Project management according to (1995) involves avoiding problems. It is about tackling new ground, taking a new group of people and trying to achieve some very clear objective quickly and efficiently . Any process capable of being managed with a start and end point is a project. A project involves people and often it is the people who are the key to a successful project. If not enough care is taken over the people who have a stake in the project, it is more than likely to be perceived as having failed. The person who manages this process is the project manager. The task of managing a project is complex (2002,). It involves a large number of interrelated activities, such as:
- Planning and control
- Communicating with stakeholders
- Managing risk and quality
- Managing people
Project management is a collection of loosely connected techniques, some of which are useful in bringing projects to a successful conclusion (1995). Project management is viewed as an effective approach that addresses a wide variety of organizational opportunities and challenges. Project management focuses on reducing costs and product cycle times and provides an important link between an organization’s strategy and deployment of that strategy (2006).
Project management’s primary focus prior to 1980s was in providing schedule and resource data to senior management. In the 1990s, with new technologies, changes have fueled for more sophisticated projects. These developments in technology gave way to better project management. Organizations claim that project management increases their advantages, such as
- Better control of financial, physical and human resources
- Improved customer relations
- Shorter development times
- Lower costs
- Higher quality and increased reliability
- Higher profit margins
- Improved productivity
- Better internal coordination
- Higher worker morale
According to (2001), a good project manager is the key to a project’s success. Project managers work with the project sponsors, project team, and other people involved in delivering the project scope and goals. Each project is constrained by its scope, time goals, and costs goals. Scope deals with the question ‘what is the objective of the project?’ Time deals with the question ‘how long it takes the project to be completed?’ Cost deals with the question ‘what should it cost to complete the project?’ .
Process Groups/Stages
1. Initiating – The initiation stage can be considered as the most crucial stage of the project. The key to success is to identify clear and definite project objectives, a vision and a strategy. The emphasis must be in the start-up process. The best way to start a project is to hold a launch workshop or something similar. The launch workshop will enable a project manager to set the project off by building commitment and team spirit between all people who have an interest in the outcome of the project ( 2003).
2. Planning – The planning stage deals with defining and refining of objectives and selecting the best alternative courses of action to attain the objectives the project was undertaken to address ( 2003). Development of an information system is a complex activity and, with the multitude of elements, it needs to be planned in advance to have any chance of succeeding. In the early stages of the project, the team should concentrate on milestone planning, where the key phases are identified with target dates for completion.
3. Executing – The executing stage deals with coordinating people and other resources to carry out the plan ( 2003).
4. Controlling – The ensuring stage deals with ensuring project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress regularly to identify variances from plan so that corrective can be taken when necessary ( 2003).
5. Closing – The project closure is formally marked by a meeting at the end of the project.
Knowledge Areas
It has been said that project success is simply determined by being on time, on budget and to specification. This report will focus on the importance of being on time and its impact on the success of a project. Now let us analyze the knowledge areas in project management.
1. Project Integration – It includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify and coordinate various processes and project management activities with project management process group. It ensures the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. The goal is to successfully meet customer and stakeholders’ requirements and managing their expectations. It also coordinates changes across the entire project( , 2003).
2. Project Scope Management – Includes processes required to ensure that project includes all the work required to complete the project successfully. Project scope management ensures that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully ( 2003).
3. Project Quality Management – Includes the processes and activities that determine quality policies, objectives and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken ( 2003).
4. Project Human Resources Management – Includes the processes that organize and manages the project team. It includes all the stakeholders, sponsors, customers and project team members’ support staff ( 2003).
5. Project Communication Management – Includes all the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination and storage, retrieval and ultimate disposal of the project information (2003).
6. Project Procurement Management – It includes the processes to purchase or acquire the product, services, or results needed from outside the project team to perform the work ( 2003).
7. Project Time Management – It involves the processes required to accomplish timely completion of the project. It involves definition, sequencing, and duration estimating ( 2003).
8. Project Risk Management – Includes processes concerned with conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, and responses and monitoring and control on the projects. Includes maximizing the probability and consequences of positive events and minimizing the probability and consequences of adverse events to project objectives (2003).
9. Project Cost Management – Includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling cost, so that the project can be completed with the approved budget.
Project Planning
Planning is the most basic function of management, that of determining a course of action. Planning is more than just setting the stage; it is an ongoing process, which involves continuous updating and revision. Planning according to (1981), can be defined as the process of stating project objectives and then determining the most effective activities or accomplishments necessary to reach the objectives. The planning process defines the actions and activities, the time and cost targets, and the performance milestones which will result in the successful achievement of project objectives.
Project Schedule: Being On Time
Project management can reduce risk, capture the total cost of the project, enhance quality and manage the time elements and resource constraints, and increase the likelihood of meeting target dates ( 2006).
Project plans are devised to lay the project out within a certain timeframe and to coordinate the resources, schedules and budgets that are required for it (2002). Scheduling is recognized as the major function in project management. The main purpose of scheduling is to allocate resources so that the overall project objectives are achieved within a reasonable time span. Scheduling involves the assignment of time periods to specific tasks within the work schedule. Resource availability, time limitations, urgency level, required performance level, precedence requirements, work priorities, technical constraints, and other factors complicate the scheduling process (1993,).
Scheduling and Time Issues in Project Management
Today, organizations consider speed as a competitive advantage. Project management faces time pressures in order to catch up with the fast-paced society. The traditional view of time has become obsolete. Projects are expected to be finished in a quicker timeframe. There are traditional techniques that can be applied in addressing the scheduling and time issues of Project Management.
1. Gantt Charts
Gantt charts are a particularly effective tool for managing the project schedule. Even though they may contain a great deal of information, they are easily understood. While they do require frequent updating, they are easy to maintain as long as task requirements are not changed or major alterations of schedule are not made. Gantt charts provide a clear picture of the current state of a project (1999).
2. Milestone Reporting
Milestones are key events that lead to achieving a project objective and are usually shown in chronological order along with the planned completion date. Assembled properly, they provide a chronological outline of critical events in the life of the project (1999).
3. Time-Boxed Scheduling
Time-boxed scheduling is an approach geared toward producing deliverables with astonishing short lead times. It performs scheduling miracles by forcing customers and developers to recognize that if you want to produce results quickly, you need to reexamine your deliverables and cut out time-consuming features that add little value to the final product (2002).
The Key to time-boxed scheduling is prioritization. There are a range of players that play some role on a typical project: the project sponsor, the project manager, team members, a contracting specialist, subject matter experts, contractors, the purchasing department, sales staff, outsourced workers, and an assortment of players on the client side. Time-boxed scheduling recognizes that it is not easy to get people who hold different points of view to agree on a uniform set of priorities.
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