The Concept of Project Management - Essay Example

? Project Management AFFILIATION: Introduction to Project Management It is important for businesses to understand the concept of project management so that they can successfully complete their projects on time. According to Mitchell and Nault (2007), projects need to be properly planned out so that every aspect is comprehensively covered, and hence it is crucial that project management tools and techniques are appropriately implemented so that the project’s time duration, cost and quality are controlled (Filippov and Mooi, 2008; Williams, 2003). The project management has been defined by many researchers such as Crawford, Pollack and England (2006), Georgieva and Allan (2008), Kwak and Anbari (2008) and Pfeffer (2010), but still there is no single concrete definition for it. However, Dr. Denis Petersen (2009) described project management as the way by which an organisation accomplishes the goal of completing its projects on time. The project is defined as a venture in which financial, human and material sources are combined together in an organised way to perform work that has a unique scope along with a particular set of specifications that have some time and cost constraints (Smyth and Morris, 2007). Malhotra, Majchrzak and Benson (2007) rightly stated that the main aim of the project is to acquire a change that is beneficial for the organisation and that it is defined and measured by setting both qualitative and quantitative objectives. According to Pinto and Slevin (1998) cited by Georgieva and Allan (2008), project management can be best described as the management of a project which has the following characteristics: a beginning and an end, i.e. specific time for completion; a predetermined goal or set of goals; and a set of interrelated activities and a limited budget. In order to manage the projects well, it is important to have good project managers. The project managers are the leaders who have to ensure that everything regarding the project is properly sequenced and planned out –i.e. the issues of raw materials, human resources and finances need to be addressed beforehand. The primary duties of the project manager are building the best team for the project, co-ordinating with the team members, establishing vision and communicating it to the team members, establishing realistic goals, motivating the team members to perform effectively, and encouraging people to stretch while communicating appropriately with each other (Peterson, 2009). Nine Key Skills and Managerial Elements As regards the duration of A3 HindHead project, it can be said that the project management team has considered all the factors of the project: time, cost and quality. Although the project had been in pipeline since 1970s, the right time to control the traffic on the bridge came in 2011. The most important elements considered in the project management of the aforementioned situation are the project’s scope, time, cost, workforce and the procurement for the project. The foremost aspect that needs to be considered is the scope of the project. The project manager needs to first identify the aims, goals and objectives of the clients. It is important to have clarity about the vision of the project; once the vision is clear, the direction will be well-set and goals will be achieved within the agreed time period. Along with the scope of the project, it is important to identify the cost and time limitations, i.e. when the project should be completed, how the project’s progress will be measured and what will be done to ensure that the obstacles are tackled. Likewise, the budget designing is important so that the project manager has ample ideas about the financial constraints the client faces. Simultaneously, the project manager has to ensure that the workforce is well-motivated and has a clear understanding about the goals and objectives to be attained. For the project manager, it is important to motivate the workforce, especially the workers, so that they perform all the important tasks easily. In addition to motivating the human resources, it is important to give appropriate directions to the human resources, and communication processes with the team members need to be effective. The project team will have to understand that if they do not understand the scope of the project and the direction in which the project should progress, then the project will not be completed on time and its cost will increase because of the delay. The A3 HindHead project’s most important element is the project procurement management as the project is longer in duration and for such projects the contracts are usually signed and agreed upon. When the project commences, the project manager needs to make a plan for acquisition and contracting of raw materials; such projects are of high scale and it is important that raw materials, cost and workforce for them are properly planned out. The next most important step is the selection of the company that will complete this project; while the project is going on, the project manager has to administer the contract so that all the agreed terms and conditions are properly met and, finally, the closure of the contract is done once the project is completed. Hence, the project manager has to manage all the tasks efficiently so that the project is completed on time and has no defects in terms of quality. Conclusion In project management, both project manager and team members have to play their roles and ensure that proper controlling mechanisms are in place so that the progress of the projects can be monitored (Kwak and Anbari, 2009; Smyth and Morris, 2007; Williams, 2003). According to Peterson (2009), the main element in the project management is defining the project’s scope; once the scope is defined, the planning stage will be easy and the project manager will be able to effectively communicate with the team and guide them towards the appropriate path. Therefore, it can be concluded that the best projects are those that have clear vision, goals and objectives along with information about any sort of constraint – in terms of finances, time, procurement, raw materials or any other (Crawford, Pollack and England, 2006); the project manager will have to increase his efforts of motivating other human resources to work towards achieving their goals. The project management is important for every project as it gives complete picture about the project from beginning till the end with all the resources and constraints. Reference list Crawford, L., Pollack, J. and England, D., 2006. Uncovering the trends in project management: journal emphasis over the last 10 years. International Journal of Project Management, 24, pp.175-184. Petersen, Denis, 2009. Redefining project management. [Online] Available at: http://www.asapm.org/asapmag/articles/RedefiningPM.pdf [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Filippov, S. and Mooi, H., 2008. Innovation project management: A research agenda. [Online] Available at: http://www.pucsp.br/icim/ingles/downloads/papers/TL_038.pdf [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Georgieva, S. and Allan, G. 2008. Best practices in project management through a grounded theory lens. [Online] Available at: www.ejbrm.com/issue/download.html?idArticle=182 [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Kwak, Y.H. and Anbari, S.T., 2008. Impact on project management of allied disciplines, trends and future of project management practices and research. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute. Kwak, Y.H. and Anbari, S.T., 2009. Analyzing project management research: Perspectives from top management journals. International Journal of Project Management, 27, pp.435-446. Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A. and Benson, R., 2007. Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), pp.60–70. Mitchell, V.L. and Nault, B.R., 2007. Cooperative planning, uncertainty, and managerial control in concurrent design. Management Science, 53(3), pp.375-389. Pfeffer, J., 2010. Building sustainable organisations: The human factor. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24(1), pp 34-45. Smyth, H.J. and Morris, P.W.G., 2007. An epistemological evaluation of research into projects and their management: Methodological issues, International Journal of Project Management, 25(4), pp.423-436. Williams, T., 2003. The contribution of mathematical modeling to the practice of project management. [Online] Available at: http://cosmic.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/webcat/hwwa/edok03/f10354g/WP0304.pdf [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Read More