I agree with most of the participants above regarding the issues that may arise while the project manager is out on a leave. These issues are very common in the industry and the project team must get adhere to. As a result, there needs to be better communication with the project stakeholders. Also, there needs to be sign off paper, which basically says that the x person will be able to sign off on the paper works in the absence of the project manager. By having this implemented in the company, it will avoid project delays. All in all, we are all humans and emergency situations come up so one just needs to make sure proper communication is implemented.

As stated, a team is comprised of people and is therefore susceptible to the unexpected. As a PM, it is important to understand that people are entitled to vacations and deal with emergencies. There is always proper procedure for dealing with these entitlements and as long as the procedure is followed there should be no issue. Providing sufficient notice and keeping the team informed when you will be absent is your own responsibility and not the PM's. The PM is not there to cover for you or accept excuses for unexcused absences or last minute vacations, they are there to get a job done with whoever is able to do it. So in short, a PM should be accommodating for vacations and time off because their team is entitled to those days provided they give sufficient notice. If they obligations to another team, that is fine as long as it does not interfere with the work that they have been given.

I certainly accept to your point. Each and everyone should know the responsibility and duty of co-workers so that even in the absence of team members the project will go ahead. Only if they understood that the transparency and the wonderful co-operation professional relationship will exist. Or else its really difficult for a project to go ahead. Even at the time of risk management, only if the team members know the actual process they can even find solution for it. So its really a better point

Having communication with the team members is an important thing. Making sure that the team members understand the importance of the presence. It is important that the Pm shares the passion towards completing the project on time. Maintaining an accurate record is easy to track attendance. ensuring that there is a clear company policy that makes understand the importance of the absentee from the workplace. If certain team members have obligations to the other teams it is necessary to have a proper communication between the team members. All the team members should be free to think creatively to try new things. Encouraging collaboration will result in mutual respects with the team members.

What I would recommend is falling back on policies and procedures. At my current job, there is a policy surrounding PTO(Paid Time Off). We have to submit a request a minimum 2 weeks prior to the date we are requesting off. This gives everyone notice of the absence and allows for proper planning in the individual's absence. If there is not a policy regarding this, I would suggest making one. The policy should also include a statement about critical points in the project, and the number of people in one group able to leave at one time.

I agree with Manolo^ that policies should be in place regarding vacation days, PTO, etc. Additionally, I think it's important for the project manager to encourage communication between himself and the members of the team. Being able to trust your project manager and teammates can go a long way in planning. I think in terms of vacation days, these should be planned well in advance and the person leaving should inform the project manager and the rest of the team as soon as possible so that accommodations are made. I also am of the belief that if you as a member of a team know that something needs to be completed, you should complete that before leaving for vacation or delegate so that someone can do so in your absence. I think during meetings all goals should be reviewed, timelines examined to make sure everything is on track. The project manager should ask if there are other pending tasks that are of higher importance and might interfere with the projects goals and if so what steps can be taken to avoid setbacks. Open and respectful communication can avoid a lot of project complications.

Communication is really the key for all project teams. Both communication between team members and communication between the team members and the project manager are essential to the performance of the team. In terms of taking vacation as you mentioned, this should be settled at the start of the project, knowing when team members are going to have to take off, and need to be replaced. However, life isn't predictable, like you stated, these are humans after all, not robots. So if something comes up, it should also be prematurely planned for by having people who can either pick up the slack or replace the person. In most circumstances, communication between the people working on a project can overcome any situation like vacation days and still have plenty of success.

These things happen in the industry and it's quite common, but the only thing that matters is all of them sorting things out and working effectively to give a good quality product.
As long as the person in doing what is asked to do and the team agrees I would have no problem as a PM to let him go on a small vacation.
If a certain team member has any obligation with the other as a PM I need to know both sides of the story and talk it through with the people involved as communication is the key if you are working in a team.

For any project to succeed does not matter what field it is from, communication and collaboration is the key. It is every team members responsibility to inform the project manager of their possible holiday/vacation time. Based on that, the manager will schedule the deliverable. Also, when an emergency situation occurs, it is a member and manager both responsibility to communicate and solve the problems and work. Therefore, I believe that communication is an important key in the project team.

I agree with everyone that says that the project manager should discuss with each member throughout the duration of the project. In the beginning, Project managers should already have schedules of all members. If there is an emergency, I would suggest hold a meeting with the member. Ask them who could replace he or she for the emergency and ask for the work that he or she been working so the project knows what the department is currently working on and if the project manager can give a hand. There should be constant friendly communication between the members and project manger because the project is very important and if know one speaks up then the project and company is hurt due to obstacle delays. If the member is working with another group, it is job to inform the project manger and another from the group so he or she can be able to multitask between two groups.

Experience in the industry validates quite a bit of what was said here: communication definitely is key in leading a project and in working with team members. What I have seen is this: team members would often be proactive in telling the manager (and other team members for that manner) when they would not be available or if they would not be able carry something out due to bandwidth constraints. This would happen because the manager established the precedent that the team should take ownership of the project and let others and manager know if something is coming up that would need to be addressed. Once the communication would be done, the team would work out a plan to cover for the abscence or find a way to help the person do what they needed to do to carry out their tasks. It is very much a give and take relationship between manager-team and even between team members. The key is definitely PROACTIVE communication. (communication would be rather useless if it came late).

There are a number of things the PM can and cannot do when it comes to dealing with team members that have diverted their time and efforts away from the project. The obvious first course of action is to have a sit down with the associate and professionally discuss the concern. If this does not resolve the situation, it may be worth bringing it up to the associate's manager. Whether the distractions are due to personal or professional non-project related factors, the associate and his or her manager should be able to re-establish priorities so that the deliverables for the project can be made on time. Worst case scenario, another employee may be needed to join the project team to support where there is a lack of results. This is actually something I experienced in a team I am a part of this week.

A project manager, together with the team will face any issues during the project process cycle, There are steps to face the issues: - Accept that there is a conflict.   - Create an environment conducive to cooperation.  - Understand each team members viewpoint in order to make a well informed decision.        - Work together to create a solution that benefits the project.

The role of the project manager is one of the most important roles ever.

The project manager is the primary reference to which every person belongs, not only from the employees but also from the official sponsors of the project, therefore the project manager must possess the elements of effective communication and be Familiar with everything about the project and improve decision making,

Also, a successful manager not to be rude so that not everyone is alienated from him, nor to be soft so that he is not a foolish careless, but to be a mediator between the two so that he deals appropriately at the right time, and in the right manner with everyone,

Motivate the team on the one hand and encourages them to participate in the development of the project and present their innovative ideas that contribute to the success of the project on the other hand, as well as rewarding the hard-working and punishing the idle.

Differences may arise between team members, and the smart manager must smartly direct these differences so that no one is injured or transformed instead of serving the project goals to defending himself and his views in front of those who disagree.

Changing plans and shifting priorities will inevitably happen throughout the course of a project. I think as a PM, the best thing you can do is try to anticipate those things happening, and develop contingency plans to account for those disruptions. When it comes to developing project timelines and committing to dates for when things will be completed, there are easy things you can take into account such as vacations, since individuals know when those will happen. As a PM, you can make sure you're planning accordingly to make sure certain tasks that individual is working on won't be holding up other tasks while that person is out. Changing priorities / personnel support is more difficult to plan and adjust for, but it's not impossible. I think it's important for individuals on the team to step up in those instances and maybe take on more responsibility than they typically would for the good of the project until additional resources are identified that can support those tasks. It's the job of the PM though to make sure he/she is picking the right individuals to pick up the extra work to ensure it will not only be completed on time, but also correctly.