RWS 290 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Project Manager
9 Oct 2018
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Textbook Notes
Chapter 2
Project Management
Why Do You Need a Project Manager?
Someone who plays a specific role on a team by keeping the project on course
Primary responsibility is to track the status of the project and to ensure that all team members know what they
should be doing at any moment
Larger and more complicated the team project is, the more important the role of project manager becomes
Project manager's specific duties include:
Keeping the project on schedule by publicizing deadlines and responsibilities in the task schedule
Holding people accountable by documenting action items in the meeting minutes
Managing disagreements by documenting decisions in the meeting minutes
Keeping team meetings on task by preparing meeting agendas
Project manager may perform other tasks:
Sending e-mail reminders of deadlines
Notifying the instructor of problems, particularly missed deadlines
Creating the initial straw document of the project
Producing other documents related to the project, including project plans, team charters, and progress
reports
Task Schedules: Publicizing Deadlines and Responsibilities
Once the team has brainstormed, project manager needs to create a written task schedule
Written task schedule - documents deadlines, tasks, and responsibilities
Essential to effective collaboration
Who is responsible for doing what by when
Vital pieces of information: name, deadline, and a brief description of the task
Padding - additional downtime between major steps that allows the group to recover in case a particular step
takes longer than expected
Task schedule needs to be visible, project manager must distribute the schedule to the entire group each time it
is updated
Essential for implementing a layered collaboration
Dangers of Operating Without a Task Schedule
Without one, teams are likely to
Miss deadlines
Duplicate effort, two people may complete the same task
Procrastinate, members might put off their parts of the project
Encourage slackers, members may avoid doing any work on the project
Document Summary
Someone who plays a specific role on a team by keeping the project on course. Primary responsibility is to track the status of the project and to ensure that all team members know what they should be doing at any moment. Larger and more complicated the team project is, the more important the role of project manager becomes. Keeping the project on schedule by publicizing deadlines and responsibilities in the task schedule. Holding people accountable by documenting action items in the meeting minutes. Managing disagreements by documenting decisions in the meeting minutes. Keeping team meetings on task by preparing meeting agendas. Notifying the instructor of problems, particularly missed deadlines. Creating the initial straw document of the project. Producing other documents related to the project, including project plans, team charters, and progress reports. Once the team has brainstormed, project manager needs to create a written task schedule. Written task schedule - documents deadlines, tasks, and responsibilities.
