Reference no: EM133591030

Problem

Part I

A project manager working for an aerospace company in San Diego is placed in charge of a major project in her company, ranked number 10 on the list of 125 prioritized projects. Her team members are mostly junior-level professionals with little experience working in project management and also in working on their own without close supervision. This presents a problem for her because the bulk of the project work is to be conducted by this team, which is a virtual team operating in three locations in the United States, one location in Europe, and one location in Asia. She has limited funding for a face-to-face meeting with all of the team members and will need to rely on conference calls and emails for most communications among the team. The company does not have a standard project management methodology but is considering establishing an enterprise project management office.

While she has managed projects before, the project manager?s teams were staffed with more senior professionals, many of whom were PMPs, each with a history of self-directed performance, and the teams were co-located, so it was easy to meet regularly and discuss issues of concern.

"For this new project, she makes the false assumption that her laissez-faire management style, which was successful in the past, will still be appropriate. She believes she can leave much of the direction up to the team.

However, as the project evolves, problems surface because the laissez-faire approach is not working. The team members often have conflicts that she must resolve, and team members are often unsure about how to proceed effectively to do their assigned work. Some are not even certain what they are supposed to be doing on this project. These problems stemmed from a need for greater monitoring and structure for this team, their junior-level status, and the challenges associated with working in a virtual environment.

Consider the following questions:

A. How can this project manager establish a more structured managerial approach?

B. How can the project manager then communicate the need for the structured approach to the team?

C. How can the project manager mentor some of the junior-level team members?

D. How can this project manager ensure that all of the team members share the same concept of the project?s vision, its goals, and the benefits that must be achieved?

Part II

Select a project that you are either managing or working on as an individual project to pursue. It can be a project at work or a project in a volunteer activity outside of work. It could also be a personal project in your home - some students have used moves, weddings and other personal projects for this assignment. The key is that it meets the guidelines below.

Some guidelines for the project you select:

A. There should be several stakeholders involved in the project.

B. It should involve a team, as you will be focusing on interpersonal issues about the project.

C. You can be either a member of the team or the project manager.

D. The project should be one that lasts longer than one month--preferably spanning several months.

E. The project should meet the Project Management Institute's definition of a project.