skills

o Proper communication can help increase morale by establishing clear expectationso Good project managers keep communication and feedback flowing between upper

management and team leaders

Managing Expectations: An Important Project Manager Attribute

8. Resource Deprivation – In order for a project to be run efficiently and effectively, management must provide sufficient resources. Project management training shows how to define needs and obtain approval up front, and helps project managers assign and prioritize resources throughout the duration of a project.

9. Lack of Stakeholder Engagement – A disinterested team member, client, CEO or vendor can destroy a project. A skilled project manager communicates openly and encourages feedback at every step to create greater engagement among participants.

10. Lack of Accountability – A project manager's leadership qualities can shine when each member of the team takes responsibility for his or her role in achieving project success. Conversely, a lack of accountability can bring a project to a complete halt. Finger-pointing and avoiding blame are unproductive, but all-too-common features of flawed project management. Learning to direct teams toward a common goal is an important aspect of project management training.

11. Ambiguous Contingency Plans – It's important for project managers to know what direction to take in pre-defined "what-if" scenarios. If contingencies are not identified, the entire project can become mired in an unexpected set of problems. Asking others to identify potential problem areas can lead to a smoothe and successful project.