Project Manager
To evaluate the state of project management, you as project manager, can perform a little candid self-assessment.
Good - You work as the full-time project manager. You have the confidence of the project sponsor. You have appropriate experience and hide nothing from management. For example, on your last assignment, you led a successful CRM implementation.
Bad - You have insufficient experience given the project characteristics or have competing responsibilities. Your track record is inadequate. For example, the project manager just led a successful but simple MS Office upgrade project. For example, the project manager just led a project to improve the time-keeping system that upset some groups.
Ugly - My project is being managed as a self-managed team. Project management is divided among several individuals; no one is really in charge; I'm just a figurehead. A self-managed team may be a wonderfully positive working environment but it rarely delivers much due to too much debate and no way to bring competing visions to a consensus. For example, the project manager role is shared among the more experienced project team members; they make decisions by consensus that consumes an enormous effort for even the smallest decision.
The Fix
Appoint an IT professional with a record of successful delivery as project manager. For example, appoint the project manager who just completed a successful integration of the data from an acquisition. Business professionals rarely have appropriate IT project management expertise. For example, don't appoint a capable manager in supply chain.
Successful project managers produce project management deliverables such as updated Gantt charts, project status reports or Issue analysis reports.
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Project Sponsor
