General Functions of Management As They Related To Project Management - Essay Example

 Abstract Management is tasked with the overall responsibility of planning, execution, resource allocation, monitoring, controlling and closure of the project. This paper will discuss the general functions of management as they related to project management, the main concerns of project managers and the components of project management in modern setting. All projects involve constrains which include time, cost and scope constrains. The management is concerned is mainly concerned with the definition of the project scope which include the project deliverables and the expectations of the project users or stakeholders. The management is also involved in the project planning which include listing all the project activities and tasks including the time taken and the relationships between the tasks. Project management Introduction Project management can be defined the discipline which is involved in planning, organizing, leading and controlling resources in the achievement of specific goals (Lock, 2007). Project management steps include planning, organizing, project initiation, project monitoring and control and the project closure (Richman, 2002). Project managers are concerned by the project constrains which include people, time and money resource constrains (Madura, 2006). The general functions of management The general functions of management are applicable in the successful management of projects. The management should be involved in the planning phase by establishing project pans of action which are either short term, medium term or long term (Richman, 2002). Project management also involves organization of the project resources mainly the human resources (Richman, 2002). Project manager assigns the roles and responsibilities to different personnel involved in the project and also delegate the authority (Lock, 2007). Just like general management, project managers have a leading function whereby they are supposed to motivate, coordinate and communicate with the project employees to ensure the project goals are achieved effectively (Richman, 2002). Project managers also control the project progress by reviewing and monitoring the project progress against the project plans and taking the necessary corrective action where deviations exist. The main concerns of project management Some of the main concerns of management include identification of the stakeholder interests and expected outcomes since numerous users of the project have different needs (Russell, 2009). Another main concern of the management is the project constrains. The main constrains include time, finances and scope hence altering one constrains will impact on the rest (Richman, 2002). If the project manager reduces the completion time, additional resources will be required to meet the new project schedule. Main concerns of project management One of the main challenges of project managers is the uncertain dependencies of the project activities and tasks (Russell, 2009). Resource constrains is another challenge for the project managers since different projects compete for resources like time and people hence altering one constrain will impact negatively on the others (Richman, 2002). The project scope is also a concern for the management since changes in the scope require the management to prepare alternative project plans. Communication of project progress and responsibilities to the project teams is also challenging for the project manager. Unrealistic project plans may also lead to unrealistic project deadlines hence negatively affecting the stakeholder interests (Madura, 2006). Main components of project management in modern setting The project schedules will have to be adjusted during the opportunity assessment. Resources will be available for more than 20 hours in the current week and next week. Since waiting for two months does not allow the company to take advantage of the project timelines, some activities will have to be cut and resource allocations modified (Wysocki, 2011). The modern project management starts with project definition whereby the management should identify the need for the project and the scope of the project. The management should also identify the project stakeholder needs (Russell, 2009). After definition, the management should conduct project planning by establishing action plans which should be undertaken to complete the project (Wysocki, 2011). The next step is project organization where the management forms project teams, establishes lines of communication and delegates responsibilities to different departments in the project management (Wysocki, 2011). The next component is project execution or initiation whereby resources are allocated to the project budgets and the project activities commences. The next component is project monitoring whereby the management should monitor the progress of project tasks. The management also undertakes project control by comparing the project progress against the established plans. The management will also conduct project evaluation to establish whether the project outcomes have been achieved (Russell, 2009). The last component of modern project management is the project closure where the project is transferred to the owners and users (Wysocki, 2011). Activity Durations and Costs for the Project Activity Minimum Cost Normal Duration Crash Cost Crash Duration Change in Cost per Day A B C D E F G 8 4 8 10 10 20 10 6 1 8 5 9 12 3 14 4 24 24 18 36 18 4 1 4 3 5 6 2 3 --- 4 7 2 2.7 8 The project team will examine the time-cost trade off of crashing the project. The critical path of the above project is activities C, E, F and G plus dummy activity X. the normal project duration is 32 days while the normal cost is $ 70,000. Activity E has the lowest rate of increase in cost hence it can be reduced from 9 days to 5 days with the overall project cost increasing by $ 8,000. The project completion time reduces to 28 days with the critical path becoming C, X, E, F and G. The next activity to be crashed is F by six days with additional cost of $ 16,000 without changing the critical path. Activity C can also be reduced at increased cost of $ 16,000 but project duration does not change hence its prudent to reduce activity C by I day at a cost of $ 4,000. Activity A and C can be reduced at the same time by two days each with total additional cost of $ 14,000. Finally, activity G can be reduced from 3 to 2 days at a cost of $ 8,000. The completion time reduces to 18days but the cost increases to $ 120,000. Conclusion Since the project is way ahead of time, the management will have to reduce the project duration to the current 18days. However, the project cost will increase by $ 50, 000. The project manager will have secure additional resources. References: Lock, D. (2007). Project Management. New York: John Willey & Sons Madura, J. (2006). Introduction to business. London: Cengage learning. New York: Springer. Russell, L. (2009). Ten steps to successful project management. New York. Routledge. Richman, L. (2002). Project management step-by-step. New York. American Management Association. Wysocki, R. (2011). Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. Indiana. John Wiley & Sons. Read More