Social Constructionism Definition

Social Constructionism Definition Social constructionism is the theory that people develop knowledge of the world in a social context, and that much of what we perceive as reality depends on shared assumptions. From a social constructionist perspective, many things we take for granted and believe are objective reality are actually socially constructed, and thus, can change as society changes. Key Takeaways: Social Constructionism The theory of social constructionism states that meaning and knowledge are socially created.Social constructionists believe that things that are generally viewed as natural or normal in society, such as understandings of gender, race, class, and disability, are socially constructed, and consequently aren’t an accurate reflection of reality.Social constructs are often created within specific institutions and cultures and come to prominence in certain historical periods. Social constructs’ dependence of historical, political, and economic conditions can lead them to evolve and change. Origins The theory of social constructionism was introduced in the 1966 book The Social Construction of Reality, by sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman. Berger and Luckman’s ideas were inspired by a number of thinkers, including Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and George Herbert Mead. In particular, Meads theory symbolic interactionism, which suggests that social interaction is responsible for the construction of identity, was highly influential. In the late 1960s, three separate intellectual movements came together to form the foundation of social constructionism. The first was an ideological movement that questioned social realities and put a spotlight on the political agenda behind such realities. The second was a literary/rhetorical drive to deconstruct language and the way it impacts our knowledge of reality. And the third was a critique of scientific practice, led by Thomas Kuhn, who argued that scientific findings are influenced by, and thus representative of, the specific communities where theyre produced- rather than objective reality. Social Constructionism Definition The theory of social constructionism asserts that all meaning is socially created. Social constructs might be so ingrained that they feel natural, but they are not. Instead, they are an invention of a given society and thus do not accurately reflect reality. Social constructionists typically agree on three key points: Knowledge Is Socially Constructed Social constructionists believe that knowledge arises out of human relationships. Thus, what we take to be true and objective is the result of social processes that take place in historical and cultural contexts. In the realm of the sciences, this means that although truth can be achieved within the confines of a given discipline, there is no over-arching truth that is more legitimate than any other. Language Is Central to Social Construction Language abides by specific rules, and these rules of language shape how we understand the world. As a result, language isn’t neutral. It emphasizes certain things while ignoring others. Thus, language constrains what we can express as well as our perceptions of what we experience and what we know. Knowledge Construction Is Politically-Driven The knowledge created in a community has social, cultural, and political consequences. People in a community accept and sustain the community’s understanding of particular truths, values, and realities. When new members of a community accept such knowledge, it extends even further. When a community’s accepted knowledge becomes policy, ideas about power and privilege in the community become codified. These socially constructed ideas then create social reality, and- if they aren’t examined- begin to seem fixed and unchangeable. This can lead to antagonistic relationships between communities that don’t share the same understanding of social reality. Social Constructionism vs. Other Theories Social constructionism is often placed in contrast with biological determinism. Biological determinism suggests that an individuals traits and behavior are determined exclusively by biological factors. Social constructionism, on the other hand, emphasizes the influence of environmental factors on human behavior and suggests that relationships among people create reality. In addition, social constructionism should not be confused with constructivism. Social constructivism is the idea that an individuals interactions with her environment create the cognitive structures that enable her to understand the world. This idea is often traced back to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget. While the two terms spring from different scholarly traditions, they are increasingly used interchangeably. Critiques Some scholars believe that, by asserting that knowledge is socially constructed and not the result of observations of reality, social constructionism is anti-realist. Social constructionism is also criticized on grounds of relativism. By arguing that no objective truth exists and that all social constructions of the same phenomena are equally legitimate, no construct can be more legitimate than another. This is especially problematic in the context of scientific research. If an unscientific account about a phenomenon is considered as legitimate as empirical research about that phenomenon, there is no clear path forward for research to make a meaningful impact on society. Sources Andrews, Tom. â€Å"What is Social Constructionism?† Grounded Theory Review: An International Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, 2012. http://groundedtheoryreview.com/2012/06/01/what-is-social-constructionism/Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckman. The Social Construction of Reality. Doubleday/Anchor, 1966.Chu, Hyejin Iris. â€Å"Social Constructionism.† International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Encyclopedia.com. 2008. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/social-constructionismGalbin, Alexandra. â€Å"An Introduction to Social Constructionism.† Social Research Reports, vol. 26, 2014, pp. 82-92. https://www.researchreports.ro/an-introduction-to-social-constructionismGergen, Kenneth J. â€Å"The Self as Social Construction.† Psychological Studies, vol. 56, no. 1, 2011, pp. 108-116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12646-011-0066-1Hare, Rachel T. and Jeanne Marecek. â€Å"Abnormal and Cli nical Psychology: The Politics of Madness.† Critical Psychology: An Introduction, edited by Dennis Fox and Isaac Prilleltensky, Sage Publications, 1999, pp. 104-120. Kang, Miliann, Donovan Lessard, Laura Heston, and Sonny Nordmarken. Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, 2017. https://press.rebus.community/introwgss/front-matter/287-2/â€Å"Social Constructionism.† Oxford Reference. oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100515181

ACT Prep

Is There Asian-American Discrimination in College Admissions and SAT / ACT Prep SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Recently, there has been substantial coverage about whether colleges discriminate against Asian-Americans in admissions and even test prep. What does that mean for these students? How should such students navigate SAT / ACT prep and college admissions? This article surveys the current state of admissions and gives some tips. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of PrepScholar or any affiliate. While even broaching this topic can be seen as controversial, I also believe, as an educator, that I’m responsible for giving advice that helps the greatest number of students understand the landscape. This article specifically addresses Asian-Americans applying from the US and not applicants directly applying from Asia. Introduction The intersection of race and college admissions has always been a sensitive issue, but recently it has boiled over to the front pages of newspapers. Sociology professor Thomas Espenshade writes that â€Å"To receive equal consideration by elite colleges, Asian-Americans must outperform Whites by 140 points [on the 1600-scale SAT].† Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that, while Asians of college age doubled in the last 25 years, their enrollment rates at Ivy-League schools have stayed the same. S.B. Woo, founder of the National Asian-American Educational Foundation,concludes that the â€Å"discrimination is obvious†. Others defend using race as a factor in admissions. Director of Education Equity Khin Aung argues that considering race allows benefits of diversity such as â€Å"creating the most effective learning environment.† Jeff Neal, a spokesperson at Harvard, states that Harvard â€Å"continues to support the use of holistic admissions process," which implicitly includes race. To catch up with the current state of conversation on the topic, all you have to do is Google â€Å"Asian college admissions†. Are Asian-Americans Discriminated Against in College Admissions? The value of affirmative action is controversial, but the existence of affirmative action is undisputed. The vast majority of experts in college admissions and SAT / ACT prep agree that affirmative action exists - college admissions is not totally blind to race. Given an ACT / SAT score range, it is an empirical fact that Asian-Americans have a lower acceptance rate than the average white American in many data setssuch as the Espenshade and Radford 1997 elite college admissions data. Likewise, a survey of the admitted class of 2017 at Harvard revealed that SAT scores for Asians (including Indians) were higher than those of whites. However, as anyone who has studied statistics can tell you (and I do have a Master’s degree in the field), those facts above are correlations and not causations. They suggest, but do not prove, that an Asian-American with otherwise the same application to the same school as a white American will have a lower chance of admission. I call this the Hypothesis that being Asian Lowers Admissions Chances (HALAC). HALAC, of course, implies that being Asian means that getting into a given college will be harderfor you than for a white American. What This Article Does and Does Not Do This article will give you advice as to what an Asian-American may want to consider doing to maximize chances of college admissions. On both the front of the university and the government, policy moves too slowly for it to help most Asian-Americans with this issue. Therefore, this article doesn't take any stance on the correct institutional policies or political views as a response to HALAC. Additionally, given that causality is difficult to prove, this article doesn't take a stance on whether causally the HALAC effect exists. Instead, this article focuses on things you, as an Asian-American, can do right now to maximize your chances of being accepted into top colleges. If you read through the evidence and believe that the HALAC effect exists, then the suggestions below can be useful to you. If you Google the evidence and don't think it supports HALAC, that's fine too - the advice below will be less applicable to you in that case. What Doesn't Work Before I give you the tips for what works for Asian applicants under the HALAC effect, I will first go over what absolutely doesn’t work. First, lying doesn’t work nearly as well as you might think.What if you just don’t check the Asian box? What if you check â€Å"don’t want to disclose†? The problem is that colleges can often tell your race through other means. You do have to give colleges your legal name - if your last name is Nguyen, Lee, Kim, or Patel, for example, the admissions staff will almost certainly figure it out. What about just changing your name or making up your name? This will really get you into hot water as colleges are pretty good about calling your past teachers and running background checks on you. A good rule of thumb is this: if a casual friend who knows you would unambiguously say you’re of Asian ethnicity, it’s hard to get around it. Just put down that you’re Asian and be done with it. By telling the truth on your name and ethnicity box, you at least signal honesty. On the other hand, if you have a legitimate reason for not identifying as Asian, then you can, in fact, consider this path. Suppose you’re genetically 25% Asian and 75% Hispanic, and your parents were both born in the United States. Some college applications ask you to identify with one or as many ethnicities as you want. Under the HALAC effect you probably do want to omit Asian, if allowed. Also, mass action will rarely work to your advantage for admissions. By mass action, I mean protesting the HALAC effect, suing colleges, complaining to the government, and so forth. Colleges may be reluctant to admit a student likely to cause the administration a headache.Remember, university administration is a highly political entity. The government political process also works way too slowly. It will cost millions to fight it out in court and years to reach a judgment. If your goal is to raise your chances of admissions under the HALAC effect, I would think twice about filing an official grievance. Of course, there are other fine reasons that you may want to take mass action in the future, perhaps due to your political or ethical beliefs. However, I’m just telling you that, almost always, taking official or mass action won’t increase your personal short-term chances of getting into a certain school. Who Does This Article Apply To? This article applies much more to Americans of Asian heritage, i.e. students who have studied in the US at least a few years before they apply to college. It applies much less to students who are applying directly from another country. These latter students are better classified as international students. For them, there is a whole set of other factors that are more important - for example appetite of a college for internationalstudents, authenticity of documents, etc. Throughout this article, the term â€Å"Asian† includes Indian and other ethnically related neighbors - since the data across these groups are all similar. How You Can Combat the HALAC Effect Now that you understand what the HALAC effect is, how can you use that information to increase your chances of getting into top schools? Below are three strategies for combating the HALAC effect; read through them to learn how to maximize your chances of admission. Step 1: Account for the HALAC Effect Before you can combat the HALAC effect, first you have to find where it exists. The HALAC effect is not something that can be magically erased by easy action on your part. Therefore, in response to the HALAC effect, the first and most important thing that a student of Asian heritage should do is to account for it correctly. By this, I mean realizing that your chances of getting in are lower and planning accordingly which colleges you’ll apply to and how you’ll apply to them. Accounting for the HALAC effectmeans that you should adjust where your reach, target, and safety schools are. Instead of putting them as high as you might otherwise, target them a little lower. If you target too high, you run the risk of overshooting - not getting into the target schools of your choice and instead getting into a safety school that you didn’t spend much time researching. You should also account for the HALAC effect more at classically â€Å"elite† colleges. Colleges that are US News ranked 1-10 probably suffer most from HALAC, with the effect decreasing through colleges 10-50 in rank. The effect becomes much lower in colleges ranked above 50. In fact, most HALAC studies focus on the top colleges for exactly this reason: the effects are more concentrated and more statistically significant there. There are many potential reasons for the concentration of the HALAC effect on highly ranked colleges. Proportionally, more Asians apply to these colleges, leading to the HALAC effect when colleges diversify away from Asians. Also, these schools tend to care the most about diversity factors because they are already oversubscribed by great academic performers. These diversity factors tend to be big drivers of the HALAC effect. Conversely, a more moderately rated college will show a lesser HALAC effect because, to them, someone academically strong is itself a great asset. How do you account for the HALAC effect? One method is to apply to more colleges when doing applications. Apply to three times the number of reach schools you would otherwise and twice the number of target schools. Applying to more schools ensures that you compensate for lower chances due to HALAC. The more accurate method to account for HALAC is to just do an SAT / ACT score adjustment. That is, lower your SAT by 100 points (on the 1600 scale) or yourACT score by 2 points, and then go through the colleges you’re applying to â€Å"as if† you got your adjusted score. For example, if you really got a 1500 on your SAT, think of your chances of getting into college as if you got a 1400 instead. When you look up your chances using our â€Å"what are my chances table†, use 1400 instead of 1500. By doing this adjustment, you’ll correctly identifythe right reach, target, and safety schools. Why 100 points on the SAT and 2 points on the ACT? These are rough numbers that are closest to a large set of consensus estimates for the HALAC effect. They’re a little lower than the Espenshade study but higher than some other casual surveys. I should disclaim that these numbers are rules of thumb and not hard scientific numbers. Also, for rank 1-10 schools, you should adjust for the full 100 points, but if you’re applying to schools ranked 10-50, a rule of thumb is you can account for just a 50-point adjustment. The adjustment beyond rank 50 will be smaller still. Step 2: Combat the HALAC Effect Through Test Scores Given that Asians need a 100-point increase on the 1600-SAT to reach the same admissions chances, another way to combat the effect is just by having a higher SAT / ACT score.This does require more time and dedication, but it’s definitely possible. It’s not easy to improve by 100 points on the SAT or 2 points on the ACT. However, such improvements are definitely doable. In fact, we at PrepScholar have a 160-point guarantee for the SATand a 4-point guarantee for the ACT.You’ll need to work harder, but you can overcome the HALAC effect this way. Some stereotype Asians as studying more than usual forthe SAT / ACT. However, with their need to score higher just to have the same chances under HALAC, this behavioris much less of a surprise. Step 3: Combat the HALAC Effect Through Diversity in Other Areas To combat HALAC closer to its roots, it’s useful to examine how the HALAC effect arises. Supporters of affirmative action, including the universities themselves, always emphasize diversity as the primary goal. While one can argue about whether that is the sole goal of affirmative action, it is clear that diversity provides a strong channel to drive the HALAC effect. Looking at the diversity driver of the HALAC effect will be another key for Asians to overcome it. Under this diversity driver model, the reason HALAC occurs is because, in the eyes of admissions officers, too many Asian applicants all look the same on paper. They are too similar along too many dimensions. These applicants all do well in school, have high ACT / SAT scores, play violin or piano, and play a racketsport like tennis. Oh and, of course, they are all Asian. The problem from the point of diversity isn’t that an applicant is merely Asian, but rather that an entire host of applicants all look the same along other dimensions. A colorful but useful analogy for the diversity needs of colleges is putting horses into barn stalls. The horses represent applicants, and the barn stalls are the â€Å"spaces† and archetypes that the school has for these applicants. One stall might be labeledâ€Å"Asian, high grades, piano player† - and this stall is overfilled. But if you were white, the â€Å"white, high grades, piano player† stall is only half full! You can’t change your ethnicity, but you can definitely change your other labels, your other dimensions. It turns out that â€Å"Asian, high grades, lacrosse star† is wide open too! Why not fill that stall instead? Put in more theoretical terms, to the extent the HALAC effect is about diversity, you can generate diversity along other dimensions. Instead of being an Asian who’s a top ranked violin player (stereotypical Asian), why not try being a top guitar player? You can go further than that. While a guitar is not stereotypically Asian, it is still a very common instrument. Perhaps you are better off trying to be a top French horn player? Instead of playing badminton, why not try soccer or squash? Generally, think about what the stereotypical Asian applicant looks like. If you can be equally good along a dimension but break the stereotype, it is definitely to your advantage. Being in your state’s top 20 tennis players is probably less advantageous than being one of your state’s top 20 lacrosse players. Being a top 50 debater in your state is probably better than being a top 50 math competitor. It is important that you break the Asian stereotype in ways that are low cost to you. If you can jump from being a top 20 tennis player to a top 20 lacrosse player for free, you definitely should. But life is rarely that simple - and that’s just one of many reasons I don’t like the plain advice â€Å"appear less Asian†. What if you’re a nationally ranked tennis player and don’t know a thing about lacrosse? What if math is your passion and debating is more boring to you than breaking rocks? You have to account for the fact that breaking stereotypes can be costly. I would say that, for an Asian applicant, a rank 50 state debater is stronger than a rank 50 math competitor. But a rank 50 debater is definitely weaker than a rank 5 state math competitor and is probably equal to a rank 20 state math competitor. When it comes to top colleges, they care about what you’re best at and your natural spike. I would be extremely cautious about sacrificing your best dimension in the name of diversity. In fact, I would almost never sacrifice your spike for diversity. The take-away message is this: if you can diversify in extracurriculars at low cost, then do it. However, if you have a special talent, and it happens to be in an area that â€Å"looks Asian†, then don’t give it up. The right calibration is probably a loss of 2x in rank. If you can switch from an Asian-heavy activity to an Asian-light one and lose just 1.5x in rank (e.g. rank 20 to rank 30), then make the switch. But if you have to give up 4x in rank (rank 20 to rank 80), don’t make the switch. Summary Hopefully, the above article gives you a good sense of the unique landscape that Asian-American applicants face in United States college admissions. We started out with some background on the debate - although if you want the full story it’s best to Google the controversy yourself. Then we talked about what the data shows and whether you believe in the Hypothesis of Asians having Lower Admissions Chances. In such a case, we examined how big the HALAC effect can be (about 100 points on the SAT scale). The good news is that there are steps Asian-Americans can take to increase their chances. First, look for diversity in dimensions beyond race; look for diversity in extracurriculars. Second, it’s important to ensure that you’re strong on the SAT / ACT front to make up those 100 points. Do both of these things and you'll give yourself a much better shot at getting into your dream schools. What's Next? Want to improve your SAT score so that you have a better chance of getting into topschools? Learn how studying can get you a perfect SAT score! Wondering which extracurriculars you should join to help yourself stand out? We have guides that include hundreds of extracurriculars ideas andexamples of amazing extracurriculars that are sure to impress colleges. Want more information on what it takes to get into top schools? Learn how to get accepted to Harvard and the Ivy League, written by a Harvard alum. Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Dr. Fred Zhang About the Author Fred is co-founder of PrepScholar. He scored a perfect score on the SAT and is passionate about sharing information with aspiring students. 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Basic spanish project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Basic spanish project - Essay Example Su duracià ³n es como las demà ¡s estaciones, 3 meses. Estos son junio, julio, y agosto. Me gusta ir a la playa y salir con mis amistades. En esos meses tambià ©n estoy de vacaciones de la escuela y me encanta. Topic: Write about your bedroom (or the room where you sleep). You may include the names of people you share it with (if anyone), descriptions of your furniture, decorations, sizes, colors, etc. (Assume you are a 16 year old boy and have a room to yourself) Mi cuarto de dormir es grande. Ahà ­ tengo mi espacio favorito. Duermo solo. El color del cuarto es azul royal y los muebles son de caoba. Tengo una cama, dos mesas de noche, dos là ¡mparas de noche, un mueble con gavetas, y un armario. Write a paragraph in Spanish that describes where you live. Use at least 5 sentences. Be sure to note what street you live on, and the locations of at least two of your friends in relation to you, your school, home, or other place you spend time at (like a library, shopping mall, park, etc.) Your paragraph needs to include the respective locations of next to, in front of, and near. (Again presume you are a 16 year old boy, two friends are Jake and Ahmed, he likes to go to the cinema and shopping Mall which are about 3km away) School is 5km away in an area called Saar. Vivo en la Ciudad de Nueva York, en la calle Chile. Mi amigo Jake y mi amigo Ahmed viven a dos cuadras de mi casa. Ellos viven al lado, son vecinos. Vamos mucho al parque que queda frente a mi casa. Despuà ©s del juego vamos a la bodega a tomar refrescos. La bodega esta cerca del parque. Nos gusta mucho esta actividad. Write a paragraph in Spanish of at least eight sentences that tell about your typical day. Use the vocabulary and verbs you have learned in Units 1-4 of this course. You may include activities you do with family and friends. (16 year old boy, talk about School until 2p.m, lunch, walk the dog, homework, go to Ahmed or Jake’s house to hang out and watch DVD’s, dinner at

Biochemical identification of unknown bacteria Lab Report

Biochemical identification of unknown bacteria - Lab Report Example 1) Nutrient agar slant: Given culture was streak on the nutrient agar slant and incubated at two different temperature 25Â °C and 37Â °C respectively. After 24h of incubation, slants were taken out from incubator and growth was observed. Growth on tube incubated at 37Â °C was found to be effuse and the growth was extensive while in case of tube incubated at 25Â °C growth was found to be lesser compared to previous tube and echinulated in nature. There was no pigmentation observed and growth was found to be whitish in color and translucent in nature. Results indicated that given unknown bacteria is either Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes or Staphylococcus aureus ,being human /animal inhabitant The optimum temperature for growth of these bacteria is 37Â °C (i.e. human body temperature) while in case of Pseudomonas aerogenosa being free living as well as human inhabitant, it can grow at 25Â °C as well as 37Â °C . Similarly it also produces bluish green pigment and grows as mucoid colony. 2) Nutrient agar: Given culture was streak on to the nutrient agar plate using quadrant streak technique and incubated at 37Â °C for 24 h. After incubation colonies were found to be convex, circular and having entire margin. Optically colonies were found to be translucent and without any pigmentation. This observation again ruled out the possibility of Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Similarly colony of Staphylococcus aureus is opaque, slightly elevated, appears yellowish white.

Laughter as Therapy in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey Ess

Laughter as Therapy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Laughter is a therapeutic form. In the novel One flew over the cuckoo’s nest by Ken Kesey laughter represents freedom and an escape from nurse Ratched’s restrictions. Laughter also proves a vital role in helping the patients deal with their problems. Not only does it help them deal with problems but it also gave them the push toward progress on getting out of the institution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mcmurphy was the one who started making people laughing in the ward. When he first came into the ward he was cracking jokes and shaking everybody’s hand. (p.16) No one in the ward responded with any real response but confusion. No body knew what laughter was in the ward, it was taken from them. The only thing they had was board games and Mrs. Ratched’s music (15). The ward was a very depressing place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Mcmurphy comes into the ward his laughing was making people uneasy. This showed how far away the patients were from reality. The chief says (22) â€Å"I see he is making every body over their uneasy, with all his kidding and joking.† Then right after he starts connecting to the patients and the Acutes actually show some sign of a smile (23) â€Å"The Acutes are grinning now not so uneasy any more glad that something out of the ordinary is happening.† Only after 8 pages there is progress already seen in the patients with laughter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chief Bromden states â€Å"The air is pressed in by the walls to tight to let loose and laugh.† Before Mcmurphy arrives it is true. After his presence is recognized by the patients Mrs. Ratcheds grip over the institution starts loosing its hold. The first thing the patients do to start breaking her hold is start the gambling. They gamble for money even though it’s against ward policy. Little by little the patients show improvement with themselves it is portrayed by the ability not just to laugh but laugh at their own qualities. This occurs in the climax of the novel during the fishing trip (p215). When every ones lines tangle up and they start laughing at each other and themselves that is when they know that they aren’t really that crazy. They knew they were getting better. â€Å"They could sense the change that most of us were only suspecting; these weren’t the same bunch of weak-knees from a nut house.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nurse ratched lost a lot of her power once the patients kne... ...y different reasons. Some people even laugh when something horrible occurs, it is a method of escape from what horrors or mishaps are going on around you. â€Å"Many psychotherapists find humor a valuable tool in helping their patients to solve their social and emotional problems.† (G. Samuel) Chief bromden was having many problems once he learned to laugh especially at him self he was mostly cured. He was considered a chronic but after Mcmuprhy showed him that he has the ability to laugh and coincide with a group he was some what cured. â€Å"jokes and commissions enable individuals to defend against anxieties, fear, anger, and other disturbing emotions.†(G. Samuel) This was true in the chief’s and Harding’s case. Both of them left the institution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Laughing is resorted to in times where we need to laugh. It’s an escape from reality, its comfort, its fear. Laughing subdues any emotion that is too high strung in our system. It lets it vapor out in a melancholy form that helps us cope with problems that no one else can really understand and help us with. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest it allowed emotional tension escape from the patients and made nurse Ratched lose her ward.

Skills of a Project Manager

13_26_ch02. fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great; some achieve greatness—others have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Introduction Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of project—industrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation— operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of this book, we focus on the last type of project and its leader—the IT project manager.Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm Page 14 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM What Does a Project Manager Do?Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements: G G G G G G G G Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs. Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and base lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.Manage the technology, people, and change in order to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and within budget. Manage the pro ject staff by creating an environment conducive to the delivery of the new application in the most cost-effective manner. Be able to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, surprises, and a less defined environment. Manage the client relationship by using an adequate direct yet complete and formal reporting format that compliments a respected and productive relationship. Drive the project by leading by example, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us examine the skills and qualities needed to meet these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a good project manager possesses are many and varied, covering the entire spectrum of the human personality. We can divide these skills into a number of specific categories, namely: 14 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 15 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Personal Skills Project Managers must be able to motivate and sustain people. Project team members will look to the project manager to solve problems and help with removing obstacles.Project managers must be able to address and solve problems within the team, as well as those that occur outside the team. There are numerous ways, both subtle and direct, in which project managers can help team members. Some examples include the following: G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members will be closely watching all actions of the project manager. Therefore, project managers must be honest, direct, straightforward, and knowledgeable in all dealings with people and with the project. A good manager knows how to work hard and have fun, and this approach becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always have a positive attitude, even when there are substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a downward spiral will follow. Define expectations. Managers who manage must clearly define what is expected of team members. It is i mportant to do this in writing—get agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems later, when someone states â€Å"It’s not my job. † Performance expectations must be defined at the start of the project.Be considerate. Project management is a demanding job with a need for multiple skills at many levels. Above all, be considerate and respectful, and give people and team members the time and consideration they deserve. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a long way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or avoid addressing them.If a problem is bigger than the project manager or the team can deal with, escalate it to senior management. Never make commitments that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author: â€Å"Underpromise, then over-deliver. † 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Technical Skills There are two schools of thought about the level needed for technical skills. Some project managers prefer to have little technical knowledge about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the technical management to other junior managers, such as programming managers or network managers.Others have detailed technical skills of computer languages, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their structure, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following: 1. What types of technical problems require management? 2. Who will solve them? 3. Is it done with quality and satisfaction? 4. Who can I rely on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for assistance?As with all em ployees, project managers should have the technical knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, training is one option; being mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior management should ask the question, Do your project managers need more technical skills than they already possess? On larger complex projects, such as systems integration projects or multiple-year projects, there are frequently too many complex technologies for the project manager to master.Technical training that provides breadth may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technical contributor. In this case, technical training may enhance the abilities of project managers to contribute technically, but it is unlikely to improve their management skills. One thing is abundantly clear—the project manager is ultimately responsible for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Management Skills Project managers need other key skills besides those that are purely technical to lead and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the business aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the areas of organization, communication, finance, and human resources. The following are examples of the management topics used in training effective project managers: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject planning, initiation, and organization Recruiting people and keeping them Effective project negotiation Software tools for project management Accurate estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing powerful project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem manage ment Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management professional (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a high-performance team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we worry about whether the technology selected is the correct one for the organization and will lead to success, projects do not generally fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, most projects fail because the â€Å"soft science† portions of the project have not received enough attention—the human factor has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or for bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to acquire a number of skills to cope with dif ferent situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means: G G G G G Being flexible Being persistent and firm when necessary Being creative, even when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from multiple sources Being patient but able to differentiate between patience and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often unrelenting stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage One Project—or Many? There is no simple answer to this question: some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these days of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, reliable answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some basic questions: G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they part-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted project may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G G GAre all the projects in the same physical location or will the project manager spend a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the same technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of staffing, budgeting, and technolog y, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work force competencies with enterprise vision is to create a road map from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to required skills, the required skills to the IT skills inventory, the skills inventory to the IT staff’s competence levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be filled.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an order for managing the work force (see Figure 2–1). It la ys out a road map for skills development, work role definition, career tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work force can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprise’s plans.Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a turbulent IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and conservative companies—all are looking at skills management with renewed interest. Many enterprises now recognize that the combined lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Enterprise Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will i t need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How valuable will today’s skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How proficient are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and training will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? What sources of IT skills — internal and external — can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill Valuation Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 2–1 Skills Management—A Road Map for the Work Force (Source: Gartner Group, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for today’s labor crunch as is the shortage of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful tool for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. Even more enticing, many IT professionals, under the mantle of career â€Å"entrepreneurism,† will throw in their lot with enterprises that ha ve clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more meaningful than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process reserved for the most progressive enterprises. By methodically and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused training programs, and add some rational thinking to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. I n the Gartner Group’s definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and initiatives adopt the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inventory and fall short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, professional training and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can reap several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it: G G G G GG Defines skills for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, a nd resource allocation via gap identification Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or incentive for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, rather than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it: G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing company set a goal to boost revenue by $300 million within three years. Key to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, hoarding of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, ubiquitous access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and client/server technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading th e IT organization’s skill base, supplementing and supplanting mainframe skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server application development.The company embarked on an ambitious initiative designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiative—notably, company-wide skill identification and continuous training—will help the company to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included: GIdentifying eight areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the eight areas identified follows this list) Assigning company values to skills for the near term, short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the eight areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and peer feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Mapping skills and performance values to â€Å"salary zones† within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a sampling of associated skills include: GCustomer focus—employee possesses knowledge of customers’ business needs and expectations; delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers to set requirements and schedules Technical skills—employee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, deskt op client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertise—employee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology-based problems Business and application expertise—employee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows company’s business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands general concepts of business management Project management—employee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a degree of accuracy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools Interpersonal skills—employee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills —employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, economics of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26_ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Soft skills—employee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, drive for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a weighting factor based on its strategic significance to the company during the next 12 months, the next 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6; a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. After the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are c rosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employee’s competence level. Employee competence levels range from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not possessed by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they receive from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essential to the program’s success. Here, the IT executives are seeking t o develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for training—time, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills— if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competence scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who choose to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and long-term corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful: 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, rather than as a management dictate, including the employees assuming control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use metrics as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in cutthroat competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may nee d third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news: canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique! Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM As we have discussed in this chapter, project managers are a special breed of p eople.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine Corps drill sergeant—all while having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their best to ship code. Projects rarely fail—but people do. 26 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers Skills of a Project Manager 13_26_ch02. fm Page 13 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Chapter 2 Basic Skills for Project Managers Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great; some achieve greatness—others have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Introduction Before now, we had discussed project management in the broad sense, that is, from the perspective that any type of project—industrial assembly line, new construction, or technology implementation— operated by the same sets of rules and processes. For the remainder of this book, we focus on the last type of project and its leader—the IT project manager.Project managers are a very special breed of people. They are in much demand and will be increasingly so as the need for effective technologists continues to soar. Good technology project managers are trained, not born. They develop skills through experience and education. They become better project managers each time they successfully deliver a project. They learn new techniques and apply them on their projects. They learn lessons—sometimes the hard way—to be better managers in the future. 13 13_26_ch02. fm Page 14 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM What Does a Project Manager Do?Briefly, technology project managers fulfill the following broad requirements: G G G G G G G G Define and review the business case and requirements by regular reviews and controls to ensure that the client receives the system that he or she wants and needs. Initiate and plan the project by establishing its format, direction, and base lines that allow for any variance measurements and change control. Partner with the end users, work with project sponsors and other management to establish progress and direction of the project by achieving goals, reaching targets, solving problems, mitigating risks.Manage the technology, people, and change in order to achieve goals, reach targets, and deliver the project on time and within budget. Manage the pro ject staff by creating an environment conducive to the delivery of the new application in the most cost-effective manner. Be able to manage uncertainty, rapid change, ambiguity, surprises, and a less defined environment. Manage the client relationship by using an adequate direct yet complete and formal reporting format that compliments a respected and productive relationship. Drive the project by leading by example, and motivating allconcerned until the project accomplishes its goal.Now let us examine the skills and qualities needed to meet these requirements. Necessary Skills The skills that a good project manager possesses are many and varied, covering the entire spectrum of the human personality. We can divide these skills into a number of specific categories, namely: 14 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 15 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Personal Skills Project Managers must be able to motivate and sustain people. Project team members will look to the project manager to solve problems and help with removing obstacles.Project managers must be able to address and solve problems within the team, as well as those that occur outside the team. There are numerous ways, both subtle and direct, in which project managers can help team members. Some examples include the following: G G G G G G Manage by example (MBE). Team members will be closely watching all actions of the project manager. Therefore, project managers must be honest, direct, straightforward, and knowledgeable in all dealings with people and with the project. A good manager knows how to work hard and have fun, and this approach becomes contagious.A positive attitude. Project managers must always have a positive attitude, even when there are substantial difficulties, problems, or project obstacles. Negative attitudes erode confidence, and a downward spiral will follow. Define expectations. Managers who manage must clearly define what is expected of team members. It is i mportant to do this in writing—get agreement from the individual team members. This leaves no room for problems later, when someone states â€Å"It’s not my job. † Performance expectations must be defined at the start of the project.Be considerate. Project management is a demanding job with a need for multiple skills at many levels. Above all, be considerate and respectful, and give people and team members the time and consideration they deserve. Make people aware that their efforts are appreciated and the work that they do is important, because it is. A letter, personal word, or e-mail of appreciation goes a long way. Be direct. Project managers are respected if they are direct, open, and deal with all types of problems. Never conceal problems or avoid addressing them.If a problem is bigger than the project manager or the team can deal with, escalate it to senior management. Never make commitments that cannot be delivered. Finally, a favorite and personal rule of the author: â€Å"Underpromise, then over-deliver. † 15 Necessary Skills 13_26_ch02. fm Page 16 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Technical Skills There are two schools of thought about the level needed for technical skills. Some project managers prefer to have little technical knowledge about the projects they manage, preferring to leave the technical management to other junior managers, such as programming managers or network managers.Others have detailed technical skills of computer languages, software, and networks. There is no hard and fast rule. It really depends on the type and size of projects, their structure, resources available, and the project environment. Questions that project managers should ask include the following: 1. What types of technical problems require management? 2. Who will solve them? 3. Is it done with quality and satisfaction? 4. Who can I rely on in my project team? 5. What outside resources, if any, can I draw on for assistance?As with all em ployees, project managers should have the technical knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs. If managers lack these skills, training is one option; being mentored or coached by a more experienced individual is another. Senior management should ask the question, Do your project managers need more technical skills than they already possess? On larger complex projects, such as systems integration projects or multiple-year projects, there are frequently too many complex technologies for the project manager to master.Technical training that provides breadth may be useful. On smaller projects, the project manager may also be a key technical contributor. In this case, technical training may enhance the abilities of project managers to contribute technically, but it is unlikely to improve their management skills. One thing is abundantly clear—the project manager is ultimately responsible for the entire management of the project, technical or otherwise, and will require solutions to the technical issues that will occur. 16 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 3_26_ch02. fm Page 17 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Management Skills Project managers need other key skills besides those that are purely technical to lead and deliver on their projects successfully. A good project manager needs to understand many facets of the business aspect of running a project, so critical skills touch on expertise in the areas of organization, communication, finance, and human resources. The following are examples of the management topics used in training effective project managers: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G GProject planning, initiation, and organization Recruiting people and keeping them Effective project negotiation Software tools for project management Accurate estimating and cost control Project execution and control Developing powerful project presentations and reports Personal and project leadership Managing risk and making decisions Effective problem manage ment Performance management Managing the projects within the organization Project management professional (PMP) exam review Growing and sustaining a high-performance team Managing change within an organizationThis last skill cannot be over-emphasized. Although we worry about whether the technology selected is the correct one for the organization and will lead to success, projects do not generally fail because of lack of adequate technology. Statistically, most projects fail because the â€Å"soft science† portions of the project have not received enough attention—the human factor has not been adequately addressed. Change, whether for good or for bad, is stressful on an organization and its personnel. The ability to manage this change is one area in which any good project manager would do well to hone skills.Necessary Skills 17 13_26_ch02. fm Page 18 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Coping Skills A good project manager has to acquire a number of skills to cope with dif ferent situations, conflicts, uncertainty, and doubt. This means: G G G G G Being flexible Being persistent and firm when necessary Being creative, even when the project does not call for it Absorbing large volumes of data from multiple sources Being patient but able to differentiate between patience and action Being able to handle large amounts of continuous, often unrelenting stressG Additionally, good project managers have high tolerance for surprises, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Projects rarely progress the way that they are defined, and managers need to manage the uncertainty that comes with that. Manage One Project—or Many? There is no simple answer to this question: some managers are able to juggle multiple projects and disparate deadlines successfully, and others are not. In these days of multiple projects that have to be delivered quickly, it is very possible that management will require managing multiple projects.However, this brings a risk. Will project managers be stretched too thin? Again, there is no single, reliable answer. Project managers and senior management need to ask themselves some basic questions: G G How much support will be provided? How many people are on the project? Are they part-time or fulltime? What are the management challenges? An adequately budgeted project may require less effort to manage than one that is extremely thin. Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers G 18 13_26_ch02. fm Page 19 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G G GAre all the projects in the same physical location or will the project manager spend a lot of time traveling? Do all the projects involve the same technology? The same business cultures? The same set of stakeholders? How many of the projects have important deadlines that are close together? The answers to these questions will aid in determining whether multiple projects can share a management resource. The more complex the projects from the standpoints of staffing, budgeting, and technolog y, the more likely it is that they will need a dedicated resource to manage them adequately.Project Management Skills Development One of the surest ways to align strategies and work force competencies with enterprise vision is to create a road map from vision to execution. A skills management process starts in the future and works its way back to the present. An IT skills management process, for example, links the enterprise vision to a technology forecast. The technology forecasts to required skills, the required skills to the IT skills inventory, the skills inventory to the IT staff’s competence levels, and the competence levels to gaps and to the time frame during which those gaps need to be filled.Leadership, team building, marketing, business savvy, project management, manufacturing know-how, functional expertise, and institutional knowledge all are part of the skills picture. Skills management serves as an order for managing the work force (see Figure 2–1). It la ys out a road map for skills development, work role definition, career tracks, resource management, staffing allocation, workload balancing, and learning. With a road map, all members of the work force can fit their strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives into the enterprise’s plans.Skills management is becoming a lifeline in a turbulent IT labor market. Midsize and large enterprises, businesses in the private and public sectors, aggressive and conservative companies—all are looking at skills management with renewed interest. Many enterprises now recognize that the combined lack of enterprise planning, imagination, and Project Management Skills Development 19 13_26_ch02. fm Page 20 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Enterprise Objective Forecast Where does the enterprise want to be in 36 months? What information, technologies and skills will it need to get there?What skills are in-house (e. g. , technical, business, leadership and project management)? What skills will i t need in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How valuable will today’s skills be in 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? How proficient are the IS staff members in the established and the needed skills? What education and training will the enterprise offer, to whom and how will it provide this? What sources of IT skills — internal and external — can we use to fill the gaps? Skill Inventory Skill Definition Strategic Skill Valuation Proficiency LevelsLearning Portfolio Sourcing Figure 2–1 Skills Management—A Road Map for the Work Force (Source: Gartner Group, Inc. ). foresight are as much to blame for today’s labor crunch as is the shortage of relevant IT skills. In that climate, skills management can be a powerful tool for bringing discipline, rationale, and cross-pollination to an underused process. Even more enticing, many IT professionals, under the mantle of career â€Å"entrepreneurism,† will throw in their lot with enterprises that ha ve clearly committed to and funded skills management programs.Having a road map with which to guide career development is more meaningful than wandering until serendipity strikes. Three years ago, when large organizations first began covering the area of skills management, it was a process reserved for the most progressive enterprises. By methodically and meticulously forecasting, classifying, analyzing, and taking inventory of skills, progressive enterprises could identify the urgency and volume of skills gaps, create focused training programs, and add some rational thinking to their sourcing strategies.Skills management continues to satisfy those needs, even fos20 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 21 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM tering a niche market of consultants and software developers that are eager to bring order to IT Human Resource management. Before moving on, it is beneficial to make sure that everybody is speaking the same language. I n the Gartner Group’s definition of perspective, skills management is a robust and systematic approach to forecasting, identifying, cataloguing, evaluating, and analyzing the work force skills, competencies and gaps that enterprises face.Although many programs and initiatives adopt the label skills management, most of them focus on skills inventory and fall short in analysis and forecasting. A well-designed skills management process injects a stronger dose of discipline, coordination, and planning into work force planning, strategic planning, professional training and development programs, resource allocation maneuvering, and risk analysis and assessment. Enterprises can reap several lessons from skills management. Skills management works if it: G G G G GG Defines skills for roles Forces forward thinking Forces some documentation of what makes an IT professional especially proficient Strengthens the organization Leads to focused training, risk assessment, sourcing strategy, a nd resource allocation via gap identification Attracts high-level endorsement Does not define work roles Lacks plans or incentive for refreshment Communicates its purpose poorly Provides differing language and terminology Force-fits skills and work roles to policies, rather than driving new frameworksSkills management does not work if it: G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 21 13_26_ch02. fm Page 22 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Skills Management Case Study A North American manufacturing company set a goal to boost revenue by $300 million within three years. Key to the growth was a new way of dealing with information and IT. First, hoarding of information by divisions had to give way to enterprise ownership of information.Second, ubiquitous access to information required a managed and enterprise-wide migration to standards, interoperability, common platforms, and client/server technology. Finally, the vision of ubiquitous access depended on substantially upgrading th e IT organization’s skill base, supplementing and supplanting mainframe skills with skills associated with distributed processing and client/server application development.The company embarked on an ambitious initiative designed to cultivate the technical skills and business understanding of the IT professionals. The initiative—notably, company-wide skill identification and continuous training—will help the company to raise its skills level and will give IT employees control of their professional development. Elements of the IT professional development initiative included: GIdentifying eight areas of IT professional skills, technical skills being only one area (a detailed discussion on the eight areas identified follows this list) Assigning company values to skills for the near term, short term, and long term Evaluating employee competence levels within the eight areas of IT professional skills Providing continuous training in critical skills, both technical and non-technical Establishing an IT mentor program Supervisors providing performance planning and coaching Establishing team and peer feedback Flattening the IT organization from 18 to 5 titles Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project ManagersG G G G G G G 22 13_26_ch02. fm Page 23 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Mapping skills and performance values to â€Å"salary zones† within the flatter organization With the help of outside experts, IT executives identified more than 125 skills in eight areas of IT professional development. The eight areas of focus for IT professional development and a sampling of associated skills include: GCustomer focus—employee possesses knowledge of customers’ business needs and expectations; delivers constructive qualitative feedback to customers, meets deadlines, and works with customers to set requirements and schedules Technical skills—employee possesses skills related to programming, computer-aided software engineering, deskt op client services, enterprise infrastructure applications, technical software, and hardware support Product or technology evaluation and expertise—employee analyzes and compares products, makes sound recommendations within the company architecture, understands and recognizes limitations of technologies, can communicate the fundamentals of technology to others, and uses technical team resources to resolve or avoid technology-based problems Business and application expertise—employee possesses knowledge of business-specific applications, knows company’s business and local operations, knows the broad application environments (e. g. order entry and accounting), and understands general concepts of business management Project management—employee handles projects of certain size and complexity, estimates project costs and schedules with a degree of accuracy, executes project to plan, manages multiple projects at once, builds teams and organizes team resources, and knows project management tools Interpersonal skills—employee performs as team member or team leader, contributes knowledge to the team and to the organization, and communicates effectively Administrative skills —employee has understanding of budgeting, interviewing, economics of the business, and salary and review process 23 G G G G G G Project Management Skills Development 13_26_ch02. fm Page 24 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM G Soft skills—employee displays leadership, forward thinking, initiative, drive for education, and commitment to organizational structure and development.Each skill receives a weighting factor based on its strategic significance to the company during the next 12 months, the next 12 to 24 months, and the next 24 to 60 months. A skill considered critical to the company earns a weight of 6; a skill with no value to the company earns a weight of 0. After the company skills are identified and their weights assigned, employee skills are c rosschecked against the company skills and assigned a score based on the employee’s competence level. Employee competence levels range from 6 to 1, that is, from mastery to basic understanding. (A competence score of zero is reserved for skills that are either not applicable or not possessed by the employee. Employees then compare their competence scores with those they receive from their peers, team leaders, and supervisors. To see the scoring mechanism in action, assume that the company assigns COBOL programming skills a weight of 4 for the next 12 months and a weight of 3 for the following 12 to 24 months. At the same time, an IT employee earns a score of 3 for average skills in COBOL programming. Given the framework, the value of those skills to the employee will be 12 during the next 12 months, but the value will decline to 9 during the next 12 to 24 months. Continuous training is considered essential to the program’s success. Here, the IT executives are seeking t o develop an implicit promise between the company and the employees.The company promises to provide the resources and opportunities for training—time, funding, and identification and valuation of strategic skills— if the employees promise to use the training to bridge gaps in the company skills base and in their own skill levels. Armed with the company skills inventory and personal competence scores, employees who take the appropriate training will see their value to the company rise. Employees who choose to forgo appropriate training will see their value diminish. On the plus side, the skills and training program has forced the company to view the IT organization in terms of skills and long-term corporate objectives, not simply in terms of head count.Moreover, employees have responded positively to a program that puts professional development in their hands. On the negative side, skills identification and buy-in from IT managers take so long that the initiative risks losing momentum. 24 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers 13_26_ch02. fm Page 25 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor Three areas must be worked out for a skills management initiative to be successful: 1. Employees have to adopt the program as their own, rather than as a management dictate, including the employees assuming control of their own professional development 2. Supervisors have to surrender some control over employee development 3.Executives must ensure that employees use metrics as a tool for professional development, not as a weapon in cutthroat competition As enterprises turn to technology to reach the next level of corporate performance, IT organizations should identify the skills they need to meet the corporate objectives. Through a program of skills identification, IT organizations can see the holes in their coverage, set priorities for projects, define which training is required, and determine which skills may nee d third-party coverage. A commitment to funding for training is essential. Conclusions Rarely has a professional field evolved as rapidly as project management. It is totally different from what it was even 10 years ago.The struggle to stay abreast of new and rapidly evolving technologies, to deal with accumulated development and maintenance backlogs, and to cope with people issues has become a treadmill race as software groups work hard just to stay in place. A key goal of disciplined project managers is to avoid the surprises that can occur when these surprises almost always lead to bad news: canceled projects, late delivery, cost overruns, dissatisfied customers, outsourcing, termination, and unemployment. Indeed, we need to develop management by surprise (MBS) as a project management technique! Keys to a Successful Skills Management Endeavor 25 13_26_ch02. fm Page 26 Friday, September 8, 2000 2:43 PM As we have discussed in this chapter, project managers are a special breed of p eople.The skills that they develop are a cross between a diplomat, ballet dancer, and a Marine Corps drill sergeant—all while having the patience of Job. These skills will serve them well for future higher-level positions as Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the corporations for which they work. The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its efforts to survive, improve, and flourish. A culture based on a commitment to project management and delivering quality projects and effective management differentiates a team that practices excellent project management from a flock of individual programmers doing their best to ship code. Projects rarely fail—but people do. 26 Chapter 2 | Basic Skills for Project Managers

Essay about Childhood Obesity An Epidemic - 1316 Words

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States resulting in medical illnesses and shortened life span, action needs to be taken to eat a healthy diet and incorporate exercise into daily life. Among children today, obesity is causing a wide range of health problems that in the past were not seen until adulthood. These include heart disease, respiratory disease, bone fractures and diabetes. There are also psychological effects; obese children are more likely to have low self-esteem, negative body image, eating disorders and depression. Excess weight at a young age has tracked to higher and earlier death rates in adulthood. This paper will pinpoint strategies to use to help decrease the incidence of obesity Maintaining a†¦show more content†¦Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyouth/obesity/fcats.htm). They are also more prone to develop stress, sadness, social and psychological problems and low self-esteem (http://webmd.com/children/guide/obesity-children?print=true). Obese children can be targets of early social discrimination. The stress of social ridicule can cause low self-esteem which in turn can deter academic and socialization and continues into adulthood. An obese child can be at higher risk for adult health problems like heart disease, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis in future generations(http://www.cdc.gov/healthyouth/obesity/fcats.htm). A fit lifestyle, including healthy eating and physical activity can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing diseases. Exercise is a key factor in the management of obesity. It is important to plan for exercise and activity daily. Exercise needs to be planned and scheduled into the day. 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