Understanding project management and its success

‘Project management can be defined as planning, organizing, scheduling, leading, communicating, and controlling of work activities to achieve a predefined outcome, on time and within budget’ (Josler & Burger 2005). Project Management is basically the process of keeping a track of the accomplishments of the project (Munns & Bjeimi 1996).

In the past 30 years it has been observed that Project Management is conducive to the tough business world (Munns & Bjeimi 1996). Any given project is time bound, and to get satisfying result of the project, it has to be well managed and this is where the role or Project Manager comes in. The kind of Project Management and its importance depends on the complexity of the project (Saylor n.d.). The work of the Project Management is to provide a systematic road map which the workers have to follow in order to complete the task on time and in accordance with the Project Management plan (Josler & Burger 2005).

Traditional approach

There is a series of steps that is followed in the traditional method of Project Management (Wysocki 2010). The series of steps in the traditional method are:

1. Initiation – analyzing the project,  requirements of the project.
2. Planning and design – blueprint of a plan for the project.
3. Execution and construction – directing and implementing the blueprint of the plan.
4. Monitoring and controlling systems – evaluating  the activities of the executed plan.
5. Completion – finalizing the end of the project and winding up the project formally.

What factors add to the success of project management?

According to Leidecker & Bruno (1984) a project can turn out to be a great success if the manager can manage, maintain and stay consistent with the plan of execution.

For a productive Project Management the project manager or the team leader following the Project Management plan needs to have the following characteristics (Saylor n.d.):

1. Reliability.
2. Ability to find solutions of problems.
3. Must have patience.
4. Should have good communication skills.
5. Should have the technical know how.
6. Ability to manage the team very well.

The above mentioned characteristics, if possessed by a project manager then there will be a good chance that the project will be a success. There should not be a single worker who is not fit for the job (Munns & Bjeimi 1996). The worker must be whole heartedly dedicated towards the job, so that he can give his best and help the project to be a success. There must be a proper backing  by the top management too (Munns & Bjeimi 1996).

Project management in knowledge area

Project Management involves a lot of techniques for a successful project that the project manager must understand, he must also comprehend to all the knowledge areas (Saylor n.d.). The knowledge areas of Project Management are (Schwalbe 2008):

1. Project Integration Management
2. Project Scope Management
3. Project Time Management
4. Project Cost Management
5. Project Quality Management
6. Project Human Resource Management
7. Project Communication Management
8. Project Risk Management
9. Project Procurement Management

References

• Josler, C. & Burger, J., 2005. Project Management Methodology in Human Resource Management. College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, 56(2), pp.25–30. Available at: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~hrs/news/project_management.pdf [Accessed May 16, 2014].
• Leidecker, J.K. & Bruno, A. V., 1984. Identifying and using critical success factors. Long Range Planning, 17(1), pp.23–32. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0024630184901638 [Accessed May 16, 2014].
• Munns, A. & Bjeimi, B., 1996. The role of project management in achieving project success. International Journal of Project Management, 14(2), pp.82–87. Available at: https://notendur.hi.is/vio1/The_role_of_project_management_in_achieving_project_success.pdf [Accessed May 16, 2014].
• Saylor, Project Management: from simple to complex, Available at: http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Project Management – From Simple to Complex.pdf [Accessed May 16, 2014].
• Schwalbe, K., 2008. Introduction to Project Management, Second Edition, Cengage Learning. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=3Bvo1CVCsVoC&pgis=1 [Accessed May 16, 2014].
• Wysocki, R.K., 2010. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme, John Wiley & Sons. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Effective_Project_Management.html?id=6_O1wRpsNvMC&pgis=1 [Accessed May 16, 2014].