The gap analysis is most useful in the initial stages of project development because it helps with the project manager and project team identify the tasks that must be completed to finish the project. A gap analysis is a tool used to identify the gap between the company’s current state and the future state the company wants to reach (Evison, 2014). It also includes the tasks that must be completed to close the gap between the two states. Performing a gap analysis helps identify the gaps which must be closed to complete and what needs to happen to complete the project successfully. The first step in completing a gap analysis is identifying the future state in other words the objectives the company wants to achieve by completing the project (Evison, 2014). The second step is analyzing the company’s current state as it relates to each of the objectives identified in step one (Evison, 2014). This step requires the organization to be completely honest and state the facts of the current state of the organization as it compares to the desired future state. The third step is identifying ways to bridge the gap between the future and current state of the company (Evison, 2014). This step involves determining what must be done to make the objectives listed in the future state of the company a reality. For example, the company’s desired future state is to for every project team member to be self-motivators. The company’s current state is that four out of eight project members are self-motivators. The organization mays change their reward system from external rewards to rewards that promote pride in job performance. The company may even survey the project team members to determine why members the cause of the lack of motivation. The... ... middle of paper ... ...t allows the project manager to keep the project on schedule and on budget if there is any deviation noticed in the project plan. Earned value analysis is another tools used to measure project progress using variance in schedule, cost, and budget to identify deviations in the project plan and allows the project manager to align the project with the project plan (Lewis, 2011). References: Businessballs. (2014). Project Management: Project management, tools, process, plans and project planning tips. Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm Evison, A. (2014). Gap Analysis: Identifying what needs to be done in a project. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/gap-analysis.htm Lewis, J. P. (2011). Project planning, scheduling, and control: A hands-on guide to bringing projects in on time and on budget (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Proper metrics must be in place to measure the progress of each step along the project.
Kim, B. &. (2011). Combination of project cost forecasts in earned value management. Journal Of Construction Engineering & Management, 958-966.
Frame, J.D., Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best use of Time, Techniques and People, third ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,112-117, 2003.
This process is aimed at ensuring the project being pursued has a potential of delivering by adhering to the allocated time, sticking to the budget and very important, meeting customers specifications (Mott McDonald, 2002). It involves assessing the projects at critical stages (also referred to as gates) in its lifecycle and thus assuring it can advance to the next stage successfully. This function is performed by an independent experienced team, after which they assure the Senior Responsible Owners that the project can progress successfully (National Academies US & National Research US, 2004). There are six critical stages (gateways) in the lifecycle of a project that the independent gateway review team will evaluate and thus provide th...
First is to examine each of those projects to the corporate objectives, compare and contrasting project selection criteria and justify why a project meets the selection criteria.
Kezner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 6th. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1998. Print.
The PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition emphasizes the relationship between all ten knowledge areas of project management to illustrate that the entire planning process is a combination of interrelated activities and processes (Saladis & Kerzner, 2011, p130). This paper will first discuss each of the ten knowledge areas in detail, and then evaluate two project case studies as they relate to these ten knowledge areas.
Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013). Project Management Professional (PMP) Handbook. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.pmi.org/certification/~/media/pdf/certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx. [Last Accessed 20 April 2014].
Project management is said to be completed within time when it completed within the “triple constraints”: cost, time and quality. And in a lot of causes, one them is sacrificed so as to meet the other two. Project managers prioritize which ones are the most important.
Define the current situation - break down problem into component parts, identify major problem areas, develop a target improvement goal
While all the authors agree that successful schedule management starts in the initial planning phase, all the authors do not agree on how the initial planning phase should be executed. According to Townsend, Mazzuchi, and Sarkani (2014), they believe the initial planning phase should be based on the Level of Effort needed to complete the project: “earned Value Management (EVM) includes several types of effort used to define work or tasks and often in engineering and management, Level of Effort (LOE) is primarily used” (p. 21). According to Love, Sing, Wang, Edwards, and Odeyinka (2013), project managers should be honest and fair with initial estimates instead of trying to please the client: “clients ' demands for early completion to minimize finance costs and increase return on investment to satisfy investors and stakeholders can lead to over-optimistic schedules being produced” (p. 1231). Lastly, according to Moselhi and Roofigari-Esfahan
A project audit is designed to be an examination of the procedures involved in a project and the processes that are involved, the records being used, the budgets and expenses are being used appropriately, and if the project is meeting its goal as it progress through its stages (Meredith & Mantel, 2012). The design of the audit should encompass how the current status of the project is being completed by the goals that have been set, will there be any changes in scope, schedule, and cost and. If there is a change, what will be the change, are the major phases of the project succeeding or failing, is there any foreseen impact that will result in monetary loss or project failure, are there any lessons that need to be recorded to aid future projects, and were there any l...
During the start of a project we have to identify the requirements and purpose of the project. The second step in timing of a typical project is perception and this where strategy is improved, the feasibility stage where viability is improved, execution stage to exploit cost effectiveness and the final stage where the project becomes operational where process can be improved. During these stages each and every works should be monitored closely, resources should be well analysed and feasibility studies should be carried out according at each stages where needed.
The first and most crucial step is to create a solid plan. Plan should include the techniques, tools and data that are going to used in the project. The responsibilities of all the members should be distributed at this step. The utilization of resources and budgeting of the project should be done here. Management tools such as probability and Impact Matrix, FMEA are useful at this point.
When planning a new project, how the project will be managed is one of the most important factors. The importance of a managers will determine the success of the project. The success of the project will be determined by how well it is managed. Project management is referred to as the discipline that entails the processes of carefully planning, organizing, controlling, and motivating the organization resources so as to foster and facilitate the achievement of specific established and desired goals and meet the specific criteria of success required in the organization (Larson, 2014). Over the course of this paper I will be discussing and analyzing the importance of project management.