Project management
What is a project?
Doing a job through different activities and people.
The 4 P’s of successful project management
1. Purpose
The project must have clearly defined objectives that are SMART:
Specific (clearly related to organizational aims like
customer satisfaction)
Measurable (so defining success, failure, and progress
towards achievement of aims).
Agreed (the project team focused on common aims).
Realistic (aims can be achieved on time and with the
resources available – see point 2 below)
Time related (aims having a deadline for completion).
2. Plan
A concise document that explains:
Success depends on the effective combination of sufficient and quality resources:
a) people
The best people must be recruited and trained.
Teamwork and implementing the plan are vital – see point 3.
b) information
The innovative application of all relevant information to deliver results - for example, proven management
techniques like:
c) money
Cash must be effectively spent whilst minimizing costs and keeping within budget.
d) materials and equipment
(so supplier relationships are vital – see point 3).
The project plan must change in response to new circumstances, and risks must be minimized through effective
risk management.
Two charts are useful to show the interrelated activities needed to complete the project:
3. People (stakeholders)
Success is dependent on satisfying the project’s stakeholders (those people directly affected by it):
a) customers
- people inside the organization (internal customers) and
- paying customers who will benefit from the project’s success.
b) suppliers
Providers of materials, products or services.
c) sponsor
The most senior member of the project team and initiator of the project.
d) project manager
Leader of the team with responsibility for the project’s success, which is achieved through:
- focusing on solutions to customers' problems.
- effective delegation and communication with team members.
- co-ordination and negotiation.
- consultation (with decisiveness) and implementation (of the
plan).
- commitment to common aims.
- leading by example (through tactful honesty, integrity and equal/fair treatment for
all).
- continual learning and adapting to changing
circumstances.
e) team members
They help the project manager with the skills necessary for success like
- customer/supplier contacts.
4. Progress (towards world-class
quality)
The project’s progress must be continually checked through:
a) progress reports and review meetings.
b) achievement of milestones
(aims set in progressing to the project’s final completion).
c) overcoming possible reasons for project failure:
- inadequate/poor quality resources and information.
- people/product/production/purchasing problems.
Everyone must constantly strive for world-class quality.
Key quotes explained
“Well begun is half done”
- Aristotle, Greek
philosopher (pictured right)
A project must begin with the right objectives and plan to achieve them
“A fundamental yet often overlooked principle of successful project management is that you can't
do it alone”
- W. Alan Randolph (pictured right
above) and Barry Z. Posner.(pictured right below),
American business professors - see below
Teamwork is vital.
“ A good plan
today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow”
- George Patton (pictured right), American World War Two general
A project plan must be ready when it's required.
The British wartime prime minister, Winston
Churchill, agrees:
“It's not enough that we do our best, sometimes we have to do what's
required.”
Best books
W. Alan Randolph and Barry Z. Posner, Effective Project Planning and
Management: Getting the Job Done (1988)
Successful project management requires:
|