Tools and Concepts Of Project Management
Project management is an increasingly important discipline in today’s business environment. By definition, project management refers to the discipline that involves the application of knowledge and skills in the initiation, planning, execution, control, and closing of a work process or activities set to accomplish specific goals under very specific criteria (Tayntor 2010). According to Charvat (2002), for organization to gain competitive advantage, they must focus on project management as a key driver for growth. When speaking of project management, many people get the idea of managing large projects, such as the construction of a house, road, or even a car. However, project management applies to smaller and less complex projects, such as cooking. The difference is in the complexity of projects. Smaller projects take short durations of time, probably fewer resources, and less energy. On the other hand, medium to large projects can be involving, requiring a lot of capital and human resources, and take long durations of time. Proper management of projects is critical in ensuring that they are completed on time. It is with this notion that tools for tracking project completion time are developed. Moreover, tracking the budget of a project helps to prevent cost overrun and cash flow problems. Specific tools are developed to guarantee this problem does not occur. It is on these grounds that the study of project management becomes important.
The objective of this report is to critically evaluate the tools and concepts of project management. The key tools discussed herein include the Gantt chart, product breakdown structure (PBS), and work breakdown structure (WBS). The discussion also includes the logic network, critical path method (CPM), and program evaluation and review technique (PERT). It is important to mention here that there is software that aid project managers in their job and these include Microsoft Office Project among others.
The definition of project management as presented herein captured two important steps that include the initiation and planning of the project. The two steps include determining what the project is and determining how the project will be accomplished and in the two stages, the most important tool of project management is the logic network.
A logic network identifies what needs to be done, such as the construction of a house, and the determination of the sequence of activities in the project of the time of the project. The logic network shows the logical order of activities including their precedences and sequence. The logic network yields the project milestones and the critical path towards the delivery of the final product, such as the complete house in our example. The logic network identifies all stages of the project including the starting of the projecting and the completion of the project (Acorn International 2016).
There are two important methods of designing the logic network of the project. Firstly, there is the critical path method (CPM), and secondly, there is the program evaluation and review technique (PERT). The two methods are anchored in the understanding that a project gets defined as a set of activities. Both CPM and PERT are used in the creation of the logic network, which involves the project scheduling (Badiru, Badiru, & Badiru, 2008). However, project scheduling under CPM is based on the assumption that the project durations are known with certainty while under PERT, the project and activity durations are expressed in probabilities under the best case scenario, base/most likely scenario, and the worst-case scenario. Under both CPM and PERT an event such as the start and end of an activity/project is identified by a node (circle) while the activity is identified by an arrow.
There are various rules to follow when designing the logic network under both CPM and PERT. Firstly, the arrows must run from left to right. Second. The arrows should not cross or connect at any point. Thirdly, there can only be one arrow connecting any two nodes. The last rule is that the project manager must strive to minimize the number of nodes in the project (Reiss 1995). If these rules are followed, then the project manager can identify the critical path, the minimum time for the delivery of the project, and the activities that are flexible both in time and resources, for the purpose of cost management and resource allocation.
The other major tool in the project management process is the Gantt chart. The Gantt chart allows the project manager to determine a number of resources required for every activity and allocate the resources accordingly. It is through the preparation of the Gantt chart that the project manager identifies how best to optimize the available resources through resource sharing and acquisition of additional resources where this is possible. The Gantt chart combines cost management practices with the project management practices of project scheduling. Since the introduction of Gantt charts in 1917, the tool has become an industry standard and the most important tool in project management (Association for Project Management 2014). Notably, the use of a computer program such as Microsoft Office Project aids the project managers to efficiently prepare the Gantt chart while at the same time testing data to determine how resource variations affect the project and it is for this reason the chart is critical in resource allocation during project management.
In addition to the above-discussed tools and concepts, there is the product breakdown structure (PBS) and the work breakdown structure (WBS) both of which recognize the various milestones in the management of any product (Frame 2002). The guiding rule in the preparation of the PBS and the WBS is that the project can be delivered in pieces of completed product or work. These pieces or deliverables can be scheduled, have costs allocated, and have resources allocated to them. In other words, the PBS and WBS concepts are based on the concept of partial completion and delivery. In the construction of 100 kilometers of the road of the road network, for instance, the delivery can be done in two phases probably divided into 60% road network into the first phases and 40% in the second phase. The same applies to the delivery of a car in which the engine would be considered as one part and the chassis as another part of the delivery.
The product breakdown structure gets defined as the exhaustive hierarchical breakdown of the components that will be organized to make the whole product. On the other hand, the work breakdown structure is the hierarchical decomposition of all the activities required for every deliverable of a milestone in the project (Allan 2004). From the definitions herein presented, two points come out clearly. Firstly, there is the fact that both PBS and WBS decompose the project into milestones that are manageable. Secondly, the PBS can be used in the preparation of the WBS considering the differences between the two.
In concluding, this paper presents a detailed discussion of some of the most important tools and concepts in project management. Project management is considered as the complex process of initiating, executing, controlling and closing of a project. Fortunately, several tools can be used in project management including the logic Gantt chart, product breakdown structure, and the work breakdown structure. It is also important to understand the concept of preparing the logic network as presented under both the critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique. Lastly, it is important to recognize the various software solutions available for project management including Microsoft Office project management solutions.
Reference List
Acorn International 2016, Tools and Techniques of Project Management, Available from: <http://www.acornlive.com/demos/pdf/E2_EM_Chapter_7.pdf> [19 January 2017]
Allan, B 2004, Project management tools and techniques for today's ILS professional, Facet Publishing, New York
Association for Project Management, 2014, Using a Gantt Chart to manage a project schedule, Available from: <https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/using-a-gantt-chart-to-manage-a-project-schedule/> [19 January 2017]
Badiru, A, Badiru, A, & Badiru, A 2008 Industrial project management: Concepts, tools, and techniques, New York, CRC Press
Charvat, J 2002, Project management nation, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey
Frame, J D 2002, The new project management tools for an age of rapid change, complexity, and other business realities, Wiley, New Jersey
Reiss, G 1995, Project management demystified: Today’s tools and techniques, Spon Press, London
Tayntor, C B 2010, Project management tools and techniques for success, CRC Press, New York
