Project Management involves the effective coordination and management of individuals to work in order to achieve a common goal of completing a task. It often entails the application of personal knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in the process of achieving an assigned project (Heagney, J., 2016). Traditionally, the management of a project; no matter its nature, is always guided by three concepts (traditions). These are the project processes, the project life cycle and the project management systems.
Project Processes.
Project processes are the tools of organization of project management. It generally involves knowing the individuals who are responsible for performing certain processes and during what phase of the project the activity should be undertaken. There are five phases that are involved in a project process (Muller, R., 2017). These phases are;
Initiative process- involves approval of the project and brainstorming of the best available procedures to complete the project.
Planning process- definition and refining of the project goals and objectives to ensure they are realistic and achievable.
Execution of the process- involves the performance of the activities that will lead to the completion of the project.
Controlling process- this phase is carried out during the entire running of the project by the project manager. It involves ensuring the project is undertaken within the prescribed guidelines.
Wrap up process- occurs at the tail end of a project. It involves activities that wrap up the entire process.
Project life cycle.
This is a four-step process that is followed when moving through the stages of a project (Lock, D., 2017). The four steps are;
Initiation- this involves the identification of a need, problem or an opportunity and brainstorming ways through which the need can be met, problem solved or opportunity seized. The feasibility of a project is determined at this stage. The major deliverables of the project are also outlined.
Planning- the overall project is broken down into smaller doable tasks, the project team is assembled, and a schedule for the completion of tasks is prepared. Time frames are set for the small tasks and success of the success of the project is measured by the ability to complete these tasks within the assigned time.
Execution- involves the turning of plans into actions. The project manager is tasked in ensuring that the work is kept on track, organization of the project team members and ensuring the work is done according to plan.
Closure- this stage involves the handing over of the final deliverables, releasing of the project resources and measuring the success of the project. Measuring the success involves evaluating the things that worked and those that did not during the execution of the project.
Project management systems.
Project management involves several components. These components are what are looked at when referring to a project management system (Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017). These components are;
Human component- for the success of a project, the project team must be well-versed with negotiation, motivation, team-building, interpersonal communication and any other issues that involve people management.
Cultural component- a project team often has people that hail from different background culturally and socially. These disparities must be put into consideration so as to avoid quarrels that may arise. Every member of a project team must acknowledge that they all have different cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviors and traditions.
Organizational component- entails managing, organizing, and holding the project team accountable for the completion of the project.
Methodological component- involves being aware of the tools and processes that aid in keeping track of the project budgets and schedules.
Information component- involves how members of the project team communicate with one another on progress of the project and record keeping of the project completion.
Planning component – this shows the path through which the project follows to its completion, without which its failure is inevitable.
Control component- this is the component that ensures that the project is steered in the right direction and any unforeseen mishaps are corrected.
All these three concepts of project management are interrelated and often go in line with one another during their execution. For instance; the initiative phase of the project processes and the initiation process of the project life cycle both have brainstorming as a common process. Several other processes in the project processes and the project life cycle, as described above can be observed to have similar characteristics. The project management systems are the components that provide the framework through which the other two concepts of project management can be sufficiently executed.
Deterministic and non-deterministic approaches.
In project management, there are two approaches that can be used on a project depending on its nature. These two are basically scheduling methods that are applied in the flow and sequence of activities in a project. The two methods can be used in conjunction with one another since they both use the same approach in network design and ascertaining the critical path of a project (Daniel, P. and Daniel, C., 2018.). Nevertheless, they are different in a variety of ways. Among the main disparities are;
Deterministic approach involves planning, scheduling, organizing and coordinating of activities that are well-defined while non-deterministic approach involves the planning, scheduling, organizing, coordinating of uncertain activities.
Deterministic approach focuses on the control of cost and time while no-deterministic approach is mostly applied in the planning and control of time.
Deterministic approach is mostly concerned with construction projects while non-deterministic is concerned with research and development projects.
There are three estimates of time in non-deterministic approach, which are; optimistic time, most likely time and pessimistic time while there is only one time in the deterministic approach.
The deterministic approach is recommended for a reasonable time estimate while the non-deterministic technique is recommended for a high precision time estimate.
Deterministic approach is used in projects of repetitive nature while projects handled with the non-deterministic approach are of non-repetitive nature.
The existence of division between critical and non-critical activities is evident in the deterministic approach which lacks in the non-deterministic approach.
The crashing concept is used to shorten the project time and ensure the least additional cost in the deterministic approach. This concept cannot be applied in the non-deterministic approach.
Time, cost and resource calculation.
When coming up with the calculations for the time, costs and resources required for a project, it is usually very difficult to come up with accurate figures (Vanhoucke, M., 2014.). There are several factors which are considered to affect the accuracy in calculation of the time, cost and resources which may include;
Planning Horizon
The reliability of the assessment varies on the planning horizon; present event predictions are nearly 100 percent precise but decreased for more remote occurrences. As you advance from the design stage to the stage where personal job sets are established, the precision of time and cost estimates should enhance
Project Duration
There is a tendency of extending time to introduce new technology in a rising, unpredictable manner. Sometimes poorly published new technology scope requirements lead to mistakes in estimating times and expenses. Long-term projects enhance estimated ambiguity.
People
The number of individuals can also lead to mistakes in estimating times and costs. For instance, estimate precision relies on people's ability to make projections. Productivity and studying period will be influenced by a close comparison of people's abilities. Similarly, whether project group participants have previously collaborated together on comparable tasks will affect the amount of time it requires to unify into an efficient squad.
Factors like personnel turnover can sometimes affect projections. Note that introducing new individuals to a project raises the amount of time invested on interacting normally, Only five to six productive hours are accessible for each working day; the remaining hours are covered by auxiliary tasks, such as conferences, documentation, and e-mail replies.
Project Structure and Organization
The design framework selected to handle the project will affect projections of time and cost. One of the significant benefits of a committed design team is the speed obtained from focused attention and localized design choice This speed arises at an extra cost of having employees full-time. Converse projects working in a matrix setting may decrease expenses by distributing staff across projects more effectively, but may require longer to finish as focus is split and requirements for cooperation are greater.
Padding Estimates
People tend to mark projections in some instances. In work situations where one is asked for estimates of time and cost, they tend to add a little padding to increase the likelihood and lower the risk of being late.
If everyone provides a little padding at all design stages to decrease danger, the length and price of the venture will be severely overestimated. This event leads some executives or holders to demand a time and/or cost reduction of 10—15% for the project. Naturally, the individual estimating cost and/or time will stack the estimate to 20 percent or more when the project is run next time.
Organization Culture
Culture of the organization can have a significant impact on project estimates. Padding projections are allowed in some organizations and even privately supported. Other organizations highlight precision and heavily deter gamesmanship estimation. The significance they assign to projections varies among organizations.
In some organizations, the prevalent view is that thorough estimation lasts too long and is not worth the attempt or that predicting the future is futile. Other organizations subscribe to the view that the basis for efficient project management is precise estimates.
References.
Daniel, P.A. and Daniel, C., 2018. Complexity, uncertainty and mental models: From a paradigm
of regulation to a paradigm of emergence in project management. International journal of
project management, 36(1), pp.184-197.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Lock, D., 2017. The essentials of project management. Routledge.
Muller, R., 2017. Project governance. Routledge.
Vanhoucke, M., 2014. Integrated Project Management and Control. Springer. doi, 10, pp.978-3.
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