The Importance of Project Management - Coursework Example

Project Management Planning and scheduling resources Project management has many administrative roles that assist in meeting the targets of the project by using useful metrics, allowing the project managers to forecast for a project and ensure that administrative controls are put into place to avoid any deviations. The administrative roles also ensure that employees are able to fit well into their working environments and also protecting the company from any legal litigation. A detailed plan of a project is usually made depending on the requirements of the project and the resources allocated to the project and a reserve margin is made to cater for unforeseen circumstances such as delay of materials from the suppliers (Tinnirello 2000, 42). Planning a project involves the final project and all the support activities that assist in accomplishing the finished work. It also includes all the engineering, acquisition work and the management processes of the project. Any documentation and technical or non technical exchange of knowledge with the contractors also form part of the planning stage. Planning of any project also involves the cost estimates of the tools, facilities, consultancy, labor and interproject coordination that are involved while carrying out the project. Scheduling of a project involves identifying the internal dependencies and other external dependencies with a view of finding out how the sequence of events will follow in the completion of the project. It also involves identifying any constraints so that a project manager is able to give a window for unforeseen events. Scheduling can be done through using the Critical Path Analysis and the Gantt charts. Good and proper administrative work assist also in keeping records which can be used for future reference, they can act as tools for evaluation and a very effective way of communication. Any project manager must be able to do a documentation of the resources that they are using such as the schedule, quality, resources and the cost documentation of the whole project. A schedule document is a document that entails all the activities of the project as they are undertaken, when they should start and when they are expected to end. This information is usually represented in form of network diagrams; bar charts and tabular reports. Such kind of charts includes the Critical Path Analysis charts and the Gantt charts (Tinnirello 2000, 42). Cost documentation should also be undertaken to find out the cost effectiveness of a project .It involves documenting the actual expenses against the planned expenses in form of table up to a given point of the project. An S- curve is also normally drawn and it usually shows the differences in the actual expenditure and planned expenditure of the project. Quality documentation is also an important aspect of any project management. It deals with checking the quality of the work whether the work meets the set specifications or the customers set standards. The quality of work is normally reflected in form of diagrams, charts and matrices. The charts show the past and future performances of the work done .Other diagrams that are used include the Pareto, line and scatter graphs and these diagrams are normally show errors as they have occurred. Resource documentation refers to assigning and usage facilities, tools and supplies made .The usage of organizational charts and resource reports are used by the project managers to identify how they are being used. A project manger must be able to allocate and schedule tasks at the same time and where there are more resources than required, then the tasks must be scheduled. Resource leveling is a methodology that is used for rescheduling thus reducing potential conflicts. Quality Standards Quality refers to the ability of a project to conform to the set specifications or whether the project meets the standards set by the customer. Conformance means that control measures in developing a project must be put into place so that the work done can be verified and evaluated on completion. The most important measure of quality is the value that a customer derives from any project thus project managers must be able to consult regularly with customers so as to meet the specifications of the customers. The customer must be educated on the project throughout so that they are in contact with any new developments. The project manager must be able to present the project to the customers and also interpret what the project entails. A project manager must communicate to the customer about the quality and progress through processes such as the front end customer analysis, quality assurances, scheduling, project metrics, prototyping, quality audit, concept development and budgeting. Design reviews are normally done to review the quality of the work that has been done. Normally, pre set dates are set at various stages of the project so that an assessment can be made against the set standards, the client's expectations and whether all the statutory requirements have been met. Compliance with statutory regulation Under the health and safety regulatory laws, every employer is expected to identify any health and safety concerns that could be hazardous to his employees in the cause of their duty. He must also identify those issues that are likely to cause harm to all those who may not be working under him directly and outside their employment. He must also be able to assess the risk exposed to the people working whereby the risk is said to be the severity of any harm caused multiplied the probability that harm is likely to arise. The project manager must be able to confirm from the client whether they have complied with all the statutory regulations which include the specific construction health and safety regulations. All the health and safety regulations must be very consistent with the organizations structure and policy, the statutory regulations and the specific requirements of the project. Proper arrangements must be made to ensure that the security and safety facilities have been installed in the site. The facilities that should be installed include fire fighting equipments, protective garments and facilities, welfare facilities, first aid facilities and accident reporting facilities. The project manager must be able to identify, check and record any special conditions in the site and relevant action taken to avoid any hazards from occurring (Tinnirello 2000, 42). Meetings Those present at review meetings include the consultants, architects, managers, clients and the designers of the project. The meetings with the architects are important as they assist in detecting any errors and omissions that have occurred in the course of the work. It also strengthens the working relationship with all the stakeholders with an aim of addressing the verifications of the design, any changes in the design, statutory constraints, environmental impact and any health and safety concerns. While undertaking a project, the project managers and designers are expected to explain their ideas and intentions verbally or in writing to their main office, consultants, legislative agencies interest groups, contractors and their clients. Meetings are normally recorded in the memories of the participants and then minutes are drawn up and a transcript of comments in the meeting is also done. Visual cues are done using picture boards and three dimensional images so that any comments made in the meeting are compared to the cue.Wordprocessors, spreadsheets, database and CAD are also used to record any non electronic data into electronic form.Softwares are also used to convert scanned data into textual electronic data. Voice electronic systems are also used to produce typescripts at the meetings .Datawarehouses, electronic mails and groupware are used to capture data while in meetings. Meetings with clients are made to give the clients a briefing and progress on the ongoing project. It serves to explore, question and refine the requirements of the client in the form of a written brief. The briefings are normally more informal while the progress meetings are formal (Tinnirello 2000, 42). The feedback meetings usually take place at the end of the project. They are important because they assist in checking the success or failure of the project together with defining any problems that may have arisen. They also serve to strengthen the working relationship between all the stakeholders in the project. For the contactors, these meetings serve as debriefing lessons of what has been learnt in the course of the project, for the architects they help to define any technical problems while for the clients they serve to identify whether the customers' expectations were met. Site Diaries. They are normally kept to record any informal site meetings that may take place. They collect any interaction data on any issues that may have been discussed in the course of the project work. It normally records the issues discussed, the staff involved in the discussion and the nature of the meetings held. Normally the site diaries are filled by all those who attended the meetings. The client's diary will show how far the project has gone, the architect keeps his diary to assist him check whether his work is as per specifications and whether any changes need to be made and the statutory agents keep the diaries so as to check whether all the specifications as per the law have been met(Tinnirello 2000, 42). . Report writing Normally, they are done in form of drawings, schedules, minutes of reports, variation orders and instructions, models and defect lists. The schedules of works usually show the work that should be done and estimates the costs involved in the project. The variation orders and construction is a contractual way that confirms actions to the documentation of the contract. Minutes are used to record the proceedings of the meeting, the start and completion time of the project. The defect list shows a list of all incomplete, damaged and obsolete items that may not be in conformity with the set standards. This list is normally prepared by engineers, works clerks and the administrators. Models and drawings are also used to give information in the building industry. Normally, they are used by designers to communicate a language that is not common for those who are not specialists in the construction industry (Tinnirello 2000, 42). . Delivery record Once an action plan has been drawn, then a delivery record by the stakeholders should be drawn indicating all the work that is going to be done, the people to be assigned duties and when the actions are supposed to start and when they are expected to end. If the action is not delivered at the said date then new delivery dates should be set. When materials are delivered to the site, proper records should be kept so as to show their usage. This is normally done using inventory management techniques. This is normally to assist in keeping the right quantities of stocks at any particular time to avoid stock outs. The client must be provided with reports on the progress of the project and any drawings and models used in the project must be provided and interpreted to the client. Conclusion Therefore proper management is a key to success in any project undertaken. Project mangers must be able to communicate effectively with all the stakeholders and they must work as per the statutory regulations under the law. References Tinnirello, P, C. (2000). Project management.United States of America: CRC Press. Read More