Reflections on managementPassage from «Some Essays About Management»

essay

1

What thoughts do people readin the word «project»?

Building a hydroplant in south-eastern Africa -

for ones

Building a doghouse at a summer cottage –

for others

The third ones use no wise words

They just live in a project logic

BUT!

All of them hardly think about what «project management» means

Let’s think together and try to answer the next questions:

— What is «management»?

— What do we manage in a project?

— And, finally, how do we manage?

What is the right end to start in studying «project management»?

From studying one of «The Project Management Standards»

What do we find in Standards?

Advice – how to manage a project, its content, terms, costs, risks

But we haven’t met any standard describing «how» to do that yet

We consider, it’s important to know «how» we manage projects

It should be explained in simple words,

step by stepand using

habitual tools

You say, time management is needed?

Ok, just explain in simple words how to do that

Risk management is needed?

Ok, how can I do that easily and simply?

And once more – how to manage the project?

To sort out the matter,let’s come back to management theory

So, what is the project management?

That is development and implementation of purposeful managerial influences on all project

participants (and relationships between them) aimed to reach the project objectives

We admit –

it sounds as if elementaryHowever, let’s try to sort it out

«Management» impliesa subject and an object of management

In other words – one who manages and one who is managed

Sure thing is the subject of management - a project manager

With the object of management - things are

more complicated

Very often the project is implied as an object of management

And often they mean description of

what is to be done

BUT!

What do we actually manage with, indeed?

… with structure of knowledge about the project?

We are sure, it’s

people onlywho are to be managed

And the object to be managed in a project

are people

It’s people, taking part and developing the project,

influence it

As an

impersonalobject of management, the project can hardly be managed

A typical mistake is managing the material matter of the project

instead of managing people

We are occupied with

paperingour business, unaware of what for and why

All forces and resources are flung to create and modify this pile of papers

Being at the top

of the powerful system of documents circulation

are we considered to be a manager?

The work of a real manager implies management of people

… lively management

At last, we got moving

Project manager works with people

How does he do that?

By means of managerial influence

We develop and implement a managerial decision

In other words, we influence an object of management till it comes to the shape we need

Managerial decision represents information, a model of transformation for object of management

The result of managerial influence

may not be conversed directly into orders, regulations and instructions only

Any information we shed may be the managerial influence

If we want it

And we’ll want itonly when we realize that it’s possible

Official blanks or, otherwise, e-mail messages, minutes of meeting, chats, a meeting itself or negotiations etc.

All of them aremanagerial influences

These tools are effective as much, and, moreover, always at your fingertips

«Management» itself is held by

simple steps

Step 1

Collecting and processing information needed for decision making

Step 2

Preparing possible managerial decisions and selecting the optimaland the most effective one

Attentionto be paid to selection criteria and an objective

(where and what for)

Step 3

Bringing the decision to the object of management (or its part)

These are the steps which answer the question –

how we manage

Conclusion

Management - that’s easy

Steps of management are simple, all required tools for management are familiar to us

and are used in our daily life

One can manage people only!

Managing a project, we manage peoplewho implement this project, who are influenced by results of this project,or interested in attaining or not attaining its final goal

Thanks for your attention!P.S. You got to know the passage of our book «Some Essays About Management»

The book is available in whole on the page «Vision» of our site www.kommandcore.com

Lively management of projects