Strategy in project management
Discuss about the Identify Contextual Element Of Project Management.
In this report project management has been discussed and linked with the operations functions of organisations. The importance of strategy in project management has been evaluated in the report. The several components that are required for the effective execution of project management and the importance of projects in several organisations as par the managers of the organisation.
It is important to understand the concept of project to understand the function of project management. Project is an undertaking of a multi faceted task which can be done in a limited period of time. The project management is the activities that are associated with ensuring that the needs of the projects are being met efficiently. The key aspects that are to be dealt with in a project management are the factors like time, cost and optimised use of resources. There is an increased need of undertaking projects as there are more and more sectors that are undertaking work in terms of project (Lavingia 2006). The infrastructure sector has been conducting majority of its works through projects, and once the project was over it continued on efficient management. The project can be different in terms of size and scope. An example of a small project is a school or college assignment that is to be done by the student. The scope is small, the skill set required is also limited and a single person is to be allotted to get the work done. An example of a large project is a construction of a pipeline for oil extraction conducted by an organisation. There are more than one type of skill that is required in undertaking a project of such magnitude and scope. The work has to be divided in several teams like the engineering sector, the finance sector, the labours etc. But no matter the size and scope of the project there are few things that are common that is investment of time, labour and planning.
There is a significant need of development of strategy to execute a project. Strategy formulation or strategy development is one of the significant steps in conducting a project. Without the formulation of strategy it is not possible for a project to move forward. The strategy is the plan of how the project is going to be conducted by an organisation. It involves information regarding the allocation of task to each of the departments and individual and it also provides each of the individual with a certain period of time in which the work has to be done. These strategies involve all kind of calculations regarding the ability of each of the resources in fulfilling the aim of the project (Ives 2005). Each of the resource is thus divided with a certain amount of function. It is important to formulate strategy and equally important to ensure that the strategy is implemented by the organisation. Strategy formation and implementation are the two pillars of conducting a project.
Effectiveness of project management
It is important for an organisation to succeed in a project because a failure in a project conducted by an organisation can have several negative repercussions. The failure of a project not only causes financial loss it can also break the confidence of the people involved in conducting the project.
One of the chief functions of effective project management is the fact that it is going to generate proper return on capital employed. The ROCE is the method in which a company measures the capital efficiency. A budget is considered as successful when a project is done in scheduled time and using the allocated resources. There are 5 key steps that can lead to an effective project management.
PMBOK: first aspect of project management is the development of a common source of language for the projects to ensure that it can harness the knowledge from a common source. The PMBOK is the project management body of knowledge which takes care of 9 key fields of knowledge like integration, time, scope, quality, cost, communication, human resource, procurement and risk. This provides with the necessary knowledge that is required to conduct a project efficiently (Van Os et al. 2010). This can be consulted by an organisation to conduct a project efficiently.
Project planning and execution: the second aspect that has to be dealt by an organisation in project management is the development of the project plan and its execution. The accuracy in the development of the plan is an important aspect that has to be ensured. The project planning has to be highly systematic to make sure that it is successful. The project development and execution process or PDEP is a technique that is followed in ensuring the success of a project. The steps that are followed under the PDEP involved the identification of the opportunity, selection of various alternatives, ensuring the funding, execution and evaluation. It is important for a project development and planning to have contingency plan for the success of the project.
Best practices: it is important to increase the value in effective project management. If proper arrangements are done to increase the value of the project it is more likely that the project is going to be successful. Best practices interfere in factors like ensuring the optimized use of the cost, developing proper schedule, performance of the project and taking care of the safety aspect of the project management. The proper risk analysis is one of the important aspects of best practices in project management. The decisions in best practices are taken by conducting several internal and external analyses if conducting the project. Some of the tools that are used to make these analysis involves SWOT analysis, decision hierarchy etc. Project execution planning is also done under the best practices of project management. The best practices also involve post project assessment of the project success as well.
PMBOK
Cost management: the Total Cost Management is also an important component in ensuring the success of a project. There are also several components of cost management as well. First it is important to properly analyse the project economy like the net present value, rate of return etc. The second is the making proper cost estimation a lot of the success and feasibility of a project is dependent on proper cost estimation. Interdependencies of the expenses involved in the project planning have to be managed judiciously to make sure that the project is undertaken successfully. The benchmarking has to be used in the execution of the project to make sure that it doesn’t conduct blunders that has been done in the past. The method of the procurement of the raw materials or resources that are required to undertake the project comprises an important part in the execution of the project. This is a key area of expense and hence is a key component in cost management of the project. The performance has to be measured to make sure that the project is able generate its own benchmarking especially in terms of expenses. Forecasting is a technique that is made before undertaking any project this is done to measure the possible expenses that can be required even before the start of the project. This is done by linking the work breakdown structure with it. This serves as a first guideline in conducting of the project (Slevin and Pinto 1986). The cost management has to be concluded by reporting the progress and proper auditing to ensure that developments has been noted and accounting standards has been followed. No financial corruption has impacted the success of the project has to be ensured as well.
Training: the fifth and the last step is the training. In the first step the PMBOK has been mentioned the undergoing of successful project contributes to the cumulative knowledge in the PMBOK. The modern day work environment is a continuous process of improvement and thus training forms an integral part of an effective project management.
Research conducted on modern organisations regarding project management in those organisation has suggested that each organisation undertakes a certain amount of project each year which is anywhere between 2 to 20 as reported by the managers of the organisation. So it can be considered that it has become an important component in conducting project. Majority of the workers in organisations believe that the organisation encourages the employees of the organisation in conducting projects. 56 per cent of employees believe that they are being encouraged in conducting projects. Again 62 per cent of the employees of different organisations opines that the there are trained professionals in their organisation who are engaged in the process of project management. Not only had that 75 per cent of the managers in an organisation claim that they have been personally engaged in a project themselves (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). The motivation method that is applied by the organisation is mentioned to be perfect by the 53 per cent of employees of the organisation. So it can be said that more number of employees had claimed that there has been motivations provided to the employees of the organisation but lesser number of employees are satisfied with the motivation that is provided by the organisations. Though the difference is a meagre 3 per cent, there are several reasons that has been attributed by the managers as the cause for undertaking projects by an organisation majority of them has claimed that the necessity of undertaking the project has been the key reason for the projects that are conducted by organisations, 26 per cent has claimed that the projects are undertaken to grab the opportunity, 19 per cent believe that the management of the organisation is the reason for the generating or projects by the organisations and lastly some of the employees have also claimed that legislations is the primary reason as to why project is undertaken by an organisation. The time required for the project detailing activity is done before the start of the project as par 83 per cent of the employees of organisation. There are negligible portions that claim that some has done during project implementation, lesser amount of the employees has claimed after the starting of the project and a very least number of people have claimed that it has been done after the finalization of the project. There are different techniques that are used by the organisations to undertake projects most popular among them is the cost effect diagram technique (Turner 2008). Lack of financial resources has been claimed to be the key reason for not using any specific method of project management within an organisation by the managers.
I am an employee of Adnoc gas processing company in Abu Dhabi. My organisation is engaged in processing of gas. This kind of organisation often enough engage in projects some of them are regarding development of infrastructure and others are regarding change in operations of the organisation (ADNOC 2018). I have observed that project management is required in both the cases. The operations are key function of organisations that are engaged in primary activities and such organisations if have to undergo any change may it in term of implementation of technology, change the existing operation pattern for higher efficiency or undertaking a new venture projects are inevitable. Thus it is important to understand the method of project management in an organisation.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that the projects are integral part of most of the organisations and hence it is of great importance that it is doesn’t in the most effective manner. There are several factors that ensure the effectiveness of the project management which can be seen in the 5 steps of undergoing project. Lastly strategy is a key part in project management.
Reference List
ADNOC (2018) ADNOC Gas Processing. [Online] Available at: https://adnoc.ae/adnoc-gas-processing (accessed 12/ 05/ 18).
Ives, M., 2005, March. Identifying the contextual elements of project management within organizations and their impact on project success. Project Management Institute.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Lavingia, N.J., 2006. How to create a world class project management organization. AACE International Transactions, p.PM11.
Slevin, D.P. and Pinto, J.K., 1986. The project implementation profile. Project Management Journal, 17(4), pp.57-70.
Turner, J.R., 2008. Handbook of project-based management. McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing.
Van Os, M., Novick, G. and Herz, S., Apple Inc, 2010. Contextual voice commands. U.S. Patent Application 12/479,477.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
