When does Project Management become Office Management?
Eve McGivernSenior Business Systems Analyst| PNCPittsburgh, Pa, United States
I am a new project manager working for a small technical department in the education field, where my official title is Project and Design Manager. Our team consists of myself, as a Project Manager and team member (desktop publishing/graphic design, website development); 1 web developer who also handles DVD-related issues, web sites, and maintains our server; 3 in the video department, whose department is rather seperate from our own; and 1 'catchall' who proofs/QAs, handles basic website development, and does desktop publishing including graphic design. Distributed across the organization, we also have a shipping/packaging team, and a supplies person who orders and tracks shipments, and a document management person.
A situation resulted where product was ordered to fulfill a product requirement. The hooks were ordered in preparation for the product, and stored, but have now gone missing. My inventory states we should have more hooks available, but they can not be located. Aside from the obvious questions, my main question is this - and I apologize if I phrase this improperly: how much should a project manager really handle throughout the project lifecyle? Saving Changes...
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Anonymous
Your main question: "How much should a project manager really handle throughout the project lifecyle?"
This will vary widely depending on which phase of the lifecycle the project is in. During initiating/planning phase, the PM should take on more of a director role and provide strong leadership to set guidelines/ success metrics, processes, and develop plans for the remainder of the project. During execution phase, the PM's role is more of a coordinator/integrator, proactively identifying risks and solving problems as they arise. Similarly, during monitoring/controlling phase, the PM should remove obstacles and monitor progress, taking corrective action as need to keep the project on-schedule.
Every project is different. You must assess your own situation within your organization, and tailor the level of formality/control as the PM in order to maximize your chances for success. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
If a problem arises that can potentially cause harm to the customer (e.g. cost overrun, schedule delays, etc), the PM MUST take charge to assess the situation, determine the best course of action to resolve the issue, and then develop/implement a plan to minimize the probability of the same problem occurring again in the future.
Specifically in your situation, you might consider appointing someone to be in charge of inventory control to ensure accurate data about the material is maintained. Saving Changes...
