Project Management as a Process - Essay Example

Research on Project Management Project management is a well planned activity to carry out any action in the future. “Project management is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific (and usually) one-time effort, for example, construct a building or implement a new computer system.” (Project Management, 2007, Free Management Library) http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm It is an effort to achieve a specific objective in the future. Before looking into what project management is about it is better to know about what project is all about. A project is a collection of activity to achieve a particular objective. It involves the directing of many activities towards a particular objective. A project is not a whole time activity. It always has a start date and end date. The duration of the project depends on the size of the project. A project is always guided and lead by a set of instructions and plans. A project always has a deadline within which it has to be completed and handed over to the required authority. The project will consume more than the estimated cost if it is not completed within the deadline. A project is a pooling up of men, money, materials and other resources for the achievement of a specific goal. A project is an effort of a group of people. A project is done in different phases. The different phases of a project are initiating stage, planning stage, executing stage and controlling stage. The initiating stage of the project is where the project idea is generated. A structure has to be given to the generated idea before it is being carried foreword. This structure is given in the planning stage. The executing stage of the project is the most crucial stage. It is where all the resources are pooled up properly. This is the stage that requires more cost. In the controlling stage the project is examined and reexamined for any deviations. Corrective measures are taken for controlling the deviations that have occurred. A project is entirely different from business in the sense that the project is for a specified period whereas the business is a continuing process. Therefore, in simple sense project management refers to the managing of all the activities concerned with the successful implementation of the project. Managing a project is a complex task and managing that complex task is the duty of the project management experts. The techniques used for the management of the project differ from the nature of the project. The project management is done by a team of experts comprising the executives at different level of specialized activity and a project manager to look after the overall performance of the project. A project may be of any nature. It may be the construction of a building, a software development etc. The project management team must have better and deep knowledge in the particular project they are to manage. Other wise the project idea will lead to wastage of resources. The person who is in charge of managing all the activities of a project is known as project managers. The primary duty of a project manager is to manage the successful implementation of the project with minimum risk. The role of a person as a project manager is very wide. “A project manager is the person who has the overall responsibility for the successful planning and execution of a project.” (Role of the project manager, Project Smart 2000-2007) http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/role-of-the-project-manager.html He is the person who is responsible for the shortfalls in the project implementation stage. He should be keen on selecting the methods and tools, minimizing risks and settling disputes. The project manager must be aware of the possible risks in the project execution process. The risk must be managed by the project manager formally and informally. The primary focus area of a project manager must be the possible risks associated with it. The project manager must be very much concerned with everyone who is associated with the project. He must value the opinion of others involved in the project execution program. The best quality a project manger can have is the risk minimization ability. While making decisions the project manager must ultimately aim the project objective. He must be very efficient in maintaining good relationship with the customers. He should possess good leadership ability as he is the person to lead the project management activity. The estimated cost of the project must be concerned by the project manager for its effective implementation. Project management is not a simple activity that can be done as a daily routine activity. It should be done with careful planning. A lot of tools and techniques are used in order to make the project management very effective. The effective implementation of the project is possible when the tools are used properly and within the limits. “While running a project you will know which jobs are most important, and which deadlines are most important to meet. You will also be able to decide when to take remedial action to bring a project back on course.” (Introduction to project management skills, Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2007) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_00.htm The tools of the project management start from proper time scheduling. Proper time scheduling is very essential for completing the project within the deadline. Meeting the deadline properly will enhance the reliability of the project and the project management team. An underestimation of the time should be avoided while scheduling the time. All the possible risks likely to occur during the course of the project must be concerned. In order to make better estimation of the time the project manager must first of all list down each and every single activity to be carried on. Then a rough draft should be made of the duration of the project. The possible risks that are to be considered are accidents, emergencies, sickness of the staff, machine breakdown, non delivery of goods by suppliers, etc. Some of the tools used in the project management are Gantt chart, Critical path method (CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Gantt chart and its application in the project management can be seen first. “When a project is under way, Gantt Charts help you to monitor whether the project is on schedule. If it is not, it allows you to pinpoint the remedial action necessary to put it back on schedule.” (Gantt Charts Planning and scheduling complex projects, Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2007) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_03.htm Gantt chart is one of the major tools used for managing complex projects. Gantt chart helps for the proper scheduling of time. It states which activities are to be carried on in a particular stage. It clearly states the resources to be allocated at different stages of the project. Gantt chart is the diagram that represents the activities listed at different stages. This chart represents the start and finish dates of a project. Gantt chart is in the form of a horizontal bar graph. The Horizontal bar in the chart represents the expected time for completing each task. The left end of the bar indicates the start time of the chart and the right end indicates the termination of the task. The dates may be mentioned in terms of day, month or year. Construction of a Gantt chart begins with the listing of the activities or tasks to be done. After that the tasks are to be plotted on a graph paper and a rough Gantt chart must be prepared. All the tasks are to be properly scheduled on a rough Gantt chart. The subtasks can also be scheduled in the chart but must be placed in such a way that the chart is unambiguous. However, if there are more sub tasks a separate Gantt chart must be drafted for that. Resource allocation should also be done in this stage. An analysis of each task should be done and a final draft of the chart should be done based on that. A sample Gantt chart given below will show clearly how the different tasks are expressed. (Project Management Packages, Brief tutorial on Gantt Charts, W. Durfee and T. Chase, 2003) http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me4054/assignments/gantt.html One of the major drawback of Gantt chart is that the when the project involves many tasks it may be difficult to represent all the tasks in a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is also considered to be less expressive about the activities. Another tool that is used in project management is Critical Path Method (CPM). CPM is developed by DuPont in the year 1957. CPM is the graphical representation of the flow of a project. “CPM models the activities and events of a project as a network” (CPM-Critical Path Method, Operations-CPM, Copyright 2007, NetMBA.com) http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/ Different nodes and lines are used in CPM to represent the flow of the activities. The nodes are used to represent the activities and the events (start and end) are represented by the lines or arcs connecting the nodes. CPM is also used as a tool for making a proper plan of complex projects. The different steps involved in the CPM planning are as follows: Identification of the activities Determining the sequence of its occurrence Drawing the network diagram Completion time estimation Identification of the critical or the longest path Rectification of the diagram as per the progress of the project. In the first step all the activities to be carried on is listed as in the first step of Gantt chart preparation. Then the number of times each activity would occur is defined. A network diagram is drawn on the basis of that. Certain activity starts only when any other activity is completed. Listing of all the preceeding and succeeding activities are very essential in drawing a network diagram. After that the estimated time required for the completion of each activity is calculated. Only the time is considered and the variations in the time are not considered in CPM. After that the longest path in the network diagram is identified. The longest path is very critical in CPM. Any possible delay in the critical path will definitely delay the project. If the total time for the activities in the critical path is reduced the project will be completed without any delay. While the project continues the network diagram should be modified according to the actual time. A sample network diagram is illustrated below. (Draw the diagram, Introduction to Network Analysis of Projects and CPM, Critical Path Method, Samuel L. Baker, 2004) http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/COURSES/J716/CPM/CPM.html Program Evaluation and Review Technique or PERT is another method or tool used in project management. PERT is very closely related to the CPM. It is used to minimize the total time required for the completion of the project. This method works by shortening the critical path in as network diagram. Project risk is an indispensable element in any project management process. There are possibilities for one or more risk in the process of project management. A risk is formed by the combination of all possible negative effects. “Risk is a combination of the probability of a negative event and its consequences. If an event is inevitable but inconsequential, it does not represent a risk, because it has no impact.” (Risk concepts, Project risk management, Copyright 1997, James R. Chapman) http://www.hyperthot.com/pm_risk.htm In order to reduce the risk the management must have clear idea about all the possible issues likely to arise in the process. An anticipation of the risk can always reduce the impact of the risk on the project management process. The event that is beyond the control of the project managers are known as the project risks. The problems that the manager had encountered in any previous project must be considered in order to reduce similar risk In the future. The process of risk management begins by identifying the risk events that are likely to occur. After that the project manager must identify the intensity of occurrence of the risk event. The cost that the risk event is likely to cause to the project is to be calculated after that. The management must then draft a risk management solution for all the possible risk. A very critical stage in the project lifecycle is the implementation stage. It is at this stage that the chances of risks are higher. The success of a project greatly depends on how well it is implemented. The success of a project means completing the project in the specified time and within the specified budget. “Simply put, project success means completing all project deliverables on time, within budget, and to a level of quality that is acceptable to sponsors and stakeholders. The project manager must keep the teams attention focused on achieving these broad goals.” (Project managers must focus on three dimensions of project success, 14 key principles for PM’s success, Copyright 2006, Michael Greer) http://www.michaelgreer.com/14key.htm The project plan must be drafted with the participation of all the executives concerned with the project. The success of the project starts from the effectiveness of the project planning. The planning stage must consider all the elements likely to affect the successful implementation of the project. The plan must be drafted only after necessary discussions with all the executives. It should be made sure that not much time is spend on unwanted areas as such kind of events will lead to the wastage of time. The project manager must consider well all the stages of a project lifecycle. The above overview has shown clearly that project management is a very complex process. If any of the elements in the project management is not done in proper way the whole project management process will be badly affected. The time and cost element should be given prior importance while implementing the project. It is seen that the real framework for the project is done in the planning stage. Therefore, all the project management executives must focus properly on creating an effective framework for a better project result. Bibliography (Project Management, 2007, Free Management Library) http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm (Role of the project manager, Project Smart 2000-2007) http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/role-of-the-project-manager.html (Introduction to project management skills, Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2007) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_00.htm (Gantt Charts Planning and scheduling complex projects, Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2007) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_03.htm (Project Management Packages, Brief tutorial on Gantt Charts, W. Durfee and T. Chase, 2003) http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me4054/assignments/gantt.html (CPM-Critical Path Method, Operations-CPM, Copyright 2007, NetMBA.com) http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/ (Draw the diagram, Introduction to Network Analysis of Projects and CPM, Critical Path Method, Samuel L. Baker, 2004) http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/COURSES/J716/CPM/CPM.html (Risk concepts, Project risk management, Copyright 1997, James R. Chapman) http://www.hyperthot.com/pm_risk.htm (Project managers must focus on three dimensions of project success, 14 key principles for PM’s success, Copyright 2006, Michael Greer) http://www.michaelgreer.com/14key.htm Read More