Professional and Cognitive Skills

Answer:

Introduction

Effective project management remains to be the major driving force for the success of business ventures. The Australian construction industry focuses on boosting productivity and providing a conducive working environment for the employees. Cheong and Mustaffa, (2012, p. 543) argue that with the current competitive business environment, construction companies must design strategies for establishing a firm position in the market, and this calls for undertaking various stakeholder-oriented projects. For a project's goals to get realized, there must a clear and consistent communication system amongst the stakeholders. This report is based on employees self-assessment reviews and provides an analysis of the features that a project leader should possess and the lines of communication that a firm should adopt so as to achieve the set project's objectives.

Brief on Employees Self Assessment Reviews

This self-assessment was completed using the Proctor and Gamble company employees self-assessment reviews against a backdrop of the fair work ombudsman having numerous years of experience in analyzing, improving, and providing effective leadership for the companies projects. Based on the employee's self-assessment reports, the company's performance was rated high, and the main reason was effective communication and leadership by the project leaders. However, the self-assessment for the year 2015 identified five strategic change objectives that should get included in the project plan and include:

1. The value of clients work


Enhancing a balanced outcome for the budget

Engaging all Staffs in Decision-Making

1. Optimal utilization of time
2. Diversifying the company recruitment culture beyond Australia borders

The following analysis provides a clearly and well-written self-assessment program based on the objectives, achievements, and issues arising for P&G and resulting from employees contacts to the perfection of project goals. Further, the assessment explains in details the solutions as well as the immediate results to the overall project performance.

Functional Roles of Key Stakeholders

The self-reviews revealed that projects have to meet all the stakeholder's interests because every stakeholder plays an important part in the functioning of the company. According to Cheong and Mustaffa, (2012, p. 550), key interested parties in a construction project include the project manager, project team, functional management, sponsor, and the customers. For a company to realize its set goals, there must exist a well established mutual relationship between the stakeholders and the project leader.

For a clear understanding of the functional roles of the key stakeholders, the self-assessment review followed a diagrammatic representation in explaining the responsibility of every stakeholder towards the project's success. The following table shows the functions of the key stakeholders of a construction industry on enhancing the success of the project.

Stakeholder                            Role and contribution in project management

Project leader                          Defines the objectives, plans, controls, and leads the project

Team members Contribute their knowledge and skills in performing the project's tasks to produce the desired output

Sponsor                                  Acts as a liaison between the top leadership and the project leader

Customers                              The group whose demands drive the project and receives the final product of the construction project

Functional manager provides the company with human, financial, physical, and technological resource policies in particular to the project 

The above tables summarize the below diagrammatic representation of the functional roles of the key stakeholders in a construction project.  

The above table shows how the interested parties in a construction sector work. The right-hand side lists the contributors to the success of the project, while the left-hand side group illustrates how the end users of the projects product get affected. Contributors in the project include the management, project management, team, and customers and how their influence helps in designing decisions and missions for the company's project.

Lines of Communication

Construction projects are complex and risky, and this requires the active participation of the concerned stakeholders which can only get facilitated through good communication policies. As per Fisher, (2011, p. 995), effective communication within the industrial environment leads to efficiency and improved productivity. There is a great need for constant consultation, adequacy of feedback, and motivation of the team members so as to achieve the project goals efficiently.

A good project leader should establish effective channels of communication to establish close links amongst all the players in the construction industry. Kerzner, (2013, p. 68) argued that the best project leaders always communicate their plans to the team members promptly and recognizes contributions of all participants regarding decision-making processes. Given that construction sector is highly dynamic and fragmented, the challenges of poor communication remain greater than in other production environments.

Below is a diagrammatic representation of channels of communication that a project leader should adopt to establish a healthy relationship between the stakeholders of the project.
                        Internal Lines of Communication 

            Formal                                                 Informal

1. Upward - Grapevine
2. Downward

• Vertical and Horizontal

The upward line of communication: A good project leader should value the input of the team members since this creates mutual trust and an opportunity of acquiring feedback on the progress of the project.

Downward communication: An effective project leaders should use top flow channel of communication only when issuing policies and assignments to the project team.

Vertical and horizontal: further, good leaders should establish mutual interrelationships between the project participants both at the same levels and in different levels.

Attributes of a Best Project Leader

A project manager should have a broader picture and understanding of the organization. The best project managers consistently deliver and meet stakeholders expectations at the right time and the set budget. Franzoni and Sauermann, (2014, p. 4) observed that a good project manager is the one who understands that leadership and people's skills are significant to excellent project management. With a clear understanding of the business environment, the project manager ensures that the goals of the project go hand in hand with the overall organization’s objectives.

Project leadership should have the ability to call for clear communication about the objectives, roles, performance, expectations, and feedback mechanisms to all the key participants in the construction project. Hwang and Ng, (2013, p. 276) state that communication is the backbone of a project's success and that poor communication creates an environment for complaints, and this hinders success. Active managers should spend most of their time communicating with the project team.

A project manager should possess effective leadership skills and have the ability to make sound decisions relating to the project track. According to Petit, (2012, p. 540), a good team leader must be able to deal with groups whose ideologies vary, this suggest that one should be adjustable under different working conditions. Further, project managers must make many decisions which clearly define the project having in mind that making a wrong decision may jeopardize the whole project.

Again, best team leaders should be able to thrive under pressure by effectively building the team. A good project manager should be good at team-building since unity and harmony of the project participants creates an environment for successful implementation of the plan. Chou and Yang, (2012, p. 48) postulate that it is important for leaders to focus on the positive aspects of the team members for this negate chances of conflict within the team. The creation of a positive rapport within the team relieves pressures that may have in one way or the other affected the project's momentum.

Further, a good project leader should be competent in the field of project management. Knowledge of the best practices that relates to an organization empowers a project manager to take strategic actions as and when needed. As per Franzoni and Sauermann, (2014, p. 20) for leaders to become competent in guiding a project team, they must have the ability to inspire, model, inspire, and encourage the teams towards the right direction. Capacity to handle technical tools in the construction industry helps a manager to establish effectively a work package that the participant can accomplish within the set limits.

Conclusion

It is mandatory for every corporate industry in the business environment to establish project management department within its operations. Effective communication plays a significant role in the success of a given project. Poor communication strategies lead to the wrong setting of the stakeholder's functions and responsibilities, and this creates confusion in the functioning of the project. Given the complex nature and diversity of projects,  project leaders should, therefore, come up with well-laid policies that recognize all stakeholders participation and engagement in the implementation process.

References

Cheong, Y. & Mustaffa, E., 2012. Analysis of factors critical to construction project success in Malaysia. Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management, 19(5), pp. 543-556.

Chou, J. & Yang, J., 2012. Project management knowledge and effects on construction project outcomes: an empirical study. Project Management JOURNAL, 43(5), pp. 47-67.

Fisher, E., 2011. What practitioners consider to be the skills and behaviors of an effective project manager. International Journal of Project Management, 29(8), pp. 994-1002.

Franzoni, C. & Sauermann, H., 2014. Crowd Science: The organization of scientific research in open, collaborative projects. Research Policy, 43(1), pp. 1-20.

Hwang, B.-G. & Ng, J. W., 2013. Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 2(272-284), p. 31.

Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. S.l.: John Wiley & Sons.

Mok, K., Shen, G. & Yang, J., 2015. Stakeholders management studies in mega construction projects: a review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp. 446-457.

Petit, Y., 2012. Project portfolios in dynamic environments: Organizing for uncertainty. International Journal of Project Management, 30(5), pp. 539-553.