Project Manager Essay

I do firmly believe that the presentation of Terry was very inappropriate for that matter. Based on the given scenario, it clearly states there that the audience of Terry is an engineering group and not just any other individuals which are more concern on the technical aspect of the project that she was presenting in front of the latter. She keeps on discussing things that do not fall under the role of the engineers on the said project or on the things that concerns the engineering group. Why discuss the importance of the project to the engineering group if they care less on that matter since these group works based on the procedures on how a new product is to be produced and they do not give even a single care or responsibility on the importance of that certain product to the company. In other words, Terry dwell much on the â€Å"external qualities† of the product and not on the â€Å"internal qualities† of the project which was needed by the engineering group; like the specifics of the product and the procedures that they would have to conduct in order to produce the said product line effectively and efficiently. Moreover, she discussed dates and milestones of the products which are not very important of the part of the engineering group. The said presentation only becomes appropriate if Terry is presenting the product to the board of directors of the company as a project proposal for a new product since the presentation give more emphasis on the benefits and significance of the product to the company and not on the technical aspects of the products as what is being needed by the engineering group. It seems that Terry did not take into consideration the kind or type of audience or listeners when she was preparing for the said presentation with the engineering group. Answer #2 One possible way through which Terry could improve her presentation is to concentrate more on discussing the specifics of the product like giving the engineering team first of the bird’s eye view of the production flow of the product to be produced and then after which a detail explanation of every part of the production flow to guide the engineers what to do when they set their foot on the production line. Moreover, this would give the engineering group skills and information on how to deal with certain problems that might arise during the production process of the product since they already know how every aspect of the production works for the entire system. Furthermore, it is best for Terry to familiarize her self with engineering terms and â€Å"languages†, basic term would do, so as to make the transfer of information from her side going to the engineering group easier and faster (Busse & Zettelmeyer, 2007). It is just like knowing what are the effective way of communicating with other people is, you choose the language or the wordings of the individual/group of people to make the conversation more effective and easier (Foulger, 2004). Moreover, Terry should also familiarize her self with the possible problems or issues that might come out along with the commencement of the production of the said new product. This was one of the major problems that she encountered when the members of the engineering group started to ask question regarding the possible issues that might arise during the conduct of the production of the said new product. By familiarizing the possible problems of producing the new product line of the company, it only tells us that she is prepared in presenting the new product to the engineering group and she knows every single aspect of the production processes of producing that certain new product. Answer #3 As for the action of Terry, I would be best if she heard first the questions of the engineering group before acting unprofessionally. She may not know the answer to the questions being raised by the engineering team but it would be a good source of pointers on how to make a better presentation the next time she would be asked to do the same task again. Moreover, she could have just admit that she lack preparation and very willing to entertain questions regarding the project just in case she might encounter questions that she can answer. As for those questions that she could really no longer answer, Terry could list them down and make a research for those questions and set a new date another presentation of the new product. Walking out in the middle of the presentation is very unethical in the world of corporate profession. On every things that one person is about to do, he/she must handle it gracefully or in other words everyone in the corporate world must possess the value of â€Å"grace under pressure† so as to establish rapport with other people on his/her immediate environment. Terry did not have the guts to admit in front of the engineering group that she missed the details of the questions that the former are raising. Admitting that she was not prepared is better-off than just walking out of the room without even finishing the presentation in front of the important personalities for the success of the new product of the company (DeCenzo, Robbins, Stewart & Stuart-Kotze, 2005). Answer #4 As for the project manager, it is his responsibility to shoulder the mess that Terry had left on the presentation room. Saying sorry to the engineering group must be the first thing that he should do regarding the unprofessional act of Terry. After this, since the project manager has the full knowledge over the project, it would be best of the part of the marketing department if he would be the one to continue the presentation and entertain the questions of the members of the engineering group. I think it is also the responsibility of the project manager to justify the action of Terry and inform them that she was just new to the department and ask for the sympathy of the member of the engineering group and hoped that it would not affect the decision of the latter to buy-in the said project. With this way, there is a possibility that the member of the engineering group might understand the situation of Terry and give the project manager another chance of setting one more meeting for the said project. Furthermore, after the meeting, it is also the responsibility of the project manager to have a talk with Terry and find out what happened on the presentation. After which, the project manager must give Terry with some pointers on how to handle such kind of situation and not to go along with her emotions (Bolpatra. gov, 2007). I think on this part the project manager committed a mistake as far as his responsibility to his subordinates is concerned. He should be the first one to check if his subordinates are ready enough for such kind of presentation by checking the slides of the presentation of Terry or conduct a dry-run of the presentation of Terry so as to check if her slides are appropriate for the said meeting considering that Terry was just new to the marketing department. Answer #5 One of the best ways to get the engineering group to go with the â€Å"buy-in† is to offer them with great incentives and privileges if the latter would accept the said project. High salary and additional benefits, say health benefits, are really hard to resist and this might be a good tactic to get the nod of the engineering group. Another way to get the engineering’s group buy-in would be; I would be the one to present the project after the engineering team gave us another chance to present the project and giving them the assurance that by then all of their questions will be answered clearly and smoothly since as the project manager I have all the information and knowledge needed to answer their questions and any queries regarding the specifications of the new product of the company. I think, after having the said two strategies to get the engineering group’s buy-in, there is a big possibility that we have the nod of the engineering group for the said project. References Bolpatra. gov. (2007). Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager and Key Staff. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://www. bolpatra. gov. np/admin/information_upl/1089883861YV. pdf Busse, M. & Zettelmeyer, F. (2007). Some Pointers For Preparing Presentations. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://faculty. haas. berkeley. edu/meghan/300/On_presentations. pdf DeCenzo, Robbins, Stewart & Stuart-Kotze. (2005). Managerial Ethics. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from foba. lakeheadu. ca/mirabelli/1511/ch02. ppt Foulger, D. (2004). Models of the Communication Process. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://foulger. info/davis/research/unifiedModelOfCommunication. htm