Project Organization Process - Essay Example

Project Management Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Perspectives of Project Management 3 Project undertaken by public sector organization UWV 5 Project Formulation 6 Project Management Methods 8 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction Project management can be defined as an effective management of some of the interrelated tasks that do possess a predefined end as well as start dates that is being designed so as to achieve a common goal. Managing project do encompass a series of steps and required a framework of discipline. The major steps in the project management process involves planning, monitoring, controlling as well as organizing different elements that are involved in the project. The project management technique apart from the well defined processes also comprises of application of techniques, skills and tools and even balance between three factors that is demand, cost and time. The management and implementation of projects in the public sector is a very big challenge simply because there is large number of constraints that restricts the operations. The major issue of projects in public sector is that it is under the control of government and it is their task to deliver quality project at the specified time. The government policies as well as projects needs to be delivered within the time, should meet the expectations as well as should be within the budget. To accomplish such a task is not easy because the environment in which public sector organizations operate is very competitive. The project taken into consideration is related to the work area or more specifically taking the support of external suppliers to deliver services that would be beneficial for the workers who are disabled to reintegrate in terms of workplace and provide services to all other employers and workers who might require such services. Discussion Perspectives of Project Management The design phase of a project requires availability of essential resources in right proportion. The designing phase of any project is very crucial simply because it lays the foundation of development of the project. The design needs to contribution from all the key personnel in the organization. The management of the organization as well as other executives needs to have well defined tasks so that none of the responsibilities overlap each other. For smooth running of a project it is very essential that the user’s expectations are kept in mind. The first factor that plays a critical role in project management is to have an appropriate team for project design, development and implementation. The leadership skills are very essential for effective management of project because it enhances the motivation level of the project team members. The members involved in the project needs to be highly motivated and should be enthusiastic towards the project so that they able to contribute their innovative ideas in the project (McManus, 2006).The communication level should be very strong in project management. The top management should be able to communicate easily with all the other team mates in terms of scope, further modifications and probable risks that may hinder the operation of project development. The problems that team members are facing during the project development phase should be discussed as fast as possible because the project if implemented would have less flexibility in terms of incorporating changes in later stage (Meredith and Mantel, 2011).The problems if discussed properly would increase the level of efficiency of the team as well as it would help to make proper changes that would enable the project to sustain for a longer period of time. The technology and tools that are used for project management should always be properly chosen by an organization so that it is well aligned with the goals and objectives of the project. In case of large complex projects that are undertaken by public sector organizations it is essential that highly disciplined techniques of project management is incorporated into the system. Finally the most important perspective of project management is that quality assurance tools should be present in the entire process so as to ensure that the project which is being delivered by an organization has passed efficiently through the various quality gateways. Project undertaken by public sector organization UWV The UWV organization located in Netherlands is a public sector organization that performs various operations that are related to employee benefits. The organization is responsible for regulating various functions that aims at providing major benefits to the workforce. There organization was invented in the year 2002 and was formed on collaboration of seven organization in the public sector of this region. The project that is been undertaken by the organization is ViZieR project which stands for provisions purchasing reintegration. The major focus of the project was to enhance the capabilities of the employees in terms of incorporating a separate organizational unit into the system that would be able to handle a total of 60 applications within a specified time. The project was based on the factor of reintegration it encompassed providing the disabled and ill employees same benefits as that received by other employees (Heldman, 2011).The management of the organization was inclined towards top down approach but at the later stage it wanted to involve all possible OD practices into the system so that all the employees can be given equal opportunities in terms of contributing their valuable ideas. This project was associated not only with changes in the structure and strategy of the organization but also encompassed development of new cooperation patterns and work practices so as to make employees work in collaboration with each other majorly key personnel who were a part of the former seven organization before the UWV organization was formed and employees from other two departments of the UWV organization (Schwalbe, 2009). In order to facilitate regulations for employee benefit as a collective approach the project was focused towards redesigning the entire work process through a new department. The IR department of the organization had the major function of reintegration and purchasing. This department needed to develop a healthy relationship with the work ability department of the organization so that it is able to assess the level of disability of people who possessed benefits. Project Formulation The project formulation has several stages that denote effective project planning but the major step before any plan is designed is formulation of project idea. The project idea lays the foundation for the project which is generated through discussions on various areas and innovative ideas are taken into consideration by the management or the project head. The idea should be able to address the resources that need to be invested for the development of the project. An organization that undertakes any project needs to carry on extensive research in a particular field so as to derive the most suitable idea which can be implemented in real time. The project idea for this particular project was generated from the management of UWV organization. The main base of this project idea is to increase the efficiency of the work practices in the system and enhance more of collaboration between all the departments and former administrations. There are six different stages that are focused on during project planning. The first phase is of project formulation preparation. In the initial phase all the major requirements of the project are highlighted like in case of UWV organization of Netherlands the major requirements would be human capital, funds for changed work process and proper framework based on advanced technology. The next stage deals with preliminary project design in which the objectives of the project that is undertaken by UWV organization is formulated and even taking into account all the possible options so as to achieve the objectives of the project. The design phase of the project encompasses all the possible risks that the project would cause after being implemented. The next stage of the project would comprise of final project design which would encompass all the revenue estimations that would be associated with the project. The UWV organization in this phase particularly would set up structures, responsibilities, technological requirements and funds that it would incorporate in its new project (Kloppenborg, 2011).The fourth phase of the project planning is analysis conducted by the organization on the outcome in terms of financial analysis, environmental analysis and socio-economic analysis. In the fifth phase the project is documented well with all the methods that would be required during development of the project and is submitted to the higher authority for financing aspect. The last phase deals with project negotiating in which all the funds are generated and the quality control tools are set for project appraisal. All these stages would result into implementation of the project undertaken by UWV organization. The major plan would be structured in a way such as idea generation, risk analysis, financial estimates, final designing of the project, pilot testing and then the implementation of the project. The phases of the project formulation is illustrated below in the diagram- (Nicholas and Steyn, 2008) Project Management Methods The project management methods differ from one organization to another and the best tool that can be implemented by an organization depends on the capability of the project head. The project that was to be developed by the UWV organization is divided into major strands one is known as the change strand and the other is known as project strand. The main focus of project strand would be to work on the standards, design and procedures of the work process along with the support of ICT framework. The change strand of the project development needs to work in coordination with the project strand in terms of providing the right information so as to create effective administrative systems (Kemp, 2004).The steps incorporated in project design is stated below- (Source: Hobbs, 2009) The project management method that has been incorporated in this project is M&E system that deals with monitoring and evaluating the various events that takes place in the system. The project that has been undertaken has to pass through proper monitoring tools so that the outcomes of the project can be analyzed before hand and appropriate changes can be incorporated. This method is useful for a system simply because it tracks each and every stage of project development. The method also encompasses quality control measures so as to examine whether the new work processes that are being designed is effective for the employees or not. The project also encompasses specific groups so as to handle different activities related to the project such as group of initiating process which deals with extension of an old project or invention of a new project idea, group of planning process who sets the action plan for project development, group of executing process which basically relates to completing the work process of the project so as to meet the specifications that has been previously stated in the plan, group of control and monitoring processes so as to regulate the performance and process of the project and incorporate the necessary changes to the project, and finally is the group of close process so that all the activities can be finalized and final implementation of the project takes place in real time (Kemp,2008). The project design framework is based on four major sections which can be stated as the foundation of any project that is undertaken by any organization. The framework for the project undertaken by UWV organization is given below- (Source: Charvat, 2003) The four sections comprise of identification or the situational analysis which indicates selection of the target group in this case it would be the employees or human resource of the public sector organization UWV. The other part of situational analysis is problem analysis for instance in this particular section it is the administrative problem which is noticed and the project is focused on improving the entire work process. The other part of situational analysis is objective analysis which sets the objectives of the project. On basis of these objectives the entire plan would be formulated so that it could address the problem that has been identified. The major objective of this plan is to bring in collaboration to the workplace where there is reintegration of work and major benefits are also provided to the workers having disabilities so that they are able to work at convenience in the organization. The last sub part of situational analysis is to create alternatives that would be beneficial if there is any such failure noticed during the stage of project development. The second section of the framework for the project comprises of logical framework. During this process the organization needs to allocate resources for the project, perform proper risk analysis, develop strategies to avoid such risks, set performance indicators so as to monitor progress of the project, create assumptions and adopt control techniques so that proper implementation of the project can be conducted. The major elements for this section would be project structure, indicators, verification means and various assumptions. The major activities of the project that is setting up of ICT framework, designing new work processes, forming new departments, and reintegrating all the departments would be conducted and monitored in this section. The activities would be further carried over to the next section of the framework that is of implementation planning. The total work for the project management would be broken down into small parts so that none of the team members are overloaded with work and their clarity in individual responsibilities (Kemp, 2005). Apart from the responsibility matrix and work breakdown matrix the other elements in this section would be project schedule as to which part of the project would be conducted at what time and it also indicates the time frame for particular tasks of the project. The other part of this section would be budgeting and a well structured resource plan so that the major objectives of the project can be accomplished with minimum possible errors. The objectives and outcomes of the second section of project management would contribute towards the last section of the framework that is proper planning of monitoring and evaluation system of the project. This section would encompass operational impact of the project or rather the final outcome that is achieved through development of the project. Conclusion The project management is a very important concept in business management. There are various types of projects that are undertaken by organizations across the globe. The success of these projects depends on how effectively the project is being managed, developed and implemented. There are well defined steps for the management of project and every organization adjusts these steps as per the requirements of the project. The UWV organization which is a public sector organization that focuses on creating employee benefits regulations in Netherlands. The project that is been undertaken by the organization is to facilitate reintegration in the system. The organization originally operated in terms of top down approach which it feels needs to be changed so that more number of employees can engage into the system. The major focus of the project would be to give the same benefits to those employees who are ill or possess some form of disabilities. The project to be designed comprises of various requirements in terms of resources as well as information that would be essential for redesigning the entire work process. The basic phases for the project plan would be the invention of the project idea based on the priorities, then is the design phase of the project, followed by setting quality control measures or the project appraisal phase, then the next step is project documentation which is submitted to the higher authority for approval, the next phase is of project implementation involving monitoring and evaluation systems so as to check the performance and progress of the project and the last phase is of final implementation of the project. References Charvat, J. 2003. Project Management Methodologies: Selecting, Implementing, and Supporting Methodologies and Processes for Projects. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Heldman, K. 2011. Project Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Hobbs, P. 2009. Project Management. UK: Dorling Kindersley Limited. Kemp, S. 2004. Project Management Demystified. USA : McGraw Hill Professional. Kemp, S. 2005. Ultimate Guide to Project Management. Canada : Entrepreneur Press. Kemp, S. 2008. Development: Keeping on Track and Managing Change. USA : McGraw Hill Professional. Kloppenborg, T. 2011. Contemporary Project Management. USA: Cengage Learning. McManus, J. 2006. Leadership: Project and Human Capital Management. UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Meredith, J. R., and Mantel, S. J. 2011. Project Management: A Managerial Approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Nicholas, J. M., and Steyn, H. 2008. Project Management for Business, Engineering, and Technology: Principles and Practice. Canada: Elsevier. Schwalbe, K. 2009. Information Technology Project Management. USA: Cengage Learning. Read More