tailieunhanh - Excel 2007 for Project Managers P2

Establishing Project Management Fundamentals Project management has matured from the tactical to the strategic. It still requires tactical skills to manage the day-to-day activities of project work, but increasingly, projects are viewed from the perspective of the organization as a whole and the value they add to the organization or its customers. | 12 Chapter 1 Establishing Project Management Fundamentals Project management has matured from the tactical to the strategic. It still requires tactical skills to manage the day-to-day activities of project work but increasingly projects are viewed from the perspective of the organization as a whole and the value they add to the organization or its customers. Because of this maturity from the tactical to the strategic it s more imperative than ever that project managers have a well-rounded set of skills. As we said a project manager s skills are first and foremost built upon leadership abilities. Without solid leadership skills it s difficult to impart vision gain support for that vision and inspire project teams to perform at their best. We ll look at leadership skills in the next section. Leadership Skills What s your definition of a leader Is a leader a leader because they hold a position of authority Do you know leaders who don t hold a managerial title Our guess is your answer to this last question is yes. Leaders don t necessarily have a position of authority in the organization. Nonetheless they are leaders in their own right. These are the go-to folks in the organization. They re the ones likely to inspire project team members to say I wonder what fill in the blank thinks of that idea and to follow their opinion on the topic. Leadership is more than getting people to do what you want them to do. Dictators don t have any trouble performing this feat but their followers aren t usually happy about it. Successful project managers know that certain key aspects of leadership are important. Imparting a vision of the project s value to the organization Imparting a vision of the product or service of the project the project s end result Gaining consensus on the goals and deliverables of the project and other issues that arise as the project progresses Establishing direction and a clear plan for meeting the goals of the project Managing the expectations of .