the roles required for project managers to lead teams and manage relationships

Answer

The foundation of success of any project is the effective working together of people. Atern (2001) recognizes this and assigns clear responsibilities and roles to each and every person in a project. However, even after the attempt by Atern, the project management role is debatably the most perplexing of all the roles within the project squad. This is because the managers have to be dynamic to adapt to the changes that take place during the different stages of the project. The roles of project managers can be categorized into three main dimensions: technical, transformational and transactional (Campion et al, 2001). While most scholars tie the roles of project managers to technical, transformational and transactional methodologies and theories, it is important to note that the role of project managers is all about managing people and relationships of the human personnel in a project. This paper will advance the concept that the role of project managers is wholly about managing people and their relationships alongside the technical, transformational and transactional methodologies and theories.

The roles of project managers can be categorized into three dimensions: technical, transformational and transactional. To begin with is the technical dimension. This covers the hands-on responsibilities of the project manage. This dimension advocates that the manager ought to have skills apt for any particular project and thus must at certain times physically do the tasks (Cohen and Bailey, 2007). This helps the manager to lead the project team by example and expertise. This dimension would include those undertakings required to develop and complete the project definition and thereafter implement the project in line with the with its implementation outline, regulating the project so that the quality of delivery is guaranteed (Stephen, 2008). Thus, depending on the size of a project, the project manager must know how to manage the project team so that the technical aspects desired of a project may be achieved. In this regard, it is important that the project manager must have the expertise of a project so that he may be able to offer technical skills in case of dire need. The manager ought also to be technical advanced so that he may be able  to carry certain parts of the project on his own in case the size is small (Standing et al, 2006). However, running a project to completion may not necessarily involve an individual. This calls for the manager to have skills in motivating the project team both morally, technically and humanly. A manager can only achieve this, at the success of a project, only if he is able to manage people and keep good relationships with the project team members.

The second dimension is transactional. This dimension refers to the activities associated with the management of a project’s performance and work flows. These activities include establishing the metrics and parameters of the baseline of a project that are required to regulate the project during the execution stage (Geoghegan, and Dulewicz, 2008). To carry out these roles successfully, a project manager needs to have qualities of a manager. This is because the transactional dimension links the project to external parties like buyers and sellers of equipment and materials. This calls for a good management of people and maintaining a good relationship with the external parties. If a project manager lacks the ability to handle people, he will not be able to easily acquire skilled project team members or services that are necessary for the completion of the project. 

Lastly is the transformational dimension. This dimension refers to undertakings associated with leadership. The project manager thus acts as the project leader. This requires good communication skills, maintaining a good relationship and softness by the project manager to the project team members so that the project manager may obtain the best performance from the project team (Turner and Muller, 2005). With these qualities, the project manager gets to manage people and keep good relationships.

To conclude, a project manager ought to be a leader in the first place. This requires that they lead by expertise in the project. This is because their roles are much broader than the management roles. The management is focused on a set of theories or methodologies that are aimed at the success of a process. However, since project development involves a number of individuals, the project managers ought to know how to manage people and maintain good relationships with the project team so as the objectives and benefits of a project may be realized.

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