Managing Projects

What are Projects? Projects can be considered as a set of planned interrelated activities which are performed in a predefined fixed time and cost to add value to both, the entity executing it and the entity for which it is executed.

Project Management can be considered as a process of application of knowledge, experience and skills to execute a project

Thus, Projects become an integral part of an organization as the progress and growth of the organization depends on successful and efficient execution of project.

There are various factors which are responsible for successful implementation of projects.

Some of them are as listed below:

1. Efficient and experienced Project Management team:  The most important aspect for successful implementation of projects is an experienced and skilled project management team. The project managers appointed for a project should have in depth knowledge of the domain on which the project is based. This helps them to plan and set time lines and financial estimations accurately as they know the amount of time and cost it requires to execute various activities in the project. Having a substantial amount of experience helps them tackle critical situations smoothly and efficiently
2. Scope of Work: This is a very essential factor which defines the boundaries of the project. It also defines goals and objectives along with the budget assigned for the project. Hence, it helps the project managers to select right resources along with setting appropriate timelines for the project.
3. Skilled resources: This factor plays a critical role in successful delivery of the project. Based on the type of the project resources should be identified who have expertise in that domain. For example, if it’s an IT project based on Java platform then resources especially developers and technical lead selected should have expertise and skills in Java.
4. Project Plan: This is the back bone of the project. A well thought and prepared project plan makes sure that the project can be delivered smoothly and efficiently. Hence, it is very important to put in a lot of analysis and thinking in preparing a project plan as the whole project plans moves as per the project plan.
5. Various Phases in the Project: It is important to divide a project into phases as it helps the project manager and the stakeholders to understand the status of the project so that according to the phase different professionals will step in. For example: In the development phase, developers step in the project where as in the testing phase the testers step in. Also, based on the status of the phase alterations can be made in the project plan.
6. Communication: It plays a vital role in successful execution of the project. Various periodic communication processes should be set during the course of the project which helps everyone to understand the activities happening on the projects, issues that are faced and the criticality of the issues. Thus, it brings everyone on the same page so that decision making becomes easy and effective. Communication also includes email communication and various documents shared among the stake holders. This not only makes the project tasks easy to understand but also acts as a proof in case of conflict between on any issues clear For example: Weekly project meetings, daily updates, SOW, SRS, BRD, etc.
7. Processes and Controls: This is something which acts as a guide for successful implementation of a project. This helps project managers to define processes that need to be followed in order to deliver a project efficiently. If proper processes are set for a project then it helps avoid conflicts, risks and reduces the probability of occurrence of issues. Also, if issues occur it helps in systematic resolution of those issues so that these issues do not impact project timelines and budget.
   Controls go hand in hand with the processes. For the set processes to give maximum benefit, various controls are implemented at various points in the process to make sure output is as expected and not at all manipulated at any point. Controls also ensure that the project efficiency is optimum and nothing is been implemented without analysis and approvals.  Thus, on proper implementation of correct processes and right controls helps to deliver a project efficiently without affecting project timelines and budget with maximum productivity.

Thus it can be seen that to have a competitive edge in today’s technology driven competitive world, it is very important to execute projects successfully to ensure maximum productivity without affecting the time lines and budget. Thus, managing projects becomes very critical and important. And to manage a project an efficient project management is very important with all the above discussed points.

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