Principles of Project Management

This document discusses the important traits and characteristics of an effective project manager, including vision, organization, reliability, leadership, communication skills, experience, and action orientation. It also explores the Capital Metro Project in Australia, which aims to develop a light rail network in Canberra.

Running Head: PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PROJ6000M1 – Week 1June 2019
Name of the Student
Name of the University

1PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Answer to Question 1
In addition to being just a leader in a project, the project manager needs certain
personality traits and characteristics to be effective in the project and to be able to lead the team
in the right direction. Some of these important traits and characteristics are discussed and
analysed as follows.
Vision – An effective project manager must have sufficient vision to view the bigger
picture associated with the project and should also be able to break down complex tasks into
smaller tasks.
Organised and Work Efficient – The project manager must be organised and efficient
throughout the course of the project (Blaskovics, 2016). In addition to performing the project
tasks, the project manager must be able to manage time efficiently in the entire project.
Reliable and Honest – In addition to being efficient, an effective project manager must be
reliable and honest so that the associates working under him can depend on him throughout the
project.
Leader – Being a true leader is the most important requirement for an effective project
manager. A leader does not mean one who only sends out instructions to his associates; a true
leader should supervise the activities and guide the associates so that they are able to fulfil the
requirements of the project.
Communication Skill – A true project manager must have sufficient communication skills
so that he can communicate easily with the project team members as well as the client for whom,

2PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
the project is being performed (Medina & Francis, 2015). The project manager is also needed to
communicate with the management board regarding progress update of the project.
Experienced – One should not be appointed as project manager unless he has sufficient
experience in various projects including working in similar projects for considerable amount of
time.
Action Oriented – An effective project manager must be action oriented and also result
driven so as to ensure the best outcome is reached at the end of the project.
Answer to Question 2
One of the most well-known projects in Australia that is currently being undertaken is the
Capital Metro Project is which a light rail network is being developed within the city of Canberra
(MacKenzie et al., 2015). The main purpose of this project is to reduce the rush of passengers
through road traffic and also provide faster means of travel for the office bound passengers in the
city. It is expected that once the overall project is completed, the light rail service will reduce at
least 30% of the overall passenger load on the roads.
For the purpose of selection of the project, it is required to identify the overall benefits of
the project. When there is required to select a project from different options, it is required to
identify which project is more profitable and is actually needed by the organisation on top
priority than the others (Lawrence & Moran, 2015). One effective technique to compare the
benefits is the cost benefit analysis process in which, the monetary benefits of each of the
projects are estimated.

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References
Blaskovics, B. (2016). The impact of project manager on project success—The case of ICT
sector. Society and Economy. In Central and Eastern Europe ǀ Journal of the Corvinus
University of Budapest, 38(2), 261-281.
Lawrence, R. L., & Moran, C. J. (2015). The AmericaView classification methods accuracy
comparison project: A rigorous approach for model selection. Remote Sensing of
Environment, 170, 115-120.
MacKenzie, A., Muminovic, M., Williamson, G., Davey, R., & Lernihan, V. (2015, December).
Passing the Community Test-A co-benefits approach to evaluating the case for light rail
in Canberra, Australia. In State of Australian Cities National Conference, 2015, Gold
Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Medina, A., & Francis, A. J. (2015). What are the characteristics that software development
project team members associate with a good project manager?. Project Management
Journal, 46(5), 81-93.