Name S.

AMEER ABBAS
Roll No. 520955311
Course MBA-Semester-3
Subject Project Planning & Scheduling
Subject Code PM 0004-Set-1

1. (a) What do you mean by Project Management & Mention Key

features of a Project?
(b) What do you mean by Competency & explain briefly: (i)
Organizational competency (ii) Core competency. Explain need for
competency.
Ans: a. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managi
ng resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals
and objectives. It is sometimes conflated with program management, however techn
ically a program is actually a higher level construct: a group of related and so
mehow interdependent projects.
A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end (usually c
onstrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet u
nique goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added va
lue. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual (o
r operations), which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work
to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two syste
ms is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of
distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goa
ls and objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. Typical c
onstraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary and more ambitious challenge
is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-de
fined objectives.
Project plan can be considered to have five key characteristics that have to be
managed:
Scope: defines what will be covered in a project.
Resource: what can be used to meet the scope.
Time: what tasks are to be undertaken and when.
Quality: the spread or deviation allowed from a desired standard.
Risk: defines in advance what may happen to drive the plan off course, and what
will be done to recover the situation.
b. Competence is a standardized requirement for an individual to properly perfor
m a specific job. It encompasses a combination of knowledge, skills and behavior
utilized to improve performance. More generally, competence is the state or qua
lity of being adequately or well qualified, having the ability to perform a spec
ific role.
For instance, management competency includes the traits of systems thinking and
emotional intelligence, and skills in influence and negotiation. A person posses
ses a competence as long as the skills, abilities, and knowledge that constitute
that competence are a part of them, enabling the person to perform effective ac
tion within a certain workplace environment. Therefore, one might not lose knowl
edge, a skill, or an ability, but still lose a competence if what is needed to d
o a job well changes.
Competence is also used to work with more general descriptions of the requiremen
ts of human beings in organizations and communities.
i. The Organisational Competence was initiated by David McClelland in the 1960s
with a view to moving away from traditional attempts to describe competence in t
erms of knowledge, skills and attitudes and to focus instead on the specific sel
f-image, values, traits, and motive dispositions (i.e. relatively enduring chara
cteristics of people) that are found to consistently distinguish outstanding fro
m typical performance in a given job or role. It should be noted that different
competences predict outstanding performance in different roles, and that there i
s a limited number of competences that predict outstanding performance in any gi
ven job or role. Thus, a trait that is

a "competence" for one job might not predict outstanding performance in a differ
ent role. Nevertheless, as can be seen from Raven and Stephenson, there have bee
n important developments in research relating to the nature, development, and as
sessment of high-level competencies in homes, schools, and workplaces.
ii. A core competency is a specific factor that a business sees as being central
to the way it, or its employees, works. It fulfills three key criteria:
1. It provides consumer benefits
2. It is not easy for competitors to imitate
3. It can be leveraged widely to many products and markets.
A core competency can take various forms, including technical/subject matter kno
w-how, a reliable process and/or close relationships with customers and supplier
s. It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedicati
on.
Core competencies are particular strengths relative to other organizations in th
e industry which provide the fundamental basis for the provision of added value.
Core competencies are the collective learning in organizations, and involve how
to coordinate diverse production skills and integrate multiple streams of techn
ologies. It is communication, an involvement and a deep commitment to working ac
ross organizational boundaries. Few companies are likely to build world leadersh
ip in more than five or six fundamental competencies.
The need for Competency is shown in action in a situation in a context that migh
t be different the next time you have to act. In emergency contexts, competent p
eople will react to the situation following behaviors they have previously found
to succeed, hopefully to good effect. To be competent you need to be able to in
terpret the situation in the context and to have a repertoire of possible action
s to take and have trained in the
possible actions in the repertoire, if this is relevant. Regardless of training,
competence grows through experience and the extent of an individual to learn an
d adapt. However, there has been much discussion among academics about the issue
of definitions. The concept of competence has different meanings, and continues
to remain one of the most diffuse terms in the management development sector, a
nd the organizational and occupational literature

2. (a) Explain the need for development of management skills & also explain diff
erent steps involved in developing management skills.
(b) Explain each of the following competencies briefly:
Time Management
? Cost Management
? Human Resource Management
? Risk Management
? Contract Management
? Communication Management
? Scope Management
? Quality Management

(c) Explain the characteristics of a project team.

a) Management skills in all business areas and human organization
activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and
objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or
directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or
entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing
encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial
resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Steps involved in developing management skills:
Maintain the Status Quo
While you may have been hired or promoted because of your creative vision,
don t plan on implementing radical changes your first few weeks on the job,
especially if you re new to the organization. Introducing too much change too
soon, can send the message to your team as well as other managers that
you think you understand the company s workings better than they do.
Establish yourself in your new role and gain the confidence of others by
taking the time to get the lay of the land before you start sharing ideas that
affect the organization s structure, processes and systems. Even if you do
know better, you ll still need the support of people around you to make
things happen.
Get to Know Your Team
Make an effort to reach out individually to all those who now report into you. S
chedule one-on-one meetings to get an idea of what your team perceives to be the
department s or company s strengths and weaknesses and solicit their ideas for solu
tions.
Learn How to Delegate
One the most basic management skills that s often least used by first-time
managers is delegating. After all, when you complete a task yourself you
have complete control over the outcome. However, by not delegating you re
doing both yourself and your staff a disservice.
Be Courteous
Don t underestimate the effect of a simple please , thank you or good
job can have on your employees. Whether they ve spent the last three days
archiving files or churning out a top-notch client presentation, acknowledging
their efforts goes a long way toward communicating the value they bring to
your team

Avoid Burnout
A lot of new managers get caught up in the excitement and enthusiasm of
their new positions and for all the right reasons: they want to learn as much
as they can as quickly as possible and start getting things done in order to
demonstrate their commitment to the company. As a result, first-time
managers often wind up working excessive hours and when you re working
that hard, for that long, not all of those hours can be productive.
b)
Time Management
Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manag
e time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompass
es a wide scope of activities, and these includep lann ing, allocating, setting
goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing,sch e du lin g
, andp rioritizing. Initially time management referred
to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to
include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed
combination of processes, tools and techniques.
Some authors (such as Stephen R. Covey) offered a categorization scheme for the
hundreds of time management approaches that they reviewed First generation: remi
nders based on clocks and watches, but with
computer implementation possible; can be used to alert a person when
a task is to be done.
Second generation:
planning and preparation based on calendar and appointment books; includes sett
ing goals. Third generation: planning, prioritizing, controlling (using a person
al organizer, other paper-based objects, or computer or PDA-based systems) activ
ities on a daily basis. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying v
alues and priorities.
Fourth generation: being efficient and proactive using any of the above
tools; places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system
and favors importance over urgency.
Some of the recent general arguments related to "time" and "management"
point out that the term "time management" is misleading and that the
concept should actually imply that it is "the management of our own
activities, to make sure that they are accomplished within the available or
allocated time, which is an unmanageable continuous resource".[
Cost Management

Cost management is the process by which companies control and plan

the costs of doing business. Individual projects should have customized cost
management plans, and companies as a whole also integrate cost
management into their overall business model. There is no single accepted
definition for this term, because it has such broad applications and possible
strategies. When properly implemented, cost management will translate into
reduced costs of production for products and services, as well as increased
value being delivered to the customer.
For a company's management to be effective overall, cost management must
be an integral feature of it. It is easiest to understand this concept if it is
explained in the context of a single project. For instance, before a project is
started, the anticipated costs should be identified and measured. These
expenses should then be approved before any purchasing occurs. During the
process of completing a project, all incurred costs should be noted and kept
in a record of some kind, to help ensure that the costs are controlled and
kept in line with initial expectations, to the extent that this is possible.

Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the ma
nagement of an organization's most valued assets - the
people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the
achievement of the objectives of the business.[1] The terms "human resource
management" and "human resources" (HR) have largely replaced the term
"personnel management" as a description of the processes involved in
managing people in organizations.[1] In simple sense, HRM means employing
people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating
their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.
Its features include:
Organizational management
Personnel administration
Manpower management
Industrial management
Risk Management
Risk is defined in ISO 31000 as the effect of uncertainty on objectives (whethe
r positive or negative). Risk management can therefore be considered the identif
ication, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed
by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and
control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events[1] or to maximize t
he realization of opportunities. Risks can come from uncertainty in
financial markets, project failures, legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents,
natural causes and disasters as well as deliberate attacks from an adversary.
Several risk management standards have been developed including the
Project Management Institute, the National Institute of Science and
Technology, actuarial societies, and ISO standards.[2][3] Methods, definitions
and goals vary widely according to whether the risk management method is
in the context of project management, security, engineering, industrial
processes, financial portfolios, actuarial assessments, or public health and
safety.
The strategies to manage risk include transferring the risk to another party,
avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting
some or all of the consequences of a particular risk.
Contract Management
The term contract management is typically used in procurement or
purchasing departments. As part of the procurement department s
responsibilities, theman age r negotiates, accepts, and signs contracts with
suppliersof goods and services to the organization. Contract management is the p
rocess of ensuring that the supplier honors their negotiated contract
terms. Although the role of procurement in the negotiation process is an
essential part of a cost management process, contract management is where
the actual savings are either achieved or missed.
Effective contract management practices result in lower operating costs,
efficient services, and a stronger bargaining position during the next round of
negotiations. Contract management includes ensuring contract compliance,
acting as the primary contact for issues related to service and dispute
resolution, as well as managing any payments or clauses negotiated into the
contract. In general, contract management can be broken down into three
main areas: thresholds, rebates, and performance clauses.
Communication Management
Communications management is the systematic planning, implementing, monitoring,
and revision of all the channels of communication
within an organization, and between organizations; it also includes the
organization and dissemination of new communication directives connected
with an organization, network, or communications technology. Aspects of
communications management include developing corporate communication
strategies, designing internal and external communications directives, and
managing the flow of information, including online communication. New
technology forces constant innovation on the part of communications
managers
One simple and popular communications method is called the weekly
reporting method: every employee composes an e-mail report, once a week,
including information on their activities in the preceding week, their plans for
the following week, and any other information deemed relevant to the larger
group, bearing in mind length considerations. Reports are sent to managers,
who summarize and report to their own managers, eventually leading to an
overall summary led by the CEO, which is then sent to the board of directors.
The CEO then sends the board's summary back down the ladder, where each
manager can append an additional summary or note before referring it to
their employees.
Eventually, each employee will receive a long e-mail, containing many or all
of the above-mentioned summaries, from every level of management;
reading the full result is rarely a requirement. Curious or ambitious
employees are considered more likely to read the result; task-centered
employees, however, are not.
Scope Management
A plan which describes how project scope will be managed and how, Scope change
will be integrated into the project. Includes an assessment of how likely and fr
equently the project scope may change and a description of how scope changes wil
l be identified and classified.
Scope Management Plan indicates:

A subsidiary element of the overall project plan.

Describes how project scope will be managed.
Describes how scope changes will be integrated into the project.
Should also include an assessment of the expected stability of the project scop
e.
Should also include a clear description of how scope changes will be identified
and classified.

Quality Management
Quality management can be considered to have three main components: quality cont
rol, quality assurance and quality improvement.
Quality management is focused not only on product quality, but also the
means to achieve it. Quality management therefore uses quality assurance
and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent
quality.
The influence of quality thinking has spread to non-traditional applications out
side of walls of manufacturing, extending into service sectors and into areas su
ch as sales, marketing and customer service

C) Characteristics of a project team: Commitment: Commitment to the project by t

he core team is critical to the success
of the project. The project manager must know that eacrT core team
member places a high priority of fulfilling his or her roles and responsibilitie
s
in the project. The core team must be proactive in fulfilling those
responsibilities and not need the constant reminders of schedule and
deliverables from the project manager.
Shared responsibility: Shared responsibility means that success and failure are
equally the
reward and blame of each team member. Having shared responsibility means
that you will never hear one team member taking individual credit for a
success on the projects nor blaming another team member for a failure on
the project.
Flexibility: Team members must be willing to adapt to the situation. That is not
my responsibility doesn t go very far in project work, schedules may have to
change at the last minute to accommodate an unexpected situation. It is the
success of the project that has priority, not the schedule of any one
individual on the project team.
Task-orientedness.:
In the final analysis it is the team members ability to get their
assigned work down according to the project plan that counts. In other
words, they must be results-oriented.
Ability to work within schedule and constraints: Parts of being results-oriented
, means being able to complete assignments within the timeframe planned instead
of offering excuses for not doing so. It is easy to blame your delay on the dela
y of others that is the easy way out.
Willingness to give trust and mutual support:
Trust and mutual support are the hallmarks on an effective team.
That means that every member must convey these qualities. Team members
must be trusting and trustworthy.
Team-orientedness:
To be team-oriented means to put the welfare of the team ahead of your own. Beh
aviors as simple as the individual s frequencies of use of I versus we in team meeting
s and conversations with other team members are strong indicators of team orient
ation.

Open-mindedness:
The open-minded team member will welcome and encourage other
points of view and other solutions to problem situations. His or her objective
is clearly to do what is best for the team and not look for individual kudos.
Ability to work across structure and authorities:
In the contemporary organization, projects tend to cross organizational lines. C
ross-departmental teams are common. Projects such as these require the team memb
er to work with people form a variety of business disciplines.

Ability to use project management tools:

The team member must be able to leverage technology in carrying out
his or her project responsibilities. Projects are planned using a variety of
software tools, and the team member must have some familiarity with these
tools. Many project managers will require the team member to input activity
status and other project progress data directly into the project management soft
ware tool.

3.What do you mean by Conflict, describe different sources of

conflicts faced by the project managers? What are the different steps
involved in resolving the conflicts.
A conflict is a dispute or a struggle in which each party expresses
opposition towards the other party or interferes intentionally with other
party s goals attainment. Conflict can also be a disagreement about the
allocation of scarce resources or a clash of statuses, values, perceptions or
personalities. Behavioral scientists agree that conflict is an abnormal
phenomenon with only negative consequences.
Some of the characteristics of conflicts are:

Conflict occurs when two parties have competing goals.

Conflict is unavoidable, and we can learn how to handle it effectively.
Conflict is not always bad. Constructive conflict can help solve problems and le
ads to new ideas.
The Collaborating strategy is the most effective way of resolving conflict the re
solution is mutually beneficial for all parties.
The other conflict resolution strategies can be appropriate for certain types of
situations.
Potential conflict over project priorities:
1. Conflict over project priorities:
The views of project participants often differ over the sequence of
activities and tasks that should be understood to achieve
successfully. Conflict over priorities may also not only between the project tea
m and other support groups but also within the project team.
2. Conflict over administrative procedures:
A number of managerial and administrative oriented conflicts may
develop over how the project is managed. The definition of project
manager s reporting relationships, definition of responsibilities,
interface relationships, project operational requirements, plan of
execution, negotiated work agreements with other groups and
procedures for administrative support.
3. Conflict over technical opinions and performance trade-off:
In technology-oriented projects, disagreements may arise over technical issues.
Performance specifications, technical trade-offs and the means to achieve perfor
mance.
4. Conflict over manpower resources: Conflicts may arise around the planning of
the project team with
personnel from other functional and support areas or from the
desire to use another department s personnel for project support
even though the personnel remain under the authority of their
functional or staff superiors.
5.Conflict over cost:
Frequently, conflict may develop over cost estimates form support
areas regarding various project work breakdown packages. For
example, the funds allocated by a project manager to a functional;
support group might be perceived as insufficient for the support
requested.
6. Conflict over schedules:
Disagreement may develop around the timing, sequencing and scheduling of a proj
ect related tasks.

7. Personality conflict:
Disagreements may tend to center on interpersonal differences rather than on tec
hnical issues. Conflicts often are ego-centered.

Steps to resolve conflicts

1. The strategy for managing conflicts is that of compromise

(give and take). In this approach conflicting parties are
asked to make certain sacrifices in exchange for some
concessions from the other party for the good of the
company.
2. We must encourage productive conflict and reduce
destructive conflict to foster the positive outcome of
disagreement and minimize more adverse effects.
3. Another strategy is handling conflict head-on. It is
nothing but standing firm and taking the role of a dictator
and rejecting the views and beliefs of the other party or
standing between the warring factions and ordering to
cease the conflict.
4. The success of resolving conflicts depends on the mutual cooperation and crea
tivity of the parties. 5. To successfully resolve a conflict, we must understand
both sides of the issues, discus how the conflict affects
people s performance. Focus should be on facts and
behavior and not on feelings or personalities/egos.

Name S.AMEER ABBAS

Roll No. 520955311
Course MBA-Semester-3
Subject Project Planning & Scheduling
Subject Code PM 0004-Set-2
1. (a) Explain team work in project context. Explain briefly about
team life cycle.
(b) What are the different factors influences the project team
performance, explain each briefly.
Although a good project plan generally leads to success, it's not
enough. Everything that we do and the things that we do are all connected
with people. We live because of people, we work with people, we work for
people and we could say that we depend of people. That's why in a project
the most important things is the team. So it's all about the people you work
with.
The project team can be built up of human resources within one
functional organization, or it can consist of members from many different
functional organizations. A cross-functional team has members from multiple
organizations and this is a recommended thing to do.
The most important tasks that the project team has are:

Understanding the work to be completed

Planning out the assigned activities in more detail if needed
Completing assigned work within the budget, timeline and quality expectations
Informing the project manager of issues, scope changes, risk and quality concern
s
Proactively communicating status and managing expectations

A project team formed by some people that know very well what they are
doing and that are headed by a project manager who is responsible for the
successful outcome of the project. His job is very important because he must
also form and educate team members and teach them how to do what is
needed when they don't know.
The project team carry a huge responsibility upon it's shoulders: the
success or the failure of the project. It's members are the one who practically
execute the project, who give reports to the project manager, who make
changes and corrections when needed. Each member of this team has his
own task, which represents a part of the whole project. So it's important that
everyone respects what he must do so the final result is a good one
Time Life Cycle The life cycle of a project team spans across the complete proje
ct, not
just a particular phase. For example, the Maruti Auto team responsible for
creating a new model integrates activities ranging from assessing an
opportunity to product research, feasibility analysis, development and
engineering, technology transfer to manufacturing, marketing, and field
services. This work may also involve bid proposals licensing, subcontracting,
acquisitions, and offshore manufacturing. The need for close integration of
activities across the entire project life cycle requires that these
multidisciplinary teams stay together as a unified, effective work group for
most of the product life cycle, rather than just for a particular phase of core
activities. For example, the primary mission of the product development
team may focus on the engineering phase, but the team also supports
activities ranging from recognition of an opportunity to feasibility analysis,
bid proposals, licensing, subcontracting, transferring technology to
manufacturing, distribution, and field service. This creates managerial
challenges in dealing effectively with resource leveling, priority conflicts, an
d
long range multifunctional commitment.
Project Team Performance
Team performance is difficult to measure because of it involves highly
complex, interrelated sets of variables, including attitudes, personal
preferences, and perceptions that are difficult to quantify. Yet, in spite of th
e
existing cultural and philosophical differences among organizations, research
shows that a general agreement exists among managers on certain
performance measures for project teams and their results.
Project Performance Measures
Starting with the bottom line of team results and project success, a considerable
agreement exists among managers on the following metrics of nine measures:
1. Project success according to agreed on results
2. On-time budget performance
3. On-budget performance
An estimated 90 percent of project managers include these factors among the thre
e most important measures of project success. The majority of managers rank thes
e factors in the shown order. In addition, other factors are often mentioned as
important to project success. They include:
4. Overall customer or sponsor satisfaction 5. Responsiveness and flexibility to
customer requirements and changes
6. Dealing effectively with risk and uncertainty
7. Positioning the project for future business
8. Stretching beyond planned goals
9. Organizational learning to benefit future projects
2. (a) Explain how do you build high performing project teams. What are the requ
irements of an effective team management? (b) What is leadership? Explain briefl
y about project leadership and leadership competency. a. Requirements of an effe
ctive team management Individual department or functional managers need to embra
ce
ownership and responsibility for success and accomplishing defined strategic
initiatives. However, to maximize the effectiveness of the organization,
managers must be able to work with one another to achieve common goals.
To be effective the following six principles apply: 1. Accountability must be at
the forefront of every initiative. Employees do
want to be held accountable and they willing accept responsibility given the
necessary training, information and the organization encourages
empowerment.
2. Minimize oversight through confidence and empowerment. Do not micro
manage. Workers will accept more responsibility if management isn't
constantly looking over their shoulder. This encourages innovation and
creativity but it requires effective communication.
3. Managers need to function more as facilitators and leaders. Coaching is a
skill set that should be required training for all managers to improve team
management. Regular performance discussions should be scheduled and
strictly held to.
4. Performance management & performance measurement are key
contributors to improved team management. Goals should be measurable
and specific. Creating score cards is an effective tool to improve team
performance.
5. Information sharing and effective communication are critical. Teams must
have unrestricted access to all relevant information. If you can't trust
someone on the team then they shouldn't be on the team.
6. Manager skill sets must be continuously reviewed and upgraded to allow them t
he opportunity to adopt new skills specifically related to coaching and mentorin
g. The manager's role must be redefined for the team environment and an emphasis
on the servant style of leadership
b.
Leadership has been written as the process of social influence in which one perso
n can enlist the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task. Definitions more inclusive of followers
have also emerged. Alan Keith of Genentech states that, "Leadership is
ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something ext
raordinary happen." Tom DeMarco says that leadership needs to be distinguished f
rom posturing. Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of the organi
zational
context. However, defining leadership has been challenging and definitions
can vary depending on the situation. According to Ann Marie E. McSwain,
Assistant Professor at Lincoln University, leadership is about capacity: the
capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting
point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to
establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articulate their
own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about
setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating
change that makes for substantial improvement rather than managing
change.
Project Leadership is a critical management skill, is the ability to motivate a
group of people toward a common project goal. View of project leader is that ind
ividual who leads a project team
during the project life cycle and accomplishes the project objectives on time
and within budget. Project leadership is defined as a presence and a process
carried out within an organizational role that assumes responsibility for the
needs and rights of those people who choose to follow the leader in
accomplishing project results.
Project Leadership

It is essential to recognize the types of challenges found in running a

project, figuring out what to do and how to manage the creation of
something that currently does not exist, despite uncertainty, diversity, and
an enormous number of problems and challenges, and getting a
management job done through a diverse set of people despite having little direct
 control over most of them. The project management competence of a project manag
er is the
ability to fulfill all responsibilities specified in the role description. Besid
es the
project management knowledge and the appropriate experience depending
on the project type, a project manager needs product, company and industry
knowledge. In international projects cultural awareness and language
knowledge are prerequisites too. The project management knowledge and
experience required by the project manager depends on the approach
applied by the Project Organization. According to a process oriented project
management approach, the project manager requires knowledge and
experience not just to apply project management methods but to design the
project management process creatively.
3. (a) what is communication management plan? Explain the
characteristics of CMP.
(i) What is issues management process? Explain issues management
challenges.
(b) Explain the role of stakeholders & explain different types of
stakeholders briefly.
(i) Explain the need for stakeholder s management briefly.
(c) Explain distributed performance arrangements & explain
teamwork dimensions.
(ii) What do you mean by virtual teamwork & mention the guidelines
for virtual teamwork
Communication management plan
The purpose of the Communications Management Plan is to define the
communication requirements for the project and how information will be
distributed. The Communications Management Plan defines the following:
- Communication requirements based on roles
- What information will be communicated
- How the information will be communicated
- When will information be distributed
- Who does the communication
- Who receives the communication This Communications Management Plan sets the co
mmunications framework
for this project. It will serve as a guide for communications throughout the
life of the project and will be updated as communication needs change. This
plan identifies and defines the roles of persons involved in this project. It
also includes a communications matrix which maps the communication
requirements of this project. An in-depth guide for conducting meetings
details both the communications rules and how the meetings will be
conducted, ensuring successful meetings. A project team directory is
included to provide contact information for all stakeholders directly involved
in the project.
Issues management process
Issues Management is the process of identifying and resolving issues in a projec
t or organization.
Using this Issue Management Process, you can identify and resolve issues quickly
, before they have an undesirable impact.
Whether you experience staffing, supplier, equipment or other issues, this proce
ss will guide you through the steps towards their speedy resolution.
Issues will arise throughout a project and beyond. There is a temptation to try
to avoid trouble by discouraging people from raising their concerns. Of course,
the opposite is the best policy. Any potential problem should be surfaced as ear
ly as possible and dealt with efficiently.

Anyone concerned with the project may spot potential problems. The
participants should be encouraged and rewarded for bringing these to the
attention of the project leadership. Once an issue is raised, the Project
Manager should ensure that it is proactively pursued and dealt with to the
satisfaction of all concerned parties. It should be easy for the participants to
submit their concerns. It is a good idea to stimulate the submission of issues
possibly by requesting input as part of the participants' regular progress
reporting. One way this might be done is by including an "issues" section on
the project timesheet.
The issue management process will normally involve a combination of
procedures, responsibilities and systems. The key to success is to have a
well-controlled but easy and efficient process. Define and agree:
? who does what,

? the detailed procedures, forms, tools etc,

? protocols for levels of authority, eg what type of corrective action can be un
dertaken without reference to the project's senior leadership,
? linkage to other management procedures, eg the scope change management process
, configuration management,
? linkage to external supplier's procedures,
? which tools will be used to support and manage the process,
? how to communicate and promote the process and its importance to all particip
ants.

Stakeholders are those entities within or outside anorg an ization which:

a) Sponsor a project or,
b) Have an interest or a gain upon a successful completion of a project.
c) May have a positive or negative influence in the Project Completion.
Examples of project stakeholders include the customer, the user group, the
project manager, the development team, the testers, etc.
Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in the project. Project
stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in
the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project
execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the
project s objectives and outcomes. The project management team must
identify the stakeholders, determine their requirements and expectations,
and, to the extent possible, manage their influence in relation to the
requirements to ensure a successful project
The following are examples of project stakeholders: Project leader
Project team members
Upper management
Project customer
 Resource Managers
Line Managers
Product user group
Project testers

Types of stakeholders

People who will be affected by an endeavor and can influence it but who are not
directly involved with doing the work. In thep rivate sector,*People who are (or
might be) affected by any action taken by an organization or group. Examples ar
e parents, children, customers,
owners, employees, associates, partners, contractors, suppliers,
people that are related or located near by. Any group or individual who
can affect or who is affected by achievement of a group's objectives.
An individual or group with an interest in a group's or an organization's
success in delivering intended results and in maintaining the viability
of the group or the organization's product and/or service. Stakeholders
influence programs, products, and services.
Any organization, governmental entity, or individual that has a stake in or may
be impacted by a given approach to environmental regulation, pollution preventio
n, energy conservation, etc.
A participant in a community mobilization effort, representing a
particular segment of society. School board members, environmental
organizations, elected officials, chamber of commerce representatives,
neighborhood advisory council members, and religious leaders are all
examples of local stakeholders.
Market (or Primary) Stakeholders are those that engage in economic
transactions with the business. (For example stockholders, customers,
suppliers, creditors, and employees)
Non Market (or Secondary) Stakeholders are those who - although they do
not engage in direct economic exchange with the business - are affected by
or can affect its actions. (For example the general public, communities,
activist groups, business support groups, and the media)
Need for stakeholder s management Stakeholder management is critical to the succes
s of every project in every organization I have ever worked with. By engaging th
e right people in the right way in your project, you can make a big difference t
o its success... and to your career."
The amount of time you should allocate to Stakeholder Management
depends on the size and difficulty of your projects and goals, the time you
have available for communication, and the amount of help you need to
achieve the results you want.
Think through the help you need, the amount of time that will be
taken to manage this and the time you will need for communication. Help
with the project could include sponsorship of the project, advice and expert
input, reviews of material to increase quality, etc.
Stakeholder Management is the process by which you identify your key stakeholder
s and win their support. Stakeholder Analysis is the first stage of this, where
you identify and start to
understand your most important stakeholders. The first step in this is
brainstorm who your stakeholders are. The next is to prioritize them by
power and interest, and to plot this on a Power/Interest Grid. The final step
is to get an understanding of what motivates your stakeholders and how you
need to win them around.
Good Stakeholder Management helps you to manage the politics that can often come
with major projects. It helps you win support for your projects and eliminates
a major source of project and work stress.
Distributed performance arrangements & teamwork dimensions: As organizations bec
ome increasingly dependent on teams to operate
successfully, the globalization process poses a unique challenge: How do
organizations that are distributed globally use a system (i.e., teams) that is
traditionally co located? Like organizations themselves, teams have been forced
to
change with the times. Distributed performance arrangements allow teams to
operate across space time. As few as a single team member, or as many members
as the entire team, may be physically located in different offices, time zones,
or even
countries.
In the simplest sense, distribution is a performance arrangement that affects
how the team members send, receive, interpret, and encode information. The space
between thus has a profound impact on how team members think, act, and feel. For
example, distribution influences the nature of team members mental models and the
cues on which functional experts can call during naturalistic decision making.
Moreover, distributed performance arrangements can be traced to issues with
conflict and shared identity, workload or team opacity and team leadership.
Teamwork Dimensions Major team functions include orientation functions (e.g., ex
changing
information), coordination functions (e.g., performance monitoring and error
correction), and motivational functions (e.g., maintenance of norms, resolving
conflicts). These core teamwork dimensions may further also include performance
monitoring and feedback, communication, coordination, and adaptability.
Virtual teamwork & mention the guidelines for virtual teamwork Virtual teams are
not constrained by typical size limitations, have
distributed functional expertise, and interact a majority of the time via
computer mediated communication.
Because of their distributed nature, virtual teams must rely on some
form of technology, ranging from primitive (e.g., telephone) to advance
(e.g., virtual reality). Thus, virtual teams are dispersed in space time and
use some form to technology to cross their divide. Beyond these basic
parameters, there is considerable variability in defining what is meant by
virtual team.
Guidelines for Virtual Teamwork On the basis of the information in the virtual t
eamwork literature to
date, certain trends can be identified. Although on could argue that different
guidelines should be applied to different types of teams, the following 17
points in general may help promote effective performance when teams are
not co located:
1. Provide clear, engaging directions and specific individual
goes for virtual team members to enhance self regulation,
Meta cognition, and shared mental models.
2. Create structure, standard operating procedures, rules, protocols, and guidel
ines to promote habitual routines. 3. Distribute leadership functions to the tea
m, moving away from hierarchical organization.
4. Support both synchronous and asynchronous interaction.
5. Select appropriate virtual work tasks that are not so complex
that they are better suited for FTF team. 6. Supply team members with informatio
n that may not be available through the VE (e.g., team member availability). 7.
Provide enhanced distributed activity using project
management software, structured workflow, and decision
support systems to teams using virtual technology.
8. Create opportunities for all team members to participate in
group discussions to maintain relationships among team
members.
9. Provide meta cognitive training to promote efficiency in distributed teams. 1
0. Hold initial FTF meetings to promote shared mental models and the formation o
f interpersonal relationship. 11.Use scenario based training to help distributed
teams develop team processes vital for success. 12. Provide tools to help team
members adapt to changing circumstances 13. Select team tasks that are appropria
te for virtual teamwork. 14. Provide team building and collaboration training. 1
5. Crate project deadlines that agree with the team development model. 16. Share
critical information among team members. 17. Allow personal communication and i
nformal social time, if only virtually, to foster improve interpersonal relation
s.