Project Structure as the Pathway to Reach Project Goals - Essay Example

? Project Management Table of Contents SECTION I 4 Principles of Project Management 4 Success Failure Criteria 5 Benefits of Managing Projects 5 SECTION II 6 Project Initiation Document 6 Project Planning 6 Risk Assessment 7 Communication of Project Plan 7 SECTION III 8 Project Implementation 8 Project Monitoring 8 Contingency Plan 9 SECTION IV 9 Project Evaluation 9 Report to Stakeholders 10 Recommendations 10 References 12 SECTION I Principles of Project Management Project management can be defined as a process, by which a company initiates, plans, systematize, organize, guides and monitors the associated resources and accomplish the goals of the project (Lester, 2007). Project management is a vast area and requires specialized knowledge and expertise of technology and management. Apart from that, to get success the project structure needs to be clearly defined. A project structure is usually the pathway which is followed by a project to reach its goals (Larson and Gray, 2006). It mainly depends upon three factors namely project goal, project milestone and project order and timeline. Now the basic principles of project management are stated below: - Be Clear: - The most essential aspect of a project is the clarity. It is the duty of the project manager, to ensure clarity in the project. The two basic elements of clarity are direction and focus. Direction is about making everyone to work towards the same objective and Focus is about ensuring every team member gets a clear idea about the scope of the project. Maintain a Positive Attitude: - It is important to maintain a positive attitude at the work place. In addition, there are several benefits for maintaining a positive attitude. For example, it improves the relationship with the stakeholders and also helps to deal with the project challenges. Communication: - Superior communication is probably the most important criteria towards the success of a project. It enhances the coordination among team members and also helps to inform the stakeholders about the happenings (project-management-skills, n.d.). Success Failure Criteria According to Standish CHAOS Report of 2004, there are some factors which are commonly found in a successful project. The factors are mainly user involvement, proper planning, clear statement of requirements, clear objectives and vision, smaller project milestones, and realistic expectations among others. Similarly there are some factors which force projects to fail. For example, errors pertaining to estimation and planning, implementation factor, and also human factor may lead to project failure. Hence, to let the team members know about the reasons behind the success and failure of a project, it is important to define success and failure criteria. In addition, it also helps to monitor a project. Benefits of Managing Projects There are several techniques by which a project can be managed (Lasa Information Systems Team, 2003). The benefits of some of the systems are presented below: - Project Management Technique Benefits PERT 1. This method is useful in controlling the cost (Mittal, 2006). 2. It uses graphical displays, which allow the team members to understand the project better. CPM 1. This method highlights the critical path and also emphasizes on the slack time. 2. It is mathematically simple (University of Illinois Springfield, n.d.). PRINCE 2 1. Greater control over the resources. 2. It helps to manage the risks associated with a project more effectively (Maserang, 2002). SECTION II Project Initiation Document A project initiation document is considered as the top level project planning document. Through the project initiation document, a company can gather all the information needed for a project to begin (Mindtools, n.d.). In order to portray the importance of project initiation document, a draft will be presented. To illustrate it with an example a health care project is considered. Project Goals – To examine Hepatitis – B of the entire population in a village. Scope – The project has the scope to reduce the number of Hepatitis - B patient and may offer preventive measures. Project Organization Structure – To structure the project, it will have the following: - A project team Project Management Project Board Constraints – The constraints of the project is high cost and long duration. Project Planning The key towards a successful project lies in its proper planning. Therefore creating a proper plan is the most important task of a project planning. Often companies fail to recognize the importance of a project plan and thus fail to save money, resources and time (Anderson, Grude and Haug, 2009). Now using the project planning techniques, the project should be planned in the following manner. In order to plan a project four major steps needs to be followed. The first step is to define the goals of the project. The second step is to plan the deliverables of the project. The third step is about scheduling the project properly. The final step is related to the assistance required in fulfilling the objective of the study. In this context, it is important to plan about the human resource and communication strategy, so that the project can be effectively carried out. Risk Assessment In order to complete a project successfully, one should assess the risk associated with it. There are several types of risk such as financial risks, and there are risks pertaining to complete the project on time (Lock, 2007). Now in order to gauge the risks pertaining to the completion of project on time following steps are to be followed: - Step 1: - The first step is to identify the events that could impact the project and can delay the project completion time. Step 2: - The second step is to schedule the project properly and ensuring that it gets completed before the stipulated time frame. Step 3: - In the third step, Prioritization of the identified risks should be done and ranks should be assigned to each. The ranking can be done in terms of the likely impact of the risks on the project. Step 4: - Risk exposure should be calculated on the basis of controllability, probability and impact. Communication of Project Plan Management of stakeholders is essential to get success from the project. Therefore it is also important to communicate the project plan to the stakeholders. There are several ways by which a project plan can be communicated to the stakeholders. Some of the approaches are presented below: - 1. Meeting: - Meeting is one of the most convenient and common form of communicating with the stakeholders. The biggest advantage of meeting is that it reduces the chances of miscommunication to a large extent. 2. E-Mail/Newsletter: - Stakeholders can be also communicated with the help of e-mails, newsletters. The biggest advantage of e-mail or a newsletter is that the communication process becomes instant. 3. Conference Calls: - Conference call is one of the modern forms of communication. In this approach. This process is also instant and several people can take part in the call at a time. SECTION III Project Implementation In order to implement the project in accordance with the project plan, the following steps need to be considered: - Resources should be arranged in accordance with the project plan. The second step is to store and document all the works, results of phases completed, milestones, decisions pertaining to any kind of changes, or previous implementation of changes. The third step is to evaluate, communicate and document the current status and result of the works to the stakeholders. In this step decision must be taken regarding project plan and any changes if required. The final step is implementing the project in accordance with the intended plan. Project Monitoring Project monitoring can be defined as a process of overseeing and controlling the activities of a project over a certain period of time. Now for a health and social care project, the available techniques of project monitoring needs can be effectively utilized (Adams, n.d.). The available techniques of project monitoring are financial reports, statistical report, meetings and also some other specialized tools. Now for a health and social care project face to face meeting with the team members and checking with the progress of work can be an effective way of monitoring the project. However, the meeting needs to be held frequently to control any deviation. Contingency Plan Contingency plan is one of the most vital tasks for a project. According to some scholars, risk is always associated with a project, but it is essential to take precautions and get least affected. Even there are situation where unexpected events take place. The events can be related to any aspect of the environment. It can be natural disasters, economic downturns or can even be political turbulences (Mindtools, n.d.). Now to develop a contingency plan, the first task is to assess the risks associated with the project. Once the risks are identified it should be prioritised and contingency plans must be developed accordingly. Apart from that, to develop the contingency plan some guidelines needs to be followed. For example, the plan needs to be simple and understandable, consider everyone’s need, and should identify operational inefficiencies. SECTION IV Project Evaluation Reviewing and evaluating a project is an important task. It enlightens the performance of a project in accordance with the project objectives (Nominettrust, n.d.). Apart from that it also helps to identify any changes that are required for the project. There are several ways by which a project can be evaluated. The best way to get the project evaluated is by employing someone who has not been associated with the project. Moreover this form is also regarded as the most credible form. However, apart from hiring an outsider, the best way to evaluate a project is using a combination of qualitative and quantitative method. The quantitative method can be used to get insights about the project performance in the form of graphs and charts. While the qualitative part, will be able to reveal the behavioural aspect and the quality of the output (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002). Therefore the performance of a project can be evaluated with the help of a combination of quantitative and qualitative method. Report to Stakeholders In order to report the stakeholders about the outcome of the project, graphs and charts will be used. To illustrate it with an example, a health care case will be taken. Project Goals – To examine Hepatitis – B of the entire population in a village. Number of Person Tested – 1500 Number of Person with Hepatitis – B (Positive) – 15 Percentage affected – 1 %. (Author’s Creation) Recommendations The following are the recommendations to the company: - Tailor Communication to fit the target audience: The communication method must be tailored to communicate properly with the target audience. It is important to understand how the stakeholders of the project prefer to get information. Based on the findings the best communication technique should be adopted. Control flow of information in both directions: - It is highly recommended to the project manager that the information flows to the right people and in the right way (Bencraigo, n.d.). Conduct face to face meetings: - Working in a virtual environment has become a trend nowadays. However it is recommended that that, the project manager should carry out face to face meetings with the team members. This will enhance the chances of project’s success. References Adams, J., No Date. Project Monitoring. [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Anderson, E. S., Grude, K. V., and Haug, T., 2009. Goal Directed Project Management: Effective Techniques and Strategies. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Bencraigo, No Date. 9 Ways to Improve a Project’s Success. [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., and Lowe, A., 2002. Management Research: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: SAGE. Larson, E. W., and Gray, C. F., 2006. Project Management: The Managerial Process. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Lasa Information Systems Team, 2003. Project Management - Which Method? [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 December 2012]. Lester, A., 2007. Project Management, Planning and Control: Managing Engineering, Construction And Manufacturing Projects to PMI, APM And BSI Standards. 5th ed. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. Lock, D., 2007. The Essentials of Project Management. 3rd ed. Burlington: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Maserang, S., 2002. Project Management: Tools & Techniques. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 December 2012]. Mindtools, No Date. Contingency Planning: Developing a Good 'Plan B'. [online] Available at: < http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_51.htm> [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Mindtools, No Date. Project Initiation Documents: Getting Your Project Off to a Great Start. [online] Available at: < http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_85.htm> [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Mittal, D. K., 2006. Cost Accounting. New Delhi: Galgotia Publications. Nominettrust, No Date. How should I evaluate my project? [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Project-management-skills, No Date. Project Management Principles. [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2012]. University of Illinois Springfield, No Date. Benefits of PERT/CPM. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 December 2012]. Read More