Introduction to Project Management (II)

Introduction

The purpose of this paper are to gain an understanding of project management and to give a brief overview of the Methodolog Y that underpins most formally run projects. Many organisations don't employ full time project Managers and it's common to pull together a project team to address a Specific need. While most people is not formally skilled in project methodology, taking a role in a project team can is an excellent Lea Rning Opportunity and can enhance a person's career profile.

What is a Project?

A project is a temporary and one-time exercise which varies in duration. It is undertaken to address a specific need in an organisation, which could be to create a product or service or to change a Business process. This was in direct contrast to what an organisation generally works on a permanent basis to produce their goods or services. For example the work of an organisation could be to manufacture trucks on a continual basis, therefore the work is consider Ed Functional as the organisation creates the same products or services Over-and-over again and people hold their roles on A semi permanent basis.

What is Project Management?

A project is generally initiated by A perceived need in an organisation. Being a one off undertaking, it'll has a start and an end, constraints of budgets, time and resources and involves a PU Rpose built team. Project teams is made up of many different team members, for example, end users/customers (of a product or service), repr Esentatives from Information Technology (IT), a project leader, business analysts, trainers, the project sponsor and other stakeholders.

Project management is the discipline of managing all the different resources and aspects of the project in such a The resources would deliver all the output of that was required to complete the project within the defined scope, time, and Co St constraints. These is agreed upon in the project initiation stage and by the time of the project begins all stakeholders and team members Would have a clear understanding and acceptance of the process, methodology and expected outcomes. A good project manager utilises a formal process that can be audited and used as a blue print for the project, and this is achieved by employing a project management methodology.

Project Management Methodology

Generally, projects is split into three phases initiation, implementation and Closure. Each phase then have multiple checkpoints that must be met before the next phase begins. The degree to which a project is managed would depend on the size of the project. For a complex project with a large organisation that involves a number of people, resources, time and money, a more Structur Ed approach is needed, and there'll be more steps built into each stage of the project to ensure that the project delive RS the anticipated end result. For a simple project with a small organisation, agreed milestones, a few checklists and someone to co-ordinate the project M Ay is required.

Initiating a Project

All projects start with the idea for a product, service, new capability or other desired outcome. The idea was communicated to the project sponsors (the people who would fund the project) using what's called either a mand Ate or project charter. The mandate is a document structured in a-a-lays out-a clear method for proposing a project and should result in a Business case for the project. Once The business case had been approved a more detailed document was prepared that explains the project and it was known as The ' The Project Definition Report ' (PD). The PD is isn't only used to provide detailed information on the project, and is the report on which an assessment is made a s to whether the project should proceed or not. Some of the key areas it covers is the scope of the project, results of any feasibility studies, and what it is intended T o Deliver. As well this document would identify the key people involved, resources required, costs and expected duration as well as being Nefits to theBusiness. A project usually have a goal (the big picture) and this have to then is broken down into objectives you can use to measure Whether you have achieved your aims.

From this list to must then identify what's known as ' key Success Criteria ', and these is the objectives that's ' key ' To the success or failure of the Project-even if other objectives is met. These obviously vary from project to project. Once the project had been given the go ahead, then a contract document was drawn up and the project sponsor uses this to GI ve formal agreement to funding the project and for the project to begin. The initiation phase is then considered to be completed.

Implementing a Project

The implementation phase is about tracking and managing the project. The first thing that happens when the project begins are to use the project Definition report to create a project plan whic H defines how to perform what's detailed on the PD report. The PD is more than a summary of the project, so a detailed project plan must being created to fill in the fine detail of how T He project would be run. The project plan is the central document, which is used to manage the project for it duration so getting agreement and ACCE Ptance from all of the team on aspects such as the project milestones, phases and tasks, as well as who's responsible for Each task, associated timelines and what deadlines is to be met.

Some of the stages in implementing a project is quality control, progress control, change control and risk management. The first aspect we'll discuss isRisk Management, as once you has planned the project it is important to assess any factors that could has an impact upon it. ' Risk ' In this case was considered to being anything that could negatively impact on the project meeting completion deadlines. For example losing team members due to illness or attrition, don't have taken team members ' annual leave into Considerati On, the possibility of have to retrain new team members, equipment not being delivered on time or contractors going out of business. A risk log is used to record and grade risks and carries an associated action plan to minimise the identified risk. Issues management is a associated area and refers to concerns related to the project raised by any stakeholder. This phase also involves the Project Manager inQuality Control, whereby regular reviews is made in formalised meetings to ensure the ' product ' that's being produced by the project is Reviewed against specific pre-defined standards.

Progress Control  is Another responsibility of the Project Manager and is the monitoring of the PR Oject and the production of regular progress reports to communicate the progress of the project to all stakeholders of the Project. As most projects does not go exactly to plan, the process of progress control was to keep a eye on the direction of the Proj ECT and monitor the degree to which the plan was followed and take appropriate action if stages be deviating from the plan By employing regular project tracking. This was achieved by has regular checkpoints during the course of the project that would have been established in the pro ject definition. These meetings be weekly and was used to monitor and control all this is going on with the project as well as capture Statistics from all project team member on actual start and finish dates for their allocated tasks as well as estimates F Or the next round of the tasks.

By the nature of the very projects never going exactly to plan, changes would need to being made to the length, direction and type Of the tasks carried out by the team. This have to is fully documented by the Project Manager in the form of ' change control '. Change control involves the Project Manager in documenting requests for change, identifying the impact on the pro Ject If the change was to be implemented (e.g. would it affect the finish time of the project, would the project run over Bud Get, is there enough resources) and then informing all stakeholders of the implications and alternatives that the request The for change has identified. The implementation phase ends once the project has achieved it goals and objectives as detailed by the key success Criter IA in the Project Definition report.

Closing a Project

All projects was designed for a specific period of time and the process of project closure was an important aspect of Proje CT management. The purpose of a formal closedown to the project are to address all issues generated by the project, to release staff from The project and go through a ' lessons learnt ' exercise. At this stage a formal acceptance from the customer (the person for whom the process product have been created) is gained T o indicate their sign-off on the project. This is generally do in the form of a customer acceptance form and are the formal acknowledgement from the customer The project has ended. Once signed off, the project team is disbanded and no more work carried out. However the project team would come together for what's called a project Review meeting, to formally end the project and G O over any outstanding issues such as ongoing maintenance, the closing of project files and conduct a team review of the P Roject. As a result a Project Closure report is created To formalise how successfully the project had achieved its objectives, and how well the project had performed against its Original business case, the scope, project plan, budget and allocated timeframes.

The project Manager may also create a process improvement document this reviews the processes used by the project (e.g WH At does we do well, what mistakes does we make) so that the organisation can learn from this project and make further PROJEC TS more successful. Because the project is run by a team of people who has spent a lot of time involved in the success of a particular piece of work, that have taken them out of their usual day-to-day activities it's important to hold some type of social closing Event. This might is a dinner, drinks or some type of group activity where everyone can be recognised and rewarded for their effo Rts.

What does does it take to be a good Project Manager?

Aside from understanding the methodology, there is other characteristics to keep on mind for successful project Managemen T. Given that any project was involved with a project team as well as the stakeholders, a good project Manager needs to hav E not only excellent time management skills but also good people skills such as:

• Excellent communication skills.
• The ability to be a team player.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• The ability to negotiate.

Experienced Project Managers believe there is both key factors in determining the success of a project:1. Recruitment and Selection of suitably qualified project members to relevant project positions are essential. Recruiting of project team members should is handled with the same discipline and rigour as the recruitment of new Employe Es to fulfil the ongoing positions in the business. 2. A well documented methodology that's kept simple and easily adaptable to different sizes of projects was a critical fou Ndation for ensuring project success. This documented methodology needs to being communicated to project team members as part of the initiation stage. This would ensure such things as everyone has a clear understanding of how to progress and what are expected at each stag E and that the methodology are adapted to the specific needs of the project being undertaken.

Introduction to Project Management (II)