Project Management

 INTRODUCTION
Project Management
Planning a project is the sole duty of a project manager. His duty is to ensure that he comes up with and executable plan that his or her team can manage to undertake as per the present resources. The project manager needs to plan, organize, lead, and control the project (Meredith et al. 2012).
Planning
When coming up with a project the project manager has to come up with a definite plan on how the project will be undertaken right from the start to the end. The manager has to develop a scope, plan, schedule, and set up procedures and policies that will ensure that the project objectives are achieved (Brown, 2008).
Organizing
The next step after planning for the general project is to organize it. Organization of the project includes setting up the project to fit the present company structure. Every company has a specific capacity and if the project has to be successful the project manager will need to take the company matrix into serious consideration. In this process the manager will separate roles and responsibility for each individual or body of the company. The manager will also need to specify instances whereby the company will need to incorporate external sources to help in the project for instance contract companies and contract personnel. The manager will establish a general structure of the project team (Gido and Clements 2008).
Leading
For a project manager this is the most important role. He has to take control of the project and ensure that everything is happening at the right moment. He has to bring into play his or her leadership skills whereby the manager has to motivate and communicate with the team. If the manager lacks in leadership skills then the project may face a number of difficulties. In case of conflicts associated with the project the manger is supposed to step in and resolve them as that is the duty of the project manager. The manager also has to set up team direction and coordinate all the project activities through all the stages of the project.  Being a leader the project manager has the power to assign duties when the need arises (Jutte, 2009).
Controlling
The project manager is in total control of the project and the team in general. The manager is responsible for anything that happens through the project. He or she is therefore supposed to measure, evaluate, and correct the project. In measuring, the manager should keep close check the progress of the project and establish if the objectives are being made. About evaluating, the manager is supposed to establish any kinds of irregularities that might have occurred during the project. The manager should ensure that the irregularities are mitigated and harm avoided. About correcting the project, the manager is allowed to make correction on the project when the need arises. If the irregularities are established then the manager can make the required corrections on the project.
QUESTIONS
1.	Developing mistrust-given that teams are not usually in together there is a risk of developing of inconsistency and a less familiar team. For a project manager dealing with a team that lacks trust becomes a great challenge. In order to deal with this issue the project manager should be ready to provide and use different communication apparatus to keep the team in constant communication. If the project managers choose a communication means he or she should also ensure that all members of the team can access and use the channel or software.
Lack of identity- a team that is dispersed may not even know the leaders or even each individual’s responsibility. Moreover the team members will lack shared experiences given that they do not meet or spend time together hence lack of cohesion within the team. In order to deal with this the project manager should consider holding regular conferences whereby he or she should engage all members of the team and let them interact and get to know each individual’s responsibility. This project manager should ensure that all member of the team attend the meetings or conferences as they are very significant for team work and bonding.
Sharing of information- it is easier to share information when there is no barrier of distance. Because of distance the project manager has to make plans to set up virtual communication systems and because of that there might be inadequate sharing of information. In order to deal with this the project manager should encourage use of alternative communications means such as phones or telephone communication, use of the internet, and other systems such as pagers (Kerzner 2009).
2.	Computers. Even though computers have made communication easy they have also opened business organizations to a new set of risks. One of the risks is that it has reduced formal interaction between team members because of that the team is open to a lot of challenges such as the lack of bonding, lack of identity which other, among other problems that arise because of the