Project management synergy beyond traditional processes Abstract Project Management - The term that dictates the future of a project. A successful project owes all its credits to the Project Management and the evidence is obvious when the service (result of the project) meets all its expectations. Yet we have witnessed several projects failing even after having a plan in place, following the plan and meeting all the requirements. Why have these projects failed and what more is critical to the success of the project? All projects are conceived with a vision to satisfy certain needs of the business. Hence the beneficiary of these needs become key stakeholders. Appropriate participation of this key stakeholder in steering the project insures the success of the project. Also businesses are impacted by competition and changing market place resulting in skewed expectation management. Managing expectations enhances the success of the project immensely. Now, goal of the project plays a pivotal role and hence respecting it, is an important task, in project management. Governance in projects plays this role in guaranteeing the projects success. This is what I call Project Management Synergy beyond traditional processes. Introduction The connotation that has always been associated with Project Management is more like "an inward focused activity". An assignment given by the customer has to be delivered in time and within cost constraints by working out permutations and combinations of resources across the phases of the project lifecycle. The execution has almost become a mechanical process of following and adhering to a set of predefined rules. What is missed out in the process is the main objective for which the project was conceived, the need, the business requirement. Business Improvement Architect's annual research of project managers at ProjectWorld 2005 in Toronto, Canada indicated that âTraining of Project Sponsors' fifty-eight percent (58%) as something that would benefit them most to improve their ability to manage a project. As well they said they would benefit from 'Communication Skills' (42%) and âLeadership Skills' (36%). These knowledge areas have increased in importance over previous years. (Figure 1) Migrating from Crisis to Controlled environment is the need of this Era and it can be achieved by Synergistic Project Management. Several research studies indicate that organizations are in a crisis with respect to how projects are managed. The key factors contributing to this crisis that need to be managed is discussed in this paper. Figure 1 * Source © Business Improvement Architects Stakeholders Participation Right from the initiation stage, a legal contract dominates the relationship between the customer and the vendor based on the terms and conditions.
The two role that shared responsibilities are the project executive sponsor and the project leader. In the sponsor role, the stages initiating, planning, executing, and closing are performed or overseen by the project as well. They share responsibilities in numerous ways. The sponsor is ultimately accountable for the success or failure of the project. The sponsor has to ensure the project is focused on achieving its business objectives and delivering the forecast benefits. They also have to ensure that the project gives value for money and adopts a cost effective approach which balances the demands of the business, users, and suppliers. This role includes securing budgets and ensuring appropriate financial controls are in place. Appointing the project manager and its team including members of the project board. They also advocate the project both eternally and internally. Sponsors also support the project manager to successfully deliver the project and they sign off on project deliverables. (Kilmoski,
Project managers, as mentioned earlier, are becoming a highly sought after commodity. There are many fields which project management professionals may enter into, such as constructions, engineering, logistics, and information technology. For those project managers who are interested in expanding their careers with new skills, this is phenomenal news. In order to validate project management on the corporate level, researchers view that ownership is required from the top (Chandler & Thomas, 2015). Corporate executives need to understand the importance of PM and embrace its functionality within the organization. This will ensure that project management continues to stay linked with areas like personnel, finance, and production. The nature of project management is crucial to business success, and enables proper development and implementation of solid practices. This further highlights that hiring project professional’s remains essential as businesses become “supported from top to bottom and from edge to edge” (Project Management is Vital for Business Success,
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.
Project management is known as the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. In the diagram to the left in the picture you can see that as a project manager you are the center of either a great accomplishment or a major failure. Some of the major factors to being a successful project manager would be a person that is a great manage several projects or responsibilities and scope issues on an every day basis. If you have a pr...
Project managers are leaders of small and large groups destined to complete a strategic project plan. Leadership characteristics described above can make or break a team. In all successful project fulfillments, it is the leadership of the project manager that determines the type of success for the project’s members. The most...
Gray, C., Larson, E. (2008). Project Management: The managerial Process. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. They are goal oriented, have a definite start and finish time, must be done within cost, schedule and quality parameters. Projects involve the coordinated undertaking of interrelated activities (Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage). According to Tom Peters, “Projects, rather than repetitive tasks, are now the basis for most value-added in business”. Based on this, it is clear that projects are of utmost importance to businesses in both the service and the manufacturing industries.
In today's business it is in the best interest of companies to have project managers. Common sense isn't always easily accomplished. Anyone who's ever worked on a project in a technical setting knows this. Indeed, much of working with others consists of solving unexpected problems and learning from mistakes along the way. Knowing this and having the proper tools a project manager will be able to manage and complete the most intense project out there.
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.
A contract is an agreement between two parties under which one party promises to do something for the other in return for compensation (Morris, & Pinto, 2007). In essence, it is an obligation on both parties to fulfil their part of the agreement and operate within the framework of law. The parties involved are the purchaser and the supplier or the sponsor and the vendor. The contract is an essential document that outlines the agreement made by both parties. The contract should contain specific language detailing the requirements of both parties. The contract defines what was agreed upon by each party, a definition of what happens when things change, a definition of obligations, a definition of the relationship between the parties and the level
Contracts are based on agreements which arise from offers and acceptances where, in simple terms, one party makes an offer and the other party accepts the offer. The basic purpose of a contract is to establish agreements made by the parties involved while also establishing their rights and duties according to the agreement made knowing that any breach would be dealt with accordingly. For a contract to be legally binding or enforceable, some elements need to be considered, elements such as: offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity, certainty, and intention to create legal relations. Offers are valid when the terms of the contract are clearly stated. Also, an offer will include the intention to do business and as a final feature the offer
Over the course of my professional life, I have become increasingly involved in project management roles. Doing so has made me aware of the many varied challenges that can face projects and the project managers who are charged with bringing them through to completion. The success or failure of projects, in whatever economic, political or social field, rests not just on the quality of the project’s goals, but also on the abilities of those involved in the project – and above all those who are managing it – to bring it to successful completion. To do this, project managers need to be equipped with a very wide range of skills, many of which are unrelated to the type of project itself. So, for example, a project manager of an engineering project must not only have engineering
Project management involves all activities that encompass scheduling, planning, and controlling projects. A successful project manager ensure that an organization’s resources are being used both efficiently and effectively. Most projects need to be uniquely developed require a sense of customization and the ability to adapt to any posed challenges. The scope of effective project management includes defining what the project is and what is being expected to be accomplished. Projects are imposed to fulfill a certain need and project managers must have the ability to create the proper definition. Goals and the means used to attain those goals have to be clearly stated. Project Managers must also have the ability to plan
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.
As a Business Improvement Manager the aim is to drive implementations strategically, with top management visibility and the use of consistent and standardised project management practices and to deploy these competencies with the goal of maximising organisational value. There is an opportunity in the delivery of projects for organisations to add value to better serve their clients and compete in the marketplace. To use the influence of relationships to have active and engaged sponsors who serve as advocates for project initiatives that lead the organisational change towards business excellence.