Importance of Project Management

Project Management has gained huge importance over the years. Especially in IT projects, it is considered on the top priority list. It is one of the most popular requirements among most of the certifications. This shows the increasing importance of project management over the years. Thus, it can be seen that there has to be definitely a considerable amount of value addition of having a skilled project management team in place for a project.

Following list some of the main challenges faced in a typical project:

1. Scope of Project: Defining the exact scope of project is a crucial task. It defines and drives the entire project and any errors early on can lead to an exponential increase in effort and costs. This may lead to loss to either client or vendor. This is avoided by drawing proper scope of work for the project which would ensure a win-win situation for both the client and vendor. After all, well begun is half done!
    
2. Resource Planning: Resource planning is allotting appropriate resources with required skill set for the project based on the scope of work. This can be a major challenge if not managed properly resulting in wastage or shortfall of resources. This can also result is inefficiency affecting the quality of the project. Both the cases are not favorable for successful implementation of the project. Analysis of the scope and the kind of resources required is a key skill required of a potential project manager considering the timelines of the project and the type of system/application being dealt with.
    
3. Project Plan: This is another important factor for a project. A project without a project plan or with unrealistic timelines is like a body without soul and can lead to frequent clashes over timelines and deliverables! Also, neither the client nor the vendor will have a clear picture on the progress of the project which will be a major obstacle in affective decision making for the success of the project. Frequently shifting project timelines are like a moving target which can never give a true picture of when tasks will be completed. The project manager needs to draw a realistic project plan detailing each and every aspect of the project based on discussions with the clients and shares it with the client so that both client and vendor can be on the same page from start till the delivery of the project.
    
4. Escalation: Another important aspect is to know when to escalate. Too many or too few escalations can wreak havoc with the team and not to mention additional headaches for stake holders. The project manager as well as the team working on the project should be able to realize when an escalation is required and to whom. This is normally used for monitoring and control. For a project to be successfully implemented it should have a hierarchy in place for monitoring and control. Escalations make sure that deliverables are delivered in time and if not then the issue is escalated so that it is brought under notice of higher authorities who will take necessary steps to fix it.
    
5. Coordination & Communication: This is a hidden and overlooked aspect of project management which directly or indirectly contributes for the successful delivery of a project. This includes, conducting regular meetings, related documentation and calls and a lot more. This helps both the client and vendor understand that the project is on the right track and deliverables are as required. Absence of regular and properly formatted co-ordination and communication results in deliverables not matching the requirements, dead ends for certain limitations identified during the project as no alternative solutions were suggested or provided. Hence, it is important to have project management approach to set up processes for regular and timely meetings / calls to discuss and analyze the deliverables and related issues with proper documentation and written communication.

Thus it can be seen that for a successful implementation of a project it is very important to have a good project management approach in place. Otherwise, driving the project becomes a major obstacle resulting in delay in effective delivery within speculated timelines. This results in client or vendor bearing the loss.

About Author:

Amol Bhembre is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, he actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. He can be contacted at: amol.b@spluspl.com