Essay Example on the Duties of a Project Manager

Project Administration

A project is a contract-based agreement that follows a legal and time framework. Its administration, therefore, has to follow a particular set of guidelines and follow up. Project management is inclusive of various phases. Among them are the reporting phase and the decision-making phase. Project management has to fall in line with the principles of contractual projects. The principles revolve around legal requirements, resource management and sometimes communication. The basic principles of time management are preparation and planning, managing potential threats to human rights, the physical security of the project, monitoring of projects, responding to grievances, and transparency (Senaratne and Sexton, 2008, p. 1307). By following principles outlined in the contractual document, a conducive working relationship is maintained.

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A competent contractor administers the project with a view of the principles of the contract in mind. Handling documents such as insurance and warranties is also a responsibility of the contractor. Some agreements require the contractor to report on the progress of the project within some identified time intervals. Therefore, it follows that a competent contractor can report at the specified intervals of time. The latter should also be efficient in outlining problems that have prevented the prospected progress and strategies to overcome the problems (Kibert, 2016). For instance, while reporting on a late project, the contractor could outline the problem having originated from an inadequate supply of the materials. To overcome such a problem, the contractor may choose to change the supplier.

A contractor should also be knowledgeable in handling legislative requirements that arise from the contract. In this line, he or she should have proper documentation of the project requirements and all legal and statutory agreements or requirements. Guiding on the starting and the progress of the project should, therefore, fall in line with all these requirements to afford safety of the project.

Project Management Process and Procedures

A construction process basically follows six phases. The first phase of the project is grabbing the concept. This is the stage of planning and designing the contract where a contractor first determines whether they have the capacity to deliver. Other phases include the time for making contact and also that of providing the bid documents, the actual bidding of the project, inception of the construction process, payment of the contract and completion.

The bulk of the construction process, however, falls from the beginning of the project to the finalization phase. A project manager undertakes their role from the inception process where planning for the project starts. Different tasks are carried out in different instances since it is in the best interest of the contractor to successfully conduct the process without small loss of finances or repeating the same process (Fisk and Reynolds, 2011, p. 33). A project manager, therefore, seeks to tear the line between success and failure of the project. First, the project manager evaluates whether the project is viable or not depending on the goals of the organization (Senaratne and Sexton, 2008, p. 1308). For instance, the available workforce, finances available and equipment are also evaluated at this point. Measures to solve such problems are, therefore, sorted out by the project manager at this stage.

The manager then comes up with an execution plan within which each stage of construction is allocated. For instance, the project manager may assign the actual construction to take place in a month’s time under a given number of workers (Fisk and Reynolds, 2011, p. 43). Reporting on the progress follows where the manager decides on whether to increase the allocated time or change other parameters such as the number of workers to suit the project’s phase completion. For instance, a good project manager should be able to adjust different parameters of the project such as the number of workers or the time of the project’s execution.

The process of project implementation creates room for noticing failures. Having a competent project manager assures the contractor that the project will be run to completion. The results of every stage are relevant to the project manager, who decides on the good adjustments to make should the process be at risk of lack of completion. Recommendations directed to the contractor make it easier for the contractor to make timely decisions on how to solve issues that may arise.

Risk Management

The construction process is a high-risk process that poses a threat to the environment as well as the human enterprise involved. By definition, a risk is a potential threat that may cause loss, injury or any negative response. Financially, it is the probability that an enterprise uses more funds than it gains from a project. The risk is, therefore, an essential factor that a constructionist ought to keep in mind (Akintoye and MacLeod, 2007, p. 32). It is widespread both physically and financially. Risk management is a critical competence requirement, which ought to be satisfied in the field of construction seeing the chance that it is open to. Risk management starts with the identification of the risk then analyzing the it both qualitatively and quantitively (Harris and McCaffer, 2013, p. 6).

A few techniques could be identified as efficient and which provide useful results for risk identification. The Delphi technique is the most trusted approach where a group of experts in risk management answer questionnaires and agree on an individual issue without bias. The root because the analysis is also another technique that a firm could utilize. It involves identifying the cause of the risk and the effects thereof. Risks could be quantified by the use of analysis models such as the sensitivity analysis or a decision tree. For instance, by utilizing a decision tree, a project manager can be able to identify the risk and the financial implication of the risk (Ryd, 2004, p. 235). To build up the skill in risk analysis, a manager may then opt to participate in workshops that advice on risk measuring, preparing reports, and the actual preparations to avoid the risk.

It is necessary for a firm to be prepared for the risk. First, the project manager ought to facilitate a risk workshop. This workshop tends to inform all the stakeholders of the identified risks and the strategies put in place to avoid the risk (Akintoye and MacLeod, 2007 p34). For example, a contractor may choose to inform employees of necessary measures to prevent risk from the lowest levels. This could have implications in the way that they handle equipment. By evaluating the progress from such an event, the project manager ought to be competent enough to respond actively.

Project Evaluation

Project evaluation is a step-by-step following up on the project of an ongoing project. Evaluation starts with the feasibility study running up to completion. It is an essential project requirement, which evaluates such aspects such as sustainability, effectiveness and the long-term impact that the project has (Clarke, 2013, p. 33). Project evaluation should involve town legislations, regulations of the building, and the statutory or non-statutory requirements.

Development appraisal is an important mechanism that cannot be assumed in project evaluation. It is the only way that a contractor can be able to check the viability of the project and the profit expected from the project. An appraisal is led by a feasibility study, which establishes whether the project is executable or not. Reviewing business case drivers such as marketing, improvement of quality and higher productivity also falls within this practice. However, preparing the case drivers is led by a risk register involving such factors such as changes that can result in failure of the project, adverse environmental conditions and the remedies among other factors. Improved development of the project has to be in line with the risk register.

A competent constructionist can prepare a feasibility study of the project locating all areas that need to be addressed to fulfill building and statutory legislations. The cost of the whole exercise is then accounted for, and discussed by the client and the contractor (Atkin and Skitmore, 2008, p. 549). To be competent enough, a project manager ought to identify all these practices keeping it in mind that erroneous evaluations will always reflect as a failure. Properly made project evaluations, on the other hand, reflect as a success for the firm.

Development appraisals are well-calculated and established plans that take into account the risks involved and a small business plan. By interpreting them, a contractor can make the project viable. The viability of the process is not exchangeable with a compromise of quality. A contractor must, therefore, be compliant with the values of engineering throughout the life cycle of the project.