Project management
A project is a temporary endeavour having a specific start and finish and it produces a unique product or service. A project is an individual process with fixed objectives set by the sponsor of an ongoing activity. Project supports the life cycle of products and services of any company. As on a PRINCE2 Course Birmingham.
A project can be self created or guided by established processes and procedures provided they are developed and assisted by qualified project management.
The key steps and functions as a project manager are:
* The project initiation phase such as opening and closing the team dynamics.
* Communication, education, and effective handling of requests, such as meetings and communication. Establishing and maintaining effective rapport with team members and the discretion of the team to carry out the work.
* Planning and scheduling the work.
* Setup up project management tools to meet the specific needs of the team. Make sure these tools are maintained in order to maintain control, efficiency and sustainability of the project.
* Planning and managing the research process. Demonstrating the products viability and quality and achieving sufficient scope / dimension.
* Meeting team members to stand on the shoulders of our sponsor. This is especially essential for the project team as this often takes a lot of time and energy. Team members know the familiarity of working with sponsor and are motivated, involved and unequal to criticism.
* Valuable input to the sponsor on the team members and structure of the team. Coordinating the task to assigned team members, building communication, and factoring in contributions, etc.
* Assessing the results and getting the things in place to define the work.
* Keeping the project objective in front of the team while guiding them towards and away from the projects business.
* Managing the details often involved with a project, “keeping it in front of the business and selling it to the project. Get things done in a timely and efficient manner.
* Empowering team members with knowledge, skills, and confidence. Motivation, trust, risk, accountability, management buy in and requirements for their individual efforts.
* Measuring and controlling business results
* Measuring and controlling the project activities involved during the creation of the deliverables and closure of the project activities.
* Establishing a partnership with sponsors and stakeholders
In relation to that, the first key is education for all members of the team. Experience is fundamental for a project because of the “ctic” paced, dynamic environment in which things happen. HR, sponsors and stakeholders all have the expectation of their team members’ knowing more than one process or one detail of the job. Individually they are bound by their own understanding of the basis, meaning, and content of the fundamentals of their role.
If project sponsors are not willing to teach a team member more about the project they are sending the signal and getting a signal from the team that if they are not comfortable with the new project management processes they may not be committed to supporting the changes. My clients have been thrilled that team members have come to the ” realization” that they are empowered to move forward. They are asking the right questions. They are eager to learn what is needed to get them where they want to go.
There is no one answer to the question about when to initiate a project. You do have to make a decision about when a project starts, when to program it, when your sponsors and leaders have the commitment to demonstrate the value and competence to plan them, when to certify, and when to begin the workshop and justify to your boss. Make sure you recognize your own judgments about when to KNOW. If in doubt about these path markers be cognizant of them.
Remember, those individuals, who have the know-how, a skill set, and are skill set comfortable with change, will not only feel better about the decisions that they are faced with, and about their processes, but they will be doing faster, and producing better results.