Discuss about the Project Management Lifecycle for Planning Stage.
The project management life cycle plays a significant role in assisting a team in preparing for a project. It helps to analyze the process of the projects by focusing on the objectives for purposes of ensuring that the project is delivered on time. Also, for the project to be completed, it has to be within the budget and addresses all the challenges (Khan, 1995). All project management cycle has five crucial stages: the initiation stage, planning stage, execution stage, monitoring stage and closure of the project stage.
This is the first step of every project which aims at providing an overview of the project. It also focuses on the strategy that is proposed for to ensure that the job is completed (Barna, 2013). At the initiation stage is where the manager in charge of the project is selected. After the manager is selected in his or her duty to choose a team which will assist in ensuring the objective of the results is met. The manager is expected to have experience and skill to select a team that will be able to oversee the whole problem with minimal challenges (Stentoft Arlbjørn, Freytag & Thoms, 2015). To accomplish the objective of a particular project, there are various technological tools that can assist a project manager in the project management lifecycle (Parker, Parsons, & Isharyanto, 2015).
The planning phase of a project lifecycle is the most significant part of a project as it relates to the breakdown of all the procedures including assigning of every task to the responsible team. The planning phase provides details of the whole project from the begging to the end (Lee, 2009). Among the things involved in this phase are risk assessment and detailed analysis of every phase to see the project complete. In summary, this phase will cover the stakeholders, working processes, channels used and the reporting frequency (Zwikael, 2009).
This step is equally important to the project management cycle as it relates to checks and balances of the whole project. It is necessary for any project manager to ensure that every activity of the project is adequately executed as well as controlled. This is the phase that checks whether the solution provided by the project specifically addresses the problem that it was meant to solve. In most cases, the convergence of a project is measured by prototypes and reviews are made regarding the outcome (Parker, Charlton, Ribeiro & Pathak, 2013).
This the final stage of a project management cycle and a manager should be checking whether every aspect of the project is working according to the plan to mark the completion of the project. During the closure phase, a report is drafted focusing on the acceptance of the project, learning outcomes and notifications to the relevant stakeholders that the project is completed.
The organizational forms and stakeholders strategies play an important role in project management cycle. These two sections influence the development and verification of the business cases (Medina, 2014).
There are several aspects of an organization that impact the result of a project. These forms are related to layers of authority, traction, budgetary allocations and challenges arising during the operation phase. However, organizational challenges can be addressed through having a clear understanding of the working environment. For purposes of having a better understanding of the organizational structures and how they affect the project, the functional, matrix and projectised organizational structure provides a basis in the following manner (Strait, 2006).
This refers to those entities that are structured into functional sectors based on their fundamental function such as engineering and construction, government and welfare financial and business services as well as telecommunication, IT and software development. Functional divisions of a firm operate independently where each division has a manager. The work of the manager is to assign work and monitor the work through various performance evaluation measures. Besides, the management of a division has a limited authority of since they have assigned tasks to other team members. Functional organizations are meant for firms that have a continuous business operation that support standardized goods or services (Prodan, 2017).
In such organizational forms, the control of operations is normally shared. The managers of a particular project share responsibilities with other functional managers. It involves the delegation of duties and tasks to other staff members although the project manager makes all the decision regarding the project. This form of organizational structure is applicable for those firms that have a dual role such as a construction company that is tasked with maintaining and constructing new infrastructure (Bharti & Thakkar, 2013).
This form of organization applies to a situation where the manager has complete control over a project. For instance, a manager can have full control over setting important tasks, allocating resources and ensuring that team members are assigned specific tasks (Graubner, Pelzeter & Pohl, 2016). This is where all the members report to the managers directly. This type of organizational form is common among firms that operate small and long-term project such as those in the construction company (White & Patton, 2004).
In a functional organization setting, those that have single departments often do not have problems (Carden & Boyd, 2011). However, those functional organizations that have divisions have numerous management challenges as a result of the diverse role of the project manager. Besides, the functional manager has to seek support and cooperation from other managers to see a project completed (Ahsan, 2012).
The matrix structure offers both functional manager and project manager a seamless way to delegate duties for purposes of improving working culture (Yamin & Sim, 2016). Besides, there are bound to be numerous conflicts between the functional and project manages. This is because all the other team member has two managers.
The authority is often centralized in a projectised scenario. In this case, lines of communication are reduced as a result roles removed from the functional manager. Therefore, managers in this category have the ability to make swift decisions. The junior teams in this form of an organization often have a high-level of commitment and motivation (Del Mircea, & Luise, 2015). The team is also in a position to develop experience and skills to work for a long period in a particular environment. A projectised form of organization makes it easier to manage projects.
Stakeholders are part and parcel of a project management and the project cannot run without them. They are final decision makers on a particular project and the role or a project manager is to ensure that stakeholders concerns are managed effectively in order to ensure the output of a project is in strict adherence to the requirements of the stakeholder (Kloppenborg & Tesch, 2015).
There are several contracts that can be drafted for purposes managing a project. Contracts are often specific to the kind of project that they are meant to govern (Cullen & Parker, 2015). Some of the common contracts used in project management include Build Own Operate (BOO) where a group or an individual agrees to finance or construct a project that was originally owned by a public authority (D’Vari, 2013). Another contractual arrangement is Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) where a developer completes a project and manages the project for a specified period then hand it over to the government. Also, Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is a contractual agreement where the private developer constructs, operates and hands it over to the government over a certain period of time. These contractual agreement states what the developer and other stakeholders are supposed to oversee the completion and operation of a project (White & Patton, 2004).
References
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Barna, L. (2013). Assessing the Importance of Project Management Soft Competencies in an IT and Telecommunication Company. Theory, Methodology, Practice, 9(1), 17-21.
Bharti, B. K., & Thakkar, J. J. (2013). SWOT of Central Public Works Department India: A Case Study. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 10(1), 100-121.
Carden, L. L., & Boyd, R. O. (2011). Workplace Bullying: Project Strategy. Journal of Business and Educational Leadership, 3(1), 71-82.
Cullen, K., & Parker, D. W. (2015). Improving Performance in Project-Based Management: Synthesizing Strategic Theories. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 64(5), 608-624.
Del Mircea, M. C., & Luise, Z. (2015). An Organizational Approach to Simultaneously Prove High Autonomy and High Alignment. Manager, (21), 151-160.
D’Vari, R. (2013). Overview of U.S. Single-Family Residential Investment Strategies. Journal of Structured Finance, 19(2), 42-51,7.
Graubner, C., Pelzeter, A., & Pohl, S. (2016). A New Approach to Measure Sustainability in German Facility Management. Facilities, 34(1), 28-42.
Khan, J. (1995). An Educational Project in a Developing Country. The International Journal of Educational Management, 9(1), 42.
Kloppenborg, T. J., & Tesch, D. (2015). How Executive Sponsors Influence Project Success. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(3), 27-30.
Lee, M. R. (2009). Training-Portfolio Management: Adapting the Stage Gate Approach. Training & Management Development Methods, 23(4), 215-226.
Medina, K. (2014). Closing the Project Management Skills Gap in the Federal Government. Public Manager, 43(3), 41-43.
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Parker, D., Charlton, J., Ribeiro, A., & Pathak, R. D. (2013). Integration of Project-Based Management and Change Management. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 62(5), 534-544.
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Stentoft Arlbjørn, J., Freytag, P. V., & Thoms, L. (2015). Portfolio Management of Development Projects in Danish Municipalities. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28(1), 11-28.
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