Page 189 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Fundamentals of Project Management

Notes vehicle for handling these changes in an orderly manner. However, to do so there must be a
progressive reconciliation or accommodation between the two view points of thinkers and
feelers. This will be the challenge of the next decade and beyond.
In the longer term we can expect to see the pendulum swing back once more towards firmer
leadership, an attribute desperately needed in today’s world of population, environmental and
political crises. To do so, project management leadership concepts will change progressively in
response to the external demands of a better informed and discerning public and an increasingly
better educated work force. Internally, the change will encompass the electronic revolution;
socio-technical systems (wherein the team itself shares responsibility with accountability for
self-management in defining all steps, execution, and project deliverables); and shared power
(distributed leadership or partnering). The skill sets needed for these different and changing
environments will be identified and the means developed for transferring them to
project-managers-in-the-making through education. The rewards will be the survival of civilization
— no less.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

7. The ....................... of physical products generally exact some degree of logical sequence in
their construction, which favors hierarchical, linear type thinking.
8. The former type of ....................... responds better to “command and control’ leadership,
whereas the latter responds better to the delegation of responsibility and authority within
the context of defined goals and objectives.
9. The shift in application of project management from physical to intellectual projects has
highlighted an interesting ....................... in the nature of human beings.
10. The ....................... however, tend not to be stimulated by setting goals and objectives and
indeed see it as being of little or no consequence.
11. As ....................... grow and the share of the world’s resources diminish, we can confidently
expect the rate of change to accelerate.
12. ....................... will continue to be the most powerful vehicle for handling these changes in
an orderly manner.

Case Study Rescuing a Small Project

Recently Robert was asked to jump in and rescue a small infrastructure project that was
headed for disaster.
What did Robert do?

1. Assessed the project objectives & current status
2. Identified the current project team members
3. Discovered the project’s major issues – and any major critical deliverables that were
behind schedule
4. Determined who needed to be added (or removed) from project team
Contd...

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