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What is project management? Key understanding of Project Management In changing world How can a small business succeed in a rapidly changing world, with changing customer desires, new competitors, new technology, and new suppliers halting us from all directions? The answer is project management. Project management helps us realize our dreams, take an advantage of opportunities, and solve our problems in changing times. We’ll put project management into simple language and learn how we can make projects work. Definition of basic conception; Project & Management
When it comes to the definition of Project, it can be defined as follows; a dream with a deadline or a problem scheduled for a solution. In general, Projects come in all sizes. In a small business, some might take months – such as launching the business or opening a new store. Others might be fulfillment work for a few weeks: creating the fall catalog and mailing It out or building a new web site. Some projects take Just a few hours: finding a new supplier to replace the one that Is unreliable or holing staff for the summer rush.
It Is a good idea to think of our opportunities and problems as projects. With regard to the definition of management, it can be said as follows; all process to evaluate, investigate, and plan how to control the business or the opposite meaning of situation where business is on out of control. Classification of Project Management. We can largely divide the project into two; internal project and external project. Firstly, some projects are Internal. They don’t make money directly, but they change the way you work.
Maybe you install a new bookkeeping system or you launch a new advertising campaign. For these projects, your customer Is Inside the company. Secondly, External projects are projects for customers. When we succeed on an external project, we make money and delight the customer. By making delighted customer, companies run their business stably and earn the constant profit from them. So, managing external projects souls be considered important in their management. 2.
General idea to practice project management Eight Ways Projects Benefit Your Business In order to improve business, companies can throw away the conventional step to measure and practice the project, and develop the new conception what it calls 8 ways Into their business. 8 ways are as follows; firstly, companies should bring a new reduce or service to market they have something new to sell. And secondly, they Increase production so they can make more things to sell. This helps only If they have customers who will buy those things.
Thirdly, they should Increase market share, for they should reach new markets or customers, for example, by opening a new location or starting to sell through a web site. For fifth step, they can market or deliver to their customers in new ways, increasing sales or lowering the cost of sales. For sixth step, they should speed up cycle time, getting products to market faster, completing Jobs aster, getting supplies faster, and making decisions faster, which makes themselves more flexible and competitive.
For seventh step, they should reduce or avoid costs, changing the way we get supplies or the way they work to reduce waste and cost and increase net revenue. As for the last step, they should reduce risk and protects assets, to improve protection of their tangible assets – preventing damage, fraud, and theft – and their intangible assets – things like customer good will, employee loyalty, and recognition of themselves and their company as reliable professionals and good citizens.
Participants and their role in Project Management participants Their role Sponsors They kick off the project and provides the money Executive managers They run the company that is doing the project Customers They receive primary benefit from project results Project managers They are responsible for running the project with the team on a daily basis. Project team They work full time or the most time on the project, planning and doing the actual work to create the result Vendor They provide products or services to the project team Peripheral stakeholder They have some occasional contact with part of the product 3.
Nine area of Project Management. Over the last 35 years, the Project Management Institute (PM) has worked to define the field of project management as an independent profession and certify professionals in the field. And the PM has finally discovered that there are nine areas companies need to manage to make a project succeed. It calls these the “nine areas of project management knowledge. ” Scope: What and How Project scope definition answers the questions “What are we making? ” and “How will we make it? ” The goal is to define everything companies need to do to complete that, their goal is to keep scope under control.
They track their work and correct their course so that they do everything they need to do. Time: Effort and Duration At the end of project scope management, companies know what work they will be doing. In time planning, they prepare activity lists – they decide who will do, what and when. From this, they can plan project effort, the number of person and hours of work to be done, and project duration, how long the project will take from start to finish. Project time management also includes time estimation and schedule control to make sure they’re getting work done on time.
Cost: Estimates, Budgets, and Tracking Once companies have figured out our schedule, they can estimate what the project will cost. They build a budget and then they track the time and money they spend each week. If they don’t track it as they go along, their schedule and budget will go out of control. They will fall behind and not even know it. They keep on top of the project by looking at the work they’ve accomplished, the time they’ve spent, and the money they’ve spent. Quality: Make It Good There are two aspects to quality management. One is in designing the product or service??the project results.
They should ask more than “What are we making? ” They would ask, “What will make it really good? ” The second part of quality management is about working smarter. That is, they focus on the quality of their process??on how they do the work, manage the project, and manage business and customer value. Risk: Make Sure We Get It Done “What if? ” is the central question of project risk management. Companies realize that the future is always uncertain – they don’t know what will happen. So, they should think about what might happen and write it down.
Then they prepare for each thing that might change their project plan or get in the way of success. Once they’re ready or any contingency, they keep risk under control by tracking events weekly and handling things if they look like they are about to happen or when they do. Human Resources: The Project Team For small businesses, project human resources means getting the right people on the team for the Job and making sure workers can do the work well. For each person on each Job, companies ask if they understand the work, if they have the right skills, and if they have the time to do the work.
Any time one of those questions gets “no” for an answer, they find a solution: they explain the Job, they get training or bring in an expert, or they give project work the priority it needs to get the Job done right. Communications: Keep Everyone on Board management are. Then companies figure out what they need to hear from them and what they need to hear from head centers. They plan, manage, and execute effective communications to make sure the plan includes everyone’s perspective, that everyone understands the plan, and that everyone is on the same page and up to date when changes hit the project.
Procurement: Getting What We Need For most small business projects, procurement is making a good shopping list and hen making sure companies get the right thing and that it comes in on time. In some cases, they may do some hunting for best prices. Sometimes, they have to deal with vendor selection and contract management as well Integration: Keeping It All Together. In ninth area, project integration management, means that companies should keep track of what is going on in all the other areas and deal with any changes to the project promptly and fully. This is also called integrated change management.
That is, the eight knowledge areas in advance companies should consider are all tied together in one system. 4. Process of making problems into project Right way to approach the problem There are a bunch of wrong ways to approach problems and they’re all about blame. Blame asks questions about the past, but only to point fingers. “Who did this? ” “Who made this mess? ” Those kinds of questions don’t get companies anywhere. Instead of asking, “Who? ” if something isn’t working, ask, “What? ” and then ask, “Why? ” “What happened? ” “What’s wrong? ” “Why did this happen? ” Those are useful questions.
Another way to avoid blame is to focus on the present and the future. Once companies understand what happened, they shift from the past to the future and ask, “What can we do to fix this? Then “Who? ” can be the right question: “Who is the best person to fix this problem? ” And he or she might Just be the person who made the mistake. From Problem to Project Often times, while companies run their business, they obviously face some problems to block them from reaching their goal. Some companies try to avoid and ignore it. However, a problem is a problem. And when they recognize that, they put it on a schedule to fix it.
As soon as they do that, the problem becomes a project. Here is a process for going choosing the best solution to a problem. 1. Picture the solution. A information. Do you need to get a price quote on repair? On a new machine? Do you need to learn about newer models? Do you need to see how much money you have available? 3. Ask if you need expertise. Are you and your team qualified to come up with the best solution? Remember that a lot of expertise is free these days – between vendors who will give a price quote at no charge and internet research, we can often get the know-how we need while spending little or no money and little time. . List your options. Write out a clear description of each solution. The repair will cost $2,000 and the machine will probably last two more years. A new machine costs $6,000 and will probably last five years. . Maybe make a decision. If one option is clearly better than the others, then select that one. If not, then put off the decision by including making the decision as part of the project plan. In this case, we might delay the decision until we’ve learned about financing options on the new machine and the money we can make selling the old machine. 5.
Process of defining the scope Companies should pick one and plan out what they are doing in detail to make the project happen. The Project Management Institute calls this defining the scope of the project. Scope planning includes defining all that companies are making and layering what they are not making. When they are done planning scope, they should have a clear picture of what they are making. Once they know what they are making, they can define how they will make it??that is, they move from describing results to describing the steps of the process, the tasks that will get the work done.
Here are the steps of defining scope, from the big picture down to the details. 6. Planning time and money Companies should figure out how much it will cost, when they will do it, and how long it will take. The techniques in this step are not difficult, but few take the time to really use them well. If most of them remember a few basic rules, they can avoid the most common problems in planning time and money: here are two basic key concepts; 1 . Keep allocation and estimation separate. Allocate based on the amount of time and money the company can reasonably spend to get project results. Estimate from the project plan.
After both the allocation and the estimate are prepared, then see if the project is affordable. If not, change the plan or cancel the project. 2. In estimating, avoid bias. Bias means leaning one way or the other. For example, if you say, “l have to do this for under $2,000,” then you’ll try to make the numbers look right. You could end up fooling yourself – telling yourself that you can do a $5,000 Job for $2,000. And the allocation. 7. Process of making quality The phases of the best project quality management For the first, companies define quality. When they build their scope statement, they should ask, “What makes it good? When they focus on quality from the beginning, they can make fewer mistakes, reducing total project cost and shortening the schedule. They deliver better results with less rework, sooner, while spending less money. For the second, they should plan for quality. Through using quality control, laity assurance, and effective gate reviews, they find smart ways of working that deliver the best results at the lowest cost on the shortest schedule. For the third, they control quality to make sure that the product is what it is supposed to be. And then, they should ensure quality from the beginning to the end of the project.
And lastly, they should deliver quality to ensure customer delight. 8. Risk management Basic concept of risk management For the first, companies should know the meaning of Risk Identification. It is about to figure out what could go wrong, and write it down. They start with knowing that something could go wrong, that something unexpected could happen. They ask, “What could that be? ” Then they write down the answer. The best time to hold a major risk-planning meeting is shortly after the activity list is done. For the second, they should know the meaning of Risk Analysis.
It is about to identify the likelihood and consequences of each risk, and prioritize the risks. It accompanies the process of naming the risk, and describing the consequences, the risk trigger, the likelihood, and estimating the significance of the risk, and finally describing options for managing he risk before or when it happens. And for the third step, and last step, they should know the meaning of Risk response planning and Risk monitoring. When it comes to Risk response planning, it is about to get ready for what might happen, item by item. They have to decide what they’re going to do about it – their risk management options.
By putting it on the list, they’ve accepted the risk under management. And with regard to Risk monitoring, it is about to check up on the risks and update the risk control plan at each daily or weekly status meeting throughout the project,. 9. Management of HRS and communication Management of human resource Once companies have good people with the right skills, they have the resources for the project. However, those resources have to work together well. Therefore, their best bet is to hire people with these qualities as follows; Honesty, Interest, Reliability, Attitude and Skill or Testability.
But not only that, they should define Jobs very clearly. If the team members are willing to do the work, then it’s companies’ Job to work with them so that they know what to do. At a minimum, each worker should have a clearly defined goal for each day of work. And finally, companies should also ark and gets it done right, the more likely the project is to succeed. Also, people are more motivated and enjoy their work more when they figure out how to do a Job themselves. Management of communication Effective communications is essential to project success. So often, companies leave out one small detail and then they have to redo the work.
To prevent this, they have to teach their team members to think through details, request what is needed in detail, and work together to get it done right the first time. Even worse, it is only human to get frustrated, upset, or even angry when things don’t go well. When it moms to communications, we have to lead by example. If we communicate clearly and effectively; if they thank people for telling themselves what’s going on, even when the news is bad; and if they apologize when they make a mistake and get a little snippy, then their team members will be open to learning to do likewise.
When the team is ready to learn, they should consider Figure 10-2 on upper picture. This is because when companies have a project plan and then all team members make a habit of doing good level-I and level-2 feedback, something wonderful happens. By sharing the feedback which is information for better performance, They et a highly effective process called customer service within the team. 10. About Procurement Management Most of what the Project Management Institute teaches about putting out requests for proposals, comparing bids to select vendors, and managing contracts doesn’t apply to companies small business folks, anyway.
So, they should focus on the following issues: Purchasing for projects, Getting expertise, Getting information, Getting permission, Evaluating vendors, Tracking and saving money in the purchasing process. Although this work is a small part of our project, doing it well is a big prevention of project problems. Everything we need from outside the project – every external dependency – is a project risk. So some extra attention is called for to prevent problems. Purchasing for Projects When it comes to purchasing for projects, inside the company, the only way to find out all the rules, glitches, and possible delays is to talk with everyone.
And even then, someone usually leaves something out. In addition, Projects are unique, so purchases for projects are often unique. Companies may be buying something from an industry they’ve never dealt with before. When they don’t know the ropes, they’re more likely to make assumptions and mistakes. Getting Expertise When it comes to getting expertise, it could be clearly said; sometimes, companies don’t need products or services; they need expertise and knowledge. Usually, this comes in one of two forms: they need either training or guidance.
In training, they and their team learn how to do something and then apply the ideas themselves. In guidance, they and their team receive specific direction on how to prepare for or to Getting Information Sometimes, companies simply need information. They may Just need to know certain facts for a project or they may need to get information as a first step toward finding he right book, the right training class, or the right vendor. The internet is an amazing timeserver here. If they don’t know how to do research on the internet, they can take a few hours and learn??it will save themselves weeks of time within a year.
And most of what they are looking for is available for free. Getting Permission Sometimes, companies need permission, too. An obvious case is building permits for a construction project. The challenge with getting permission is often that the person or organization giving permission cares more about not making a mistake than about helping themselves to succeed. The guard doesn’t want to let the wrong person into the building. The town council wants to stop the wrong kind of development. Evaluating Vendors The bigger the project, the more important it is to evaluate vendors carefully.
Companies need to look at vendors for products and short-term services in one way and vendors for long-term services differently. If they are buying a product or piece of equipment for their project, they also should consider that the vendor understands the business and technical requirements and can guide themselves in product selection and confirm that the product they are choosing is suited to the ask. Vendors for Long-Term Services Sometimes, companies want to use someone from outside their company for most or all of the length of the project.
In this case, they need to do a deeper evaluation and check the vendors against their requirements more rigorously. This applies whether they are hiring a consultant to Join (or even lead) the team or they are outsourcing the project entirely to a consulting firm or vendor. 1 1 . About Procurement Management In working up the project plan, companies have looked at eight areas of project management: scope, time, cost, quality, risk, human resources, communications, and recruitment. With eight perspectives, it can be hard to see that, all together, they make one plan.
But companies should see how the eight areas work together and then learn about the ninth area – project integration management. Using the ninth area, they’ll have one solid plan, good to go. In organizing the nine areas of project management they’ll distinguish three that lead to defined, measurable results (r) and six that support these results, but that are measured by tracking their process (p). They’ll start with the three (r) results areas, which are related to one another by what is called the iron triangle. Iron doesn’t bend or stretch. And there’s a rule about triangles: if companies change keep the shape of the triangle.
The iron triangle illustrates a rule in project management: they can’t deliver more on a project (increase scope), without spending more and taking longer (increasing time and cost). This is illustrated in Figure 12-1, the iron triangle. The main use of this tool is to educate customers and executives on the fact that, if they ask for more results, you’re going to ask for more time and money. 12. Change Management Sometimes, companies can’t follow the original plan, because of an error in the plan r a big change or several risk events. When companies change the plan, it is called rebelling.
This means that they are working to a new plan, with a new schedule, a new budget, and some new risks as well. Here are the four levels of change management and risk management to deal with these situations: Add to the scope. If, when companies evaluate a change request, they decide to add to project scope, they’re adding time, cost, and risk. If it is essential so that project results actually add value, then they do it. If it is very beneficial and early enough in he project to make the change, then they might do it. But, in either case, it is equivalent to changing the destination on their sailing trip.
Drop something from the scope. Sometimes they run into trouble – either a big risk event or Just a discovery that work can’t go as fast as they’d hoped. Then they can’t deliver everything on time and within the budget. If they cannot delay delivery and get more money, then they should intentionally drop some part of our scope. Add more time and/or money. If they run into trouble??either with a big risk event or with the discovery that their Lana left something out or Just estimated over-optimistically, they may be able to meet our original project goals by spending more time and/or increasing their budget.
Reevaluate the plan. Sometimes, major changes to the company or project or a realization that something was wrong at the start force them to reevaluate the whole project plan. They might be considering project cancellation or they might Just be saying, “They’ve got to figure out what’s wrong here and fix it. ” This is called a project review. 13. Managing Scope Creep In project change management, each change requires good Judgment. Therefore, it is essential to write down the change request and take it through a process of research, decision, communication, and – if the change is accepted – updating the plan.
In addition, companies should manage the entire load of change with good communication, planning, and finally education to prevent scope creep. Preventing Scope Creep and set up a clear project life cycle with stages and gates. Let people know that creative ideas are encouraged during the planning and preparation stage. Be sure to do walk-through and risk assessment meetings so that features, quality, value, and risks are all addressed in planning. Also, investigate the initial situation as thoroughly as companies can. Then make a list of their assumptions and check them.
If companies do all of this, there will be very few surprises and very few reasons for change. 14. Time & Cost Management Time management in project doing stage This part is quite related to how companies finally manage their workers inside the company so as to make time efficient. So, the key to make success in managing them has to do with the employees who need to be motivated and focused. And here are some consideration that companies should notice in managing them. ) Interruptions or conflicting priorities. When people get interrupted, they work only one-third as fast as if they are not interrupted.
Also, they may be given contradictory priorities between the project and other work or may feel that there is a conflict. Work to clear time and clarify priorities. 2) The need for a can-do attitude. A can-do attitude, also called a proactive approach, is essential for project work. Because projects are unique, they bring up new challenges and demand creative thinking. Support this in your team. If any team members are more “l Just do my Job,” focus on avian them understand that there is no excuse for missing a deadline.
If work gets stuck, then there is a reason, and team members should come to you and bring the problems, so you can get the work unstuck and they can meet their goals. 3) Overestimation of speed or ability. The plan may simply have had an over-optimistic estimate. Rather than continuing to accept a small, cumulative delay each week, ask what you’ve learned about how much work can be done and revise the plan so that it is realistic. Cost management in project doing stage Simply tracking expenses is an important first step.
There are four other things companies can do to keep costs under management and also reduce hassle. 1) Do clear procurement in writing. Even for small items and short, inexpensive sub- contractor Jobs, write a letter of agreement saying what will be done/ 2) Keep up to date with vendors. Agree on schedules for billing and work with vendors. 3) Keep organized electronic and paper files. 4) Price shop and negotiate for discounts 15. Quality Management These days, companies have emphasized that focusing on quality from the beginning actually lowers project cost while improving the quality of results and allows them to