Assessment 3
Measuring Performance - Project Management
Project management is an essential part of the work environment and its purpose within business, academic backgrounds and research are crucial to the development of solutions and products that enable a company to be successful. The idea of project management is quite simple; a group of people are detached from the company and given a goal to focus their efforts on. The size of the group is entirely dependant on the size of the company. When looking to put together a project management team, there are two key factors that many, if not all, companies take into consideration; the skills that each individual possess in the team and whether these skills can be utilised in such a way to achieve their goal in a team environment.
Each company requires different qualities that a successful applicant for Project Manager should fulfil. While trying to find a job in the summer, I came across a job posting for a Software Project Manager for a small team. Some of the required attributes that a candidate should possess are as follows:
"A desire to motivate, share knowledge and provide for continuous learning...excellent communication skill... Must be able to enthuse and engage at all levels of business...Develop findings and recommend solutions to customers as applicable. A good "all-rounder"."1
Since many large companies and organisations no longer just restrict their services to their domestic customers, another key requirement for a Project Manager seems to be the ability to contribute in an international market. For example, in the current business world, there are very few companies and organisations that will limit their research only to Japan, for instance. As a result, the openings for project managers seem mainly to be located in the European countries such as France, Germany and the UK. Thus having a position in a project management firm is not only a lasting responsibility to national business and research but it is also an international commitment.
Project management also varies in accordance with the size of the companies that it is carrying out its work for. In a small business, the project management team may be assigned projects of a local nature where their performance will be assessed on a small scale. For example, if the team was to make a project management plan for a small local company, the client can assess their success in providing solutions for their company over a long term period as they company is only providing local services. They client can report to them whether this plan is ...
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Project management also varies in accordance with the size of the companies that it is carrying out its work for. In a small business, the project management team may be assigned projects of a local nature where their performance will be assessed on a small scale. For example, if the team was to make a project management plan for a small local company, the client can assess their success in providing solutions for their company over a long term period as they company is only providing local services. They client can report to them whether this plan is too complicated for their company or whether it takes up an unreasonable amount of time to implement which would result in a loss of business. The success of the project management team would ultimately depend on whether the company benefits from an increased number of customers since the implementation of the project management plan, which would inevitably lead to greater revenue. For larger companies, it is not much different but the objectives that the project management team have to address would be more complex since sometimes the businesses will have to make use scarce resources efficiently, especially in hi-tech fields. Thus this would take more time. In this situation, the success of the project management team is judged by whether they can complete all of the objectives in a set time, within budget and sometimes on an international scale. In both cases, whether the company is large or small, the sign of a good project management team is its ability to identify problems or issues with the project as early on as possible and also the ability of the project manager to follow up their previous projects whether they be successful or not providing solutions along the way to the client. This is how the performance of a management team should be assed; by the quality of the follow ups of its projects, the ability to produce project plans for long and short periods of time, working to deadlines whilst on a set budget and the capability to identify any problems that may arise as soon as possible.
An example of where project management is invaluable is in the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical companies are always looking to make products that can make a difference to people's lives. When the pharmaceutical company have a prospective product, they need it to be researched and analysed. This is where the project management team come in; they separate themselves from the company and execute specific tasks that allow them to make the product. The project management team specifies a goal that must be reached in order for the product to be successful and sets about how the goal can be achieved. The project managers' job is to manage the team in such a way so that this goal is reached with minimal objection. This method of determining prospective products is essential in pharmaceuticals as it is a high profit industry that benefits many people, provided that the company can make the product and market it before the competition.
To find out whether the management team has performed well, all one need do is look at their portfolio and assess whether their previous projects have been successful. Another way of assessing the performance is to go directly to the client and ask for their opinions on what the team could have done differently; could there have been more communication on a regular basis between the client and the project manager, did the team identify and accomplish the company's specific requirements and did they provide support for the company even after the project had been completed? Since many project management groups specialise on specific product lines within a company, follow-ups are essential since furthering their research will enable them to improve their products. The only way to see whether a project management team has been truly successful is to see how the company is doing at this present day, for example, has the revenue of the company gone up since the implementation of the project plan, was the project well received by the public and as a result, increased the reputation of the company...these are the questions that need to be asked directly.
In conclusion, I think that project management can be divided into two components. Firstly, the project manager chosen by the company is as important as the project. The person must have certain attributes that allow them to oversee a wide range of activities that are carried out simultaneously, while also being able to operate in an international market. The second component is having a clear Project Management Plan that outlines what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and the resources available to the project management team. Once the master plan is complete, the project manager can start to implement the solutions while looking out for any problems that may arise along the way. This is why it is essential to chose a project manager with the right attributes as if the individual is inexperienced or not confident in their abilities, then problems will arise which might result in missing deadlines or going over budget. Having said this, when the correct project manger is chosen, then the master plan can be followed precisely and goals reached on time, which will mean that the company will see long-term benefits in the future.
Although Monsanto do have many projects up and running at the moment, such as that of producing soybeans that can help reduce fat, it is difficult to attain information on project management techniques that they employ. From the information that I have been able to get hold of, I can see that Monsanto uses a split managerial strategy. It has divided its company up into two sectors, "Seeds and Genomics" and "Agricultural Productivity". These two sectors are managed separately, so in a way it can been seen as a type of project management since both sectors are detached form each and come together when a new product is being made. Within these two sectors, there are many different projects being undertaken in order to make its products better. Measuring the performance of these two sectors is done by looking at their yearly revenue and seeing how it changes, i.e. does it go up, down or fluctuates. Another way to measure the success of project management within Monsanto is to see how well the new product is received by the public by doing a type of census that will allow Monsanto to attain data that will help them to see where they have gone wrong so that they can improve their services in the future.
References
Websites
www.monster.co.uk
www.tenstep.com
www.pmtoday.co.uk
www.projectmanagement.com
www.financial-conferences.com
www.monsanto.com
Books
Project management for Dummies - Stanley Portney
The Art of Project Management - Scott Berkun
The Practice of Project Management; A Guide to the Business-Focused Approach - Enzo Frigenti and Dennis Comninos
Krishaan Siva
