Project Management

Project Management: A New Dimension in Business ManagementnnBy: Samuel Lartey, Project Manager.nnThere is no gain saying that the world is changing. We are living in a world of uncertainty, corporate mergers and takeovers, political and economic flux, religious transformation. I recall a short story told by a religious leader who said that not until you change your location your situation will never change. The story teller refered to the lessons of the four lepers who moved to the army camp to search for food. It was told that not until they decided to move from their old location, plagued with hunger, thus by the gates, their situation would never have changed. nnChange is now a way of life for all individuals and organisations. Through change management new and improved services are delivered, new processes are introduced, supplier relationships change, organisations responsd to political or market forces and demand, customer request, technological advance and legal requirement are delivered. In the delivery however are many challenges that leave business strategies and initiative in a controversy.nnSome of these controversies may show in the form of complexities and risks, many interdependencies to manage and conflicting priorities to resolve. There are challenges of how to make these strategies work and the sustainance of these policies. Business executives are laboured on the mind to manage all these strategies and to make them work in the normal course of operation. This burdens the executive and strategic mind. One author said that the human mind is a coward, and those who listen to it become utterly cowardly. The mind is not an adventurer, it is very cautious. It takes every step with thinking and calculation until it is certain there is no risk, until it has seen others taking the risk, or until it has seen others taking the the step to; and there has been no danger; hence listening to the mind is the most disturbing phenomenon of growth. nnContemporary businesses are therefore aligning goals realisation to the Project Management methodologies. This is a structured framework that can help organisations deliver change. The business objectives are managed as projects. These projects are usually temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique product or service within a certain deadline. It comprise ambitious plans to define and constrain a future by limiting it to set goals and parameters. The planning, execution and monitoring of major projects sometimes involves setting up a special temporary organization, consisting of a project –dedicated- teams and one or more work teams. A project usually needs resources and to be sucessful these resources must be managed.nnProject management, is therefore the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to describe, organize, oversee and control the various project processes and resources. It can be described as all the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques needed to realize an organizational objective. But perhaps project management can best be described in terms of the things that you need to do to successfully manage a project.nnProject Management considers all the processes of developing and managing a project plan (Integration Management); planning, defining and managing project scope (Scope Management). It also encapsulates the creation of a project schedule, planning resources and budgeting costs (Time & Cost Management); developing a quality plan and carrying out quality assurance and quality control activities (Quality Management). How to perform organizational planning, manage staff acquisitions and promote team development (Human Resource Management); develop a communications plan (Communications Management); identify risks, prepare risk mitigation plans and execute contingency actions (Risk Management). nnThese processes may look a tall order and may seem quite overwhelming but be assured that even the smallest project can benefit from each of these project management processes. Note however, that the extent to which you carry out each of these activities should be based on the nature, size and complexity of your project and on your level of project management expertise. nnIt must be emphasised early that the ultimate success of a project is not determined by whether the project was completed on time, within budget, or according to specifications, but whether the customer is satisfied with what has been accomplished. Customer satisfaction is the bottom line in project management. Project managers need to cultivate positive working relations with clients to ensure success and preserve their reputations.nnProject managers must be skilled at managing customer expectations and perceptions. Proactive project managers do not wait to reactively explain situations, but start shaping proper expectations up front and accept that this in an ongoing process throughout the life of the project. nnAlmost any human activity that involves carrying out a non-repetitive task can be a project. So we are all project managers. We all practise project management. But there is a big difference between carrying out a very simple project involving one or two people and one involving a complex mix of people, organizations and tasks.nn