Project Team Management
Introduction
Project management is a common practice in organizations. In every organization there are operations and projects, where operations tend to be continuous, repetitive, standardized processes and stable relationships, while projects are temporary and unique, with a high degree of uncertainty, risks and changing relationships. A project requires a temporary effort (it has a beginning and an end) to create a unique product, service or result that meets the stated objectives.[1] Hence, project management is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques oriented to the project activities to achieve the proposed objectives or goals.[1]
A project has its origin in various factors: market requirement, business need, client request, products of technological changes, legal obligations, social demand or strategic positioning. Projects are carried out by people, and are generally conditioned to resource limitations, thus, the project manager is responsible for coordinating, planning and controlling the execution of the project, guiding the work team and ensuring that the proposed final result is delivered on time and within the originally established budget.[2] Its main objective is to align all interested parties through a collection of tools and processes.
Project Manager Roles
The project manager leads the project team to achieve the objectives and expectations of the partners or interested parties, achieve the balance between the restrictions or limitations of the project with the available resources and also fulfills the following roles:[2].
Interpersonal: responsible for effectively managing different professionals, helping to solve possible team problems and creating team unity, building a relationship of trust with project partners or stakeholders, making sure to listen carefully to the opinions of others when making decisions.
Informational: is responsible for maintaining communication between interested parties: team members, sponsors, clients, etc.
Decisional: includes the management of guidelines and resource adjustments during the execution of the project in order to guarantee its success.
In addition, to the knowledge of managing the processes (information collection, monitoring and generation of reports) and project resources and the understanding of the aforementioned roles, various research and experiences point out seven traits that can help a project manager to be successful:[2] enthusiasm for the project, ability to manage changes effectively, tolerant attitude towards ambiguity, teamwork and negotiation skills, customer service and orientation, adherence to business priorities, industry and technological knowledge.