Project Manager as Banker: Cost Estimating and Resource Allocating

The role of a project manager is one of many hats- that of a mediator, motivator, and leader to name a few, all of which help in keeping the elements of a project together. Of these roles, one of the most important ones the project manager must wear is that of the budget controller, or as I would like to refer to this hat as “the banker.” A banker, in general terms, is an individual who advises their clients with regard to financial matters. They must account for transactions that occur as well as the accompanying documents that are to be reviewed, gather information that relates to the client’s financial needs, and disburse funds (“Duties of a,” 2006). While a project manager doesn’t directly advise their clients with financial matters, in a sense they are protecting their clients’ finances by responsibly managing the overall project costs.

Project Management Cost Estimating Techniques

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/project-management-cost-estimating-techniques-40508.html

This article, written by Bert Markgraf, outlines not only the importance of cost estimation, but ways, such as empirical methods and historical costing, that have proven effective in doing so. Not only does the resource provide examples of when it is best to use one of the two before-mentioned ways, it also details the importance of cost estimating of resources and unit costs and how they also relate to the overall project success.

In addition to this article, the article provides links to other resources located in the host site, such as one entitled “Methods for Estimating Project Times and Cost.”

Project Management Guru: Project Management Estimating Tools and Techniques

http://www.projectmanagementguru.com/estimating.html

This resource details not only several ways of estimating project costs, such as analogous, parametric, and 3-point estimating, but also provides guidance as to the type of activities each is best applied.  For example, as I read through the uncertain activities, which the author classifies as the most difficult to estimate, I am forced to reflect on this week’s discussion about Justin Jordan and the uncertainties he was faced with while having to determine his project’s budget. As I reflected on this week’s scenario, and apply the concepts of the 3-point estimating tool which was recommended, I could see how in this case the estimating technique makes sense because it focuses on risk assumptions, forcing the project manager to look at several scenarios, from a worse case to the best case, while creating cost estimates to present to clients.

As a project manager, the hats we will wear will not only vary from project to project, but the hats we will choose, or be chosen for us, will vary by those which make up our project team. However, no matter the project, there will be the time which we will have to put on the banker hat and when we do, we must be ready to look at all the options before making a financial decision that in the end will overextend our resources.

Referenes:

Duties of a banker. (2006, November 17). Retrieved from http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/career-tracks/duties-of-a-banker.html

Getting Your Point Across

As a project manager, communication will be a key factor to the overall success of the project at hand. As with colors, clothing styles, and technological tools, everyone has their own preferred way to communicate, however sometimes one way is much more effective than another.

For example, this week we looked at a message that had been delivered in three different forms: as an email, a voice message, and between two people as a conversation. When I first read the message as an email, I simply did just that- I read the message. I understood that as “Mark” I had information and data that “Jane” needed to finish her own reports, but it wasn’t until I could hear the urgency in her voice in the voice mail that I was able to determine how much she needed my information and how it was effecting her performance on the project. Email, in my opinion, is a tricky thing. It’s good for quick communication, but it is hard to detect emotions through an email. In fact, it can often lead to major problems should the underlying tone be misinterpreted, leading to a communication breakdown, so it is important that through email communication be clear and brief (Hack, n.d.). While voicemail messages can also be misconstrued, one also can, if they choose to listen to the message and not to simply “hear” what the other person is saying, pick up on the vocal inflection the person leaving the message is implying, such as a casual tone or one of urgency. Of course, if you truly want to get your message across, the last scenario in my opinion is the most effective-delivering it face to face to the person it is intended, because it allows the receiver of the message to interpret the deliverer’s body language as well as vocal inflection. Body language, or non-verbal communication  is often used to supplement what we want to say through gestures, moving, or facial expressions (AL-Nashar, 2012). As I watched the third method of delivery, I could see the worry in “Jane’s” face as she let me, “Mark,” know the importance of the reports  to her, for because she didn’t have the information she needed to complete her own tasks. To me, this brought to life the words of Charles Dickens, who once said that electronic communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true, meaning by coming to “Mark” in a face-to-face environment, Jane has put herself in a situation that could be uncomfortable in order to ensure her success (n.d.).

Effective communication between team members creates a feeling of trust and a sense of belonging. By ensuring that project-related information is shared, and that each team member specific skills are utilized and is acquainted with the team goal, project managers can begin to build that trust, which in turn can lead to comfort in sharing issues that may need to be resolved through the course of the project (Panse, 2011).  To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to communicate with others (Robbins, n.d.).

AL-Nashar, K. (2012, March 30). the importance of the body language in business. Retrieved from http://www.live-from-campus.eduniversal-ranking.com/live-from-hiba-higher-institute-of-business-administration/tips-tricks/the-importance-of-the-body-language-in-business.html

Dickens, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/communication.html

Hack, M. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.marcandangel.com/2007/05/28/email-communication-problems-how-to-communicate-effectively/

Panse, S. (2011, December 23). Small group communication: Effective team communication. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/small-group-communication-effective-team-communication.html

Robbins, T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/communication.html

Getting Back on Track

As my journey at Walden University continues with the focus of instructional design, we begin to look at positive and negative behaviors seen in project management.  Over the past three years, my school building has made the transition from a reactive behavior management plan to a proactive behavior management plan called Positive Behavior Support, known commonly in the field of education as PBS. As part of this transition, I have become a member of a design team to aid in the implementation of this plan.

In the plan’s initial year, we as teachers were expected to follow a rubric guide that had been created at the district level outlining the desired behaviors of the students. While the rubric was clear, it was overwhelming and in the end, several teachers chose to not refer to it at all, classifying it as “just something else to do.”

The second year of the program, a team was assembled to take the before-mentioned rubric and put it into terms that were not only friendly to the staff,  but were also friendly to the students.  As a team, we took the given expectations for each area of the school building and created posters that outlined the desired behaviors and posted the posters in the various areas of the building, such as the restrooms, hallways, pods, and cafeteria. We also created lesson plans for the teachers to use to help teach the desired behaviors, but again, several teachers felt this was overwhelming and too time consuming, therefore allowing the plan to appear to fail.

This year, our team decided to try a new approach to the solution, as the district has seen success in other buildings outside of ours. Because the posters were already in place, and the lesson plans created, we decided as a team to change how we delivered the expectations of our plan. After we “tweaked” the previously developed lesson plans, we assembled a “toolkit” for each classroom teacher that included the lesson plans. As part of the toolkit, we also developed a “student check-sheet” that was written in student-friendly terms so that the students themselves could be responsible for self-evaluating their behaviors and “Leading Leopard” cards that are awarded to students caught demonstrating the desired expectations, which when earned enter students into weekly prize drawings. Next, we developed a series of stations designed to teach the expectations, with each station leader using the developed lesson plans for that particular station, and students spent 20 minutes at each station on the first day of school practicing the expectations. Lastly, we developed a video that demonstrated the expectations from the lesson plans. The video was shown every day for the first week of school, and is additionally shown the first Wednesday of every month. As we have progressed through the school year, the data we have collected has shown a larger decrease in disciplinary measures at the administrative level than those of years past.

Looking back at the process of designing and implementing this plan in our particular building, had we taken more time in the development of materials at the beginning of the process, I feel that we could potentially have seen a consistent decrease in administrative discipline over the three year time period rather than just a consistent decrease over the current school year. Had we done what was done this year in the first year of the plan, I feel the buy-in from all stakeholders would have been much less resistant, for it seemed that when we took the time in developing a plan that was specific and practically applied, the buy in from teachers was more consistent building-wide.

Just as one creates and follows a map to get to their destination, a project manager creates and follows a plan when designing a learning module, and as we all know, sometimes when we are asked to take an unplanned detour, which can throw us off course. However, it’s our choices during these detours that determine our success. Detour signs are put up by the road crew as guides to getting us to where we need to go, or in project management, the failed attempts help us to better prepare our plans and serve as lessons that can help us avoid making the same mistakes again in future projects.