What Functional Managers Need To Know About Project Manageme
Kerzner
- 18 september 2009
- 9780470525470
Samenvatting:
As project management has evolved and matured and projects have become more sophisticated, it has become extremely difficult for project managers to maintain their technical expertise. More and more, technical expertise resides in the functional areas of an organization. As a result, many executives and project sponsors believe that accountability for a project is shared among the project manager and all the participating line or functional managers.
Because they often now share accountability for a project s success or failure, functional managers must develop a good understanding of project management. Project managers are expected to focus on and manage project deliverables. On the other hand, management of the assigned resources has become a line function and the domain of the functional manager.
What Functional Managers Need to Know About Project Management provides just what the title says. It offers functional managers a guide to project management, focusing on what they need to know and what they need to do. It provides step by step guidance to help functional managers work effectively within a project management team, advocate on behalf of a project, and ensure the project s success.
This book begins with basic principles, helping functional managers deal with such key issues as:
Why and when to use project management
Challenges of working with project managers and multiple boss reporting structures
Anticipating and overcoming obstacles in implementation
Managing resistance to change
Next, the book explores the interconnected roles of the key players in a project management team, including the project manager, project sponsor, and functional manager. You ll learn about the specific responsibilities of the functional manager, including:
Defining how project tasks are executed
Assigning individuals to perform the work
Establishing the technical criteria for individual tasks
Providing needed resources to perform project activities
Meeting objectives within the constraints of a project
Furthermore, the authors demonstrate how the functional manager can best work with the other team members, understand each other s priorities and problems, and resolve issues jointly.
Throughout the book, helpful illustrations clarify complex concepts and processes.