Project manager role in project management in Agribusiness
Successful Project Manager in Agribusiness Project Management:
An effective project management approach offers a system of repeatable protocols, protocols, and strategies that significantly improve the project’s chances of completion, adding value to both the team and the Project Manager. However, it’s important to recognize right away that project management isn’t entirely a science, and there’s no such thing as a guarantee of completion. The very reality that a Project Manager employs a technique that improves the project’s chances of completion. Project management success is heavily reliant on:
- A strong working partnership between the Project Manager and the line managers who delegate resources to tasks on a regular basis.
- The willingness of functional workers to report vertically to their line manager and horizontally to one or more Project Managers at the same time.
These two elements are crucial. Functional workers who are delegated to a Project Manager also receive technical guidance from their line managers in the first item. Second, workers who answer to several supervisors will often choose the managers who have the most leverage of their budget. As a result, most Project Managers tend to be at the hands of their line managers at all stages. Classical management is often described as a method in which a manager does not actually execute tasks by himself, but rather accomplishes goals with the help of others in a collective setting.
This definition extends to the Project Manager as well. Furthermore, a Project Manager must assist himself. When we look at project management closely, we can see where the Project Manager works with the line managers, not the other way around. Most executives are ignorant of this. They have a habit of putting a halo around the Project Manager’s head and rewarding him with a bonus at the completion of the project when the glory can actually go to the line managers, who are always forced to make better use of their money.
Role of the Project Manager in Agribusiness Project Management :
A Project Manager is a person in charge of ensuring that a project’s preparation and implementation go smoothly. This title is used in the building industry, engineering, information technology, and a variety of other professions that are focused on product or service development. The ability to ask probing questions, discern unstated conclusions, and overcome interpersonal tensions, as well as more formal managerial skills, are all required of the Project Manager.
One of his most critical tasks is to understand that risk has a significant effect on the project’s chances of completion and that this risk must be assessed both formally and informally during the project’s life cycle. Uncertainty is the primary source of risk, and the effective Project Manager is the one who prioritizes this issue. The majority of the challenges that affect a projecting stem from risk in any way. A successful Project Manager will dramatically mitigate risk by adhering to a transparent dialogue strategy that encourages any significant participant to share their views and concerns.
As a consequence of the above, a Project Manager is responsible for making both big and minor decisions in such a manner that risk is managed and complexity is reduced. The Project Manager should make a decision in such a manner that it specifically impacts the project. Project managers plan their activities and staff using project management tools such as Microsoft Project. This software packages allow Project Managers to create reports and maps in a matter of minutes, rather than the few hours it might take if they didn’t have one.
Project Manager Duties and Responsibilities:
The Project Manager’s position includes a broad variety of tasks, including:
- Identifying and organizing the scope
- Task preparation and timing
- Inventory planning
- Program growth
- Time prediction
- Expense estimation
- Budget development
- Quality monitoring
- Danger and problem management
- Producing graphs and timetables
- Documentation
- Team leadership
- Strategic influencing
- Customer liaison
- Risk identification
- Benefits realization
- Scalability, interoperability, and portability analysis
Consider the time, expense, and efficiency constraints to highlight the Project Manager’s position. As one of these communicating, organizing, and integrating responsibilities, the Project Manager tells the line managers that the project has time and expense limits. This is where better resource management starts. Project management success is a three-legged stool. The project manager is on the first leg, the line manager is on the second leg, and senior management is on the third leg. Also, delicate balance cannot be enough to save the stool from toppling over if one of the three legs fails.
The Project Manager–Line Manager interface is a key node of project management. The project and line managers must treat each other as equals at this interface and be able to share power, duty, and transparency. Project Managers of well-managed organizations should not bargain for resources; instead, they actually ask the line manager to agree to deliver his portion of the job on schedule, on budget, and with good efficiency. As a result, in a good company, it shouldn’t matter who the line manager assigns as long as the line manager follows through with his promises.
The project sponsor’s primary aim is to provide behind-the-scenes support to project staff for projects both “internal” and “external” to the organization. Without this effort and assistance, projects will still be good as long as it runs smoothly. However, making a “big brother” present as a potential sounding board in a situation would certainly be helpful. When an executive is approached to serve as a project sponsor, he or she is responsible for making prompt and successful project decisions.
To do so, the executive must have access to data that is current, reliable, and full. The Project Manager must be persuaded that keeping management updated serves this function, and that “stonewalling,” an all-too-common procedure, would discourage an executive from making successful project decisions.
The line manager must deal with the following issues:
- Limitless job requests (especially during competitive bidding)
- Predetermined deadlines
- Restricted amount of resources
- The limited supply of resources
- Unplanned adjustments in the project schedule
- Unpredicted lack of success
- Unplanned absence of resources
- Unplanned breakdown of resources
- Unplanned loss of resource
The problem in recruiting, especially for Project Managers and Assistant Project Managers, is choosing what questions to ask during an interview to decide whether a candidate embodies the requisite or desirable characteristics. Individuals that are able to be advanced vertically but not horizontally can be seen in a variety of contexts. Because of his professional knowledge, an individual with low communication and leadership skills will be elevated to line management, but this same individual is not eligible for project management advancement.
The easiest way to interview, according to most executives, is to read each part of the job description to the prospective employee. Many people want to pursue a career in project management, but they have little idea what a Project Manager does. So far, we’ve spoken about the project manager’s personality traits. There are also concerns about the work to remember, such as:
- Is it appropriate to do feasibility and economic analyses?
- Is there a need for advanced scientific knowledge? Is it beyond the individual’s abilities, if so?
- Can the line organizations have adequate contingency strength if the person needs expertise?
- Is this the companies or individual’s first experience with this project and/or client? If so, what are the dangers to be aware of?
- What is the project’s priority, and what are the dangers?
- With whom would the Project Manager need to communicate, both within and outside the company? The majority of successful project managers are familiar with feasibility assessments and cost-benefit analysis. This skill will also lead to corporate strife. Each machine project at a large utility provider starts with a feasibility report and a cost-benefit analysis.
Without some clear functional assistance, the Project Managers, who all report to a project management division, complete the analysis on their own. Since no functional specialists are present, the functional administrators contend that the findings are wildly misleading. On the other side, the Project Manager says that they never have enough time or funds to conduct a comprehensive investigation. There are other compelling causes to hire from outside the organization.
A new Project Manager recruited from the outside is less likely to have close informal links to anyone line company, allowing him or her to be more objective on the project. Some organizations also mandate that the employee complete a twelve to eighteen-month apprenticeship in a line organization to learn how the business operates, meet some of the employees, and understand the company’s policies and procedures. The ability to consider and know both themselves and their colleagues in terms of strengths and shortcomings is one of the most critical yet sometimes misunderstood qualities of successful Project Managers.
Project Leaders in Agribusiness Project Management:
Employees are allowed to come up with new ideas, which, if accepted by the organization, will result in monetary and non-monetary incentives for the idea producer. One such incentive is the naming of the individual as a “Project Champion.” Unfortunately, all too often, the Project Champion becomes the Project Manager, and the project stalls, despite the fact that the idea was scientifically sound.
The majority of successful project managers are familiar with feasibility assessments and cost-benefit analysis. This skill will also lead to corporate strife. Each machine project at a large utility provider starts with a feasibility report and a cost-benefit analysis.
Without some clear functional assistance, the Project Managers, who all report to a project management division, conduct the analysis themselves. Since the functional researchers aren’t present, the functional administrators contend that the findings are wildly misleading. The Project Manager, on the other hand, says that they never have enough time or resources to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
There are also compelling arguments to hire from outside the organization. A new Project Manager recruited from the outside is less likely to have close informal links to anyone line company, allowing him or her to be more objective on the project. Some organizations also mandate that the employee complete a twelve to eighteen-month apprenticeship in a line organization to learn how the business operates, meet some of the employees, and understand the company’s policies and procedures. The ability to consider and know both themselves and their colleagues in terms of strengths and shortcomings is one of the most critical yet sometimes misunderstood qualities of successful Project Managers.
Project Manager’s Authority and Power in Agribusiness Project Management:
The legitimate or lawful ability to order, act, or control the actions of others is one form of the Project Manager’s authority. It is possible to assign authority to one’s supervisors. Power, on the other hand, is given to a person by his subordinates as a sign of their admiration for him. A manager’s authority is a mixture of power and control that requires managers, superiors, and colleagues to follow his decisions readily. The power continuum is realized by the hierarchy in the conventional system, while power in the project structure derives from legitimacy, experience, or becoming a sound decision-maker.
The project management method relies heavily on authority. By grouping together tasks needed to achieve the project’s goals, the Project Manager must coordinate across practical and organizational lines. Project authority includes the mentality needed to coordinate all operational operations against the project’s completion, regardless of their venue.
Failure to create and maintain relationships will result in resistance or aversion to the project conditions for the Project Manager. The amount of power given to the Project Manager depends depending on the scale of the project, the management style, and how the management interprets future disputes with functional managers. However, in order to retain effective control, the Project Manager must have jurisdiction over some basic elements. In general, a project manager should have greater power than his duties warrant, with the precise amount of authority differing based on the degree of risk the Project Manager must consider.
The greater the harm, the more authority is granted. A strong project manager understands that his power stops and does not keep employees accountable for tasks that he (the Project Manager) does not have the authority to execute. Project Administrators of just monitoring power are in charge of certain programs. Influence Project Managers are the name given to these project managers.
Failure to develop authority relationships will lead to the following outcomes:
- Inadequate contact networks
- Misleading facts
- Antagonism, notably from within the informal company
- Weak working relationships with supervisors, subordinates, colleagues, and associates
- Consumer surprises
In a project climate, the following are the most important causes of control and authority issues:
- Poorly documented or no formal authority
- Mistaken perceptions of power and authority
- Workforce dual responsibility
- Two superiors (often at odds)
- Mission organization fostering individualism
- Subordinate relationships better than peer or dominant relationships
- Ability to control or enforce rewards and punishments as a team, based on who is the most dominant.
- Pooling money from several programs
The hierarchical framework of project management is a continual source of tension and negotiation. Despite the fact that there are often well-established authority distinctions between functional and project management roles, the fact that each project is fundamentally different from the others almost often necessitates authority negotiations. There are some ground rules for negotiating authority power. Negotiations should take place at the simplest stage possible. The first goal must be to identify the problem. This may contain the following:
- The issue
- The effect
- The solution
- The suggestions
If, and only if, consensus cannot be achieved, higher-level jurisdiction can be used. Functional and Project Organizations: A functional organization is a system under which the functional heads have jurisdiction and the structure is split into divisions.
Functional structure has the following advantages:
- It is quick and clear; coordination is left to upper management; it eliminates overhead; it offers well-specified career pathways for recruiting and promotion.
- Staff collaborates with colleagues who have common interests.
Functional Structure Disadvantages:
- Coordination of functional activities is difficult; there is no reward for interaction with other individuals unless the functional supervisor has jurisdiction.
- Encourages multiple department heads to write off group initiative failures as the result of failures in other divisions.
Matrix Organisations:
Most organizations have a system that is somewhere between fully functional and fully projected. There are matrix businesses. There are three distinct points in the organizational spectrum that have been identified.
Weak/Functional Matrix:
The functional managers keep their resources and mission areas under their direction. The project administrator’s job is to keep track of overall project success and improve coordination with functional managers.
A matrix that is balanced and functional:
A Project Manager is tasked to oversee the project in a balanced/functional matrix. The Project Manager and the practical managers each have equal authority. This structure’s supporters claim it strikes the perfect balance, incorporating the strongest characteristics of practical and projected organizations. However, since power-sharing is a delicate proposition, this is the most complex arrangement to maintain. This is the most difficult hierarchical system to keep up with.
Matrix of Strong/Project:
A Project Manager is a person in charge of the project. Technical experience is provided by functional administrators, who delegate personnel as appropriate. Since project services are delegated as required, there may be resource assignment differences between the Project Manager and the functional manager. Multiple tasks must be staffed by the same professionals, according to the practical boss.
Matrix with soft boundaries:
The “soft boundary matrix” is the fourth form of organization. The members of the functional team have strategic expertise and delegate personnel as appropriate. There is no need for Project Managers or functional managers to oversee resource assignments because project resources are delegated as required.
