In a company, there are many people working in different positions for different projects, each of them has a reason for being. Although we do not understand it 100%, they fulfill a fundamental function for the success of the business.
On this occasion I would like to put into perspective the impact of the absence of one of the most mentioned and perhaps (debatably) least understood roles in the workplace, Project Managers (hereinafter PM). I hope the following story helps you understand this responsibility. Let's imagine for a moment that this person suddenly does not exist:
It is 7:00 am on a cool January morning and the coffeemaker is already boiling a delicious Mexican coffee, that Javier, (a promising Production Engineer) left scheduled to enjoy during his breakfast. "Today is going to be an excellent day”, Javier thought. That day there was going to be a "batch" of a thousand sample pieces for a client that, if accepted, it would mean an increase in sales for his company and potentially a job promotion.
While driving to the manufacturing plant, Javier reviews all the activities he has for his shift: his responsibility begins with the correct design of the part, which depends on the perfect execution of the production team (validated by the quality team), and it ends with the container of sample pieces, being shipped on time. His first meeting is with the production supervisor, the quality engineer and the shipping coordinator with the aim of agreeing on the activity for the day, while the four characters are seated, they notice that a place is empty but they cannot remember who should occupy that place (in our case the PM has vanished without leaving any trace in the memories of the people). Without giving it any importance, they begin their meeting.
At that moment Javier had the sensation of vanishing from his chair but thanks to that morning coffee he was able to support himself, then he says:
What do you mean there's no reserved line for this project? I kind of remember someone was in charge of logistics, but I'm not sure who was. What can we do?
If someone had been given follow up to this requirement with all the parties involved and informed us of any setbacks... Javier thought. Now, he rushes to the operations manager's office to expose his case:
Javier had never had a relationship with production management and asking for a favor of this magnitude would not be easy. If someone had the influence to negotiate and make an exception for the cause... At this moment, he decides to go to the finance department to request for budget and to negotiate, in order to get that extra line.
If only someone had kept the budget available, I wouldn't have to ask my boss to look up that amount for me, Javier regretted. Luckily, Javier's boss was able to get the exception and the production line for his project was opened, but not before officially putting the project in the red numbers.
Now, it is 3:00 pm, and production is at 30%. If it continues at this pace, it is likely that it will be able to be on time. Excellent! Now, we only need to validate the quality of our production. To make this happen, we need to send the results of our initial tests to the Brazilian team (Different time zone).
-Javier now is thinking- When did we forget to consider this restriction, and not joining to the morning meeting?
-If there had only been a plan with dates and budgets that considered all the key people. If I had the ability to influence the different departments for the convenience of our project, I would not have to deal with all these problems, why isn't there someone who can be in charge of all this issues?-
It's 20:30, and the last piece comes off the production line, Javier smiles and says to himself, while seeing the positive quality results: “Welcome job promotion!” The shipment is delivered in the Departure area at 8:50 p.m. and received by the coordinator
Javier: Thank you. I wish there were a person who was the key to guarantee the proper functioning of a project; I don't know how we can work like this. Now Javier takes a deep breath.
All roles within a company are key for its success. We cannot exclude one or the other. This blog aims to highlight the importance of a PM and how he can negatively impact on time, money and quality if he does not count with good administration skills.
“TalentMind offers education programs for project managers in their different stages of maturity (from beginners to advanced) by having the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals”.
TalentMind offers education programs for project managers in their different stages of maturity (from beginners to advanced) by having the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals.