Best Practices in Project Management - Essay Example

Training is particularly important considering the fast-changing times and environments and as such companies have no options other than investing in continuous education for their project management teams and employees to keep up to date with industry standards. The first success point is for the project managers to get everything straight from the onset. It is important for managers of projects to understand the main goals of the particular project the needs of their clients in order to give the best. Secondly, it is particularly important to carefully study and understand contracts before entering into any commitments. Assessing major clauses such as those on liabilities, indemnification warranties are worded right so as to avoid unnecessary legal suits and court cases.

This eases the project implementation process and helps eliminate unnecessary delays.
Another very important success factor in project management is the kick-off meeting with a client. It is a very crucial meeting and therefore both the project managers and key project team members should be present in the meeting alongside key persons from the client end. This is because expectations are set in this meeting and as such it helps project teams figure out how to better manage the expectations of their client. The project managers should also never overlook stored materials; they should understand the way to bill for materials that are stored and also know the hidden costs that may come with the early ordering of materials. To this end, timing is important especially when it comes to warranties. The warranty time begins counting immediately equipment are purchased and hence the earlier the installation the longer the period covered by the warranty.
The final and ultimate success point in project management is documenting any changes made throughout the project completion process.

Documentation is of great importance and must be completed in a manner that is timely and well-detailed. The Request for Information (RFI) and Change Order Request (COR) forms are two very crucial documents when dealing with contractors. The onus on the project managers is to assess, issue and maintain logs of the documents completed as necessitated by changes to the project. The final factor of importance to the success of projects is the closeout; formal procedures need to be used in ending the job and closing the relationship with the client. This is the time to factor any extra costs into the project, ensure clean breaks with clients and note the lessons that might have been learned from the particular project which could be applied to other projects in the future.

In conclusion, therefore, has become a very major element of modern business and therefore project managers must employ best practices to attain success. it is important for everything to be done right from the kick-off meeting, studying the contracts, documentation all the way to the close-up procedures. This will ensure great success and benefit organizations tremendously in terms of cutting costs, eliminating lawsuits and ensuring good relations. Read More