Project planning is the process of identifying all the activities necessary to successfully complete the project. Project scheduling is the process of determining the sequential order of the planned activities, assigning realistic duration’s to each activity, and determining the start and finish dates for each activity. Thus, project planning is a prerequisite to project scheduling because there is no way to determine the sequence or start and finish dates of activities until they are identified. Techniques for Project Planning and Scheduling The technique used for project planning and scheduling will vary depending upon the project’s size, complexity, duration, personnel, and owner requirements. The project manager must choose a scheduling technique that is simple to use and is easily interpreted by all project participants. There are two methods that are commonly used in project management for the purpose of project planning and scheduling: the bar chart (sometimes Continue reading
Project Management Concepts
Project Management Knowledge Areas
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project objectives. Managing a project includes: Identifying requirements Establishing clear and achievable objectives Balancing the competing demands for quality, scope, time and cost Adapting the specifications, plans, and approach to the different concerns and expectations of the various stakeholders. Project managers often talk of a ‘triple constraint’ – project scope, time and cost – in managing competing project requirements. Project quality is affected by balancing these three factors. High quality projects deliver the required product, service or result within scope, on time, and within budget. The relationship among these factors is such that if any one of the three Continue reading
Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model
Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) funding model of project financing involves a single organization, or consortium (BOOT provider) who designs, builds, funds, owns and operates the project for a defined period of time and then transfers this projects ownership across to a agreed party. BOOT projects are a way for governments to bundle together the design and construction, finance, operations and maintenance and potentially marketing and customer interface aspects of a project and let these as a package to a single private sector service provider. The asset is transferred back to the government after the concession period at little or no cost. The Components of Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model: Build: The concession grants the promoter the right to design, construct, and finance the project. A construction contract will be required between the promoter and a contractor. The contract is often among the most difficult to negotiate in Continue reading
Project Monitoring and Control
Any project aimed at delivering a product or a service has to go through phases in a planned manner in order to meet the requirements. It is very important to measure the performance of the current status of the project at anytime against its planned version. This helps to tackle any unexpected deviation in time, efforts and cost. It is possible to work according to the project plan only by careful and close monitoring of the project progress. It requires establishing control factors to keep the project on the track of progress. The results of any stage in a project, depends on the inputs to that stage. It is therefore necessary to control all the inputs and the corresponding outputs from a stage. This is achieved through devising proper controls for every stage. A project manager may use certain standard tools to keep the project on track. The project manager Continue reading
Steps in Project Risk Management Process
Project risk management as simple as it may seem and less regarded by many is a key component for a better project plan, time management, cost estimation and project scheduling. Project risk management is a term that encompasses and involves all processes concerned with identification, analyzing and response to project risk. It also consists of maximizing the results of likely positive events and minimization of the impacts of negative events. An effective project execution is also achieved through inclusion of risk management at all stages of the project starting from the planning, to implementation and finally execution. Experts have stated that a proper and strong project risk management process can reduce project problems by as much as 75 – 90%, combining it with concrete project management plans, defining a proper scope, managing change and communication, a good project risk management helps in reducing and eliminating surprises and unexpected project risks. Continue reading
Concept of Feasibility Study in Project Management
A feasibility study is an important tool for decision-making in project management. Accurate and adequate information about the project like technology, location, production capacity, demand, and impact on existing operations, cost and benefits to the company, time span for execution, resources needed should be included in the report. Alternatives if any should also be suggested. Feasibility Study in Project Management can be defined as: “A tool for transforming the initial project- A tool for transforming the initial project-idea into a idea into a specific hypothesis of intervention, through the identification, the specification and the comparison of two or more alternatives directed to achieve the defined objectives, by producing a set of information helping the Project manager to take the final decision” Market research or demand analysis, technical viability studies, financial or commercial feasibility studies are other wise known as functional or support studies to aid the decision-making. A preliminary feasibility Continue reading