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It is often said that project managers have all the responsibilities but no authority. It is very true in almost all situations. The role of a project manager is sometimes like that of a magician. He/she is expected to keep all the project parameters green, irrespective of the difficult competing circumstances. Even if the design is not perfect or the project is understaffed or the budget is improperly estimated, the expectations from the outcomes are all the times the same. It is not easy to produce consistent results in varying situations. The only available option available at times is keeping the confidence of the team members very high to get good results. In these situations, regularly acknowledging the team members can make a huge difference to the project outcome.
As a project leader, with no authority the question remains what can you do to keep the self-esteem of the project high. Well, first treat all the team members with utmost professional respect. By default, every employee has some strong skill set, other than technical or business role he/she is playing. By recognising strengths of individuals and utilising them for the advantage of the project is an art. Some team members are good in leadership while others may be good at documentation. By using their natural skills and appreciating their contributions in direct or team settings, it will boost their productivity.
In another development, PMI-ISSIG has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2010 ISSIG Professional Development Symposium scheduled for Seattle June 27-30. Despite our best efforts, the difficult economic situation resulted in extremely low registration making the event unsustainable. All possible attempts were made to continue it even on a compact format, but in the end the PMI-ISSIG Board had to arrive at the extremely difficult decision to cancel the event all together. The PMI-ISSIG Board and the PDS 10 team extends thanks to you for your willingness to participate and regrets the necessity to cancel the event.
On another note, in one of my direct communication to you recently, I had shared with you information on the virtual communities program and our current status. I am so glad that some of you have responded and asked questions. Our approach has been to be absolutely transparent with you. We have been working closely with PMI to make sure that transition into the PMI Information Systems Community of Practice (IS CoP) happens successfully, in the event PMI-ISSIG members approve this proposal by a majority membership vote. The new IS CoP and PMI will be committed to provide the same level of service to our members in addition to other great benefits.
We at PMI-ISSIG believe that our members would be served better by transitioning the PMI-ISSIG into a virtual community of practice (CoP) within PMI. Since we are the largest SIG within PMI, we have taken this initiative very seriously and are working hard to establish the terms and conditions of such a potential transition that would benefit both our members and the project management profession. We have approached this initiative with caution, always acting in upholding of our "Members First" theme.
Your feedback is extremely important to me. Let us keep in touch through two way communication.
With best regards,
Sanjay Swarup, PMP, P.Eng.
Chair, PMI-ISSIG
chair@pmi-issig.org
http://www.pmi-issig.org
2010 Information Systems SIG Theme: “Members First” |