Project manager characteristics, adapted from Austin (2004):

Project manager characteristics, adapted from Austin (2004):

Subject: Business    / Management
Question

Question # 1

Here is a list of project manager characteristics, adapted from Austin (2004):

• Leadership

o throughout planning

o at each phase

o multiple styles

• Integrity

• Sound judgment

• Character, not just competencies

• Knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Problem solver

Read through the list above then discuss the list with the class. Do you think this list accurately reflects the characteristics of a good project manager? Give examples from your own work or experience (even if it didn’t involve project management). Positive and negative examples are encouraged, but please change names to protect the innocent (or guilty).

Question #2

Please read the blog post Why you must lead or follow, by Scott Berkun.(link http://scottberkun.com/essays/42-why-you-must-lead-or-follow/)

As you read the post, think of people you know who have led (or followed) in ways that are either productive or less than effective. I realize that in an exercise like this, it’s easy to think of attributes of leaders with whom you’ve worked in the past. That said, while you read don’t forget to think about your own leadership (and follower) style and practices.

After reading the blog post by Berkun, please post in this discussion forum about how you believe implementing an idea or ideas suggested in the post have the potential to impact performance of teams that you have led or of which you’ve been a member.

I don’t expect that you will agree with everything Berkun says, so feel free to disagree. After all, the goal is to stimulate discussion.

For an interesting take on leadership versus management, please have a look at the Harvard Business Review article, There is a world of difference between management and leadership. It adds an interesting dimension to our course. Again, feel free to agree or disagree.(link http://www.businessinsider.com.au/harvard-business-review-difference-between-management-and-leadership-2013-1)

Question # 3(deciding what to do )

If you haven’t already done so, please read (or re-read) Berkun’s discussion on how not to decide what to do from this week’s lesson. Please share with the class an occasion when you’ve been involved in a decision and made either the wrong decision or the right decision and how Berkun’s advice applies.

If you haven’t been involved in that kind of decision, feel to search the web to find an example for us. Provide a link, summarize it, and show how Berkun’s points apply.

Question # 4

There are a number of seminars available on communication, its importance to an effective workplace environment, and, among other things, how important it is to accomplishing goals.

We’d like you to share your views on communication in the context of project management. What strategies have you (or others) tried that worked well? What strategies have you (or others) that, according to the relevant literature, should have worked, but didn’t? Be sure to give the reasons particular strategies worked effectively or ineffectively.

Question # 5

Before we look more closely at the nuts and bolts of scheduling, we’d like to begin with a reading. There’s an old saying: “Fail to plan, and plan to fail.” That may be true, but it’s just as true that schedules need to be flexible.

With that in mind, please read Project Management for Instructional Designers,(link https://pm4id.pressbooks.com/) sections 8 (Overview) and 8.1 (Types of Schedules). Also read Jenkins, Nick. “The Fine Art of Scheduling.” In, A Project Management Primer (pp. 23-28).

As you read, record what you find to be the most salient points and how they apply to your context. Share them with the class in this forum.