Project Management Functions

• Planning
– (what are we aiming for and why?)
• Organizing
– (what’s involved and why?)
• Motivation
– (what motivates people to do their best work?)
• Directing
– (who decides what and when?)
• Control
– (who judges results and by what standards?)

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 Leading (Directing)
• Motivation and leadership
• Teamworking and Creativity

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 Motivation
• Motivation tries to determine what gets
people to work and what gets them to
work better
• Motivation affects the production and
quality of work

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 Motivation (Continue)
• Lack of motivation creates several problems
such as:
– people do not feel like doing the job or
– it gets done but not very well,
– people get to work late,
– miss deadlines, ..., etc.
• Many factors affect why people take jobs and
the weightings applied to each factor vary with
each individual
• Psychology has much to offer in the way of
motivational theories.
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 Maslow and Herzberg

Self-

Hygiene factor
1. Achievement
fulfillment 2. recognition
3. the work itself
Higher Needs (type of work)
(Psychological) Self-expression 4. taking responsibility
(level of responsibility)
5. chance to advance
Recognition, respect (promotion)

Safety, shelter, warmth, etc 1. Working conditions

Motivators
2. Salary
Basic Needs
3. Relations with superiors
(Physical)
Physiological needs, food, clothing etc. working condition
4. Company policy

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Herzberg

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 John W. Hunt
• Hunt proposed that:
– predicting people’s behavior is achieved by
considering their personal goals.
– People can be motivated by creating an
environment in which their goals can be
satisfied while the goals of the organization
are also satisfied.
• Individual’s goals are:
– comfort, structure, relationships, recognition
and status, power, autonomy, creativity, and
growth.

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 John W. Hunt (Continue)
• Hunt assumes people’s needs are not
constant
– in contrast of Herzberg and Maslow
theories.
• Example: A graduate engineer will have
a goal of finding a job that offer good
training. Later this goal will be better
salary, then the goal is to find flexible
job…etc.
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 Motivation in Practice
• Practically, motivation is a complex
process-what motive one person might not
motivate another.
• Managers have to try to build up what their
subordinates are likely to like and then
establish what it is that drive them.
• Questioning subordinates is unlikely to
provide reliable answers in short period of
time.
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 Leadership
• Leadership is the way in which managers
influence people to meet the objectives of
the organization.
• Authority should be achieved through
respect so that people do what is needed
because they themselves appreciate the
need.

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 Leadership (Cont.)
• Establishing leadership is difficult. It is a
management skill that can be developed
with time.
• People have to be motivated through
sound leadership in order to meet the
company’s objectives.
• There is no correct way to lead, but there
are different styles depending on the
circumstances.
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 Leading Styles
1. Authoritarian:
– Allowing the subordinate no role in the decision-
making
2. Democratic:
– Where the decision making is delegated to the
subordinates
3. Task-centered leader:
– The leader is concerned with the task to be
accomplished and sees subordinates as tools that
are used to get the job done.

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 Leading Styles
4. The employs-centered leader:
– Leader is mainly concerned with the welfare and
well-being of subordinates, with the view that if the
subordinates are cared for them the task will be
achieved through their commitment.
5. Theory X:
– “old-fashioned” managers believe that people
dislike work and must be forced to work and that
people prefer to be told what to do.

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 Leading Styles
5. Theory Y:
– (opposite of X),
– people exercise self-direction and self-
control in the service of objectives to which
they are committed.
– People will actively look for responsibility
and use their imagination and creativity to
solve problems.

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 Factors of Leadership styles
1. For Managers:
– personalities, background knowledge,
experience, value system, confidence in
employees.
2. For subordinate:
– knowledge, experience, working as groups,
their feeling of independence or to be guided.
3. The situation:
– company’s expectation, culture, constraints
(time, confidentiality, …etc).
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 Teamworking and Creativity
• Teamworking
• Optimization Team Composition-Theory
• Managing the Creative Process
• Problems Solving
• Methods to Improve Solution Generation
• Decision Making (Proposal Evaluation)

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 Teamworking
• Teamworking is a life long habit for mankind:
– In family,
– at school, and
– at work we work in teams.
• Teams are often formed to solve problems
and so needed to be creative.

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 Teamworking (Cont.)
• Teamworking brings true holisom.
– Holistic team is an entity whose whole is greater
than the sum of its parts.
– This means that the group acquires new abilities
that the individuals could not have provided along
(i.e. colonies of ants).
• Mangers need to know:
– how to bring about the benefits of holistic teams
– and has to avoid forming ineffective teams (team
composition).
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Optimization Team Composition-
Theory
• Team theories describe how to form the
best possible team.
• A good theory must describe not only how
to select individuals, but has to select
groups that will work effectively together
“team balancing”.

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 1. Simple Theories
• In most models, separate team roles are
identified:
– could be functions that the team requires for
success such as leading, or
– they may be attributes of people that are helpful
in teamworking such as respect for colleagues.
• Each theory describes a way of identifying
the attributes a given individual can bring to
the team (through questionnaire).
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 1. Simple Theories (Cont.)
• These theories do not provide:
– experimental evidence to support their
prediction
– nor do they provide a way of measuring the
role each individual take in team with accuracy.
• They are only concerned about:
– having the required expertise in the team
– and not concerned about team homogeneity.

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 2. Advanced Team Theory
(Belbin Theory)
• Belbin’s research was centered on the
performance of teams at a management
game called “Teamopoly”.
• Belbin uses proven psychological
classifications to generate his team roles.

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 Team-role developed by Belbin
1. Company worker (CW);
– carries out agreed plans systematically and
efficiently.
2. Chairman (CH);
– control the way in which a team moves toward
the group objectives.

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 Team-role developed by Belbin
3. Sharper (SH);
– shapes the way team effort is applied
(discussion, outcome of group activities).
4. Plant (PL);
– advances new ideas and strategies to major
issues.

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 Team-role developed by Belbin
5. Resources Investigator (RI);
– explores and reports on ideas,
– development and resources outside the
group.
6. Monitor Evaluation (ME);
– analysis problems,
– evaluates ideas and
– suggestions.

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 Team-role developed by Belbin
7. Team Worker (TW);
– supports members in their strengths and
underpinning members in their shortcomings.
8. Completer Finisher (CF);
– ensures that the team is protected against
mistakes in aspects which need high
attention.

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 2. Belbin Theory (Cont.)
• A questionnaire-based analysis of team
roles are used to produce a numerical
rating for each individual.
• A successful team is a balanced team,
– one in which all roles are present and
unbalanced team will be a losing team.

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 2. Belbin Theory (Cont.)
• This theory was experimentally verified,
therefore, it has found its way into the
practice of many organizations that use it
for forming teams (i.e. Board of Directors).

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 2. Belbin Theory (Cont.)
• Belbin also produced a list of dangerous
group combinations:
– as a contradiction to the proposal that the
best way to form a team is to pick one expert
or more in each field required.
• Belbin theory takes into account
availability of expertise and team
homogeneity.

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 Managing the Creative Process
• Contemporary creativity comes from
group-work.
• Modern problem solving is an organized,
rational approach aimed at producing the
required breakthroughs at the times they
are needed.

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 Problems Solving
• Problem solving is the gateway to progress
• Several techniques exist. Any good
technique should include the following
steps in some form or another.
– STEP1: Examination
– STEP2: Proposal
– STEP3: Implications
– STEP4: Implementation

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 STEP1: Examination
• In order to solve a problem one should be
clear on what the problem actually is.
• Clarity of thought and the application of
rationality are the keys to being accurate
in identifying the real problem.

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 STEP2: Proposal
• A good problem solving depends on being
able to identify the best solution to the
problems.
• It is usually difficult to arrive at the best
solution straight way.
• The ideal approach is to produce lots of
different ideas and then weigh one against
another to find the best one.

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 STEP3: Implications
• Usually a proposal designed to solve a
problem will have implications.
• Some implications are significant enough
to render a proposal unworkable.

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 STEP4: Implementation
• No solution to a problem is complete
without due considerations being given to
implementation of the solution.
• Implementing a solution to a problem is a
management issue. A plan must be
produced for implementing the solution.

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 Methods to Improve Solution
Generation
• To generate ideas needed for the proposal
phase of the problem-solving process, two
techniques are presented:
– (1) Brainstorming,
– (2) lateral thinking.

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 (1) Brainstorming
• The technique aims at generating a big
number of solutions to a given problem. In
most cases only a few of the generated
ideas will be used to solve the problem.

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 (1) Brainstorming (Cont.)
• The technique relies on having a group
seeing the problem with fresh eyes and
using their imagination to produce
solutions.
• During a brainstorming session, ideas
should be generated free from rational
constraints. After the session a rational
approach is used for the selection of a
good solution.

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 (2) Lateral Thinking:
• In vertical thinking one starts with known
conditions and then applies steps of
reasoning to reach a goal (engineers use
this).
• In lateral thinking one has an inspiration
and sees a new angle of the problem and
the solution is accordingly. It is a
brainstorming on your own.

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 Decision Making (Proposal
Evaluation)
• Good decision making is a key to success
• Decision making as a process can be
divided into independent, elemental
sections and optimizing each one.
– I Decision-making Techniques
– II Collecting
– III Start with Objectives

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 (I) Decision-making Techniques
• Objectives facilitate clear and corporately
beneficial decision-making at all levels.
• Rational decision making is impossible with
conflicting objectives.

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 (II) Collecting
• Whenever a decision is to be made there are
always options.
• Data collecting aims at:
(1) collecting sufficient amount of facts about each
option
(2) ensuring that all options are known.
• Quantity and accuracy of data collected has
to be consistent with the measurable effects
of the decision.
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 (III) Start with Objectives
• Occasional wrong decision is an inevitable
consequence of making decisions. People should
learn from mistakes.
• Some of the evaluative techniques that may be
used to assist the process are:
– (1) Search for Extrema
– (2) Penalty Costs
– (3) Matrix Assessment
– (4) Overriding Constraints
– (5) Use of Math
– (6) Consequence Analysis
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 (1) Search for Extrema
• Sometimes objectives may require the decision
maker to aim at extremum (max. or min.) of
some variables. (e.g. min. possible time ≥ C.P.
plans)
• Extrema are poor ways to specify objectives and
lead to unclear choice (What project duration is
acceptable should be the question)
• Sometimes they are appropriate and they are
used in common practice.

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 (2) Penalty Costs
• All decision come not only with potential
benefits but also with costs associated
with the decision being wrong (Penalty
costs)
• The Risk associated with the decision
usually decided taking it or not.

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 (3) Matrix Assessment
• A very simple and effective way of
choosing among alternatives when many
different attributes have to be weighted
against each other (see Fig.)

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 (3) Matrix Assessment
Max. Plastic- Plastic-
Attribute Glass Silica
score N3 N2
Clarity 20 19 17 15 17
Low cost 20 5 15 10 18
Weight 20 2 19 13 16
Refractive index 15 14 8 9 12
uniformity 10 10 6 8 6
Stability 15 15 11 13 11
Total 100 65 76 68 80

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 (4) Overriding Constraints
• In some cases overriding constraints significantly
reduce the number of options available. Such
constraints should first be identified before the
beginning of the process:
– (i.e. upgrading an existing camera model without
changing the original body shell-space constraint).

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 (5) Use of Math
• A good technique to use to arrive at a
decision (unbiased and dependable).
Some times it allows for probability
evaluation in the process of decisions
making.

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 (6) Consequence Analysis
• In some cases the consequence of a
decision interacts with the issue upon which
the decision is made.
• Anticipating all consequences possible of a
given action is not usually possible so
efforts should be directed in the most
important directions.
• For the use when the consequence of a
decision is so essential in the selection
process (price reduction decision).
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