The Project Management Skills

Having dealt with the selection and evaluation of projects for R D, the steps in the Innovation Chain and the importance of time compression management in the introduction of new products, the next topic to cover is the management of projects, with particular emphasis on the managerial skills that are required. 

Of the many skills required in Project Management the following are the key ones  

Another way of looking at this is to see it as a series of WHAT, WHEN, WHO and 

There are many commercial project management methodologies that cover these aspects of project management in different ways, and numerous texts on the topic and software, such as MS Project and its add-ons [D-13, D-14], However, it is not the intention of this book to espouse the benefits of any one of these but rather to distil out the essential best practices from a range of such methodologies. 

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A version of these team roles, modified by Boddy and Buchanan (1992) to fit with the experience of the project managers they researched is presented in Box 7.8. Expect, as project leader, to fulfil all of these roles at some time or other. They are all competences that can be learned and practised. Even if you have members of the team with these skills, you still need to take responsibility for ensuring that each of them is attended to. 

During the development of the proposal, the process owner should consider requesting subject matter experts to assist with the development of the problem statement, risk assessment, and cost avoidance or savings. Many times a process owner s core competencies align closely with the process but may lack business or project management skills. The process owner may need assistance to clearly articulate to the leadership what the benefits are to accept the proposed change versus the risks for not adopting the proposal. 

Virtual companies do not have any technical resource under their direct control and use consultants and other outside agencies to advise on the various stages of the product development. The people managing the company must have very good project management skills to keep the development on track. 

These skills will invariably enhance the Project Manager s performance. 

Project management skills The CSO project manager ensures that the contracted activities are completed in a timely and cost-effective manner. This individual needs to be identified early so that an acceptable working arrangement can be established. 

The radioanalytical chemistry laboratory has some specific needs, notably that the chemists must have specific training and experience in radioanalytical chemistry. The skills of the radiation safety officer must match the duties described in Section 14.3.2. The project managers should be fully versed in the operations and capabilities of the laboratory to serve as client s advocate with the analytical staff and the laboratory s liaison with the client. 

Project management skills— particularly the ability to keep to define the scope of work, stay on schedule, and keep within a budget. 

The lead investigator will usually serve as the project manager for the investigation process—so he or she will also need the skills to manage the schedule, budget, and final report. The leader must also exert control over the flow of information many incidents are sensitive—it is important that people be informed on a need to know basis—at least until the final report is issued. 

Undaunted, I turned to my project management skills, which were to prove as useful in politics as they had been in engineering, I worked hard to push a new bill that involved redirection of monetary funds from various sources through the state assembly into E-911 programs. But the bill rested in the senate for long periods without any action. 

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