Project management is a broad based discipline that encompasses the functions of organizing, controlling, motivating and planning for resources so as to accomplish some predetermined objectives. Project management was developed in order to save time and resources used by a project through proper planning. Project management endeavors to achieve the project objectives given the constraints of time, budget and allocation of the available resources. The project lifecycle stipulates the activities that must be performed in order to achieve the project goals. Conversely, the project lifecycle management describes how the project will be managed. The project manager is thus tasked with the role of aligning the project activities to the proposed project lifecycle. This involves the help of some vital principles of project life cycle management. Project management is also deemed to have great benefits in the accomplishment of the project objectives. The hypothesis of this study will be to identify the significant principles of project management and how project management can be utilized to achieve the organizational goals. Furthermore, the study will also focus on the importance of leadership and sponsorship in project management. The project in study is an information technology (IT) project in which I participated in the project team.
Over a long time IT projects have been seen to create a lot of challenges in many organizations and thus the need of incorporating to a large extend the important principles of project management. The project life cycle management involves a set of activities which the project manager foresees. To begin with, the first phase of the life cycle involves initiating the idea to be developed. In this step, the project manager develops a quick summary of the project and presents it to the entire project team. The project team undergoes through the drafted idea to ascertain if it’s worth spending resources on the idea. If the idea is seen as a viable choice then the project team deems it as a proposal. Thereafter, the project manager is tasked with the role of gathering the necessary requirements of initiating the proposal. Consequently, the manager provides a detailed version of the proposal and the project team charters it as the project to be undertaken. The next step of the project cycle is the planning process. In this step the project manager develops schedules and plans which will aid the project implementation. The last activity in this step involves the acquisition of resources required.
The project manager then engages the project team in steering the project into practice. The third step which is the most vital involves the execution of the project. The first activity here consists of analysis, design and development of the project. Here, the project manager converts the organizational requirements into actionable items. Accordingly, the manager also designs and develops the planned result of the project. The second activity here involves testing the expected results against the organizational requirements of the project. The manager also verifies the deployment of resources for the project. Lastly, the manager is engaged in the transition of the project into the organizational operations. The fourth step of the project life cycle involves the process of monitoring and control. In this part the manager is task with managing the project resources and ensuring that they are utilized efficiently. It is also in this step that the manager can decide on a change of the management which is carrying out the project. The manager can make changes where he or she feels there is underperformance so as to enhance the success of the project. Risk management regarding the project is also undertaken by the project manager in this step.
The manager also engages the stakeholders and sponsors of the project in this step. This is done so as to brief the stakeholders on the progress of the project. The final step of the project life cycle is the closing of the project. The project manager receives an official approval from the organization to end the project. Thereafter, the manager is tasked with the process of making a transition of the project results to the set owner. This is followed by a detailed report of the lessons learnt from the development of the project. This is vital for the owner so as to apply the lessons learnt in bettering the performance of the project. Project management has several benefits in ensuring that the project life cycle is carried out successfully. Generally, project management helps to save time and resources used in the project. This is enabled through the proper planning which is brought about by project management. It also helps the project manager to be organized and specific without losing the purpose of the project. Thus, this is beneficial in improving the productivity and efficiency of the project. Another benefit of project management is that it helps to identify and manage risks which might be experienced in the course of the project.
Project management also improves the possibilities of accomplishing the expected project results. It is also believed that project management helps the organization to save on costs of carrying out the project. However, in IT projects there have been some distinct approaches which are accrued from project management and they are beneficial to the organization. The first approach is that it helps in the assessment of the organization’s current software development. Therefore, the project manager embarks on developing a program that would move the organization to a higher level of software development. The second approach helps the organization to focus on the development involved in the management of the project. The third approach involves the development of project management office (PMO) which helps to enhance IT projects achievement. PMO is very important in mentoring and training project managers and also in availing the good practices of IT projects to them (Aubry, 2007). Conducting an IT project requires that the organization should have a high level of leadership. This is because many project managers are faced by challenges in the implementation of the PMO. Thus, this calls for the employment of project managers who have a vast experience in handling PMO so as to ensure the success of the IT project.
Since most of the project managers are experts in coordinating the project team and guiding the project implementation. It is highly advised that an IT project must have a project director who is tasked with coordinating the clients in order to know their anticipation of the project. This helps to ensure that the outcomes of the project serve the client as per their anticipation. IT projects are usually associated with high costs and for this reason sponsorship is vital in order to achieve these projects. The sponsorship involves a manager who has vested interests in the results of the project. The sponsor helps in taking care of the project spending and also in providing the resources required for the project. The project sponsor instigates the project proposal development and backs up the project in the operational organization (Aubry, 2008). The sponsor is the final decision maker of the project process. The sponsor of the project offers support to the project manager and also signs approvals so as to move to the next phase of the project. However, the project sponsors can delegate their duties to other persons in the project team or from outside.
The project scope guides the project manager on what decisions to make and the priorities to make in the project. However, the project scope can be defined under various criteria. To begin with, the scope statement can be used to define the project scope which would act as a lead for all upcoming project resolutions. This also serves as the core document in understanding the purpose of the project (Christiansen, 1992). Secondly, the scope may be defined in terms of the constraints of the project which includes; time and cost. Thirdly, the project scope can be defined as per the assumption that the project operates under. Lastly, the scope of the project can be defined with regards to historical information of past projects. Project scope management involves the processes that are undertaken to ascertain that the project utilizes all the effort required to successfully finish the project. The project scope management arrangement describes how changes on the project scope can be made and under what circumstances. The project scope management can be done through various techniques which include; the cost-benefit analysis, use of product analysis and finding other alternatives through the process of alternatives identification.
The project manager is also tasked with the process of maintain a work breakdown to the project personnel. This involves formulating the work descriptions to be carried out by the project team. This is done throughout the different phases of the project lifecycle (Crawford, 2006). Each personnel are allocated a task which should be completed on the specified time span which is developed by the project manager. Providing a breakdown of the project work helps to ensure that the project team meets the deadline and that all the work is completed successfully. A contingency plan is important in making a project run in the given schedule. Foremost, choosing a well informed and savvy project team is one contingency plan that a project manager must formulate. This serves to replace the manager incase anything might happen to him or her before the project completion. Thus, it is also prudent to specify the work that is to be done on a project through proper documentation. This would help any other person that takes over the project to continue with it smoothly and within the given timeline. It is also important that you communicate the contingency plan to the clients in advance so as to prepare them in your absence. The contingency plan must also relay the types of risks that the manager is exposed to such that if the risks occur, the client can easily continue with the project.
In a nutshell a contingency plan ensures that the project would continue well even in the absence of the project manager. Consequently, the continuing manager can be able to meet the deadline of the project following a well elaborate contingency plan. The concept of phase reviews is an evaluation at the completion of every project phase to ascertain if a project has accomplished its deliverables and goals as planned by the manager. This ensures that a project is prepared to advance to the subsequent phase. This involves a review of the project expenses, the risks, the schedules and any issues arising. It is important for the sponsors to be updated with the current project progress. It also helps the sponsors to know how the available resources were utilized and also to know of any arising costs or issues in the project. In large integrated programs there is need of having project management software’s such as the PMO (Keil, 2000). This helps to improve the control of IT projects in organizations. The benefits of these software’s include; they help in training project managers and giving out good practices found in previous projects. Furthermore they enable knowledge management and creating project management subject and supervision in an organization.
In conclusion, the rationale of this study was to discover the important principles of project management and how project management can be utilized to attain organizational goals. Furthermore, the study also focused on the significance of leadership and sponsorship in project management. The study has also discussed on the project life cycle and it has clearly indicated the five main phases involved. The phases include; initiating the project, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and the closing of the project. The study has carried out in depth analysis of each phase and what they entail. The paper has also put focus on the importance of leadership in project management. It finds out that leadership is vital in order for a project to be completed successfully. Sponsorship is also a key factor in ensuring that a project runs as planned. This is due to the fact that, sponsors provide funds for the project and also make very crucial decisions which support the project to completion. Team building is also an important aspect of project management. Project managers are encouraged to undertake team building so as to empower the project personnel in their quests to further the project. The study also discusses on the definition of project scope and goes on to describe the project scope management. Contingency planning is also an important aspect of project management since it helps the project to be completed timely even in the absence of a project manager. Phase reviews in a project are also encouraged in order to update the project sponsors on the progress of the ongoing project. Finally, project management software’s such as the PMO are significant in large integrated programs since they accrue some benefits to the project management organization.
References
Aubry, M., Hobbs, B and Thuillier, D. (2007). A new framework for understanding organizational project management through the PMO. International Journal of Project Management, 25, (4), 328-336.
Aubry, M., Hobbs, B and Thuillier, D. (2008). Organizational project management: an historical approach to the study of PMOs. International Journal of Project Management, 26, (1), 38-43.
Christiansen, J & Sherry, T. (1992). Project management oversight: a partnership in mass transit projects. Transaction of American Association of Cost Engineers, 2, 4.1-4.6.
Crawford, L. (2006). Developing organizational project management capability: theory and practice. Project Management Journal, 37, (3), 74-86.
Keil, M., Mann, J & Rai, A. (2000). Why software projects escalate: an empirical analysis and test of four theoretical models. MIS Quarterly, 24, (4), 631-664.
