Project Stages, Goals, Objectives, and Strategies - Essay Example

Project Plan [Student’s Name] [Institution Affiliation] Problem Statement There is emerging importance of project management and its application in NHS health projects. Project factors are directly related to the project. Numerous studies have found similarities between the project success factors in health and those of general project management, which suggests that good project management is the key (Meredith & Mantel, 2009: Rondeau, 2009). Project Management considerably increases the likelihood of delivering the objectives that a project sets out to achieve through using key project management principles to orchestrate the life cycle of the project (initiation, planning, execution, controlling, and closure). Project management is extensively employed in delivering projects in time, in the defined quality and budget (Rosacker & Olson, 2008). Nonetheless, there is limited use of project management in health finance in UK. The professional financial voice of NHS is the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA); it represents the healthcare finance staff. It lays down and supports good standards in corporate governance and financial management in healthcare. The health programs are enacted across numerous levels of the health system and engage the statutory, government, non-government, as well as private sector organizations (Langabeer, 2008). Nonetheless, project management is not extensively employed in delivering budgets in time and in the defined quality and laid out budget (Reich, 2007). There is little use of project management in managing medical research and health financial projects (Bailie et al., 2010). Project planners in health organizations clearly define the benefits a project will bring to health organizations. Nevertheless, they may set all the right expectations; however, changes take place and thus processes have to be put in to address and manage change (Soderlund, 2009). This necessitates the need for project management in managing project finances in health care organizations in UK. There is need to adopt a project management approach, as it is a successful way of managing projects. Project management will enable the different components of the improvement process to be effectively managed. This approach will allow the improvement process of project implementation to have a defined start and end with clear timescales and measurable outputs. In delivering a successful project, there is need to address clear project leader, management approval, adequate definition of the required outcomes (vision), engagement, and communication between the pertinent stakeholders at the beginning of the project (Carden & Egan, 2008). All stakeholders have to be clear on reasons why project is required, their objective or purpose, the outcomes to be achieved as well as the responsibilities of the parties in achievement (Kaissi & Begun, 2008). Project management also ensures that improvement can be measured using the right appropriate indicators (Tucker et al., 2007). Most NHS projects are not accomplished in time, in the set budget, and to the projected quality. This can be avoided through using project management as well as an efficient project manager who can integrate every phase of the project to make sure it is successful. NHS should apply project management in its health care projects Project Mission Statement The overall project will demonstrate that project management changes delivery of health care projects by using it to ensure project outcomes, outputs are attained, and every phase of the project are designed, put into practice, supervised, and controlled. To make sure that project management deliver projects in accordance to the project protocol in the allocated period and budget (PMBOK Guide, 2008). The post project review will expansively endorse project management in all future projects in the health sector. The project outcomes will also be utilized to promote constant learning and upgrading of project management and offer superior accountability and transparency of projects. Project management is illustrated as a structured and formalized way of bringing about amends in an accurate way. It is employed in generating various set objectives, using a predetermined duration to a set quality, and using specified resources amount so that the projected objectives can be achieved (Schmid & Adams, 2008). Project management takes place in five processes (initiation, planning, execution, controlling, monitoring, and closure). There nine knowledge sectors regarding management used across the project life cycle; integration, cost, time, scope, resources, quality, integration, procurement, communication and risk (Rego & e Cunha, 2008). These process groups as well as the knowledge areas need to be used across the NHS Diabetes Project to manage the project on set period, budget, and to the best superiority. Project Stages Initiation This stage will entail communicating with community and consumer representatives. The project will be submitted to the funding organization Appointment of project manager Establishing governance Forming Steering Committee Plan A project management plan will be developed and will include Purpose of the plan, its initiation, overview and background of the project. Execution Collaborating with community representatives and engaging the stakeholders Controlling and Monitoring The project manager will control and monitor all the aspects of the project management plan Closure This step will entail finalizing processes such as asset and record management and post project review Project goals, Objectives and Strategies The aim of this project is to show that project management can be used in the health sector to finish projects in set duration, within the defined quality and budget and to show that it can benefit the financial outcomes of the projects. It also seeks to show that project management increases the efficacy of project teamwork, communication, and outcomes. Work Breakdown Project management will be used in the NHS Diabetes Project Management and show the ways NHS can use a project management approach to the case. The project manager will initially construct a project management plan with nine segments, with information, such as the objective of the plan, information on project commencement, the overview, as well as the project background. The plan will also stipulate the goals, outcomes, outputs of the project and define the project scope. It will also list the coverage necessities to the Steering Committee and NHS as well as describe its governance as well as the specified names and roles of the stakeholders. The project champion (the person in charge of supporting the project advantages to the larger society Project Leader who assists with project management issues that arise during the course of the project Project team, which is, concerned with the project realistic features for successful delivery of the project outcomes and outputs. The team will have important affiliates who are joined by the other Steering Committee members according to the project phase and the proficiency needed. Chairperson who oversees every month steering committee meeting Community reference groups with 15 representatives. This will offer a debate for involvement, consulting, and conveyance of community point of views as well as guidance to improve the project success. Project manager whose responsibility is to manage everyday features of the project plans, scrutinizing budgets and progress via comprehensive schedules and plans The media communication plays the role of promotion of the project and enlightening the community about the effects of consuming an unhealthy diet and advocating issues related to prevention of diabetes such as exercising and eating health foods. The authorship and publication procedure for the plan The risk management arrangement where nearly all pertinent risks that the project can encounter are recognized, assessed as well as prioritized so that they can be expected, counteracted, and cautiously handled to ensure that the effects of the project results are not reduced or delayed. The plan also ensures that costs are not increased, time is not extended, and the quality of the project does not diminish. Some of the issues identified with most projects are failure to achieve the set outcomes, time extension and budget overruns. The issues management plan will also be part of the management plan. It will be devoted to monitoring, assessing, as well as dealing with concerns or issues at they come up during the project and report them to the committee. The project scheduling plan consisting of a work breakdown arrangement with in depth tasks, the persons to undertake the tasks, the start and completion times, a flow chart of the project as well as a Gantt chart which details major tasks against time. All stakeholders of the Steering Committee will have to agree with this project management plan at the beginning of the project and will be used all the way through. After implementation, the project manager will be responsible for making sure that all aspects of project management plan are well managed. This will involve implementing, monitoring as well as controlling the scope creep: working together with the program community representatives: management and communication between the stakeholders: issues and risks: media and publication as well as project scheduling. When closing the project, activities will include asset and record management, publication plan and a good strategy for the health professionals’ instructive assets. A post project assessment should be undertaken, as it is a critical part of the project management and should include the learnt lessons from project management (Sa Couto, 2008). The project manager will design a self-administered questionnaire containing 15 queries with both open and close-ended choices (agree, strongly agree, not sure, not applicable, strongly disagree). The manager will seek research views about project management by means of including five statements straight from the set objective of the project management and 10 additional ones adapted from lessons learnt. In the open-ended questions, the project manager will enquire about the difference the application of project management has brought to the project; the issues that functioned appropriately, the issues that failed to work appropriately well and whether they would advocate same future research projects Risk Analysis and Contingency Plans The risk of failure for the NHS Diabetes project are very small as the project heavily depends on pre-existing knowledge, models, and data, which will be gathered into an operational structure. There project management team and the steering committee built will have strong expertise in all areas of the projects. Contingency Planning There are various risks identifies for which various responses can be prepared to avert a negative impact on the project outcome In case a project team member leaves the project, he or she will be replaced by an experienced person with similar qualifications In case an important deliverable is delayed, the project will settle on strict monitoring and reporting of progress made in various tasks and sub projects so that any possible delay can be identified as early as possible. In case the project management cannot then act immediately to diagnose the possible implications of the delayed deliverable, it will redeploy some of the resources to address the risk (Ratcheva, 2009). In case the project important deliverables are of bad quality, the issue will be dealt with at the management level early and an alternative implementation plan designed. This risk is very small because the project relies on pre-existing models and knowledge which will be brought together and mad operational Generally, the project leader and management partied will make sure that risks are identified at the earliest possible stage, so that effective countermeasures will be taken well in time. Project Resources Required Funds Staff Office Space Equipment Project Management Structure It will be comprised of community reference, project manager, project team, project champion, and Chairperson; will be supervised by project leader. Budget The projected will be completed within the set budget Communication and Reporting The project manager will hold frequent meetings with the project officers and project team members. Meetings will be held every month, notes, and agenda from the previous meetings distributed together with a project status account created by the project manager. The account will be to the point and it will convey important information regarding the status of the project (Seung-Hee & Osifo-Dawodu, 2007). It will have a general summing up of the project advancement: the objectives set for achievement from the previous meeting; objectives planned to be attained over the following reporting time: wide-ranging information; a budget report as well as risk management account. The statement will detail any amends to main risks, their possibility and gravity and plans for mitigating the risks: the issue report will include specific concerns, problems, and recommendation to the project steering committee. References A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide, 2008). 4th ed. Newton Square, PA: PMI Publications Bailie et al. (2010). Study protocol: national research partnership to improve primary health care performance and outcomes for Indigenous peoples. BMC Health Services Research 10:129 Carden, L., & Egan,T. (2008). Does our literature support sectors newer to project management? The search for quality publications relevant to nontraditional industries. Project Management Journal, 39(3), 6-27. Kaissi, A., & Begun, J. (2008). Strategic planning processes and hospital financial performance. Journal of Healthcare Management, 53(3), 197-209. Langabeer, J. (2008). Hospital turnaround strategies. Hospital Topics, 86(2), 3-10. Meredith, J., & Mantel, S. (2009). Project management: a managerial approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc Project Cuts Costs, Admissions and More. (2011). Case management advisor, 22(7), 77-79 Ratcheva, V. (2009) Integrating diverse knowledge through boundary spanning process – The case of multidisciplinary project teams. International Journal of Project Management, 27, 206–215. Rego, A., & Cunha, M. (2008). Workplace spirituality and organizational commitment: en empirical study. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 21 (1), 53–75. Reich, B. (2007). Managing knowledge and learning in IT projects: a conceptual framework and guidelines for practice. Project Management Journal, 38 (2), 5–17. Rondeau, K., Williams, E., & Wagar, T. (2009) Developing human capital: what is the impact on nurse turnover? Journal of Nursing Management, 17 (6), 739–748. Rosacker, K., & Olson, D. (2008). Public sector information system critical success factors. Transforming Government People and Process, 2(1), 60-70. Sa Couto, J. (2008). Project management can help to reduce costs and improve quality in health care services. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 14(1), 48-52. Schmid, B., & Adams, J. (2008). Motivation in project management: the project managers’ perspective. Project Management Journal, 39 (2), 60–71. Seung-Hee, N., & Osifo-Dawodu, E. (2007). Establishing private health care facilities in developing countries: a guide for medical entrepreneurs (WBI Development Studies). World Bank Publications. Soderlund, K. (2009). Information Technology Project Management. Canada: Course Technology. Tucker, A. L., Nembhard, I., & Edmondson, A. (2007). Implementing new practices: An empirical study of organizational learning in hospital intensive care units. Management Science, 53(6), 894-907. Read More