Conceptual levels of competence

Abstract

When it comes to the term competence , there is not a consensus definition of it, because a variety of relevant researchers have their own interpretation. No debate would be made to prove which definition is highly recognized, and, to be precise, it mainly refers to project management(pm-) competence in this article. Project management competence can be defined as the capability, to perform the project management process professionally. Pm-competence is not only related to individuals, but also project teams and organisations. For different parties like individuals, project teams and organisations, there are some different characterization, In order to have a fully comprehension of pm-competence,a outline of project-oriented organisations, project management and project management process will be given. Practical application of this theory is also worth demonstrating.

The following article mainly looks into these three aspects:

• pm-competence of individuals;
• pm-competence of project teams;
• pm-competence of organisations.

Introduction

summary about introduction(main idea)

Project-oriented company/organisation

definition, structure, strategy and goal(cite a picture)

Project Oriented Organization is an organization in which a considerable part of its processes and activities take place in the form of projects. Its organizational structure has elements of matrix organizational structure. In the project-oriented organization, the project manager has full authority to set priorities and manage the work of the people assigned to the project. In the project-oriented organization, projects are a natural part of its operation.

A POO can be defined as an organization that:

• Defines “Management by Projects” as an organizational strategy

• Applies temporary organizations for the performance of complex processes

• Manages a project portfolio of different project types

• Has specific permanent organization structures to provide integrative functions

• Applies the “New Management Paradigm”

• Has an explicit project management culture

• Perceives itself as being project-oriented.

Project management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Project management process

The POO is characterized by specific business processes. The core processes project management, program management, and project portfolio coordination, are briefly described.

Project management is the core business process of the POO. It consists of the subprocesses project start, project coordination, project controlling, project discontinuity management, and project close down.

The project management process starts with the formal project assignment and ends with the project acceptance by the project owner. The project management process is performed in addition to the contents related processes to achieve the project results. Examples for contents related processes of an engineering project are engineering, procurement, logistics, and construction.

Objects of consideration in the project management process are the project objectives, the scope of work, the project schedule and the project costs, as well as the project organization, the project culture, and the project context (project environment relationships, relationships to the company strategies, relationships to other projects, etc.).

Detailed definition of pm-competence

Pm-competence of individuals

The project management competences required by individuals differ according to the project roles to be fulfilled. The following project roles can be performed by individuals: project owner, project manager, project management assistant, project team member, and project contributor. The specific project management functions to be performed, e.g., by a project manager can be described in a role description.

From the role description it is obvious that the project manager requires knowledge and experience not only to apply project management methods, but also to creatively design the project management process.

This ability relates to:

• The selection of the project management methods appropriate for a given project

• The selection of the appropriate communication structures

• The facilitation of the different workshops and meetings

• The selection of the participants for the different workshops and meetings

• The decision to involve a project coach

• The definition of the appropriate form for the project management documentations.

The project management competence of a project manager is the capability to fulfill all functions specified in the role description. Besides the project management knowledge and experience for a given project type, a project manager needs product, company, and industry knowledge. In international projects, cultural awareness and language knowledge are also prerequisites.

Pm-competence of project teams

In order to perform a project successfully, a project team requires competence. The competence of a project team can be defined as the project management competences of the project team members plus the social knowledge and experience of the team to commonly create the “Big Project Picture,” to produce synergies, to solve conflicts, and to ensure learning in the team.

A project team cooperates in workshops and meetings. The application of project plans, such as a work breakdown structure, a schedule, a project environment analysis, etc, have to be understood as tools, to support the communication in the project team.

Pm-competence of organisations

Not only individuals but also organizations have the capability to acquire knowledge and experience and to store it in a “collective mind” (Senge, 1994, Weik & Roberts, 1993). Willke (1998) describes organizational knowledge as hidden in organizational principles, which define the way organizations work. For example, such organizational principles, which define the way projects are managed, are project management procedures, project management templates and standard project plans.

The project management competence of the POO can be described and assessed with a “pm-competence” model (Gareis & Huemann, 1998). This model can be presented in a “spider web,” with the axis project start, project controlling, project coordination, management of project discontinuities, project close down and design of the project management process.

The assessment of the project management competence of an organization is based on an IT-supported questionnaire, with about 80 questions.

The overall project management competence of a POO is presented by the area, resulting of the connection of the project management competence points at the scale of the spider web axes.

Application

The "pm-competence" model

what the model is, how useful it is(cite a picture)

Example

in real case,still need some dig research

Limitation

critiques and own opinion regarding how to improve it

Annotated Bibliography

key references and write something about the references, like what's the main idea or which part is the most useful in this context