An overview of Project Management

Planning the Work in Project Management

Planning is central to project management. The goal, strategy, and damage control measures need to be identified first before a project can proceed. The plan should take a lot of factors including consideration including the cost of the project, deadlines, milestones, and who the team members will be. It is also important to set up mitigating measures to control risks and other potential problems once the project starts.

The importance of proper planning in project management cannot be stressed enough. Simple things can go wrong and this can cause an entire operation to collapse. Three deliverables should always be in mind. These are the (1) Project Definition, (2) Project Plan, and (3) Procedure.

Project Definition

When a project is exciting, it is difficult not to get to work immediately. Most people would just jump right in to get started. But while enthusiasm is a good thing, the failure to properly plan ahead isn’t. It can result to increased cost, missed deadlines, and lower quality. A lot of mistakes and corrections may be committed along the way as well.

Having a good Project Definition can help you avoid most of these problems. It sets the groundwork of the work to be performed for successful completion. Among the things it tackles include the objective, scopes, assumptions, risks, approach, and initial estimate of the project.

Project Plan

Once the first step is completed, the next step is to come up with a step-by-step guide on project deliverables, milestones, and how the project should be handled. If there is a prior work plan that has been used previously on a similar undertaking, this can be used as a guide. Otherwise, it is important to build one from scratch using a network diagram and breakdown-structure.

The task involves allocating manpower, time, and resources to different members of the team. Make sure that any issues or objections are raised at this point so that uncertainties are tackled early on. Everyone should feel comfortable with the tasks assigned. This will enable the project to progress as smoothly as possible.

Procedures

The last step is about procedures. It outlines how teams deal with changes, analyse risks, communicate with one another, and ensure quality. Most of the responsibility falls on the project manager in this case but the role of individual team members should not be overlooked. The project manager should make sure that each person involved understands how the tasks will be managed. Everyone should follow accordingly.