The Fit between Published Theory on Project Management and Personal Practice - Essay Example

THE FIT BETWEEN PUBLISHED THEORY ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PERSONAL PRACTICE AS A RESULT OF MY PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTIVE BEING PROJECT By Course Instructor Institution Location Date The fit between published theory on project management and personal practice as a result of my participation in the ActiveBeing project Introduction Published academic theories play a very vital role in project management. The project team benefits a lot from published academic materials during the entire project management process whereby, without reference to academic sources, many projects can end up failing. Projects involve numerous activities and without corporation of academic theories, the project management team can encounter challenges while trying to successfully connect all the involved activities. This paper is based on the experience I gained as an active member of a construction project of a two floor building. Throughout the entire project, we highly relied on published academic theories in order to ensure that the entire project was successful. The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of published theories in project management. Throughout our construction project, we relied on available published materials from planning until the project was complete. I came to realize that with everything we need in life, it is very important to have a balance between practice and theory, and project management field is no exception. In areas where people’s interaction and interpretation of large amounts of information and interdependencies are important, practice is the key to proficiency development, and this has definitely resulted in improvements. Of course, in some areas such as constructing a building as it is in this case, relying on published theories and put those into practice gives exceptional outcomes (Koskela& Howell 2002, p. 34). However, the project made me understand that practicing without enough notion about the subject matter is like a driver driving with no idea of the traffic rules. Such a driver can reach where he was going but he will suffer several accidents on his way. Similarly, it could have been difficult for us to work on the whole project without depending on published theories. Theory is very important, although a large group of people does not see as a remedy for project success. The frustration that many project management practitioners face result from their believe that, so long as you have certain framework procedures and processes, applying them guarantees that a project will be successful. There is the point where reality comes in. Although our group had all the procedures and process of constructing the two-floor building, without relying on the appropriate theories would make the entire project unsuccessful. Theory served mostly in guiding us the way we were to look at things. The published academic theories that we used throughout the project gave us a context of thinking about and solving problems. It is therefore good for project managers and team members to acknowledge that project management is merely an art and not science as many people think (Koskela 2010, p. 74). With a variety of relevant information available such as papers and references, our group collected enough necessary information that enabled us to better complete the tasks we had. This is very important since, no matter how experienced you are in a certain field, without enough theory, the project can end up being confronted with many challenges. The aim of relying on published theories on project management process is very important. This is because project management needs further efforts for it to be more successful. Having learned project management really helped us to come up with a realistic plan of the two-floor building (Ernø-Kjølhede 2005, p. 67). We were also able to prepare a cost effective budget that will be used throughout the construction of the building. Unfortunately, failure to rely on published theoretical frameworks means that we would not have a distinct set of theory and knowledge that would legitimize the discipline of the entire project. I came to understand that project management progress needs objective and scientific underpinning of a project’s discipline. The management of the entire construction project required knowledge of modern management and understanding the design of the three floors as well as construction process (Packendorff,Lundin&Packendorff 2007, p. 4). In order to come up with a good plan on how to construct the three floors, we had to go through several published academic sources to gain enough knowledge. The management theory approach contributed to the development of quantitative methods that helped our team to make complex decisions that were related to the operations (Koskela, Ballard & Howell 2003, p. 45). The use of published articles helped us gain relevant information that assisted in solving complex problems. The sub optimization and optimization of the entire project was achieved through the use of techniques such as quadratic programming, queuing theory, Monte Carlo simulation, graph theory, and linear programming. Project planning is always difficult even if you have a full understanding of the project and clear goals. A theory of change should be used throughout the steps of planning a project from situation to goals. This tool makes use of graphical representation to test and articulate the links between project objectives. The tool helps the project team to highlight the threads that are irrelevant to the overall project framework as well as helping to clarify the objectives of the project. Theory of change is among the academic theories that played a vital role in the planning of our construction project. The main responsibility of our project leader was to organize tasks, budget, time, and all required resources. His responsibilities also involved keeping the team members on track as well as delivering the project’s end results. Without a competent project manager, a project lacks good organization and is always vulnerable to failure (Bertelsen & Koskela 2002, p. 78).Therefore, project management requires special skills and knowledge that can only be achieved by reviewing published academic theories. In order to ensure that our project planning was successful, we had to reference both offline and online sources to acquire the needed special skills. Not only the achieved knowledge helped in learning the ins and outs of the projects, but also gave us the confidence of continuing with the project. Published theories provide valuable knowledge and skills (Bertelsen 2003, p. 90). They taught us how organize and plan, communicate with other team colleagues, apply leadership skills, estimate cost of the construction materials, facilitate meetings, and utilize various planning tools. Collaboration of both theoretical and practical knowledge contributed a lot towards the success of the project (Koskela & Howell 2002, p. 36). Even for those who have natural talent in project management, reviewing the available project management, academic theory gives them a broader and deeper understanding of the subject and experience that can be applied in the real world. Such published theories improves project team members’ success in actual projects. Because published project management theory gives project members sufficient skills and knowledge, this gives them a comprehension of what is expected from them before the project’s kick off (Johnston & Brennan 2006, p. 98).Reviewing published theories also gives project team members confidence, understand, and capability of handling their responsibilities and duties. On top of the above discussed issues, project team members also understand other important things such as attention to quality, time management, quality organization, and other essential aspects of the project’s success. In other words, published theories prepares project managers and all team members to pursue tough and complex projects and gives them confidence of taking the project without any surprise. We also relied on published theories to access the risks that are associated with the construction project (Bertelsen 2003, p. 56). This enabled us to come up with sound solutions on how to solve the risks if any occurs. In addition, published theories helps one to break down the entire project into small activities to enable him or her to oversee the entire project and communicate the achieved breakdown to the rest of the team members. Conclusion In summary, this essay has emphasized the significance of establishing academically challenging, firm, professional, and testable project discipline. Project teams should always rely on both practitioners and scholars to come up with a complete and appropriate theory of the project. It is evident that all successful projects relies on published theories. All projects in order to be successful must rely a significant theory of project management. Theory of project management is very important since, no matter how experienced you are in a certain field, without enough theory, the project can end up being confronted with many challenges. Theory is very important, although a large group of people does not see as a remedy for project success. It helps both managers and team members to coordinate events and serve as guidance throughout an entire project. Bibliography Bertelsen, S 2003, Complexity–Construction in a new Perspective,IGLC-11, Blacksburg, Virginia. Bertelsen, S 2003, Construction as a complex system. In proceedings of IGLC (Vol. 11). Bertelsen, S, &Koskela, L 2002,Managing the three aspects of production in construction, IGLC-10, Gramado, Brazil. Ernø-Kjølhede, E 2005, Project management theory and the management of research projects O PEN A RCHIVE. Johnston, RB, & Brennan, M 2006, Planning or organizing: the implications of theories of activity for management of operations,Omega, 24(4), 367-384. Koskela, L 2010,We need a theory of construction, In Berkeley-Stanford Construction Engineering and Management Workshop: Defining a Research Agenda for AEC Process/Product Development in. Koskela, L, &Howell, G 2002, The theory of project management: Explanation to novel methods, In Proceedings 10th Annual Conference on Lean Construction, IGLC-10 (Vol. 6, No. 8). Koskela, L, Ballard, G, & Howell, G 2003, Achieving change in construction, In Proceedings of the International Group of Lean Construction 11th Annual Conference (IGLC-11) (pp. 22-24). Koskela, LJ, & Howell, G 2002,The underlying theory of project management is obsolete, In Proceedings of the PMI Research Conference (pp. 293-302). PMI. Packendorff, J, Lundin, IR, &Packendorff, J 2007,Temporary organizing: integrating organization theory and project management,Project Management, 4-1. Read More