Is it better for a project manager to have a technical background,
or a management background? Should a project manager place a large
emphasis on customer relationship management, or be more focused
on task management?
 In looking for an ideal project manager for all projects, answering
these questions would be very difficult. However, if we take the
approach of answering all of the above questions with "it
depends on the project", then it makes things much easier.
The first step is to define what the relevant criteria are to
help us answer the questions in the context of a particular project.
Warren McFarlan (1999) identified technology and degree of structure
as being two key criteria in defining the profile of a project,
and consequently, the profile of the appropriate project manager.
1. Technology
The first thing to consider is technology. A project employing
leading-edge technology will come up against different challenges
and risks than one using tried and tested, stable technology. This
question must also be answered within the context of the company.
For example, Visual Basic has been around for a number of years
now, but if a company has never used it before, then it still counts
as leading-edge, or high technology in terms of the risks it poses
to the project.
2. Degree of Structure
The other main consideration is the degree of structure within
a project. In other words, how clearly are the outputs or requirements
defined, and how flexible does the system need to be? How much
of an impact will the resultant system have on the organisation?
The lower the degree of structure, the higher the risk of the project.
Examples
By determining a project's profile in terms of the above criteria,
we can start to see that the skills and experience required of
project managers differ accordingly. However, the combination of
the criteria should also be considered. This is better illustrated
in the context of some project examples.
High Structure; Low Technology
e.g. installing packaged software
This type of project will have relatively low risk as the requirements
can be clearly defined. By having clearly defined requirements,
the predictability of the project plans is increased. The business
processes are not expected to change, and testing is fairly straightforward.
In this type of project, formal controls can be implemented and
a less experienced project manager with a less technical background
would be able to manage the project.
High Structure; High Technology
e.g. creating a web-enabled front-end for an enquiry system.
This is an example of a project where the requirements can be
defined quite clearly, but the technology may be very new to the
company. This places the project into a medium risk category. Business
processes may change a little in order to add, for example, a help
desk procedures to assist customers who are now beginning to make
enquiries over the Internet, where previously they made enquiries
telephonically. Testing is more involved than in the previous example,
because the team will now have to ensure that the system is tested
via various Internet browsers and client platforms. The project
manager for this project needs to be more familiar with technical
issues and the associated risks. The manager would also need to
be more experienced in dealing with a higher level of uncertainty.
Low Structure; Low Technology
e.g. Publishing company procedures on the Intranet; internet websites
This would be a low-risk project, but it would nevertheless require
controlled management to ensure that the project operates within
acceptable parameters. In this example, the project could make
good use of prototyping in the early stages in an effort to define
the requirements and enable further planning. Possessing good relationship
management skills would be a key requirement of the manager of
this project, whereas a technical background would not be essential.
Low Structure; High Technology
e.g. ERP systems, system design, conceptual design of applications
or e-commerce websites etc.
This type of project would be of high risk. Typically, several
different functional areas would be affected and a high-degree
of user integration and relationship management would be required.
On the other hand, the predictability of planning is low due to
the high technology aspect. The ideal project manager for this
project would need to have a good conceptual understanding of the
technical issues facing the project. He or she would need to possess
strong planning and task management skills whilst being able to
deal with a high degree of uncertainty and being prepared to re-plan
as required.
Conclusion
It is important to identify the profile of a particular project
to help determine the project manager profile best suited to the
project. By taking this one step further and profiling your full
portfolio of current and expected future projects, you can match
your project management skills base to the ideal profile requirements.
This can make resource planning more effective, and assist in identifying
developmental opportunities for your existing project managers,
as well as providing clearer specifications for recruiting new
project managers.
|
