How important is Project Management?

Normally projects have 5 processes:

1. Initiation
2. Planning
3. Execution
4. Monitoring and Control
5. Closure

Initiation

Any project will have this first phase, laying the foundation for the work. Here, the high-level planning will be done, allowing us to get the necessary approval and begin the project cycle. Necessary permission from the individuals or departments will be acquired to provide directions for the project work.

Planning

Based on the initiation documents and roadmap gathered here, more detailed work will be done. A project usually has various sections, such as Human resources, Scope, schedule, cost, Quality, Communication risk, procurement, and stakeholder management. Here, individual management plans will be created in more specific functions relating to the industry type and domain. Different departments/persons will create individual plans, which will be signed off before proceeding to the next phase. In our building construction example following factors should be considered:

Human resources: The number of workers and senior designers will be counted. Also, if any Third party or vendor is involved in the project, he will be counted as part of it.

Scope: Here, we want to limit the features that the project team will undertake. We define the features or tasks that could derail the project in the future. We write down the plans and take signoff from the stakeholders.

Schedule: The defined timeline in the initiation phase outlines how we will achieve the same. Here, we want to limit the features that the project team will undertake. We define the features or tasks that could derail the project in the future. We write down the plans and take signoff from the stakeholders.

Cost: How will we handle the finance part of the project? Once the project starts and an activity or person is added or removed, how will we handle the scenario?

Quality: It is subjective, as per the domain requirements. In our example, civic permission will be acquired based on the work to match the compliance factor. All the compliance points need to be planned and followed.

Communication: how verbal and written communication will be followed and how to handle the distortion of the message or communication channels.

Risk: Any unplanned activity or failure in the execution phase becomes risky. Various management plans need to be created to handle the blindspots that could occur during the work.

Procurement: If we want to acquire construction vehicles, instruments, or professionals, how will we achieve the same?

Stakeholders: are the people who oversee and try to improve the project activities every day. They make small or big decisions, which are taken by respective internal or external stakeholders.

Execution

The plans created in the planning phase will be used to complete the work. In the case of a building, every plan document will be used for the physical construction of the building. Various departments in the building will require an elaborate plan document, such as the Electrical plan, Construction plan, IT and Networking plan, Risk management plan, and others. If any change occurs, we will require permission from the respective team to implement it. Based on this requirement, a change management board will be created to approve or disapprove any change requested by the respective team.

Monitoring and Control

The project manager or Project management team overseeing the project activities will be involved in capturing the activity’s status. Daily reports will be generated for different departments. Based on the report values, future changes can be planned or improved. Based on the daily status changes in the building, plans could be updated/changed irrespective of the departments. If we can monitor the project’s daily report, we could also change activities, which would help complete the project. When we think about control, we need to know that we cannot control the activity we cannot measure. For effective stakeholder management and communication, daily reports need to be generated. The daily activity will provide data to help us create Work performance information(WPI). From WPI, we will create a work performance report showing us details about the activities ongoing/completed.

Closing:

We reach a project closure phase when we achieve the goal in the management plan or a phase. All documentation needs to be handled and stored for future viewing and improvement. Unless all the work is documented, we cannot go ahead with the closure of the project. There is also the possibility of the project getting terminated. Even in that case, documentation needs to be done to highlight the completed activities or plans. This will help in future activities where historical information needs to be referred to for future projects. In our building example, once the project is completed, it goes to the operation or maintenance phase, where daily activities are performed to keep the building operational. If the maintenance team encounters any problems, they can refer to the project plans, highlighting the plan based on which the building was constructed.