Operations Management For Dummies

Chapter 14

Using Communication and Leadership Skills When Managing Projects

In This Chapter

Evaluating a project’s success

Understanding why projects fail

Going through the steps of the project management process

Communicating with stakeholders and the team

Projects are initiatives that a firm undertakes as a one-time effort — a unique sequence of tasks such as building a bridge, designing a car, or developing a computer operating system. The circumstances and requirements to complete a particular project and how the activities interact with each other are, at least to some extent, different from any other project. This uniqueness means that the people involved in a project do not have prior experience that tells them what to do, when they need to do it, and whom to coordinate with to get the job done. Therefore, the first responsibility of managing a successful project is leadership and coordination.

Management must lead the project by communicating the overall goals of the project, what activities each person involved must do, the limits of their authority, and when they need ...