Effective Project Management - Essay Example

Program management research Program management research Introduction Effective project management is important for organizations determined to enhance their competitive advantage. The project management maturity models provide organizations with a framework for the company to achieve excellence in their project management (Parvin & Ginger, 2006). The project management maturity model provides an organization with incentives about roadmap for the development of a formalized project portfolio management, best practices and a project team of competent and qualified team members. The assessment data from the maturity model provides the organization with an objective and a methodical means by which a contractor is able to claim superiority over another one. The ability of organizations to provide the continuous improvement in many business areas is possible through the use of the maturity models. Project maturity model The project management maturity model is a formal tool used in measuring the maturity of a project management (Svetlana, 2006). Once the initial maturity levels and improvement areas are well identified, then the maturity model is able provide a roadmap outlining the important steps that the organization should take towards the advancement of the project maturity and the improvement of the performance of the organization. This is what happened during the commencement of the Tate modern project. Whereas past view of project management often included only the issues pertaining to an individual project, the current view of the project management entails handling the whole spectrum of issues during the management of the project. Moreover, a methodical approach of selecting he projects for funding and implementation are also included. One of the major issues visible in the selection of projects for implementation and successful execution of projects entails managing the expectations of the stakeholders. It is important to consider that managing does not entail altering these expectations of the stakeholders but rather being aware of these expectations and providing feedback on the same. In definition of maturity, the project managers in organizations are expected to attend to every aspect of the project management in addition to the technical content of the project. The reason is that the organizations that are at their lowest level of maturity only focus on competency in the technical content areas and the fully mature organizations conduct project by incorporating their full range of competencies. These mature organizations are project friendly and they are supportive in proper management of project goals and activities. The maturity of project management also has implications on the profitability and competitiveness of an organization in the industry. This leads to the importance of continually assessing how the organizational project management contributes to the success and the growth of the organization. These assessments enable the organizations to check their competencies. It is important for the assessments to be conducted on a regular basis to allow the organization to determine its position in the market. One of the most famous project management maturity assessment include the Kerzner PM maturity assessment which enables an organization to determine how it is fairing factoring various variables including consistency, visibility and the control. It gives the organization a score and the score of the individual project managers of the organization. It enables an organization to find out its performance level in comparison with other organizations in the industry. By so doing, the organization is able to come up with creative strategies to improve its competitive advantage. Importance of organizational strategy Strategic management is important for the development and in the expansion of all organizations. It is the science of crafting and formulating the organization’s short term goals and its long –term initiatives to ensure that it achieves its organizational objectives. It is linked to an organization’s mission and vision statements which are the core concepts that enable a company to achieve its goals. It is important that a company continuously edit and improve its strategy to be in line with the company’s demands for its external environment. The business strategy is very important to a company thus becoming the highest level of responsibility for the managers. Strategies are often derived by a company’s top executives and presented to the board of directors of the company to determine whether they are in line with the expectations of the stakeholders of a company. This is especially the case in public companies whose main aim is profitability and maximization of the value of its shareholders. The implications of the company’s strategies are important and are achieved through the company achieving a consistency in its external and internal environments. As a result, the company’s strategies enable it to maximize on internal efficiency while at the same time capturing its external environment’s highest potential. Thus, strategic planning of the organization involves consideration of its goals and mission statements, coming up with policies and the necessary plans to achieve these objectives and allocating resources in a bid to implement these objectives. The strategic management focuses on coordinating and integrating the activities of a company to achieve its long term goals and objectives. Project management needs to link to the objectives of the organization to achieve results. The reason is that the objectives of the organization serves as the insight under which the company’s leaders serve as the purpose of being in business (Kerzner, 2009). From these objectives, the organization set the required strategies of achieving them in the long run including the required resources. Thus, project management has to be in line with these objectives to ensure that they come up with the strategic planning that addresses what the organization requires doing and how they want to do it. This then leads to coming up with a plan that would see the successful completion of these objectives of the organization. The strategic management method should be crucial during this planning phase. The reason is that many tools and techniques of project management are geared towards the development of a company’s realistic plan. The main idea is to ensure that the set objectives and goals of the company are SMART enough for the company and the project management to achieve. The project management assists the strategic team to plan and define the tasks supporting the whole operation and identifying the crucial resources that are needed to accomplish the objectives and the strategic plan of the company. The objectives set by an organization provide an overview and serve as a motivation of the direction that the company is taking (Kerzner, 2009). This may require the organization to engage in more than one project to support its objectives. Thus, since project management is continually becoming a standard way of conducting business in organizations, organization accomplishes much of their efforts through conducting projects. These projects are continually becoming important in implementation of the organizational strategies and objectives. Due to this, every project in an organization should be capable of implementing this strategy and objectives of an organization. Thus, organizations should be in a position to integrate their projects with the strategic plans of their organizations. This requires the process of prioritizing the projects by the contribution they make to the strategic plan of the organization. Communication methods in project management The methods that a project manager adopts to ensure that important flow of information flows through the organization depends on the size of the project and its specific scale. In projects that have large project teams and groups of stakeholders, it is unlikely to rely on verbal communication. Such projects require a high level of documentation since written communication is important for a repeated referral during the course of the project. A more distributed stakeholders group could interfere with the clarity of the message flow. The intended message may be distorted and replaced with rumors. Thus, such situations call for cross functional, inter-organisational and departmental channels of communication. Moreover, it is important to influence the stakeholders and other individuals involved in the project. That is why essential and effective methods of communication are important. The following are the various methods of communication in project management. Face to face communication This method is not often used nowadays in this error of emails. However, it is important since it is able to convey the intended message and the listener is able to see the body language of the listener and irrespective of whether they are agreeing with what is being communicated or not. This face to face communication in project management enables the project managers and the stakeholders of the project to understand each other even through the non-verbal cues. Meetings This is another important method of communication. It gathers several individuals together where they are able to share ideas enhancing the creativity of the projects. Moreover, a secretary can take the minutes of the meeting for future reference. Formal briefings It is useful in reaching out to a mass audience. However, the project manager should consider the intended message and avoid controversial or bad news that can create resistance or resentment. The reason is that it is quite difficult for individuals to ask questions due to the high number of people present. Even if questions were to be asked, not all stakeholders present could get that opportunity. Email Emails are also important formal method of communication especially in passing out formal messages about the project. It is important for the emails to be supported by an organization culture. Web pages from the intranet This mode of communication is important for the provision of detailed information. It enables the stakeholders to know where to look for the required detailed information. Newsletters This mode of communication is important for creating general awareness among the stakeholders. As such, it is not recommended to include information that is not relevant to all readers. It is also important for the newsletters to be attractive and catchy for the reader. Notices or posters This method of communication is important for change messages or the promotion of an important issue in project management. Manuals and the formal documents of projects These are important for detailed information. It ensures the success and the continued embedding of the organization’s project. They have a higher impact where they are electronically availed. For this, the organization should dedicate an area of intranet for the project. However, this method of communication cannot be relied on since even the best of the web pages are not often visited by all individuals who could benefit from them. Stakeholders They are individuals who have the power over a project or influence a project in a way. They are actively involved in a project and their interests are often affected by the execution and the completion of a project. They exert a considerable influence over the objectives and the outcomes of the project. It is important for the project managers to identify their stakeholders, determine their expectations and the requirements for the project and manage their influence in a way to ensure the successful completion of a project. They include the customers, line managers, and leaders of the project, the upper management of the organization and any other individual or group that is influenced by the progress of the project. The stakeholders have the following characteristics: they sponsor a given project, they have an interest or gain in the successful completion of the project and they impact the completion of the project either positively or negatively. Thus they are required for the successful completion of a project. Use of project quality Project quality is one that is fit for use and that has adhered to the requirements of the stakeholders. The two conditions are important for the achievement of the required high quality of a project. The sponsor of the project determines what will satisfy the business requirements and coming up with the proper project to create it. However, even if a project is completed on time and within the stipulated budget but the customer fails to perceive the value of the project it is considered a failure. The project manager is responsible for ensuring the adherence to the project requirements. Validation is used to determine whether the requirements of a project are met or not. Thus, it is important for the requirements of a project to be defined in a correct manner. For the project to be of high quality, it requires to have set SMART goals. Thus, the quality of a project management is capable of producing quality and the required results. The reason is that the stakeholders are interested in high quality projects that they have paid for (Hopkinson, 2011). Thus high quality projects ensure customers satisfaction. This is the understanding and the evaluation of the customers’ requirements ensuring that they are met. The main aim of a project is ensuring that the project meets the need for which it was undertaken. As a result, there are processes undertaken to measure the overall performance of the project and compare them to the quality standards set out to ensure that the customer received what they purchased. One example of a failed project was the FBI trying to modernize its outdated computer systems back in 2010 despite the rising case of terrorism in the globe (Crawford, 2006). One successful project is the Tate modern project which converted the Bankside power station in London. It has aided in improving its surroundings (Beccaria, 2013). Earned value analysis is an industrial standard used to measure the progress of a project at a given time. It compares the planned work meant for the project with what has been actually completed to determine whether the cost, the schedule and the accomplished work are moving according to the plan. Thus, the current performance of the project is the best indicator to the future performance (Crawford, 2006). Thus, using the earned value performance, it is easier to forecast the cost or schedule of a project in the initial stages. The project manager is able to measure the performance of the project and predict any future outcomes. This enables him or her to report progress with high confidence and indicate any overrun earlier on during the project. This enables the management of the organization to allocate cost and time earlier. Conclusion Effective project management is important for organizations determined to enhance their competitive advantage. The project management maturity model provides an organization with incentives about roadmap for the development of a formalized project portfolio management, best practices and a project team of competent and qualified team members. Thus the maturity in project management entails the development of a wide approach of project management in line with the requirements of the customers, stipulated budget and within the time set out. The required maturity level of projects differs from one organization to the other based on the goals, needs and resources available. Thus, there is a very high probability of organizational success if their project management maturity is achieved. The reason is that the provision of high quality projects in line with the customers’ requirements and this is likely to enhance customer satisfaction. This ensures that the project manager is able to achieve the set goals and objectives set by their organizations. Thus, it is important for project managers to come up with creative strategies, enhance active participation of stakeholders to improve this success. References Beccaria, M. (2013). The Weather Project. Tate, London: Olaffur Eliasson. Crawford, J. K. (2006). Project Management Maturity Model. New York: CRC Press. Hopkinson, M. (2011). The project risk maturity model. Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT : Gower. Kerzner, H. (2009). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. New York. Parvin, R., & Ginger, L. (2006). Project Management Maturity Assessment. AACE International Transactions , PM61-PM64. Svetlana, S. (2006). Information technology project management: Project management maturity and its effect on project success. New York: ProQuest. Read More