Question # 1
Here is a list of project manager characteristics, adapted
from Austin (2004):
• Leadership
o throughout
planning
o at each
phase
o multiple
styles
• Integrity
• Sound
judgment
• Character,
not just competencies
• Knowledge,
skills, and abilities
• Problem
solver
Read through the list above then discuss the list with the
class. Do you think this list accurately reflects the characteristics of a good
project manager? Give examples from your own work or experience (even if it
didn’t involve project management). Positive and negative examples are
encouraged, but please change names to protect the innocent (or guilty).
Question #2
Please read the blog post Why you must lead or follow, by
Scott Berkun.(link
http://scottberkun.com/essays/42-why-you-must-lead-or-follow/)
As you read the post, think of people you know who have led
(or followed) in ways that are either productive or less than effective. I
realize that in an exercise like this, it’s easy to think of attributes of
leaders with whom you’ve worked in the past. That said, while you read don’t
forget to think about your own leadership (and follower) style and practices.
After reading the blog post by Berkun, please post in this discussion
forum about how you believe implementing an idea or ideas suggested in the post
have the potential to impact performance of teams that you have led or of which
you’ve been a member.
I don’t expect that you will agree with everything Berkun
says, so feel free to disagree. After all, the goal is to stimulate discussion.
For an interesting take on leadership versus management,
please have a look at the Harvard Business Review article, There is a world of
difference between management and leadership. It adds an interesting dimension
to our course. Again, feel free to agree or disagree.(link
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/harvard-business-review-difference-between-management-and-leadership-2013-1)
Question # 3(deciding what to do )
If you haven’t already done so, please read (or re-read)
Berkun’s discussion on how not to decide what to do from this week’s lesson.
Please share with the class an occasion when you’ve been involved in a decision
and made either the wrong decision or the right decision and how Berkun’s
advice applies.
If you haven’t been involved in that kind of decision, feel
to search the web to find an example for us. Provide a link, summarize it, and
show how Berkun’s points apply.
Question # 4
There are a number of seminars available on communication,
its importance to an effective workplace environment, and, among other things,
how important it is to accomplishing goals.
We’d like you to share your views on communication in the
context of project management. What strategies have you (or others) tried that
worked well? What strategies have you (or others) that, according to the
relevant literature, should have worked, but didn’t? Be sure to give the
reasons particular strategies worked effectively or ineffectively.
Question # 5
Before we look more closely at the nuts and bolts of
scheduling, we’d like to begin with a reading. There’s an old saying: “Fail to
plan, and plan to fail.” That may be true, but it’s just as true that schedules
need to be flexible.
With that in mind, please read Project Management for
Instructional Designers,(link https://pm4id.pressbooks.com/) sections 8
(Overview) and 8.1 (Types of Schedules). Also read Jenkins, Nick. “The Fine Art
of Scheduling.” In, A Project Management Primer (pp. 23-28).
As you read, record what you find to be the most salient
points and how they apply to your context. Share them with the class in this
forum.
