Case Situation:
Among many other responsibilities, project managers must ensure that project team members are properly trained and oriented for their responsibilities on the project. Project team members are often selected for their experience or expertise in an area related to the project. If an operational process will change as a result of the project, for example, the functional department impacted by the change would want to be represented on the project team by someone with expertise in their processes. Some project team members may not have worked on a project before. Project team members who are new to project management will need to be oriented in project management concepts as well as to a new organizational structure and reporting relationships.
Scenario:
An announcement was just made that your company is establishing a Project Management Office (PMO) and will begin expanding its use of project management to accomplish business objectives as well as to manage the business day to day. You are an experienced project manager and have been appointed to lead the first project out of the PMO. The project team has been identified and your boss has called a team meeting for tomorrow. You have 10 minutes on the meeting agenda to introduce the team members (none of who have ever worked on a project before) to project management. What would you do? Respond to the following questions.
Q1. In your own words, define project management for the project team.
Q2. Explain to the team what a project is and how working on a project is different from working in a functional area.
Q3. Describe the top two things you think the project team members need to know now. Explain them to the project team and tell them why you think these are the most important.