Page 12 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 1: Introduction to Projects

risk effectively. Not every doctor is capable of heart surgery. But doctor’s get paid for being Notes
doctor’s, have demonstrated considerable training and understanding, have spent thousands of
hours mastering their jobs. Doctor’s are professionals.
By any definition, Project Management is a profession.
It should be obvious to the reader that project management is a demanding job. Planning and
controlling the complexities of a project’s activities, schedule, and budget would be difficult
even if the project had the highest claim on the parent organization’s knowledge and resources,
and if the PM had full authority to take any action required to keep the project on course for
successful completion. Such is never the case, but all is not lost because there are tools available
to bring some order to the chaos of life as a PM—to cope with the difficulties of planning and the
uncertainties that affect budgets and schedules. Also, as we have indicated, it is possible to
compensate for missing authority through negotiation. Mastering the use of project management
tools requires specialized knowledge that is often acquired through academic preparation,
which is to say that project management is a profession. The profession comes complete with career
paths and an excellent professional organization.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) was founded in 1969. By 1990, the PMI had 7500 members.
It grew to 17,000 by 1995, but five years later membership had exploded to more than 64,000. By
November 2009, the PMI had more than 300,000 members worldwide. The exponential growth
of the PMI is the result of the exponential growth in the use of projects and PMs as a way of
getting things done.

Example: A senior vice president of an international chemical firm installed project
management as a way of controlling the workloads on his technical specialists and on a few
overloaded facilities—project management having tools to handle the allocation of scarce
resources. In another instance, a new CEO of a large hospital mandated that all non-routine, one
time operations be managed as projects so that she could have information on the nature and
status of all such activities.

1.5 Selection of a Project Manager

The Selection of Project Manager depends on following points:

Problem Solving Skills

1. Does this person have a history of being able to solve complex problems?
2. Does this person have the attitude that a problem is an opportunity to learn?

Personal Leadership Style

1. Does this person have the communications and people skills appropriate for the mix of
people who will be required on this project?
2. Will this person encourage project team members to bring up problems rather than play
the blame game?
3. Does this person have excellent time management skills?

Organizational Experience

1. Does this person know how work gets done in this organization?

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 7