Project management is a set of methodologies for planning and directing the processes of a project. A project comprises a specific cluster of operations designed to achieve a goal with an established scope, resources, start, and end. The objectives of project management are:
- Manage the start and evolution of a project;
- Control and respond to problems that arise during a project;
- Facilitate the completion and approval of the project.
- Projects are independent of daily business activity, so a series of meetings are required to be organized to see what the specific objectives of the project are. For the project to be successful, efficient teamwork is essential. How project management will direct work depends on several factors, including scalability (the possibility of the project growing), the importance, and complexity of the tasks.
Project management is essentially aimed at achieving pre-set goals to provide a benefit to the organization. Objectives can be expressed in terms of: results (such as the creation of a new headquarters); consequences (such as relocation of employees to new headquarters); benefits (reduction of costs of food checks, maintenance of machines or facilities) or strategic objectives (such as doubling corporate performance in three years).
There are many restrictions when developing a project. However, the three most common are time, cost, and scope. These constraints are part of all projects and together form the Project Management Triangle. Scope is important for specifying all project development steps. Moreover, time is an invaluable resource. While we can control processes, we can't control time. So it is a real challenge to be able to use time efficiently, keep the project on schedule and achieve the desired objectives. However, the cost is made up of a budget established at the initial stage of the project. This is then compared to the figure that was initially proposed. The three constraints are interconnected and highly dependent on one another. Once the time allotted for the project is reduced, the cost increases. In addition, the scope of the project dictates the pace and a number of resources needed to successfully realize and complete the project.
The ISO standard that sets standards for project management and management is ISO 21500. The main objective of this regulation is to give guidance to organizations in their management. It describes the different concepts and processes within a company to stabilize and systematize tasks, as well as the homogenization of activities. That is, it pretends that the result of a process is the same regardless of the person who performs it. The structure of ISO 21500 continues with the guidelines of the PMBOK, one of the certificates of the Project Management Institute (PMI).
"Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the engine of the train that takes the organization forward." – Joy Gumz, ICT specialist working for ISAO Standards Organization and NASA Appel.
The 5 phases of project management
The PMI is an organization that offers project management training. To accredit project management knowledge, this organization has eight types of certificates. The PMI divides the projects into 5 phases:
1. Feasibility study
It is the first phase of a project and is based on analyzing whether it goes ahead. This step is done because often the benefit the company would get from implementing the project is greater than the investment. To investigate the possibilities of the project, factors such as time, resources and cost must be taken into account. The feasibility study of the project should include:
- Creation of the project trail in enterprise software;
- Previous analysis of the scope of the project (it is proposed what scope the project should have, what methodology will be carried out, which departments should be involved, etc.);
- Analysis of project implementation risks;
- Analysis of the expected benefit and cost,the viability of the agreed deadlines and the quality that is intended.
- If the balance of the feasibility analysis is positive, the second phase can be proceeded.
2. Detailed planning of the work to be done
The objective of this phase is to detail all those tasks to be performed and the necessary resources. If not clearly defined, this can have a (very) negative impact on the company. To set these tasks and resources with the greatest precision you must:
- Review the analysis of the scope of the project;
- Make estimates of effort, costs and resources;
- Define the project plan.
- If the project goes ahead, all this information should be drafted in the terms of the agreement.
3. Project execution
During this phase, companies deploy all their know-how. Know-how is the set of techniques, ways of managing resources and managing processes. Some project management software allows you to automatically create a report. At this stage, problems usually arise. The actions that are carried out during this stage are those of:
- Set the work environment (groups and workflows));
- Assign scheduled tasks to available resources;
- Execute scheduled tasks;
- Manage change requests.
4. Monitoring and control of work
This phase, along with the previous one, is one of the most important for the project. At this stage it is checked if all the planning is being fulfilled and if all quality expectations are being exceeded. In this way you can respond quickly and efficiently to problems that arise. With a project management module you can keep up-to-date track of processes, including progress, times and costs. In this phase, essentially four types of activities are carried out:
- Follow-up of planned tasks and milestones;
- Management of deliverables (including quality control);
- Management of incidents that have arisen and that may arise during the process (such as, for example, that a workflow is not well related or connected);
- Generation of follow-up reports (reports for project managers or managers informing about whether the project is going as planned).
5. Closure of the project
This last phase consists of evaluating and verifying that everything is as it should be before closing the project. The failure analysis of the project will make more realistic and safe decisions in the future. To carry out this evaluation, a checklist is usually used. The tasks of this stage are:
Formal closure of the project by all stakeholders;
Realization of the backup (backup) ofthe project;
Analysis of the results with respect to the initial estimates;
Updating the knowledge base with everything learned.
What are the most commonly used methodologies in project management?
Within all the different methodologies that exist to carry out a project, six different categories can be established. These categories are: the traditional sequential methodology, PMI/PMBOK; Agile; change management; process-based; and, other methodologies.
The traditional sequential methodology
Traditional methodologies are based on sequential stages in which one phase has to be completed before moving on to the next. This gives rise to documents that allow to verify the correct development and completion of each phase. This type of development has the advantage that it allows a control of each phase by all those responsible and their superiors. However, this causes the projects to be very 'static', that is, if you need to change anything within the project, you have to go back to the beginning, and start again almost from scratch. The best-known methodologies within this category are those of Waterfall, Critical Path Method (CPM)and Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM).
PMI/PMBOK
This category is composed of the methodology established by the Project Management Institute. It follows the five phases of project management described in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). However, there are many project managers who deny that this is a methodology, but a series of guidelines and conventions for directing projects.
Agile
The Agile category is so called since it is composed of the methodology of the same name, and from it other methodologies emerged: Scrum,Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP) and Adaptive Project Framework (APF). In the Agile Manifesto, some elements are valued above others:
- Workers and interactions about processes and tools;
- A functional software on a general documentation;
- A collaboration with the client on the negotiation of a contract;
- The ability to respond about the ability to follow a set plan.
Change management
There are methodologies that deal with project management, but focusing on change management, especially risk planning and taking control of change when it occurs. The best-known methods are: Event Chain Methodology,whose underlying idea is that there are potential risks that are often outside the scope of the project; and, Extreme Project Management,being the opposite of Waterfall, as it offers you a way to manage massive change and move towards project completion.
Process-based methodologies
In this category, the methodologies are directed towards the areas of Business Process Management(BPM), where each method focuses on work as a set of processes. The methodologies within this category are: Lean manufacturing (focused on simplifying and reducing waste); Six Sigma (based on statistics to improve the quality of a process by measuring the defects or errors present and reducing it until it is as close as possible to zero); Lean Six Sigma (combines lean's minimalist approach – "no waste" and "zero defect" Six Sigma quality improvement); and Process-Based Project Management (aligns all project objectives with a company's mission and corporate values).
Other methodologies
In this category are those methodologies that, although important, do not fit within the previous categories. These methodologies are: PRINCE2 and PRISM. The first, PRINCE2 (Projects In Controlled Environments) manages projects and is characterized by a product-based planning approach. The PRISM (Projects Integrating Sustainable Methods) methodology aims to manage change while incorporating environmental sustainability into its processes.
Costs of a project management system
The project management system is usually found as a module within the ERP or even as a specialized stand-alone module. A standalone project management system can be integrated with ERP software and automatically compare the project estimate with the data obtained from the ERP.
The cost depends on several factors: the licenses,the hosting, the amount of functionalities, the provider, and even is distributed differently depending on whether it is purchased or if it is "rented" (with the software as a service model, SaaS). Another factor that influences the price of a software would be the size of the company and its specific characteristics. During negotiations with the provider it is very important to draft a Service Level Agreement (SNA) to see what conditions, price and duration are established and which services of the provider have to be paid separately.
Another thing that the company has to take into account is the number of licenses and the number of full users and limited users that it will have, and analyze to what extent the authorization of each user will have scope.
An important decision that the company has to make is whether the solution will be hosted on-premises,in the cloud or on a hybrid. Some companies have sensitive data and feel more secure storing their data on-premises, even if this means a greater initial outlay than if it is done as a SaaS type. The cloud also offers security,however, some companies have some doubts due to the uncertainty of losing control of their data or for example, having to make sure that their provider complies with all legal aspects.
The functionalities also represent a good part of the cost of implementing this system. To reduce expenses,you have to take into account what functionalities are the ones you really require. For example, a company may need a quality management tool, but it does not require the system to be available in multiple languages or for different currencies.
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