Planning for Project Implementation - Term Paper Example

Implementation Introduction Project implementation involves the actualization of plans made regarding an intended project. This stage involves performance of the activities outlined in the earlier project stages. The ideas presented in project planning stages become executed during project implementation stage. The implementation stage might be faced with significant barriers and challenges that could hinder actualization of the project. Planning for project implementation should therefore, consider potential barriers, which could be encountered during this project stage (PMI, 2003). Understanding of these challenges remains fundamental in establishing methods of countering their effects and ensuring project success. During this stage, mistakes could become costly as the project could easily fail. While providing analysis of potential barriers project implementation planning also provides the execution methods to be utilized in actualizing the project. Potential barriers The upgrading project of Bayshore community hospital could be faced by numerous challenges which could hinder the success of the project. These barriers could be identified as discussed below. Financing – the project shall be fully financed by the hospital. Though a provisional budget with estimations has been drawn, the years following the beginning of the project shall be financed from cash generated from the project. The projected cash inflow might fail to reach the projected levels; hence financial constrains. The hospital shall undertake intensive marketing for the project to ensure generation of enough capital for the project. The hospital shall also consider borrowing from financial institution to avoid project failure. Staffing – the intended project might face staff shortage because of the activities involved. During the early stages the project management team shall undertake training of several hospital staff to ensure conformity with the project. This will ensure that the employees remain informed about the project and its details. During implementation, other staff shall be hired for the project to ensure full staffing requirements for the project. Schedule – another barrier which could present surmountable challenge would be the schedule. The time allocated for numerous activities might become limited if problems occur midway. Though this might become inevitable, the project management team shall utilize the developed time budget for the project. During implementation, continuous monitoring shall occur to ensure conformity with the provided time deadlines and schedules. Evaluation of procedures shall be conducted throughout the project life to establish conformity with schedule. When delays are noted, essential corrective measures shall be undertaken to ensure the project remains within expected timeline and minimize the occurrence of delays. Communication The purpose of communication in projects remains ensuring all involved parties timely information regarding a project. Different communication channels remain essential during implementation in ensuring successful implementation process. The main parties concerned within this project are the hospital employees. During the onset of the project, project charter and project plans shall be published within the hospital environment. The charter shall provide the employees with information regarding the vision and missions of the intended project, while creating awareness of the project. Employee feedback shall be sought through suggestions, once this communication is released by the project management team. This shall be aimed at establishing the thoughts of employees pertaining to the project. During the project implementation process, status reports shall be released continuously to the employees to keep them updated with current affairs of the project (Becker, Kugeler, & Rosemann, 2003). These shall continue until project completion. Strategic plan implementation The implementation of this strategic plan shall follow a comprehensive analysis of potential barriers. This process is aimed at eliminating common implementation mistakes and ensuring efficient implementation process. The project shall be completely separated from hospital operations to ensure autonomy and minimum interference of hospital operations with the project. Constant and continuous communication with employees shall be maintained throughout the project utilizing the communication channels established. Efficient communication shall limit resistance from employees regarding the project. Continuous evaluation shall be undertaken to ensure the project remains on course and assist in rectifying mistakes that might be observed. Measuring methods shall be utilized in measuring the success and project progress. Conclusion Project implementation remains a fundamental stage in a project’s life. The stage could be identified as important and delicate process of an entire project. Mistakes during implementation could mean complete project failure. Immense care should be observed when entering into this stage to minimize the probability of project failure. Comprehensive analysis of the various barriers, which could result in failure, remains fundamental in ensuring the successful completion. Serious considerations should be made in relation to identified challenges and barriers, with hope to minimize their adverse effects. Communication during the implementation process remains fundamental to the project success. Poor communication with stakeholders could lead into projects receiving negative reception from numerous stakeholders (Kerzner, 2003). Proper communication channels, therefore, should be established to ensure accurate information reaches stakeholders, in time. Evaluation and control Introduction Project evaluation and control are two elements that aim at ensuring projects remain within forecasted budgets and time plans. These processes remain continuous throughout project life and occur at various stages. All stages require evaluation before, during and after completion (Lewis, 2000). Evaluation conducted before project beginning aims at establishing project feasibility, while during the project aims at ensuring the project continues as planned. The post-project evaluation seeks to analyze the effectiveness of the entire project and conformity to the established measurements. Control during projects follows evaluations throughout project life. Thos aims at ensuring project resources remains utilized in the expected manners and avoid wastage of resources. These processes go hand-in-hand and ensure projects operate within the specified limits, form projected project costs. Measurement Program evaluation shall include different measurement techniques for measuring the parameters that establish efficiency and success of the program. This shall occur throughout the project lifetime to help the project management team identify the project progress within the specified timeline. Having a work schedule shall enable the evaluation to occur based on the schedule of the different activities involved in the project (TBCS, 2010). The measurement of these parameters shall follow a goal based approach in evaluating the project. The progress shall be measured in relation to the hospital goals, which the project targets to deliver to clients. The performance data received from the project evaluation process shall be utilized in analyzing the effectiveness of the project compared to the hospital goals. Information shall be gathered to consistently monitor resource utilization throughout the project. The utilization remains essential in establishing control methods and regulation should resources be observed to deteriorate. The project team shall include heads of evaluation, who shall be undertaking different evaluation of the project and reporting the effectiveness based on the goals of the project. These individuals should provide evaluation reports within every quarter of the year. These reports shall be utilized in making necessary amendments to the project during implementation, when deemed necessary. These evaluation reports shall also be utilized when producing communication to the stakeholders at different stages. Through continuous evaluation, the project progress report shall remain accurate and employees shall have accurate information regarding progress of the project. Changes Following the evaluation process, necessary changes could be included into the program. Where discrepancies exist between the plan and actualization changes might become inevitable. The management team shall however consider making small amendments to the project program to accommodate he changes. An evaluation of the impact of the delay remains essential in deciding on necessity for change. Changes constituting small elements shall result from the evaluation of the project. Changing the strategic plan can also be undertaken during implementation. The management team shall, however, remain focused towards successful completion of the project utilizing the developed strategic plan. Adopting a different strategic plan for the project shall occur at the point where resources available for the project have a difference of -15% of the estimated project requirement. Corrective measure This project remains based on a tolerance range of +-10% of the estimated resources available for project implementation. Exceeding this range shall require minimal changes into the project to ensure overall success. Following operations exceeding the estimated resources an analysis of the impacts shall be conducted to establish the best remedial measure for correcting the shortage (Kerzner, 2003). Based on the analysis, the measure undertaken shall be aimed at correcting the error and moving the project towards successful completion. The measures taken shall be determined by the element requiring correction. Shortage of financial resources, resulting from inflation, for example could force the hospital to seek external funding for the project. This would ensure the project continues, though a strategic change shall become inevitable. In such eventuality, a repayment plan can be included within the plan budget, if the financial assistance comes from loan. Conclusion Project evaluation remains a continuous process during implementation and at different project stages. Evaluation remains essential in monitoring and providing project progress reports to different stakeholders. The development of proper evaluation measurement techniques remains fundamental in ensuring project success. These parameters are utilized in establishing the success achieved and efficiency of adopted project strategies. Evaluation remains an essential element for making decisions regarding necessary changes into the project plan, during implementation. While minimal alterations can be implemented to ensure project continuity, changing strategies within a project remains something requiring immense analysis of events (Lewis, 2000). The conditions leading towards the implementation of strategy change should be laid down before adopting the strategy with essential changes being determined. References Becker, J., Kugeler, M., & Rosemann, M. (2003). Process management: a guide for the design of business processes. Berlin: Springer. Kerzner, H. (2003). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (8th Ed.). New York: Wiley. Lewis, J. P. (2000). The project manager's desk reference: : A comprehensive guide to project planning, scheduling, evaluation, and systems. Plymoth: Probus Publishing Company. PMI. (2003). Organizational Project Management Maturity Model: Knowledge Foundation. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute. TBCS. (2010, 9 29). Supporting Effective Evaluations: A Guide to Developing Performance Measurement Strategies. Retrieved from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/cee/dpms-esmr/dpms-esmr02-eng.asp Read More