Managed -- the Role of Project Manager:

¶ … Managed -- the Role of Project Manager:

Case Summary:

As a futures brokerage and clearing firm, Finvest Group invited me to explore the idea of developing a powerful trading division. Through discussions with the firm's CEO and the recommendations I provided, I was hired as a project manager and head of electronic trading. Though the firm was famous for talented brokers and excellent service, it was also renowned for total lack of technology. Some of the features of Finvest's lack of technology included few AOL accounts for several workers, dial-up connection for external communication, and a corporate network with few computers.

The major challenges in this task included changing the manager's perspective on technology and gaining respect from several executives who had worked together for years. As the project manager, I needed to design and implement a new business-wide information system. Since the company was very fragmented with workers having no idea of its overall focus, the first step in the process involved breaking-down the silos through writing weekly e-mails that explained the developments in my division. As the CEO was motivated by these e-mails, I continued to document the division's struggles that helped in transforming the entire team. Through complete participation of the division's team despite of several challenges, the firm had a huge Internet bandwidth and excellent trading systems that facilitated access to the main international exchanges at the time of completion.

The success in the first step was used as the foundation for the next stage in the process that involved creating managerial solutions to customers' problems. First, I convinced vendors into broadcasting Finvest as a technologically gifted firm for customers to listen and take note. Secondly, I spent time with customers in strategy sessions and trading terminals to understand their needs in a service provider and how markets moved. Through observations at the traders' offices, I observed their problems and daily issues that helped in creating managerial solutions. After learning the traders' lingo, I taught my support staff how to communicate with traders on phone, which resulted in increase in the firm's trading business to over 300% after the new division was launched.

Problems Finvest Encountered:

As part of developing a suitable and efficient project for Finvest Group, the identification of the underlying problems is a critical step. Some of the major problems that this company encountered in the case included complete lack of technology, fragmentation its operations, and the employees' lack of understanding of the firm's overall focus. These problems had several ramifications on the firm including low productivity, lack of timely customer response, and low employee morale.

Proposing a Solution:

Planning, cost-effectiveness, and time- and quality-control are some critical areas where the role of various project management techniques in executing successful projects has been widely established (Munns & Bjeirmi, 1996). This success is usually achieved by proposing effective solutions for solving underlying problems through the establishment of a definite and realistic goal, client satisfaction, and efficient implementation process. For Finvest Group, the best possible solution to solve the already listed problems is the creation of a business-wide information system.

The process of developing such a system would involve motivating and leading the electronic trading team to achieve success despite of the existing skepticism. Motivating and leading the team would require being positive and supportive to the staff to ensure that team tasks are carried out in timely and cost-effective way (McConnell, 2010). As part of addressing the underlying problems, the business-wide information system would help in meeting the high demands of customers who are high-volume traders.

Learning Application:

The successful design and implementation of a business-wide information system was due to the successful execution of the necessary steps in project management and an understanding of the role of the project manager. In the current technology-heavy business world, project managers need to be good business leaders, good managers, above-average sales-people, and skillful technologists.

Moreover, a project manager should have a strong view on a firm's sales strategy due to his/her understanding of the technology more than other people in the organization. With the lack of the ability to handle or address each of these areas, a project manager should therefore be an IT manager rather than a project manager. Actually, many IT-related projects fail because of the lack of understanding of these business requirements from a strategic view (Wessels, 2007).