The challenges of leading and managing an Information Technology Projects
An individual or combined tasks undertaken to accomplish definite objectives within a certain allocated period of time is termed as a project. A project can be any intended task with certain goals and start and end point. An IT project is a project relevant to field of Information Technology and with technical goals to achieve. And a person who is responsible for the smooth functioning of the project work from its initiation to completion so as to reach the allocated target is a project manager. According to Rouse, an IT project manager is professional charged with overseeing the process of planning, executing and delegating responsibilities around an organization’s technology …show more content…
He must possess both hard and soft skills in addition to the education and expertise to drive the project to success. Some of the essential skills for a project manager are discussed below.
Organizational and planning skills to plan, organize, control and monitor the resources, time and budget of the project (Zahra, Nazir, Khalid, Raana, & Majeed, 2014). A PM (Project Manager) should be a good planner for the proper and meaningful utilization of resources and time. Delivering the product with intended quality and within allocated time limit should be the primary objective of planning.
Communication skills with ability to cope with people at all levels and deliver the insight understanding of project output to the stakeholders is another essential skill. A PM needs to divide the task among the departments and staffs so he needs to effectively communicate all the duties and responsibilities across the team members. Further, changes are unpredictable and it’s inevitable in projects like IT. So, he needs to be ready to deal with all known unknowns and unknown unknowns. He should have ability to adopt with changes and should know how and when to negotiate (Schiff, 2013). Negotiation skills are necessary to negotiate with stakeholders and the sponsors to settle the trade-offs and to agree upon …show more content…
The leader is original, innovates and develops, focuses on people and inspires trust but manager is a copy, administers and maintains, focuses on system and structure and relies on control. The leader’s eye is on the horizon, asks what and why and has a long range perspective while the manager has eyes always on the bottom line, asks how and when and has a short range view (Marchewka). The manager imitates but the leader originates, the manager accepts status quo but the leader challenges it (The wall Street Journal, n.d).
Leadership is about having the courage to do the right thing and being open minded and inspiring others. According to Marchewka, the five practices of exemplary leadership are model the way (lead by example), inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart.
The necessity of leadership skills for a manager is very much transparent. A manager needs to motivate the project members, need to inspire them to work, make them follow him and should be trust worthy to get the best support of the project members. And definitely these are
An individual or combined tasks undertaken to accomplish definite objectives within a certain allocated period of time is termed as a project. A project can be any intended task with certain goals and start and end point. An IT project is a project relevant to field of Information Technology and with technical goals to achieve. And a person who is responsible for the smooth functioning of the project work from its initiation to completion so as to reach the allocated target is a project manager. According to Rouse, an IT project manager is professional charged with overseeing the process of planning, executing and delegating responsibilities around an organization’s technology …show more content…
He must possess both hard and soft skills in addition to the education and expertise to drive the project to success. Some of the essential skills for a project manager are discussed below.
Organizational and planning skills to plan, organize, control and monitor the resources, time and budget of the project (Zahra, Nazir, Khalid, Raana, & Majeed, 2014). A PM (Project Manager) should be a good planner for the proper and meaningful utilization of resources and time. Delivering the product with intended quality and within allocated time limit should be the primary objective of planning.
Communication skills with ability to cope with people at all levels and deliver the insight understanding of project output to the stakeholders is another essential skill. A PM needs to divide the task among the departments and staffs so he needs to effectively communicate all the duties and responsibilities across the team members. Further, changes are unpredictable and it’s inevitable in projects like IT. So, he needs to be ready to deal with all known unknowns and unknown unknowns. He should have ability to adopt with changes and should know how and when to negotiate (Schiff, 2013). Negotiation skills are necessary to negotiate with stakeholders and the sponsors to settle the trade-offs and to agree upon …show more content…
The leader is original, innovates and develops, focuses on people and inspires trust but manager is a copy, administers and maintains, focuses on system and structure and relies on control. The leader’s eye is on the horizon, asks what and why and has a long range perspective while the manager has eyes always on the bottom line, asks how and when and has a short range view (Marchewka). The manager imitates but the leader originates, the manager accepts status quo but the leader challenges it (The wall Street Journal, n.d).
Leadership is about having the courage to do the right thing and being open minded and inspiring others. According to Marchewka, the five practices of exemplary leadership are model the way (lead by example), inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart.
The necessity of leadership skills for a manager is very much transparent. A manager needs to motivate the project members, need to inspire them to work, make them follow him and should be trust worthy to get the best support of the project members. And definitely these are