Project management refers to the process of planning, organizing, controlling and managing the resources of the organization (including human) in such a way that it contributes in successfully meeting the objectives of the project. The project management plan is expected to effectively and efficiently guide all aspects of a project from start to finish, with the ideal goal of delivering the outcome on time and on budget (Rouse, 2016).
A project goes through five stages, which is needed to manage systematically. They are explained below (Wallace, 2013).
Initiating
This is the first stage where a concept is build and initiation is taken on starting the project. In this, the idea is generated by the collective decision and contribution of the teams of experts; the initiative is taken whether the project will be feasible and if it can be completed within the assumed period. This stage is getting answers on why to commit this project, is the project feasible, who are the potential partners of the project, and what end result members are seeking to achieve.
Planning
As we have always studied, planning is about deciding in advance what to do, how to do, when to do and who is to do it. It works similarly for the project management process i.e. acting as a road-map for executing the project. At this stage, the goals are set in which each member’s job responsibilities are described in detail regarding cost decision, duration of project, communication, risk of the project, making WBS, development of schedule, estimating and reserving resources, etc. As Bisk (2018) points out, “The project plan gives the team direction for producing quality outputs, handling risk, creating acceptance, communicating benefits to stakeholders and managing suppliers.” The project planning prepares team to tackle the obstacles they might encounter during the project.
Execution
After the planning phase, the next step is to execute it according to the mapped out plan. The tasks like meeting on status, current project status updates need of human resources, communicating with stakeholders, doing presentations, negotiating contracts and overall performance reports of the team. However, the execution stage needs team coordination to ensure that the tasks on the WBS are performed appropriately. This stage helps the project team understand whether the project will success or fail in the future.
Monitoring and Control phase
In this phase, the overall performance on the project is monitored and controlled starting from the initiating phase until the project completion period. This stage helps the project manager to identify any deviations occurred in the project while executing the project plan by measuring the project performance and progression. For example, Many managers use KPI technique to evaluate if the project is going on the track or not. If the project is moving according to the plan and desired budget then it gives an indication that the project will meet the expectations and if not then any corrective actions can be taken at that very time.
Closing phase
At the closing phase, the project is closed in an orderly way. It indicates that the project is completed and the strength, weakness, most prominent team member, what went wrong, what could have been done and what are the takeaways of the project are determined. This helps the organization to do better in the future project.
Project management software is one of the tool the managers use to plan, track and manage projects. This software helps in keeping track of the project performance ensuring if they have been paid off on time.
Managing time
It helps the project managers manage the time by automatically setting off the starting and ending time of the project. For example, the Time sheets helps the manager to keep track of benefits of the enterprise and meet deadlines by keeping them updates about the team’s progress. The managers can set a time/date for the task completion and the software will show two bars one showing the percentage of task left to be completed and other showing the percentage of task already completed. Similarly, Gantt chart helps to organize tasks and keep a visual timeline o the task.
Managing People and Resources
Project management software helps the managers to assign the task to the team and analyze their workloads and performance during the project. It gives reports on the level of effort each team member requires and has contributed to complete the project as per the schedule. This helps the managers to know if any employee is overloaded with work and can shift their burden to someone else who is working less. “The reports showing everyone’s schedule are especially useful because many projects include team members who work in other departments or projects, and their skills have to be shared.” For example, Dashboard can be used to record the status of multiple projects at the same time and managers can have a quick look on how things are working out.
Managing costs
Project management is the best tool to keep record of working hours and overtime hours of the employees. According to the recorded time in the software, a manager can provide salaries to the staffs or workers. The software gives an estimated cost that ca be used in the project. Suppose a project is not completed at the estimated time then the cost of the project might increases as the staffs needs to be paid for the extra hour or time they worked for the project. Therefore, when the software already provides the time the managers can estimate the cost of the project and earlier get prepare for such situations.
Therefore, a project is concerned with on-time delivery, within-budget expenditures and appropriate performance standards (A.K. Munns, 1996).
References
A.K. Munns, B. B. (1996). The role of project management in achieving project success. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 14, Issue 2 , 81-87.
Project management refers to the process of planning, organizing, controlling and managing the resources of the organization (including human) in such a way that it contributes in successfully meeting the objectives of the project. The project management plan is expected to effectively and efficiently guide all aspects of a project from start to finish, with the ideal goal of delivering the outcome on time and on budget (Rouse, 2016).
A project goes through five stages, which is needed to manage systematically. They are explained below (Wallace, 2013).
Initiating
This is the first stage where a concept is build and initiation is taken on starting the project. In this, the idea is generated by the collective decision and contribution of the teams of experts; the initiative is taken whether the project will be feasible and if it can be completed within the assumed period. This stage is getting answers on why to commit this project, is the project feasible, who are the potential partners of the project, and what end result members are seeking to achieve.
Planning
As we have always studied, planning is about deciding in advance what to do, how to do, when to do and who is to do it. It works similarly for the project management process i.e. acting as a road-map for executing the project. At this stage, the goals are set in which each member’s job responsibilities are described in detail regarding cost decision, duration of project, communication, risk of the project, making WBS, development of schedule, estimating and reserving resources, etc. As Bisk (2018) points out, “The project plan gives the team direction for producing quality outputs, handling risk, creating acceptance, communicating benefits to stakeholders and managing suppliers.” The project planning prepares team to tackle the obstacles they might encounter during the project.
Execution
After the planning phase, the next step is to execute it according to the mapped out plan. The tasks like meeting on status, current project status updates need of human resources, communicating with stakeholders, doing presentations, negotiating contracts and overall performance reports of the team. However, the execution stage needs team coordination to ensure that the tasks on the WBS are performed appropriately. This stage helps the project team understand whether the project will success or fail in the future.
Monitoring and Control phase
In this phase, the overall performance on the project is monitored and controlled starting from the initiating phase until the project completion period. This stage helps the project manager to identify any deviations occurred in the project while executing the project plan by measuring the project performance and progression. For example, Many managers use KPI technique to evaluate if the project is going on the track or not. If the project is moving according to the plan and desired budget then it gives an indication that the project will meet the expectations and if not then any corrective actions can be taken at that very time.
Closing phase
At the closing phase, the project is closed in an orderly way. It indicates that the project is completed and the strength, weakness, most prominent team member, what went wrong, what could have been done and what are the takeaways of the project are determined. This helps the organization to do better in the future project.
Project management software is one of the tool the managers use to plan, track and manage projects. This software helps in keeping track of the project performance ensuring if they have been paid off on time.
Managing time
It helps the project managers manage the time by automatically setting off the starting and ending time of the project. For example, the Time sheets helps the manager to keep track of benefits of the enterprise and meet deadlines by keeping them updates about the team’s progress. The managers can set a time/date for the task completion and the software will show two bars one showing the percentage of task left to be completed and other showing the percentage of task already completed. Similarly, Gantt chart helps to organize tasks and keep a visual timeline o the task.
Managing People and Resources
Project management software helps the managers to assign the task to the team and analyze their workloads and performance during the project. It gives reports on the level of effort each team member requires and has contributed to complete the project as per the schedule. This helps the managers to know if any employee is overloaded with work and can shift their burden to someone else who is working less. “The reports showing everyone’s schedule are especially useful because many projects include team members who work in other departments or projects, and their skills have to be shared.” For example, Dashboard can be used to record the status of multiple projects at the same time and managers can have a quick look on how things are working out.
Managing costs
Project management is the best tool to keep record of working hours and overtime hours of the employees. According to the recorded time in the software, a manager can provide salaries to the staffs or workers. The software gives an estimated cost that ca be used in the project. Suppose a project is not completed at the estimated time then the cost of the project might increases as the staffs needs to be paid for the extra hour or time they worked for the project. Therefore, when the software already provides the time the managers can estimate the cost of the project and earlier get prepare for such situations.
Therefore, a project is concerned with on-time delivery, within-budget expenditures and appropriate performance standards (A.K. Munns, 1996).
References
A.K. Munns, B. B. (1996). The role of project management in achieving project success. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 14, Issue 2 , 81-87.
Bisk. (2018). Five Phases of the Project Management . Retrieved from Villanova University: villanovau.com/resources/project-m... 1
Rouse, M. (2016, August 30). Project Management . Retrieved from Searchcio. techtarget.com: searchcio.techtarget.com/definitio...
Wallace, P. (2013). Introduction to Information Systems, Second Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.