Systems Analyst as Project Managers
In the world of systems analysis, a system analyst can have a wide range of roles and responsibilities that he or she is going to have when developing any kind of system. One of the roles that a system analyst may play is being a project manager. In general, a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. From that definition alone I can say that developing a system is also considered developing a project.
If you would ask me what’s its like to be a project manager, frankly I can’t tell you. It is because I’m not one yet as of now. I’m just a plain old student who’s ambition is to be a project manager in the near future. However, although I may not have the benefit of experience to explain what are the things that project managers do and their roles, I can share to you some of the things that I searched and the learnings that were shared to me by the MIS supervisor of Samulco regarding being a systems analyst and being a project manager.
During our interview with the MIS supervisor of Samulco, he told us that if you are a systems analyst of a company, usually you will handle a team to develop a system.
The systems analyst systematically assesses how users interact with technology and businesses function by examining the inputting and processing of data and the out- putting of information with the intent of improving organizational processes.He added that the systems analyst is responsible for the assessment and concept planning of the system however they will not do the specific tasks such as programming of the system. They will have a team to do it for them.
According to THIS website,
From the context of handling a team to finish a project and the accountability, I can safely say that a systems analyst also act as project manager in developing a system.
But before I discuss the roles of a project manager, I should first define what is project management. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.
According to Carr (2007), the project manager leads the team and helps negotiate the multiple relationships within any project—whether with clients, team members, firm principals or any variety of partners (such as freelancers, contractors or even civic committees)—and functions as the hub of a project.
If a systems analyst can also assume the role of being a project manager in developing a system, what are the specific roles and responsibilities of the project manager that a systems analyst should assume?
According to Bista(2006), project managers must satisfy these sets of needs as a role:
Task Needs + Team Needs + Individual Needs
As a project manager he/she should be able to meet the "Task Needs" as follows;
1. Attaining team objectives
2. Planning work
3. Allocating resources
4. Defining tasks
5. Assigning responsibility
6. Controlling and monitoring quality
7. Scrutinizing progress
8. Checking performance
Since a project manager will be handling a team to finish a project, then he/she must also meet the “Team Needs” as follows:
1. Appointing secondary leaders
2. Building and upholding team spirit
3. Setting standards and maintaining regulation
4. Training the team
5. Setting up systems to facilitate communication with the team
6. Developing work methods to craft team function cohesiveness
The project manager role; he/she should also meet his "Individual Needs" as follows:
1. Developing the individual
2. Balancing team needs and task needs
3. Balancing team needs and individual needs
4. Performance appreciation and rewards
5. Helping with other team members personal problems
According to Carr(2007), different firms will require different types of project managers, but some skills are inherent. These are:
• Have a sense of ownership/leadership. When it comes down to it, the project manager is the person most responsible for the project’s success or failure. It can be a weighty burden to shoulder, but it is important for this sense of ownership to occur in order for the project to have direction. With multi-faceted, compartmentalized teams and/or skill sets, the project manager needs to be the one person to bring everything together and take responsibility for the work’s success. This also requires tenacity, determination and confidence—all essential traits in a project manager.
• Work collaboratively. Because the project manager needs to bring together complex, often multidisciplinary teams, he or she needs to be able to facilitate a collaborative work environment. Project managers are responsible for fusing the work skills and styles of individuals into a team focused on project tasks and goals, rather than their individual role in the project’s success.
• Use both sides of the brain. Because the project manager needs to balance the details and the big picture, he or she needs to have creative problem-solving skills as well as a head for numbers and schedules. The best project managers usually have hands-on creative experience—either as writers or designers—and understand how to work through project challenges based on past experiences. When faced with difficulties, the project manager needs to guide the team to make adjustments or changes with all of the pieces in perspective. Be creative, analytical and tactical.
• Have writing and design skills (and a technical understanding). The project manager does not need to be an award-winning writer or designer, nor does one need to be a programmer, signage fabricator or printing press operator. But he or she needs to have a strong understanding of all of the roles in the process, particularly those most related to the skills of the core team. And it helps to have direct experience in these areas, even if it is minimal. If the project manager does not have a strong design sensibility or is unable to communicate, he or she will not be able to judge the success of the project in meeting its objectives.
• Be able to facilitate. Facilitation is an entire discipline in itself, but project managers should have some training in this area. Skills developed in facilitation include leading meetings, negotiating conflicts, building teams and group dynamics, and enabling creative thought processes—all of which are necessary for a strong project manager and team leader. And a strong team leader and facilitator can also train other project team members in this discipline, increasing opportunities for leadership throughout your firm.
The MIS supervisor that we interviewed said that as a systems analyst - you have to be a little bit of everybody in you team. As an example, he said that you have to be 10% programmer, 10% documentation; 10% quality assurance..etc.. He added that as a systems analyst, you need to have at least the basic knowledge in the field of expertise of your team members in order for you to assess their needs and anticipate the problems they might encounter in their accomplishing their specific tasks. He also added that you don’t need to be an excellent programmer to be a good systems analyst but it’s a plus.
If a systems analyst act as a project manager in developing a project the he/she is the one responsible for the overall success of a project. He/she is the person ‘responsible’ and ‘accountable’ from the inception up to the completion of a project. They can be called Project coordinators or Team leaders in a company but all of them have one thing in common. They handle a team of people and follow systematic and documented phases in order to complete a project successfully.
References:
Bista, B. (2006, October 15). Project Manager: Roles and Skills. Date: Retrieved December 24, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Project-Manager:-Roles-and-Skills&id=329085
Carr, E. (2007) .Why a project manager?. Date Retrieved: December 24, 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/why-a-project-manager
http://www.lifecyclestep.com/open/407.1TheRoleoftheProjectManager.htm
http://www.prenhall.com/behindthebook/0132240858/pdf/Kendall_Feature1_Why_We_Wrote_This_Book.pdf
PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide) (2004), p. 5.
If you would ask me what’s its like to be a project manager, frankly I can’t tell you. It is because I’m not one yet as of now. I’m just a plain old student who’s ambition is to be a project manager in the near future. However, although I may not have the benefit of experience to explain what are the things that project managers do and their roles, I can share to you some of the things that I searched and the learnings that were shared to me by the MIS supervisor of Samulco regarding being a systems analyst and being a project manager.
During our interview with the MIS supervisor of Samulco, he told us that if you are a systems analyst of a company, usually you will handle a team to develop a system.
The systems analyst systematically assesses how users interact with technology and businesses function by examining the inputting and processing of data and the out- putting of information with the intent of improving organizational processes.He added that the systems analyst is responsible for the assessment and concept planning of the system however they will not do the specific tasks such as programming of the system. They will have a team to do it for them.
According to THIS website,
| Quote: |
| “ ..This does not mean that the project manager must do all this work themselves. There may be an entire team of people helping to create the Project Charter and schedule. However, if something does not go right, the project manager is accountable. ” |
From the context of handling a team to finish a project and the accountability, I can safely say that a systems analyst also act as project manager in developing a system.
But before I discuss the roles of a project manager, I should first define what is project management. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.
According to Carr (2007), the project manager leads the team and helps negotiate the multiple relationships within any project—whether with clients, team members, firm principals or any variety of partners (such as freelancers, contractors or even civic committees)—and functions as the hub of a project.
If a systems analyst can also assume the role of being a project manager in developing a system, what are the specific roles and responsibilities of the project manager that a systems analyst should assume?
According to Bista(2006), project managers must satisfy these sets of needs as a role:
Task Needs + Team Needs + Individual Needs
As a project manager he/she should be able to meet the "Task Needs" as follows;
1. Attaining team objectives
2. Planning work
3. Allocating resources
4. Defining tasks
5. Assigning responsibility
6. Controlling and monitoring quality
7. Scrutinizing progress
8. Checking performance
Since a project manager will be handling a team to finish a project, then he/she must also meet the “Team Needs” as follows:
1. Appointing secondary leaders
2. Building and upholding team spirit
3. Setting standards and maintaining regulation
4. Training the team
5. Setting up systems to facilitate communication with the team
6. Developing work methods to craft team function cohesiveness
The project manager role; he/she should also meet his "Individual Needs" as follows:
1. Developing the individual
2. Balancing team needs and task needs
3. Balancing team needs and individual needs
4. Performance appreciation and rewards
5. Helping with other team members personal problems
According to Carr(2007), different firms will require different types of project managers, but some skills are inherent. These are:
• Have a sense of ownership/leadership. When it comes down to it, the project manager is the person most responsible for the project’s success or failure. It can be a weighty burden to shoulder, but it is important for this sense of ownership to occur in order for the project to have direction. With multi-faceted, compartmentalized teams and/or skill sets, the project manager needs to be the one person to bring everything together and take responsibility for the work’s success. This also requires tenacity, determination and confidence—all essential traits in a project manager.
• Work collaboratively. Because the project manager needs to bring together complex, often multidisciplinary teams, he or she needs to be able to facilitate a collaborative work environment. Project managers are responsible for fusing the work skills and styles of individuals into a team focused on project tasks and goals, rather than their individual role in the project’s success.
• Use both sides of the brain. Because the project manager needs to balance the details and the big picture, he or she needs to have creative problem-solving skills as well as a head for numbers and schedules. The best project managers usually have hands-on creative experience—either as writers or designers—and understand how to work through project challenges based on past experiences. When faced with difficulties, the project manager needs to guide the team to make adjustments or changes with all of the pieces in perspective. Be creative, analytical and tactical.
• Have writing and design skills (and a technical understanding). The project manager does not need to be an award-winning writer or designer, nor does one need to be a programmer, signage fabricator or printing press operator. But he or she needs to have a strong understanding of all of the roles in the process, particularly those most related to the skills of the core team. And it helps to have direct experience in these areas, even if it is minimal. If the project manager does not have a strong design sensibility or is unable to communicate, he or she will not be able to judge the success of the project in meeting its objectives.
• Be able to facilitate. Facilitation is an entire discipline in itself, but project managers should have some training in this area. Skills developed in facilitation include leading meetings, negotiating conflicts, building teams and group dynamics, and enabling creative thought processes—all of which are necessary for a strong project manager and team leader. And a strong team leader and facilitator can also train other project team members in this discipline, increasing opportunities for leadership throughout your firm.
The MIS supervisor that we interviewed said that as a systems analyst - you have to be a little bit of everybody in you team. As an example, he said that you have to be 10% programmer, 10% documentation; 10% quality assurance..etc.. He added that as a systems analyst, you need to have at least the basic knowledge in the field of expertise of your team members in order for you to assess their needs and anticipate the problems they might encounter in their accomplishing their specific tasks. He also added that you don’t need to be an excellent programmer to be a good systems analyst but it’s a plus.
If a systems analyst act as a project manager in developing a project the he/she is the one responsible for the overall success of a project. He/she is the person ‘responsible’ and ‘accountable’ from the inception up to the completion of a project. They can be called Project coordinators or Team leaders in a company but all of them have one thing in common. They handle a team of people and follow systematic and documented phases in order to complete a project successfully.
Evidence of Interview:
References:
Bista, B. (2006, October 15). Project Manager: Roles and Skills. Date: Retrieved December 24, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Project-Manager:-Roles-and-Skills&id=329085
Carr, E. (2007) .Why a project manager?. Date Retrieved: December 24, 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/why-a-project-manager
http://www.lifecyclestep.com/open/407.1TheRoleoftheProjectManager.htm
http://www.prenhall.com/behindthebook/0132240858/pdf/Kendall_Feature1_Why_We_Wrote_This_Book.pdf
PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide) (2004), p. 5.
Comments
The PM is the one that needs to assist the executive or champion in defining the charter to help get the message out. Many members of the team may often feel overwhelmed and out of touch as to why change is necessary. The project charter can help them understand and get past the “why” and move on to “how” the plan will positively affect the organization. This, in turn will help them to stay focused on the tasks that need to be accomplished in order for the project to be successful.
http://gravitygarden.com/project101/project-management-charter.html
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