Coast Side Golf Group Project Management - Case Study Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: INTRODUCTION Project management is a crucial process that should be undergone to achieve successful projects in the society. Project management can be termed as the process of applying knowledge, skills, techniques and different methodologies in achieving objectives of a given project entity. Projects require team work to achieve its goals. Members should contribute towards the success of the projects. Project management involves analysis, evaluation of various techniques that can be applied in a given project. Projects depend mainly on four major factors; Time, quality, scope and time. However, there are various techniques that are applied to achieve successful projects. Many projects require project management to enhance its success. Other projects are smaller in size hence they require low management skills. However, other projects are complex and they require expertise knowledge to solve. Techniques and methodologies can be applied to solve complex projects such as construction of houses. Many projects are timely. They are based on a fixed period of time. It requires strategic planning that aims at minimizing cost of the projects. Other factors to consider involve how much money (constraint) to be allocated to the project. Quality of the project also counts. High quality project require high techniques and vice versa. STAKEHOLDER’S MANAGEMENT A project is a collection of activities that aim towards achieving set goals. Projects face challenges such as financial constraints, time, resource allocation and proper management of resources. However, adopting management techniques helps to achieve desired objectives. In every project entity there are stakeholders who are initiating the project. It is therefore advisable to come up with appropriate measures of managing stakeholders to ensure effective communication. Coast Side Golf Course Group should the stakeholder’s initiating the project. They should come up with full list of all stakeholders who are initiating the project. They should categorize them effectively according to their senior ranks. Projects management requires that effective communication between stakeholders and project management team is enhanced. Coast Side Golf Group should communicate any information concerning the project to stakeholders. They should provide statements of expenditures and draw their management structure to stakeholders. Stakeholders initiate projects from beginning to the end. It is important for Coast Side Golf Group to design a strategy to manage stakeholders. Stakeholders with positive approach towards the project should be maintained. They should support stakeholders who agree with their proposals of implementing the projects to enhance change. However, those stakeholders who are always negative about the project should be avoided. It is also necessary to come up with communication plan within the organization. Project managers should identify who should receive information, where to receive and the purpose of the information. They should define who to send the information and by which means should they use. This group should determine effective time when they have to update their information. Information changes with time. It is crucial practice to update information so that stakeholders should know about the changes made by management. Organizational process for assets has to be design. These may include policies, rules, and laws that help to regulate stakeholder’s character. It is essential for is group to provide historical information about Coast Side Golf Group. This information should satisfy stakeholders. Distribution list from various previous projects should be clear to stakeholders. These practices aim at managing stakeholders within the organization. SCOPE OF THE PROJECT Every project has its own purpose because it is unique. However, it is essential to clearly define the aim and time allocated for project. Coast Side Golf Group must explain the aim of this project. The aim should be satisfactory to all stakeholders. For instance, the aim of this group is to acquire secure system of management such as online shopping and payments. It is good when the aim of the project is made clear to stakeholders. It is also essential to allocate proper time to each project. More complex projects may require more skills and techniques to complete, this takes more time. On the other hand, less technical projects require less skill hence less time. Time is an important factor. Projects that take longer require strategic planning to achieve its success. PROJECT RISKS Risks are uncertainties that occur in any project. Risks increase expenses if they are not minimized. Risks may be categorized as dynamic, static, business, objective etc. These risks occur within the environment projects are being undertaken. It is important for this group to design proper risk management framework. Risk management helps to reduce amount of risks that occur within the organization. Risk management framework adopted should be cost effective. Risks are measurable. They should be estimated and solved. Coast Side Golf group should identify risks they may face when they adopt onli8ne payment, they should forecast damages that may be caused if they adopt online shopping. They should identify the risks associated with the methodology to be used by their organization. PROJECT QUALITY Projects are unique in nature. They posses’ different characteristics that is different from another. High quality projects require high levels of techniques and skills to implement. It is crucial for Coast Side Golf Group to determine how quality their project is. They should estimate the projects outcomes in terms of cost and results to be achieved. High level of techniques requires experts to implement the projects. This may be expensive in the long run. Low quality projects in the hand require fewer skills to implement hence less expensive. PROJECT MONITORING AND CONTROL Project monitoring is the processes of reviewing, revising and tracking all activities going on within the organization. Managers analyze and report activities assigned to various departments to ensure that resources are allocated appropriately. Successful projects are monitored closely. Resources allocated to each project entity should be analyzed and evaluated to determine if set objectives are met. Projects should be monitored to determine performance and to implement changes. Analysis of projects determines whether projects should be changed or not. Coastal Side Golf Group should ensure that proper monitoring and control of this project is enhanced. Amount of money allocated by this group should be able to complete the project. They should monitor resources used to implement this project. They should conduct regular audits to determine their accountability and transparency. PROJECT PLANNING Many problems arise within many organizations. They wonder whether to purchase new systems to increase their performance or not. For every problem, there is a solution. Project planning involves processes or steps that should be followed to achieve a successful project objective. These steps include the following. Determining the scope of the project or alternatives Every project has its objectives and goals. Aims of the project should be clearly stated. Projects vary in sizes, complexity and structure. These differences may pose different aims of the project. The aim of Coastal Side Golf Group project should be stated clearly. It is also important to determine the exact time the project commences and when it will be competed. Proper time allocation helps in determination of effective management strategies that best suits the project within the specified period of time. Complex structures need enough time to plan for them. On the other hand less complex structures requires less time period. Objectives set by the organization should satisfy stakeholders initiating the project. The project should defined clearly results expected to be obtained from the investment. It should explain how success will be measured accordingly. Division of projects This involves delegation of tasks. Managers divide tasks to various experts to enhance specialization. It may be referred to as work breakdown framework. Work is broken down into various parts and delegated to different experts. Work breakdown should be exercised to enhance work specialization. Gathering resources and formulating resource plan It is essential for any project entity to be monitored closely to ensure proper use of resources. Each project department should be allocated enough resources that complete the project. Coastal Side Golf Group should gather all resources, including liquid assets that should be used in project planning. Resource plan defines clearly how resources are to be allocated. Resources may be allocated based on historical performance of past projects. Projects requiring high techniques need more resources than less skill projects. Resource plan should be developed to provide framework on how to distribute resources. Developing time schedule Projects may occur at different times. It is essential to develop a schedule that guides in managing different projects. Time allocated to each product is estimated and measured. Analysis is used to fix commencing and end dates for various projects. Technical projects require more time than less technical projects hence different schedules of management. Determination of communication plan Communication is essential in any organization. Communication should have chain of command. Communication sequence should be clear. It should define who should deliver information and in what means. Developing standards of the project Every project is guided by policies formulated by management team. Policies should be formulated to ensure smooth running of the project. These standards should be flexible i.e. it can be changed when necessary Knowing possible risks Risks are uncertainties that occur which may damage performance of many projects. Risks such as financial should be control. Proper measures are made to ensure reduction of risks. It is advisable to access risks and analyze them to design possible solution. Developing a budget Coast Side Golf Group should draft preliminary budget to estimate cost that will be incurred. They should estimate amount of money that should be used to implement projects. They should consider the cost of implementing this project. Developing a work scheme It provides easy access to how work is to be done. It estimates expected outcome as a result of implementing this project. It identifies different work sections and provides analysis of each project department. CONCLUSION Project management is a crucial practice that should be adopted by many organizations. Projects depend on time, scope and time. Proper management of projects enhances higher performance. However, projects are initiated by stakeholders. Stakeholders need to be managed through monitoring, formulation of policies, keeping membership names and promoting positive stakeholders. Projects have to be monitored and controlled for effective performance. Project quality also contributes to project management success. Managers should practice project planning before embarking on any project. They should consider the budget constraint to ensure that projects initiated are cost effective. Project management techniques should be employed to achieve higher performance. These techniques includes; determining scope of the project, delegation of project tasks, estimation of all resources to be used in project management, developing time schedule, identifying communication plan, determination of project standards, identification of risks , creating budget constraint and determining statement of work. REFERENCE Paul C. Dinsmore et al (2005) The right projects done right! John Wiley and Sons, 2005. ISBN 0-7879-7113-8. p.35 and further. Read More