Business and Project Management

Project management is a part of every business and is required for its smooth functioning and the success of projects leads to capital formation. The real question is what is project management? Project management is way of organizing and managing resources for the successful completion of a project. Project management includes several activities like project management tools, project management plans, project management life cycle, quality project, quality assurance, project quality control, project risks and risk management plan, project scheduling software, define strategic planning, team management, business idea presentation (how well you present the business idea) and exit strategy in case your project becomes unfeasible. Feasibility definition says that if it is not doable then don't do it. In other words, if the quality of project fails, then stop the project and for this purpose project management needs an exit strategy.

Every project has its life cycle and project management needs to look after the development stages of a project. The following are the project phases:

Initiation Phase

This is the beginning phase of a project whereby the feasibility aspect of the project is taken into account. Based on the analysis of feasibility, a risk analysis report and the return on investment report are prepared. We can briefly outline the initiation process as:

i) Detailed study of the project

ii) Feasibility analysis

iii) Reliability analysis

iv) Risk analysis report

Project Planning Phase

In planning phase, the project plan is developed. Considering the definition of investment, definition of quality and definition of assurance, a small prototype or a test plan is prepared for testing purposes. When satisfied the project is finally developed and put out for execution.

Project Execution

Execution phase involves managing resources and people, usually the project team for successful project management.

Monitoring the project

Project monitoring involves measuring the performance of the project, cost, output, factors affecting the project (usually environmental) and other factors. Monitoring also includes maintenance of the project which is a continuous job and goes on until the objective is achieved.

Closure (project closure)

Project termination may occur due to two reasons:

a) Project failed due to wrong analysis of the project, or

b) Project failed because work was not carried out according to the workplan.

Project management is thus a critical process that must be highly flexible for the survival of the project. A critical path method PERT, Gantt chart, etc. should be used as a tool of project management. Let us now look at the project management tips, to ensure successful project management.

1. Plan the project carefully and evaluate all the possible factors responsible for success and failure of the project.

2. In order to train your project team, try to use a real world project rather than using a prototype. Trainees should be allowed to watch while the experts carry out the real project.

3. Your project goal statement must be clear and precise rather than a goal statement that gives different meanings to different people. In other words, the scope of your goal should be limited. The goal should be measurable and realistic.

4. A project manager should be flexible enough to deal with the changes that were not thought of earlier.

5. Finally, for the success of project, proper coordination and flexibility is the key criteria along with proper analysis. Building and planning to build the plan are two different things.

Thus, correct project management is necessary for the success of a business and without it no business can thrive.