The document describes an assessment center developed by an insurance company to evaluate potential project managers' social skills. The assessment center used a scenario involving developing an online presence to observe candidates across six dimensions: analytical skills, decisiveness/leadership, communication, conflict resolution, economic resource management, and persuasion/motivation. Senior managers provided the evaluation criteria. The assessment center aimed to systematically improve project manager selection and provided insights into candidates' development areas.
This document discusses communication and project management success. It identifies 11 key communication traits for project success, including trustworthiness, transparency, and respect. It also discusses how to develop an effective project team through clear goals, evaluating teamwork skills, and regular communication. The document concludes by emphasizing the importance of communication, team building, and learning lessons to ensure project and team success.
Making the leap from project manager to program
manager requires not just different skills but a different
mindset. We asked seven experienced program
managers, “What should project managers
know and do when taking on broader, more
strategic roles?”
The document provides answers to questions about investment projects being considered by Pan-Europa Foods. It conducts financial analyses of 11 projects using NPV and lists them in order of ranking. It then discusses adjusting the analysis for risk, time value of money, project lifetimes, and size. Based on strategic fit, mandatory status, IRR, payback period, risk level, and other qualitative factors, the recommended projects are: Effluent Treatment, Eastward Expansion, Southward Expansion, Snack Foods, and Inventory Control.
This document summarizes a discussion between members of a local Project Management Institute meeting about the views, benefits, and barriers of project management. Several members provided responses to questions posed by the discussion leader. They noted that organizations' views of project management vary, with those using it seeing benefits and those not using it viewing it as unnecessary. Executives initially perceive project managers negatively but views improve with results. Barriers include poor communication and interpersonal skills, while benefits include reduced costs, efficient delivery, quality deliverables, and improved risk management.
This document discusses the qualities of an entrepreneurial project manager. It argues that entrepreneurial project managers see beyond the typical constraints of time, cost and scope, and understand how projects fit within an organization's strategic goals and culture. They are able to motivate teams by communicating the bigger picture and building strong relationships. Entrepreneurial managers also anticipate challenges and adapt to changing priorities. While they face barriers like lack of growth opportunities, organizations benefit from supporting entrepreneurial managers through training, mentoring and providing challenging assignments to help them grow with the company.
This document provides an introduction and overview of the book "Project Management: A Managerial Approach" by Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel. It discusses the growing use of project management in business and organizations. It positions the book as taking a managerial perspective on project management rather than a technical or specialized focus. The introduction explains that the book is intended to teach students how to manage projects from a holistic viewpoint.
Closing the Gap Between Project Management and Governance
In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, budgets are tight and resources are limited. Consequently, making decisions about which projects to pursue is vital in supporting an organization’s growth, vision, and value. For this dilemma, there is a powerful cost containment and risk mitigation strategy—a combination of IT governance and portfolio management. This approach is highly relevant for budget issues state agencies and departments currently face. With the proliferation of technology at greater and greater speed, the options that could bring potential benefit are seemingly endless. Gone are the days when a great technological idea was an end in itself. Technology has truly become an enabler across all sizes and types of organizations. The challenge now is to understand which business goals can be enabled by a technology and choose the best projects to accomplish those goals. The best way to ensure and demonstrate value to the organization is to know how these projects are supporting the organization financially and operationally. Implementing sound project management practices along with a governance framework can enable this kind of visibility and control.
Managing stakeholders as critical success factor in operational excellenceThe Jamilah H
Knowing stakeholders is the key thing in any transformational or continuous improvement initiatives, The presentation covers both high level and inter personal level of stake holders management techniques.
Among key contents are 7 Prevention Steps of Stakeholders misalignment and tools for Stakeholders Planning, Stakeholders Mapping, and Stakeholders Support Level.
This document discusses communication and project management success. It identifies 11 key communication traits for project success, including trustworthiness, transparency, and respect. It also discusses how to develop an effective project team through clear goals, evaluating teamwork skills, and regular communication. The document concludes by emphasizing the importance of communication, team building, and learning lessons to ensure project and team success.
Making the leap from project manager to program
manager requires not just different skills but a different
mindset. We asked seven experienced program
managers, “What should project managers
know and do when taking on broader, more
strategic roles?”
The document provides answers to questions about investment projects being considered by Pan-Europa Foods. It conducts financial analyses of 11 projects using NPV and lists them in order of ranking. It then discusses adjusting the analysis for risk, time value of money, project lifetimes, and size. Based on strategic fit, mandatory status, IRR, payback period, risk level, and other qualitative factors, the recommended projects are: Effluent Treatment, Eastward Expansion, Southward Expansion, Snack Foods, and Inventory Control.
This document summarizes a discussion between members of a local Project Management Institute meeting about the views, benefits, and barriers of project management. Several members provided responses to questions posed by the discussion leader. They noted that organizations' views of project management vary, with those using it seeing benefits and those not using it viewing it as unnecessary. Executives initially perceive project managers negatively but views improve with results. Barriers include poor communication and interpersonal skills, while benefits include reduced costs, efficient delivery, quality deliverables, and improved risk management.
This document discusses the qualities of an entrepreneurial project manager. It argues that entrepreneurial project managers see beyond the typical constraints of time, cost and scope, and understand how projects fit within an organization's strategic goals and culture. They are able to motivate teams by communicating the bigger picture and building strong relationships. Entrepreneurial managers also anticipate challenges and adapt to changing priorities. While they face barriers like lack of growth opportunities, organizations benefit from supporting entrepreneurial managers through training, mentoring and providing challenging assignments to help them grow with the company.
This document provides an introduction and overview of the book "Project Management: A Managerial Approach" by Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel. It discusses the growing use of project management in business and organizations. It positions the book as taking a managerial perspective on project management rather than a technical or specialized focus. The introduction explains that the book is intended to teach students how to manage projects from a holistic viewpoint.
Closing the Gap Between Project Management and Governance
In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, budgets are tight and resources are limited. Consequently, making decisions about which projects to pursue is vital in supporting an organization’s growth, vision, and value. For this dilemma, there is a powerful cost containment and risk mitigation strategy—a combination of IT governance and portfolio management. This approach is highly relevant for budget issues state agencies and departments currently face. With the proliferation of technology at greater and greater speed, the options that could bring potential benefit are seemingly endless. Gone are the days when a great technological idea was an end in itself. Technology has truly become an enabler across all sizes and types of organizations. The challenge now is to understand which business goals can be enabled by a technology and choose the best projects to accomplish those goals. The best way to ensure and demonstrate value to the organization is to know how these projects are supporting the organization financially and operationally. Implementing sound project management practices along with a governance framework can enable this kind of visibility and control.
Managing stakeholders as critical success factor in operational excellenceThe Jamilah H
Knowing stakeholders is the key thing in any transformational or continuous improvement initiatives, The presentation covers both high level and inter personal level of stake holders management techniques.
Among key contents are 7 Prevention Steps of Stakeholders misalignment and tools for Stakeholders Planning, Stakeholders Mapping, and Stakeholders Support Level.
Soft skills improvement is perceived as something intangible and doesn’t demonstrate increased results immediately. It can be labor intensive to observe each employee who is trained for different skills. To measure these skills correctly, it takes an unbiased professional to evaluate the behavioral changes. To develop effective measures of soft skills training, it is important to understand some of the drivers for implementing these programs in the first place. Many organizations implement soft skills programs to drive the professional development and growth of their employees. Organizations may identify key values and/or competencies and then build a training program to instill the values within their participants. In this session, we’ll discuss developing a plan for ROI to effectively measure the program and deliver quantifiable metrics to the organization.
Join us for this complimentary TICE Virtual Conference session. Your host, Julie Kirsch, director of program development at CohnReznick, will explore the challenges of measuring soft skills training, discuss how soft skills impact the business performance and strategies, and the various approaches that can be used to measure the program(s).
The document discusses using social networks in project management. It describes how social networks can provide benefits like increased business value, better stakeholder engagement, and improved collaboration for virtual teams. The document outlines how social networks can be applied to various project management areas such as scope definition, communications, collaboration, and risk management. It also provides examples of how tools like Twitter can facilitate project communications and information sharing through features like tweets, hashtags, and lists. Finally, the document discusses considerations for implementing social networks in projects, including training teams and defining rules for privacy and content management.
This document discusses the challenges of prediction in talent assessment. It notes that while predictive power is claimed to be increasing, organizations still face issues like disengagement and leadership failures. It outlines 7 challenges to accurate prediction: 1) Defining success is problematic, 2) Cause and consequence can be confused, 3) Research often uses small, unrepresentative samples, 4) Our theories of performance may not reflect reality, 5) Self-fulfilling prophecies can distort results, 6) Predictors can be incorrectly equated, and 7) Claims of predictive accuracy are difficult to evaluate. Addressing these challenges will help improve predictive models and decision-making in talent management.
Understanding Successful Project Portfolio DeliveryJohn Hall
Businesses must continually change and adapt to remain competitive in today's rapidly changing environment. Projects are key for implementing change, and successful delivery of an organization's project portfolio is critical to achieving strategic objectives. The document discusses how more mature approaches to project portfolio management that systematically plan for success across the entire process, from strategy through implementation, tend to be more effective in delivering results. It identifies common symptoms of less mature approaches and outlines categories of maturity from informal to bureaucratic.
A critical success factors for software project manager in GVTs within covid-...journalBEEI
The document discusses critical success factors for software project managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It begins by providing context on the increased reliance on global virtual teams due to the pandemic. Through a systematic literature review and survey, the study identifies 12 critical success factors for software project managers. These include leadership skills, communication skills, decision making skills, analytical thinking skills, technical skills, being optimistic, education background, building trust, teamwork skills, personality, focusing on client needs, and understanding different cultures. The survey respondents ranked leadership skills as the most important critical success factor.
The document discusses various planning and decision aids including knowledge management, forecasting techniques, fostering creativity, and brainstorming. It provides details on the components and goals of knowledge management, as well as how it can be used to create value for organizations. Forecasting aids that are described include the Delphi technique, simulation, and scenario forecasting. The creative process and Osborn's creativity model involving preparation, concentration, incubation, illumination, and verification stages are also outlined.
The document lists corporations that are part of the Project Management Forum and defines project managers, their responsibilities, and attributes needed for the job. It also lists generic core competencies related to project management, dividing them into those needed to understand the business environment, manage people, and apply technical/administrative aspects. The competencies are intended to help identify an employer or employee's needs and guide those interested in the project management profession.
The document discusses ways an offshore team improved engagement and ownership of a software project. The team increased communication, implemented regular status reporting, and delegated resources onsite. These changes built trust with partners and improved predictability. As a result, the offshore team took on more work, delivered additional features ahead of schedule, and received very positive feedback and requests for more offshoring from partners. However, challenges around testing automation, buffer management, and continuous learning remain.
The document discusses challenges in implementing project management practices in government organizations and innovative solutions adopted. It describes establishing a Project Management Office to introduce standardized processes, estimate projects more accurately using techniques like function point analysis, measure organizational performance through metrics and models, and implement tools like RFID for effort tracking, a project tracker, and balanced scorecards. The goal is to overcome challenges like rough estimates, scope creep, and improve project delivery in terms of cost, schedule and quality.
The document discusses the role of emotional intelligence in project management. It argues that while project managers need to focus on tasks and deliverables, overly focusing on tasks can damage relationships with project teams. Emotional intelligence skills like self-awareness, social awareness, relationship management and self-management can help project managers connect better with teams while still meeting goals. When project managers use emotional intelligence to build partnerships with teams through motivation and accountability, teams will work more effectively and report progress more accurately. The result is more successful project completion within budget and schedule.
This document critiques presentations that use "red herrings" to argue for agile over traditional project management approaches. It asserts that many criticisms of traditional approaches actually represent examples of bad project management practices, not limitations of the approach. The document recommends focusing on established processes for areas like problem detection, continuous improvement, and lessons learned rather than presented conjectures. It concludes that for agile to be taken seriously by business leaders, it needs to demonstrate how it improves established processes and show value in quantifiable business terms rather than anecdotal experiences.
This document discusses key challenges that organizations face when adapting agile methodologies. It outlines 7 main challenges: having no clear plan for agile adaptation; believing training is enough without coaching; lack of committed agile coaches; expecting revolutionary changes immediately; viewing openness as a threat; lack of self-discipline and teamwork; and communication gaps within the organization. The document provides an overview of agile methodology and principles and recommends a phased change management approach when transitioning to agile in order to address challenges and have a successful transformation.
This document discusses applying innovative models and theories to project management. It describes four main innovative concepts: TRIZ, morphological analysis, system concept-knowledge theory, and the method of focal objects. TRIZ involves analyzing patents to identify common inventive principles to solve problems and eliminate conflicts. Morphological analysis works backwards from outcomes to components rather than vice versa. The document argues that using these innovative models in project modeling software could provide more solution options to meet client objectives compared to current practices.
This document discusses mantras for innovative project management and creating a happy workforce for software/IT project managers. It analyzes common aspirations of young Indian IT professionals, such as work-life balance, new learning opportunities, and challenging roles. The document proposes that project managers can increase worker happiness and productivity by helping fulfill these aspirations. It presents frameworks for understanding individual aspirations, including an aspiration pyramid with work-life balance at the bottom and career growth aspirations like new learning and challenging roles at the top. The document also provides examples of project-level enablers a manager could implement to help team members achieve their aspirations.
The Art of Building a Process Design TeamTroy DuMoulin
The document discusses best practices for building an effective ITSM process design team. It recommends a blended approach using both internal and external resources. Key recommendations include establishing a formal project structure, sourcing an experienced external advisor, developing a small part-time internal team, gathering feedback from stakeholders, and planning rapid deployment to drive organizational change through internal involvement and "sweat equity".
Managing stakeholder expectations is one of the most important tasks for a project manager. It involves identifying all stakeholders, understanding their interests and level of influence, and communicating with them throughout the project. Key tools for managing stakeholders include stakeholder analysis grids to categorize them, expectation management matrices to clarify priorities, and issue logs to track concerns. Project managers must also decentralize decision-making, be transparent with information, and treat all stakeholders equitably regardless of their level of power or interest. While technology can aid communication, the most important skills are listening to understand stakeholders and building trust through clear, concise dialogue.
Hudson is a leading talent management and recruitment firm that operates globally. They provide services such as assessment centers, competency modeling, leadership development, and succession planning to help clients identify talent gaps, training needs, and high potential employees. Assessment centers involve multiple exercises and assessments to evaluate candidates on key competencies. They provide comprehensive data on strengths, weaknesses, and development areas. Case studies show that using assessment centers versus interviews alone can significantly reduce new hire turnover. Assessment centers also help companies select the right candidates for leadership development programs and global roles.
Este documento presenta 4 supuestos de dinámicas de grupo. El primer supuesto involucra a una tripulación espacial que debe ordenar 15 objetos por orden de importancia para su supervivencia después de un aterrizaje de emergencia en la luna. El segundo supuesto involucra a pasajeros que deben decidir quiénes abordarán una embarcación cuando el número de pasajeros excede la capacidad. El tercer supuesto plantea una emergencia en un avión donde no hay suficientes paracaídas para todos los pasajeros. El cuarto sup
Este documento describe un ejercicio de toma de decisiones en grupo en el que los participantes deben asumir roles asignados y debatir quién debe abandonar un globo aerostático dañado para ser devorado por tiburones, a fin de salvar a los demás. Los participantes incluyen un sacerdote, una periodista, un asesor político, una profesora y una enfermera. Deben llegar a un acuerdo unánime en 20 minutos basándose en argumentos acordes a sus roles respectivos.
El resumen es el siguiente:
1. El consultor analizará la situación financiera de Terra Experts S.A. y propondrá mejoras a las ventas y el mercadeo.
2. Se le entrega información adicional sobre la estructura organizacional de la empresa para que el consultor y su equipo analicen y propongan soluciones integrales.
3. El equipo de expertos presentará propuestas sobre la estructura organizacional y soluciones puntuales a interrogantes de la junta directiva sobre el futuro de la empresa.
Soft skills improvement is perceived as something intangible and doesn’t demonstrate increased results immediately. It can be labor intensive to observe each employee who is trained for different skills. To measure these skills correctly, it takes an unbiased professional to evaluate the behavioral changes. To develop effective measures of soft skills training, it is important to understand some of the drivers for implementing these programs in the first place. Many organizations implement soft skills programs to drive the professional development and growth of their employees. Organizations may identify key values and/or competencies and then build a training program to instill the values within their participants. In this session, we’ll discuss developing a plan for ROI to effectively measure the program and deliver quantifiable metrics to the organization.
Join us for this complimentary TICE Virtual Conference session. Your host, Julie Kirsch, director of program development at CohnReznick, will explore the challenges of measuring soft skills training, discuss how soft skills impact the business performance and strategies, and the various approaches that can be used to measure the program(s).
The document discusses using social networks in project management. It describes how social networks can provide benefits like increased business value, better stakeholder engagement, and improved collaboration for virtual teams. The document outlines how social networks can be applied to various project management areas such as scope definition, communications, collaboration, and risk management. It also provides examples of how tools like Twitter can facilitate project communications and information sharing through features like tweets, hashtags, and lists. Finally, the document discusses considerations for implementing social networks in projects, including training teams and defining rules for privacy and content management.
This document discusses the challenges of prediction in talent assessment. It notes that while predictive power is claimed to be increasing, organizations still face issues like disengagement and leadership failures. It outlines 7 challenges to accurate prediction: 1) Defining success is problematic, 2) Cause and consequence can be confused, 3) Research often uses small, unrepresentative samples, 4) Our theories of performance may not reflect reality, 5) Self-fulfilling prophecies can distort results, 6) Predictors can be incorrectly equated, and 7) Claims of predictive accuracy are difficult to evaluate. Addressing these challenges will help improve predictive models and decision-making in talent management.
Understanding Successful Project Portfolio DeliveryJohn Hall
Businesses must continually change and adapt to remain competitive in today's rapidly changing environment. Projects are key for implementing change, and successful delivery of an organization's project portfolio is critical to achieving strategic objectives. The document discusses how more mature approaches to project portfolio management that systematically plan for success across the entire process, from strategy through implementation, tend to be more effective in delivering results. It identifies common symptoms of less mature approaches and outlines categories of maturity from informal to bureaucratic.
A critical success factors for software project manager in GVTs within covid-...journalBEEI
The document discusses critical success factors for software project managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It begins by providing context on the increased reliance on global virtual teams due to the pandemic. Through a systematic literature review and survey, the study identifies 12 critical success factors for software project managers. These include leadership skills, communication skills, decision making skills, analytical thinking skills, technical skills, being optimistic, education background, building trust, teamwork skills, personality, focusing on client needs, and understanding different cultures. The survey respondents ranked leadership skills as the most important critical success factor.
The document discusses various planning and decision aids including knowledge management, forecasting techniques, fostering creativity, and brainstorming. It provides details on the components and goals of knowledge management, as well as how it can be used to create value for organizations. Forecasting aids that are described include the Delphi technique, simulation, and scenario forecasting. The creative process and Osborn's creativity model involving preparation, concentration, incubation, illumination, and verification stages are also outlined.
The document lists corporations that are part of the Project Management Forum and defines project managers, their responsibilities, and attributes needed for the job. It also lists generic core competencies related to project management, dividing them into those needed to understand the business environment, manage people, and apply technical/administrative aspects. The competencies are intended to help identify an employer or employee's needs and guide those interested in the project management profession.
The document discusses ways an offshore team improved engagement and ownership of a software project. The team increased communication, implemented regular status reporting, and delegated resources onsite. These changes built trust with partners and improved predictability. As a result, the offshore team took on more work, delivered additional features ahead of schedule, and received very positive feedback and requests for more offshoring from partners. However, challenges around testing automation, buffer management, and continuous learning remain.
The document discusses challenges in implementing project management practices in government organizations and innovative solutions adopted. It describes establishing a Project Management Office to introduce standardized processes, estimate projects more accurately using techniques like function point analysis, measure organizational performance through metrics and models, and implement tools like RFID for effort tracking, a project tracker, and balanced scorecards. The goal is to overcome challenges like rough estimates, scope creep, and improve project delivery in terms of cost, schedule and quality.
The document discusses the role of emotional intelligence in project management. It argues that while project managers need to focus on tasks and deliverables, overly focusing on tasks can damage relationships with project teams. Emotional intelligence skills like self-awareness, social awareness, relationship management and self-management can help project managers connect better with teams while still meeting goals. When project managers use emotional intelligence to build partnerships with teams through motivation and accountability, teams will work more effectively and report progress more accurately. The result is more successful project completion within budget and schedule.
This document critiques presentations that use "red herrings" to argue for agile over traditional project management approaches. It asserts that many criticisms of traditional approaches actually represent examples of bad project management practices, not limitations of the approach. The document recommends focusing on established processes for areas like problem detection, continuous improvement, and lessons learned rather than presented conjectures. It concludes that for agile to be taken seriously by business leaders, it needs to demonstrate how it improves established processes and show value in quantifiable business terms rather than anecdotal experiences.
This document discusses key challenges that organizations face when adapting agile methodologies. It outlines 7 main challenges: having no clear plan for agile adaptation; believing training is enough without coaching; lack of committed agile coaches; expecting revolutionary changes immediately; viewing openness as a threat; lack of self-discipline and teamwork; and communication gaps within the organization. The document provides an overview of agile methodology and principles and recommends a phased change management approach when transitioning to agile in order to address challenges and have a successful transformation.
This document discusses applying innovative models and theories to project management. It describes four main innovative concepts: TRIZ, morphological analysis, system concept-knowledge theory, and the method of focal objects. TRIZ involves analyzing patents to identify common inventive principles to solve problems and eliminate conflicts. Morphological analysis works backwards from outcomes to components rather than vice versa. The document argues that using these innovative models in project modeling software could provide more solution options to meet client objectives compared to current practices.
This document discusses mantras for innovative project management and creating a happy workforce for software/IT project managers. It analyzes common aspirations of young Indian IT professionals, such as work-life balance, new learning opportunities, and challenging roles. The document proposes that project managers can increase worker happiness and productivity by helping fulfill these aspirations. It presents frameworks for understanding individual aspirations, including an aspiration pyramid with work-life balance at the bottom and career growth aspirations like new learning and challenging roles at the top. The document also provides examples of project-level enablers a manager could implement to help team members achieve their aspirations.
The Art of Building a Process Design TeamTroy DuMoulin
The document discusses best practices for building an effective ITSM process design team. It recommends a blended approach using both internal and external resources. Key recommendations include establishing a formal project structure, sourcing an experienced external advisor, developing a small part-time internal team, gathering feedback from stakeholders, and planning rapid deployment to drive organizational change through internal involvement and "sweat equity".
Managing stakeholder expectations is one of the most important tasks for a project manager. It involves identifying all stakeholders, understanding their interests and level of influence, and communicating with them throughout the project. Key tools for managing stakeholders include stakeholder analysis grids to categorize them, expectation management matrices to clarify priorities, and issue logs to track concerns. Project managers must also decentralize decision-making, be transparent with information, and treat all stakeholders equitably regardless of their level of power or interest. While technology can aid communication, the most important skills are listening to understand stakeholders and building trust through clear, concise dialogue.
Hudson is a leading talent management and recruitment firm that operates globally. They provide services such as assessment centers, competency modeling, leadership development, and succession planning to help clients identify talent gaps, training needs, and high potential employees. Assessment centers involve multiple exercises and assessments to evaluate candidates on key competencies. They provide comprehensive data on strengths, weaknesses, and development areas. Case studies show that using assessment centers versus interviews alone can significantly reduce new hire turnover. Assessment centers also help companies select the right candidates for leadership development programs and global roles.
Este documento presenta 4 supuestos de dinámicas de grupo. El primer supuesto involucra a una tripulación espacial que debe ordenar 15 objetos por orden de importancia para su supervivencia después de un aterrizaje de emergencia en la luna. El segundo supuesto involucra a pasajeros que deben decidir quiénes abordarán una embarcación cuando el número de pasajeros excede la capacidad. El tercer supuesto plantea una emergencia en un avión donde no hay suficientes paracaídas para todos los pasajeros. El cuarto sup
Este documento describe un ejercicio de toma de decisiones en grupo en el que los participantes deben asumir roles asignados y debatir quién debe abandonar un globo aerostático dañado para ser devorado por tiburones, a fin de salvar a los demás. Los participantes incluyen un sacerdote, una periodista, un asesor político, una profesora y una enfermera. Deben llegar a un acuerdo unánime en 20 minutos basándose en argumentos acordes a sus roles respectivos.
El resumen es el siguiente:
1. El consultor analizará la situación financiera de Terra Experts S.A. y propondrá mejoras a las ventas y el mercadeo.
2. Se le entrega información adicional sobre la estructura organizacional de la empresa para que el consultor y su equipo analicen y propongan soluciones integrales.
3. El equipo de expertos presentará propuestas sobre la estructura organizacional y soluciones puntuales a interrogantes de la junta directiva sobre el futuro de la empresa.
Assessment Center - How to assess, select and develop the right TALENTHora Tjitra
Assessment Center - How to assess, select and develop the right TALENT.
Assessment Center is considered as one the selection and development tools with the highest validity, esp. in predicting the leadership quality and career success.
Este caso describe problemas en un departamento de una empresa de distribución debido a la actitud inadecuada de un jefe de sección. No ha cumplido con los objetivos económicos este trimestre y se niega a cambiar su estrategia comercial a pesar de las solicitudes de su jefe inmediato. En una reunión, el jefe se entera de que el empleado se siente desaprovechado y que la compañía no ha cumplido sus expectativas.
Este documento presenta 10 casos prácticos para aplicar el Enfoque del Marco Lógico (EML) al diseño de proyectos de desarrollo. Los autores han elaborado estos casos basados en su experiencia impartiendo cursos sobre el EML. El objetivo es que sirvan como ejercicios prácticos para familiarizarse con cada paso del método. Adicionalmente, se incluyen tres ejemplos de proyectos reales diseñados con el EML.
Este documento presenta una conferencia introductoria sobre la selección de personal por competencias. Explica que la selección por competencias evalúa los conocimientos, habilidades, aptitudes y actitudes de los candidatos. También describe cómo la descripción y perfil del puesto son importantes en este proceso, y analiza las herramientas comúnmente usadas como cuestionarios, casos, ejercicios y entrevistas. Finalmente, invita a los asistentes a inscribirse en un curso formal sobre este tema.
This document discusses wages and salary administration. It covers developing a pay system through job evaluation and market surveys, establishing pay structures, and administering individual pay adjustments while monitoring the system. It also discusses factors affecting compensation levels and the purpose of wages. Principles of compensation administration and different types of compensation like direct, indirect, and total compensation are defined.
Jorge trabaja actualmente como operario en una fábrica de muebles de madera y aspira a un ascenso como supervisor de control de calidad. Posee experiencia en procesos de acabados de madera pero sus superiores han identificado algunas deficiencias en el manejo de materiales tóxicos y en el orden y limpieza de su área de trabajo.
Project Manager Competences And Selectionmirjanacurcic
The document discusses selecting project managers and describes assessing their social skills using an assessment center method. It notes that an assessment center involves exercises like group discussions and role plays to evaluate candidates on various social dimensions. The assessment center process results in data on each participant's social skills that can be used for selection and development purposes. It is an objective structured process aimed at measuring a range of social indicators over a longer period than a typical interview.
The document discusses various processes for executing projects, including acquiring and developing project teams. It describes techniques for acquiring team members through pre-assignment, acquisition, and negotiation. It also discusses functions of virtual teams and skills required for developing project teams, such as interpersonal skills and training. The document outlines techniques for managing project teams through observation, performance appraisals, and conflict management. It discusses methods for distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, directing project execution through work performance reporting, and performing quality assurance.
1Running Head Leading and Managing HR Project7Leading a.docxdrennanmicah
1
Running Head: Leading and Managing HR Project
7
Leading and Managing HR Project
Leading and Managing HR Project
Introduction
Effective leadership is all about communicating effectively. While hiring a manager, good communication skill is a primary component to put into consideration. Helping a manager to make sure that persuasion, responsibility, creativity, and management of value system as well as providing support and motivation to teams. They should have the power to inspire and convince teams to work extra hard to achieve the targeted goals of the organization. Made possible by effective leading. Sound planning, monitoring and communicating. Effective communication acts as an added advantage for a leader to lead effectively (Armstrong & Michael, 2016). The question, what are the key points managers must keep vividly in their minds while communicating with their teams and suggestions to improve communication to make leadership more effective is a topic of discussion in every organization. Thus, forms the basis of our discussion.
Effective and accurate communication act as an essential factor to grow an efficient and successful leader or manager. To accomplish professional success, managers must be active and convincing communicators. It is very vital for managers and his team to learn how to communicate effectively and to aid in successfully completing projects and enable the organization to achieve success and grow. As if that is not enough, communication allows every employee to share what they have and give their opinions. Good communication yields better understanding and trust among people, empower them to follow core principles and values that their leaders want to inculcate in them (Armstrong & Michael, 2016). Lack or absence of excellent communication leads to failure to reach goals and the overall decline of the organization. Interacting with the team freely, a manager will increase the potential of having the work done in time. Good leaders are always aware that effective communication is obtained through just a single process. It is through listening and speaking that managers are said to have good communication. Managers should hence set aside objective that they must achieve after communicating.
Review and understand the types of project manager power listed and defined in the textbook and select and define any two you feel would be relevant to your current project and explain why. Be specific
There are five types of project power manager; formal or legitimate power, reward power, punishment power, expert power, and relational power. One can have all these powers, but to complete the project, I will need to have at least four of them (Heldman & Kim, 2018). Since am doing my final project on leading and managing the Human Resource project, I will consider expert and reward powers. Formal power will help me to establish my own authority as the lead of the project, while expert power will help me gain .
1092019 New Transcript Templatemedia.capella.educoursem.docxaulasnilda
10/9/2019 New Transcript Template
media.capella.edu/coursemedia/MBA9128/simulation/MBA9128_transcript.html 1/12
P r i n t
PROJECT MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS AT KEYSTONE
MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
As the new Project O�ce Director for Keystone Management, Aaron has been asked to participate in the
corporate Continuous Process Improvement initiatives by identifying recommendations for speci�c aspects of
Keystone's project management methodology.
To meet this requirement, Aaron began by talking with project managers about their experience and insights,
which he then translated into strategies aimed at improving the process, environment, and quality of project
management at Keystone Management.
Your goal is to review the information Aaron gathered and his recommendations for each of the six topics in
this simulation. You will then clarify how improvements in each area can contribute to improvements at
Keystone. Each topic corresponds with a unit in the course. Although you may choose to complete each topic
in conjunction with the course unit, you may also want to follow the simulation from beginning to end to see
how the concepts in each topic relate. Along the way, we will provide you with the following:
Project Manager re�ections.
Aaron's recommendations.
Opportunities to clarify improvement opportunities.
Feedback on improvement opportunities.
Topic summaries.
INSTRUCTIONS
In this simulation, you will work through a total of six topics related to project management improvements for
Keystone Management. For each topic, you will be presented with project manager re�ections and Aaron's
recommendations. You will use this information to clarify how improvements in each area can contribute to
improvements for Keystone Management. Feedback will be provided on your responses.
Since each topic corresponds with a unit in the course, you can either complete each topic in conjunction with
the course unit, or follow the simulation from beginning to end to see how the concepts in each topic relate.
TOPIC 1: DEFINING REQUIREMENTS
What role do project requirements play in project management quality and success?
Figure of Requirements De�nition
C r e d i t s
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This �gure illustrates how di�erent types of requirements are connected and de�ned.
Business requirements are de�ned by the project sponsor.
Size and complexity information is de�ned by the project management team.
Functional and non-functional requirements are de�ned by both the development and testing teams.
Expectations and constraints are de�ned by other stakeholders.
User requirements are de�ned by user representatives.
Aaron began his discussions with project managers by stating that from his experience, well-de�ned
requirements are the cornerstone for project success and quality results.
Review the project manager responses and Aaron's recom ...
The document discusses important concepts for effective software project management including focusing on people, product, process, and project. It emphasizes that defining project scope and establishing clear objectives at the beginning of a project are critical first steps. Finally, it outlines factors for selecting an appropriate software development process model and adapting it to the specific project.
The document discusses lessons for project managers in their role. It identifies project management as an "accidental profession" for two reasons: 1) project managers are often not formally selected and trained, and 2) many individuals pursue project management without defining a clear career path. It then provides 12 guidelines for project managers to address common problems, such as understanding stakeholder expectations, using flexible leadership styles, and maintaining appropriate planning. The guidelines range from understanding the project context to effective time management.
The document discusses software project management. It covers defining a project, the three constraints of scope, time and cost, characteristics of software projects, identifying stakeholders, and setting SMART objectives. It also discusses the functions, responsibilities and abilities of a project manager, as well as different organizational structures for projects.
The document discusses key aspects of software project management including the 4Ps - People, Product, Process, Project. It describes how people are the most important factor for success and discusses PM-CMM for enhancing people capabilities. It also discusses defining product scope and decomposing problems. Common process framework activities and different process models are covered. Finally, it discusses signs of project risk and the W5HH principle for project planning.
The 5 Critical Elements to Creating a Project Management Center of ExcellenceFlevy.com Best Practices
Original article from the Flevy business blog can be found here:
http://flevy.com/blog/the-5-critical-elements-to-creating-a-project-management-centre-of-excellence/
Creating a Project Management Centre of Excellence is the driving force that takes an organization forward to realize their project management mandate. It encompasses the process of creating a strategy for project management, re-shaping the culture to be more focused on the consistency in the management of projects and implementing a project management process.
Creating a Project Management Centre of Excellence
project_management_COEA Centre of Excellence is a business unit that has organization-wide authority. The key elements of a successful Project Management Centre of Excellence include:
Vision and Strategies
A clear vision of what it represents and the strategies to identify how it will reach this vision in the short and long term.
Competencies
The selection of resources based on project competency requirements compared to actual project resource competencies. The identification of coaching, training and other developmental activities to close any competency gap.
Culture
How to re-shape the organizational culture to be more supportive of the consistency in the management of projects.
Processes
The right processes, tools and templates that are helpful and meaningful to project managers and their teams.
Quality
The quality criteria for the project management framework, processes and documents.
1. Create the Vision and Strategies
One approach to creating a vision for the Centre of Excellence is to brainstorm ideas that focus on what the future will look like. Start by creating scenarios that describe what the Centre will be doing 5 years into the future. What are some of the things that they will be doing that reflect a successful Centre of Excellence? What will employees and customers be saying about them? How did they get there?
The outcome of this process is the creation of a vision statement for the Project Management Centre of Excellence. Determine how this vision aligns and supports the organization’s strategic direction.
The alignment of the Centre of Excellence to the goals of the organization is key to driving strategy implementation. Strategies translate this vision into reality. They close the gap between the present and the “ideal” future described in the vision scenarios. These strategies must be described clearly so that the organization understands and accepts them.
Project Management Project Manager ProjectErin Moore
Project 2010 is a useful tool for project management that allows users to create, schedule, arrange, and link tasks. It provides structure for managing projects through outlines and connected tasks. Users can easily create new projects, tasks, and establish relationships between tasks. Project 2010's ease of use makes it suitable for project management in healthcare and other fields.
This document discusses tools and techniques for managing projects that have encountered difficulties and are at risk of failing. It provides two case studies as examples. The first case study describes a project that was 25% complete that was using a "big bang" approach across several countries. Early warning signs identified communication, team, and scope issues. The project was turned around by improving communication, quantifying scope changes, and better business/project alignment. The second case study describes a project 70% through time that faced significant technology challenges. Issues involved new technology, expanded scope, dispersed teams, and unaddressed risks. The project was salvaged by addressing these issues.
Attitude Adjustment (contribution to PM Network Magazine, May 2015 IssueChristian de Loës
The document summarizes advice from seven experienced program managers on how project managers can prepare to take on broader, more strategic program manager roles. Some key points include:
- Be proactive in resolving conflicts rather than reactive, think about governance and stakeholder alignment.
- When gaining responsibilities as a program manager, you give up some direct control over project tasks but look for risks and issues across projects.
- Get senior management aligned around strategic objectives, think like an executive, and focus on benefits realization.
- Develop a program plan that visualizes how projects fit together and achieve organizational objectives. Understand team personalities to select the right project managers.
The document summarizes advice from seven experienced program managers on how project managers can prepare to take on broader, more strategic program manager roles. Some key points include:
- Be proactive in resolving conflicts rather than reactive, think about governance and stakeholder alignment.
- When gaining responsibilities as a program manager, you give up some direct control over project tasks but look for risks and issues across projects.
- Think and act strategically, ensure executive sponsorship of the program, and help stakeholders visualize progress toward benefits.
- Develop a program plan that connects all projects and activities to organizational objectives, and understand team personalities to select the right project managers.
Pearson HND BTEC Level 5 HNDManaging a Successful Business Pr.docxAASTHA76
Pearson HND BTEC Level 5 HND
Managing a Successful Business Project (MSBP)
LO 1
[email protected]
Managing a Successful Business Project
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module you will be able to:
Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme.
Conduct small-scale research, information gathering and data collection to generate knowledge to support your project.
Present your project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis.
Reflect on the value you have gained from conducting a project and its usefulness to support sustainable organisational performance.
LO1 : Establish project aims, objectives and timeframes based on the chosen theme.
P1 - Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
P2 - Produce a project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality, communication, risk and resources.
P3 - Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and stages for completion.
What is project management and what does it involve?
What is project management and what does it involve?
Most firms day to day operations serve customers through a network of inter connecting business processes, as business volumes change, the loading on these processes can increase or decrease (Nokes et. al. 2003) and there is often a need for some adaption in each process.
There may be a cumulative effect of many adaptions just to change of one of the processes, and as markets are subject to rapid change firms cannot afford to wait for gradual adaptions to take effect, therefore projects are required to provide a structure for making changes at a faster rate.
Nokes et al suggests that “ as markets increase and product cycles shorten the importance of projects will increase”. Projects are required to replace old and inefficient ways of doing things to methods better suited to modern market conditions.
Projects and the management of projects may be needed to tackle new problems.
Benefit of using case studies
In the aftermath of a series of acquisitions and mergers, a large financial services firm found itself attempting to operate with nearly seven hundred job titles for many similar positions due to the continued use of multiple legacy HR systems. The organization wanted to develop and implement a common set of job families and titles that could be used across the entire organization. Realizing the complexity of the task as well as a lack of internal expertise, they decided to seek external resources to carry out the work (Kaplan & Norton, 1996).
In order to begin developing a general overview of the project’s scope and cost, it is often helpful to collect information about how others have approached the same issue. This can be done through informal benchmarking efforts, consulting with colleagues.
8 Essential Interpersonal Skills Project Manager Must Have! PMExamSmartNotes
** Special announcement: Sign-up for my free PMP course now > http://bit.ly/freepmpcourse
This presentation talks about the 8 essential interpersonal skills that a project manager must understand and practice. This topic is part of PMBOK (Tools and Techniques of Manage Project Team and Develop Project Team processes from Project Human Resources Management knowledge area) and is helpful in your preparation for PMP or CAPM certification exams. Or you can use this to understand more about project management.
For more detailed study notes visit www.PMExamSmartNotes.com.
The document discusses best practices for engaging pricing consultants to achieve mutually successful project outcomes. It provides examples of pricing consulting projects, outlines factors for success like clear roles and senior management support, and shares insights from a practitioner survey. The survey found regular progress reporting and a pre-determined implementation plan were critical, while ownership and follow-through by the client were also important.
Project management involves planning, monitoring, and controlling the people, processes, and events involved in software development. A project manager organizes the team and focuses them on meeting customer needs and producing high quality products on time and within budget. Key aspects of project management include understanding the four Ps (People, Product, Process, Project), selecting an appropriate process for the team and product, and establishing plans, tasks and estimates. Effective communication and organization of team members and roles is also important for project success.
Similar to Assessment center for_project_managers (20)
1. ASSESSMENT CENTER FOR IDENTIFYING
POTENTIAL PROJECT MANAGERS: A CHANCE FOR
SYSTEMATIC HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Dipl. Psych. Ingo Heyn, ALLIANZ LEBENSVERSICHERUNGS-AG, Germany, 1999
Paper for the 6th European Conference on Software Quality 1999 in Vienna
Summary:
This paper presents the concept of an assessment center that was applied as
a method to evaluate employees in the department of software development
in regard to the social skills necessary to ensure the production of high
quality software in a team. The results of the assessment center are of
multiple use. On an individual level, the assessment center provides
important information for the further personal and professional development
of the candidate. The assessment center and analysis have revealed that there
is a category of large scale projects that places special demands on the
project managers that are not necessarily provable by managing smaller
projects successfully. Social skills such as dealing effectively with a variety
of people in a context of various expectations, points of view and conflicts
of interest are tested much more cost effectively in a simulation prior to
managing a large scale project in reality. In addition, the assessment center
turned out to be an important impulse impacting organizational
development.
Ingo Heyn, Dipl.-Psych., Entwicklung für Mensch und Organisation
Oeleweg 64, CH-4574 Nennigkofen,
phone: +41 32 622 5111, e-mail: Ingo.Heyn@bluewin.ch
1 Introduction
An assessment center is a procedure (not a location) that uses multiple techniques to evaluate
employees for a variety of manpower purposes and decisions (Thornton and Byham, 1982).
The effectiveness of the assessment center method has already been proven in practice on
numerous occasions [...] and is used with particular success as a method for potential
evaluation and management development (Seegers, 1989). This statement can be confirmed
without hesitation by the positive results we have gathered by conducting numerous
assessment centers for selecting potential managers at Allianz-Lebensversicherungs-AG.
While there is a long lasting tradition of evaluating managers systematically before they are
promoted to a higher level of management, employees in the software department became
project managers on a much more nebulous basis. The reason for this discrepancy is an
historical one. In the early stages of software development important projects were always
managed by managers on a hierarchical level. As the number of projects increased,
responsibility of leading a project team spread to the level of employees on entry level.
2. An analysis of the, up to then, informal process of selection showed that there were three
criteria for the decision to select a project manager (in order of priority): technical expertise,
experience in managing a project and availability. In the last years, software projects have
grown more complex and more costly. Meeting deadlines is more important than ever in a
growing and liberated European and global market. Thus finding the correct answer to the
question “Who is going to manage the project?” is a decisive aspect of success and failure in
business. However, being an excellent project manager is not a matter of technical expertise
but of being a good organizer and communicator. Tom DeMarco puts it this way: „If software
development were just coding and debugging, we might get away with some kind of
groupware, but the bread-and-butter activity of a software engineer is talking to another
person. That’s how we spend nearly half our time“ (DeMarco, 1995). However, it is not only
the quality of the software to be developed that is at stake.
According to Ashkenas et al (1996), there are at least four types of boundaries that
characterize most organizations and keep it from developing toward a high performance
organization: vertical boundaries between levels and ranks of people; horizontal boundaries
between functions and disciplines; external boundaries between the organization and its
suppliers, customers, and regulators; and geographic boundaries between nations, cultures and
markets. In my view, project teams, by virtue of consisting of employees belonging to
different units of organization and / or levels of management, play an essential role in the
process of making those boundaries more permeable. However, whether the work of a project
team actually serves this function or not depends very much on the tenacity, ability and
willingness of the project manager to integrate conflicting ideas and interests rather than
simply attempting to circumvent conflicts and pleasing everyone. It is obvious that the
demands on the social skills of a project manager cannot be underestimated and must not be
neglected if quality software is to be developed and if the further development of the
organizational culture is at stake.
Therefore, in order to systematically improve the selection process aimed at assigning the
management of a large scale project to the right person the department of human resources
and the department of software development decided to develop an assessment center to
evaluate the social skills of potential project managers.
2 The Concept
It was clear from the beginning, that neither technical or planning skills should be the focus of
the assessment center since those skills are assessed on other occasions.
In order to assess the social skills of the candidates in realistic social situations, we decided to
set up a scenario of an insurance company whose CEO has decided to enhance the presence of
the company and the possibilities of communication with potential clients on the Internet.
Although the CEO of the insurance company is convinced that this is a promising course to
take, there are many problems to solve before being able to be virtually present and
communicate with clients effectively on the Internet. There are technical problems to solve
(e.g. aspects of secure data exchange with the client and the use of new programming
techniques). There are problems on both social and cultural levels. Prior to this time,
salespeople have personally sold insurance policies to their clients face to face. They are now
afraid that someone is attempting to force them to use a new technology which they believe to
be unnecessary. There are several competing ideas within the team regarding the best way to
meet the challenge of the project.
3. 2.1 Dimensions of Observation
In order to obtain the dimensions of observation we first asked all senior managers and
successful project managers in the software department to provide a list of all the demands on
a manager of a complex project. In other words, we asked for a detailed job description
focussing on social skills.
This task turned out to be an important impulse impacting organizational development: The
managers were forced to become aware of their own expectations, discuss them with their
colleagues and reach an agreement. This impulse was reinforced by having some of the senior
managers observe the candidates in the assessment center and discuss and evaluate their
observations afterwards.
The items on the list of social skills necessary for a project manager were categorized
according to six dimensions (see Table 1):
Table 1: description of the observable dimensions
Dimension Description
Structures clearly the discussion while being in the role of the
moderator; presents and explains the topic to be discussed and
Analytical skills worked on; focuses the discussion on the essentials of the topic to be
discussed and the decision to be made; delegates the solution of
minor problems to a smaller group or a member of the team
Is willing to make decisions; is goal oriented in discussions;
organizes meetings and project reviews on time ; controls and
Decisiveness and
supervises the progress of the project and the quality of the results;
leadership
sets observable standards of quality; keeps the client informed about
requirements and important mile stones in a timely manner.
Chooses appropriate means of communication according to purpose:
phone, face-to-face, or meeting; supports effective and efficient
Communication skills discussions in the team by moderating the discussion appropriately
and visualizing items to be discussed, important facts and results. Is
able to connect with people.
Is willing to articulate not only ideas readily agreed upon but also
takes a stance for uncommon points of view; keeps conflicts of
interest within the team; provides a framework for conflict resolution
within the team only as long as there is a realistic chance for success.
Conflict resolution Otherwise he delegates solution of conflicts to managers at higher
skills levels, but not without making realistic suggestions concerning
possible alternatives of further action.
He does not deny problems and includes all persons involved and
necessary to solve the conflict.
Entrepreneurial spirit Controls the budget; is sensitive to the economical aspect of
and economical decisions or additional features that the client wants to be added to
resource management the product profile already agreed upon
Skilled in persuasion Is able to create a group sense of purpose. The team members
and motivation identify with the goal contract and accept the requirements.
Appreciates effort and achievements. Is able to create a sense of
togetherness even in the face of problems or crises.
4. 2.2 Exercises
According to the given scenario we developed five role plays that simulate specific situations
typical of a demanding project in order to assess the social skills of the candidate. An
essential feature of the concept presented is that the five exercises are all part of one general
scenario and move along a time line of about six months. However, in order to keep the
simulation manageable and comparable among the candidates, we decided to keep the starting
conditions in each role play identical – without regard to the actual course of action in the
former role play.
In the following the content of the five role plays is roughly outlined. The reader should keep
in mind that such role plays are easily described on a superficial level. However, developing a
role play of high quality is very time consuming, especially if the role plays are
interconnected. In order to obtain high quality we invested more than six months in the entire
process of development. This included testing the role plays with volunteers and fine tuning
several times before starting the first assessment center. The time and energy needed for
shaping the characters, deciding what information is known to whom at what time as well as
preparing all the papers and hand-outs necessary to make the simulation convincing and
realistic should not be underestimated.
Criteria for determining the quality of the role plays were observability of the dimensions,
validity of the content and the delicate balance between the complexity and the simplicity of
the scenario that would allow all role players to act realistically according to the character they
were to embody and the possible course of action as it develops dynamically during a specific
role play.
We used trained role players, each of whom was prompted with general but also additional
role-specific information to ensure a certain dynamic in a given role play. The role players
were recruited among employees of the software department who were willing to volunteer.
In the following, the scenarios of the five role plays is described briefly.
First Meeting: „Getting started“
Scenario: the members of the team have never worked together as a team before. Each team
member is aware of the outlines of the goal: enhancing the possibilities of interaction
between the company and its clients on the Internet while fulfilling certain given
requirements. The project manager must give the group the opportunity to warm up as a team.
It is also important that he makes sure that there is a common understanding of the goal, a
group sense of purpose and that existing misunderstandings are clarified by the end of the
meeting. The project manager is also expected to work out a plan for further action with the
members of the team.
One to one meeting with a member of the team: „more quality is needed“
Scenario: the project manager is repeatedly dissatisfied with the quality of work done by one
of the team members. He needs to clarify the expectations in regard to quality and meeting
deadlines. He is expected to establish a commitment for the goal of the project.
Team discussion: „The client wants additional software features“
Scenario: Although in the beginning of the project the sales department was rather skeptical of
the new activities around the Internet, it has now discovered the new possibilities of selling
insurance using the Internet as a tool. A senior manager of the sales department now demands
that even more features of the software be developed. The new ideas are certainly interesting
5. but the remaining resources in terms of time and budget do not allow for meeting most of the
new demands. There are close and well established connections between the sales department
and the CEO of the insurance company. The senior manager has strong expectations
concerning a positive reaction of the project manager.
One to one meeting with a manager on a higher level of hierarchy: „more capacity is needed“
Scenario: the project has entered a phase in which much more programming capacity is
needed. The technical problems concerning the security of data interchange are greater than
expected. The project manager must ask for more capacity to program and debug the software
needed.
Team discussion: „deadline in danger“
Scenario: Further unexpected problems arise. These can be partially traced to a decision made
during an early phase of the project. At the time there was disagreement among the team
members concerning this decision. Meeting the deadline seems almost impossible unless
members of the team are willing to put a great deal of extra effort into solving the problems
and postponing other obligations.
All the role plays are prepared in a way in which there is more than one possible outcome. By
revealing only specific information and outlines of each role, the dynamic of each scenario
remains uncertain and the outcome is dependent on the behavior of the project manager. The
quality of the outcome depends on the communication skills of the candidate. Some important
role specific information of a team member will only be revealed if the project manager is
able to establish a climate of trust and commitment within the team. Some problem solving
will only be possible if the project manager uses techniques of visualization, leading a group
discussion and structures a group discussion according to the phases of gathering ideas,
evaluating them and making a decision. In addition, some problems are only manageable if
the project manager is successful in dealing with a conflict of interest among the team
members.
Table 2 shows the matrix of dimensions to be evaluated (rows) and assessment exercises in
which they are mainly observable (columns):
Exercises: First Meeting with Team Meeting with a Team discussion:
meeting: a member of discussion: manager: „Deadline in
„Getting the team: „additional „More capacity danger“
started“ „More quality software is needed“
Dimensions:
is needed“ features“
Analytical skills
Decisiveness and
leadership
Communication skills and
Sensitivity
Conflict resolution skills
Organizational sensitivity
Persuasive and motivating
abilities
Table 2: observable dimensions in assessment exercises
6. 2.3 Sequence of steps
Figure 1 gives an overview of the sequence of steps to be taken by every candidate in order to
make sure that the results were used for further personal and professional development.
The fact that the observers were involved in the process of developing the dimensions of
observation and assessing the candidate as well as explaining the results to the candidate and
their superiors proved to be very effective. This was due to the fact that it created a strong
commitment to the concept of assessing potential project managers as a whole and not just to
a small part of the process. Everyone was aware of the main purpose of the concept:
diagnosing weaknesses and strengths for identifying potential project managers and
identifying specific needs for further training of the candidate. It was the candidates
responsibility to arrange the meetings in order to keep them in charge of the process as much
as possible.
Preparation
candidates are informed about the concept of assessment center:
dimensions of observation, exercises, method of observation etc.
Assessment center
Meeting (observer and candidate)
Explaining the results: observed strengths and weaknesses per
dimension of observation
Meeting
(observer, candidate, superior, human resource advisor)
Discussing and arranging steps to be taken to turn weaknesses into
strengths: training on the job, near the job and off the job
Follow up meeting one year later
(candidate, superior and human resource advisor)
what are the results of the steps taken and what else has to be
arranged?
Fig. 1: Sequence of steps
3 Discussion
The purpose of the assessment center described above is twofold:
First, there was a need for a systematic evaluation of potential project managers in order to
improve the selection process aimed at assigning the management of a large scale project to
the right person.
7. Second, all candidates irrespective of their performance in the assessment center were given
the opportunity to improve their skills by individually arranged training according to the
thorough and intense feedback they had received.
Unexpectedly, the results of the assessment center served an additional purpose: The
conference of observers in which all the observations of specific behavior were discussed and
evaluated turned out to be an important impulse leading to further organizational
development.
Observing the candidates in the exercises was, for the senior managers, like looking into a
magnifying glass that reflects the organizational culture of the project management. The next
day in the office they began a process of reflecting and improving the well implemented and,
up to then, unquestioned project managing system resulting in a thorough revision of the
entire process of systematic training of project managers. For example, the assessment center
as described in this paper is now an essential component within the program of developing
and assessing future large scale project managers. Another outcome is a regular and intensive
coaching of the project managers by their senior managers or external coaches. Moreover,
special workshops in which the participants learn how to design a kick-off meeting are now
obligatory for new project managers.
The observers had to face the discrepancy between their expectations and what they actually
observed in the exercises. They had expected more professional behavior from the candidates
(e.g. dealing with conflicts of interest more actively and tenaciously as well as supporting the
development of a group sense of purpose with more impetus). This assumption was made in
light of the fact that taking part in this assessment center implied that they had previously
successfully managed smaller projects and they indeed had been successful.
There are two possible explanations for the discrepancy:
First, the validity of the exercises is not high enough. This explanation leads us to the
hypothesis that the candidates only failed because they had to act in a situation that did not
accurately simulate typical situations during the course of a large scale project. However, in
order to be selected as a participant in the assessment center, all of the candidates had been
evaluated as skilled and experienced project managers who might be able to manage even
larger projects. Were this not the case, their managers would not have selected them to take
part in the assessment center.
However, the observers as well as the candidates confirmed the validity of the exercises even
expressing their surprise at how well the simulation and the developing social dynamics in the
role plays matched their experiences and mirrored typical situations during the course of a
project. This fact might suffice to discard the first explanation at hand.
The second explanation came up on further analysis done by interviewing the candidates and
their managers:
The results revealed a primary reason for the discrepancy between the observer’s evaluations
and the evaluation of the candidates made by their managers prior to the assessment center.
Whereas in the assessment center the candidates had to deal with people they had not worked
with before, at home they were integrated in a social network they had built up over years in
several projects. They had developed a manner of leading a project that was successful as long
as the project team consisted of people who knew each other over an extended period of time
and knew what to expect from each other. In other words, it was not necessary for the project
8. manager to attend to the sociology of the team to build up a team while dealing with
demanding conflicts of interest. Considering only projects completed in this context, all
candidates were successful project managers.
Comparing projects of different size, larger projects are characterized by a higher budget and a
much tighter schedule. The sociology of such large scale projects is also different. The team
consists of people from several different organization units. Politics also play a more
important role. The conflicts of interest, which are likely to arise, require a project manager
who is at least as skilled as a diplomat and not afraid to face conflicts when necessary.
As it happened, some of the candidates failed when confronted with the more demanding
situation of an entirely new project team and the conflicts of interest that come along with a
large scale project.
The assessment center and the analysis of the seemingly contradictory evaluations of the
candidates made by the observers and the managers yielded an important result. Prior to the
assessment center, senior managers operated on the premise that a given set of social skills
was necessary for a project manager to successfully manage a project of any size.
Additionally, managers believed that the successful management of a small project is
automatic qualification for managing a larger project. In other words, promoting project
managers by assigning to them more and more complex projects implied that the continuity of
a growing budget size and complexity of the project is matched by a continuity of the
demands on a given set of social skills. But moving along this supposed continuity turned out
to be a costly misconception when the managers stumbled over a discontinuity: There was a
critical degree of complexity and size (product profile, budget, number of organization units
involved), beyond which a project manager would only be successful if he is able to meet the
demands on additional social skills as outlined above.
So it occasionally happened that a project manager who had been successful in managing
smaller projects failed to meet the demands of a large scale project.
4 Conclusion
As a result of the assessment center and the analysis, it is now taken into account that there is
a category of large scale projects that places special demands on the project manager’s social
skills that are not necessarily provable by managing smaller projects successfully. Social skills
such as dealing effectively with a variety of people in a context of various expectations, points
of view and conflicts of interest are tested much more cost effectively in a simulation prior to
managing a large scale project in reality. Furthermore, the outcome of the assessment center
provides valuable information for determining the need for further training of the candidate
and thus is an opportunity for systematic human resource development.