Project risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or a negative effect on at least one project objective, such as time, cost, scope, or quality (i.e., where the project time objective is to deliver in accordance with the agreed-upon schedule; where the project cost objective is to deliver within the agreed-upon cost; etc). A risk may have one or more causes and, if it occurs, one or more impacts. For example, a cause may be requiring an environmental permit to do work, or having limited personnel assigned to design the project. The risk event is that the permitting agency may take longer than planned to issue a permit, or the design personnel available and assigned may not be adequate for the activity. If either of these uncertain events occurs, there may be an impact on the project cost, schedule, or performance. Risk conditions Continue reading
Project Management Concepts
Project Scope Management
Scope is the description of the boundaries of the project. It defines what the project will deliver and what it will not deliver. Scope is the view all stakeholders have from the project; it is a definition of the limits of the project. Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required to complete the project successfully. Project scope management’s primary concern is with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project. One of the leading causes for project failures is poor management of the project scope, either because the project manager did not spend enough time defining the work, there was not an agreement on the scope by stakeholders, or there was a lack of scope management which leads to adding work not authorized or budgeted to the project, this is known Continue reading
Project Planning
Project Planning is foreseeing with blue print towards some predicted goals or ends. Project plan is a skeleton which consists of bundle of activities with its future prospects; it is a guided activity. It is a plan for which resources are allocated and efforts are being made to commence the project with great amount of pre-planning, project is a way of defining what we are hoping to do about certain issue. The project alone is not responsible for what happens during the course of a planning. Project is a final form of written documents that guides us as to what steps need to be taken next. Nature of Project Planning One cannot conceive a project in a linear manner. It involves few activities, resources, constrains and interrelationships which can be visualized easily by the human mind and planned informally. However, when a project crosses a certain threshold level of size Continue reading
Social Cost Benefit Analysis of a Project
The foremost aim of all the individual firm or a company is to earn maximum possible return from the investment on their project. In this aspect project promoters are interested in wealth maximization. Hence the project promoters tend to evaluate only the commercial profitability of a project. There are some projects that may not offer attractive returns as for as commercial profitability is concerned but still such projects are undertaken since they have social implications. Such projects are public projects like road, railway, bridge and other transport projects, irrigation projects, power projects etc. for which socio-economic considerations play a significant part rather than mere commercial profitability. Such projects are analysed for their net socio economic benefits and the profitability analysis which is nothing but the socio-economic cost benefit analysis done at the national level. All the projects imposes certain costs to the nation and produces certain benefits to the nation. Continue reading
Concept of Feasibility Study in Project Management
A feasibility study is an important tool for decision-making in project management. Accurate and adequate information about the project like technology, location, production capacity, demand, and impact on existing operations, cost and benefits to the company, time span for execution, resources needed should be included in the report. Alternatives if any should also be suggested. Feasibility Study in Project Management can be defined as: “A tool for transforming the initial project- A tool for transforming the initial project-idea into a idea into a specific hypothesis of intervention, through the identification, the specification and the comparison of two or more alternatives directed to achieve the defined objectives, by producing a set of information helping the Project manager to take the final decision” Market research or demand analysis, technical viability studies, financial or commercial feasibility studies are other wise known as functional or support studies to aid the decision-making. A preliminary feasibility Continue reading
Strategic Issues in Project Management
An issue is something that has happened and either threatens or enhances the success of a project. Issue management is the process for recording and handling any event or problem. Some of the issues can be dealt within the project. However strategic issues may require a change in order to keep the project viable. The concept of “strategic issues” has emerged as a way to identify and manage factors and forces that can significantly affect an organization’s future strategies and tactics. Project owners need to be aware of the possible and probable impacts of strategic issues. The project team leader has the primary responsibility to focus the owner’s resources to deal with project strategic issues. In a project, a strategic issue is a condition of pressure, either internal or external, that will have a significant effect on one or more factors of the project, such as its financing, design, engineering, Continue reading