A project should possess identifiable goals and a definite starting and finishing point. Project goals must be defined clearly. A useful checklist can be developed in relation to project success criteria. Criteria may be hard and concerned with what the project should achieve, or soft when they will cover how the project should proceed. The major constraints on the completion of projects are time, resource availability and the need to achieve the required standard of performance/quality for the project. This is also known as Project Management Triangle. Each of these project constraints is linked to the other two. If one or more of the constraints is changed, the remaining ones will also be changed. For instance, decreasing Continue reading
Project Management Concepts
Project Life Cycle
A project is a sequence of activities that has a definite start and finish, an identifiable goal and an integrated system of complex but interdependent relationships. Project Life Cycle consists of sequential phases through which projects undergo. Phases of a Project Life Cycle The phases are important in planning a project since they provide a framework for budgeting, manpower, resource allocation, scheduling project milestones, project reviews etc. All projects go through the following stages whether big or small. 1. Project Idea /Conception An idea regarding intervention in a specific area to address and identify a problem is developed or formed. Sources of ideas include Market demand where one may be facing increasing demand thus becoming a problem Technological changes- this Continue reading
Project Management Process Groups
The project management processes are presented as discrete elements with well- defined interfaces. However, in practice they overlap and interact in ways that are not completely detailed here. Most experienced project management practitioners recognize there is more than one way to manage a project. The specifics for a project are defined as objectives that must be accomplished based on complexity, risk, size, time frame, project teams experience, access to resources, amount of historical information, the organizations project management maturity, and industry and application area. The required Process Groups and their constituent processes are guides to apply appropriate project management knowledge and skills during the project. In addition, the application of the project management processes to a project is iterative and Continue reading
Project Management Knowledge Areas
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project objectives. Managing a project includes: Identifying requirements Establishing clear and achievable objectives Balancing the competing demands for quality, scope, time and cost Adapting the specifications, plans, and approach to the different concerns and expectations of the various stakeholders. Project managers often talk of a ‘triple constraint’ – project scope, time and cost – in managing competing project requirements. Project quality is affected by balancing these three factors. High Continue reading
Project Monitoring and Control
Any project aimed at delivering a product or a service has to go through phases in a planned manner in order to meet the requirements. It is very important to measure the performance of the current status of the project at anytime against its planned version. This helps to tackle any unexpected deviation in time, efforts and cost. It is possible to work according to the project plan only by careful and close monitoring of the project progress. It requires establishing control factors to keep the project on the track of progress. The results of any stage in a project, depends on the inputs to that stage. It is therefore necessary to control all the inputs and the corresponding outputs Continue reading
Identifying and Managing Project Risk
Risks are those events or conditions that may occur and whose occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Project risk management aims to identify the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Project risk management entails additional cost. Hence project risk management can be considered cost-effective only if the cost of managing project risk is considerably less than the cost incurred if the risk materializes. Components of Project Risk Management Important components in project risk management are: Risk Assessment — The assessment and identification focuses on enumerating possible risks to the project. Identify the possible risks and assess the consequences by means of checklists of possible risks, surveys, meetings and brainstorming and Continue reading