Importance of Project Management

Ms.Supriya A. Shegdar, Mail: sashegdar@coe.sveri.ac.in Assistant Professor, SVERI’s College of Engineering, Pandharpur

What is project management?

Project Management is the train engine that moves the organization forward. Project Management contains five stages initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team. If project is developed using these five stages we can achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time.

Projects are specific operations that are conducted to meet specific goals. Any kind of application we call it as a project like HRM, ERP system, Web site development, any kind of Mobile App etc. to develop all kinds of application a project requires staff/ employees , who are responsible for different aspects of the delivery, we must decide start & end date of project, tentative cost required to develop project. While developing a project we need to manage all these things. Project Manager is the person who manages all these things.A project manager is staffed to all kinds of projects to ensure that the team delivers the project on time, under budget, and meeting its stated goals.

Why do we use project management?

To put things into perspective, project management is essentially about delivering an output(s) that will affect some change for the benefit of the organization. And, to know more why is project management important,following are the 7 key points about importance of project.

1. Clear focus and objectives

2. Realistic project planning

3. Maximum resource utilization

4. Risk management

5. Quality control

6. Managing and Learning from Success and Failure

7. Strategic Alignment

 Benefits of Project Management

• Understanding various objectives and project deliverables
• Satisfying needs of the project’s stakeholders
• Effective use of project resources
• Better Efficiency in Delivering Services
• Improved / Increased / Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
• Enhanced Effectiveness in Delivering Services
• Increased Risk Assessment
• Increase in Quality:

Phases of Project Management

1. Project Initiation

It is the first phase of Project life cycle. The value & feasibility of the project is determined. Before we can execute or even plan a project we have to show that there is need for it and that will give organization a return on its investment by creating a business case document & performing feasibility study. Feasibility study tells that whether a project is technically, legally corrects to develop and also evaluates the cost to determine if the project should be executed. It balances the requirements of the project with available resources to see if pursuing the project makes sense.

Figure 1: Phases of Project Management

• Project Definition & Planning

Once the project is accepted or receives the green signal, it needs a plan to guide the team, as well as keep them on time and on budget. A Project plan is a key to project management. Well-written project plan gives guidance for obtaining resources, acquiring financing and procuring required materials. The project plan gives the team direction for producing quality outputs, handling risk, creating acceptance, communicating benefits to stakeholders and managing suppliers. Following Project Management document will create at this phase:

• Scope Statement – A document that clearly defines the business need, benefits of the project, objectives, deliverables, and key milestones.
• Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) –This is a visual representation that breaks down the scope of the project into manageable sections for the team.
• Milestones – Identify high-level goals that need to be met throughout the project and include them in the Gantt chart.
• Gantt chart – A visual timeline that you can use to plan out tasks and visualize your project timeline.
• Communication Plan – This is of particular importance if your project involves outside stakeholders. Develop the proper messaging around the project and create a schedule of when to communicate with team members based on deliverables and milestones.
• Risk Management Plan – Identify all risks. Common risks include unrealistic time and cost estimates, customer review cycle, budget cuts, changing requirements, and lack of committed resources.
• Project Execution

This is the phase where deliverables are developed and completed. This phase is contains detailed process of executing the Plan. For this we have tofollow the plan that we have created, assign the tasks to team members and manage and monitor their progress with project management tools, like a project dashboard.

• Project Monitor & Control

Monitoring and control are sometimes combined with execution because they often occur at the same time. As teams execute their project plan, they must constantly monitor their own progress.In this we can measure project progress and performance and ensuring that everything happening aligns with the project management plan. Project managers will use key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine if the project is on track.

• Project Close

The project isn’t over once the project goals and objectives have been met. The last phase of the project is closing it out.Teams close a project when they deliver the finished project to the customer, communicating completion to stakeholders and releasing resources to other projects. This step in the project lifecycle allows the team to evaluate and document the project and move on the next one, using previous project mistakes and successes to build stronger processes and more successful teams.

References

1. https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-project-management.php

2. https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/demystifying-5-phases-project-management

3.https://www.villanovau.com/resources/project-management/5-phases-project-management-lifecycle/

4. https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/5-crucial-project-management-phases