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Strengths and weaknesses of project planning
Strengths and weaknesses of project planning
Potential advantages of using good project management
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Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of project planning
Project planning in teams is crucial at the beginning of a project but remains necessary throughout the whole life of the project. Project planning is the single most important tool for ensuring that a project will be completed successfully. Without project planning it is very likely that a project will fail, even if the project has sufficient budget, excellent resources and an undefined deadline. This kind of projects would not be clearly defined, and will have many resources wasted and left unused while the project is blocked waiting for critical information or some task to be finished. This kind of project may fail before it even starts, or it may be terminated after hitting one of the problems that cannot be unblocked. A project …show more content…
If there are many tasks depending on a particular task, the critical path will have to consider the task with the longest finishing time. This way the total length of the project can be calculated: It is the length of the critical path. This means that any changes done to the tasks in the critical path will directly affect the length of the project! There are many tools and programs that help creating a good project plan and observing the critical path. One widely used program is Microsoft …show more content…
The performance of different team members needs to be monitored, so the time can be adjusted if a similar problem may occur later in the project. If the tasks are not part of the critical path some slipping can be allowed, but special attention needs to paid to the tasks in the critical path. If these tasks do not finish in time the whole project will not finish in time. During the project, it is important to track the time and resources used and keep the collected information for review during project milestones. This will help in knowing the exact status of the project, and to know if the project has a chance of completing within the set parameters. If the project is encountering insurmountable problems, it may need to be finished early. At the completion of the project, project planning will transform into reviewing and evaluating the team and what parts of the project planning were effective and what needs improvement in subsequent projects. The successful team will prevail when proper project management and planning is done as a whole. Each individual will gather an increased awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses as well as a better understanding of their most critical asset in a team project thus increasing the likelihood of each future project being a pleasant and productive experience. Bibliography
Strategies. Project management and project scheduling are major issues for any organization facing rapid changes in its environment (Demeulemeesre, Kolisch, & Salo, 2012). Project scheduling techniques are indispensable when it comes to the effectiveness and efficiency of processes. If an organization has some people working on different tasks during a project, scheduling is very important (MindTools.com,
University of Washington. (2013). Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman. Retrieved April 2014, from University of Washington: depts.washington.edu/oei/resources
Seven tasks must be included in consideration of team dynamics and structure. The first of which is defining the goal, mission or function of a specific team. The team must know what it is being asked to accomplish. The second area of consideration is assessing what skills, abilities, knowledge or potential to acquire such would be needed amongst selected team members. Identification of potential team members should include an assessment of the skills, knowledge and abilities or the potential to acquire such so that ultimately the team has the building blocks with which to succeed in its mission, goal or function. This assessment must include an understanding of realistic potential contributions by potential team members with the included assessment of whether or not the acquisition of skills and knowledge can be made available through research and analysis.
The project management plan will help the organization to manage all the foreseeable risks in a timely, proactive, effective, and appropriate manner. The aim of the project management process is to maximize the chances of the project achieving its objectives, while minimizing the risks and keeping them at an acceptable level. The scope and objective of the risk management plan are as follows:
Kezner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 6th. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1998. Print.
“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind” a famous quote about our goal by Seneca. It is a metaphor about the achievement goal and objectives by good planning skills. One has to plan for what one wants to achieve and where one wants to go. One of the most important things is to have good planning, before taking any project the first think you should do is to create project plan. Planning can be defined as preparing a sequence of action to achieve specific goals and objectives. According to Kerzner (2009), “project planning is desirable that the project manager is involved from project conception through execution. It must be systematic, flexible to handle, closely disciplined through reviews and control and capable of accepting multi functional inputs (pg. 412)”. The importance of planning a project is to describe the work so that it will be easily identifiable to the project team member.
These stages were undeveloped team, experimenting team, consolidating team and the mature team. The undeveloped team relies on the leader to make decisions as their objectives are uncertain. The experimenting team listen actively, addresses issues openly and become introspective. The consolidating team agrees upon objectives, implement procedures, clarify task and establish personal interaction based on cooperation. The mature team takes into consideration the group’s methodical working method, considers a wide range of options and recognise responsibility towards the organization.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success,” (Ford, n.d). Ford’s quote and the concept of teamwork in planning are significantly important and prevalent in contemporary planning practices. The importance of a team in planning is imperative in providing a good plan. The team would also advance through the stages of team development. As a result an effective and cohesive team is achieved and there becomes a common goal is produce the paramount result. However, members within an effective team may come into conflicts with ideas or practices. Likely, these conflicts can be resolved with simple strategies. Nevertheless, through all the conflicts within a team group, teamwork still
The stages of team development are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Norming is the first stage that involves team members getting to know each other and trying to figure out where they fit in. As a leader, it is important to provide clear directions and set proper goals and expectations during this stage. Storming is the next stage and as the name suggest it is characterized with struggles, challenges, conflicts, and competition among team members. During this stage, I will provide a mediating role and facilitate conversations that steers the team towards the right
When planning a new project, how the project will be managed is one of the most important factors. The importance of a managers will determine the success of the project. The success of the project will be determined by how well it is managed. Project management is referred to as the discipline that entails the processes of carefully planning, organizing, controlling, and motivating the organization resources so as to foster and facilitate the achievement of specific established and desired goals and meet the specific criteria of success required in the organization (Larson, 2014). Over the course of this paper I will be discussing and analyzing the importance of project management.
Building a core team in project management is essential because it encourages shared belief in the importance and the possibility of achieving project goals and objectives. By sharing the vision of the project, to play a key role in ensuring that all team members in order to achieve a similar goal, helping to eliminate potential conflicts of interest during the implementation of the project. Building an important team in project management because it helps team members understand their respective roles in achieving the objectives of the project. Recognition of the role of others is essential in reducing conflicts and facilitate teamwork best practices
Project planning falls in the Planning Process Group which consists of those processes to establish the projects total scope, define the projects objectives, and courses of action to achieve those objectives. During the planning process, all the documents that are needed to carry the project through the project lifecycle will be developed such as the project management plan. Project management requires repeated feedback loops as additional information becomes available and is better understood. The planning process delineates the strategy, tactics, and path to successfully complete the project. With that, the planning of a project must walk through all the those processes from executing, monitoring and controlling through the closing process.
Project management involves all activities that encompass scheduling, planning, and controlling projects. A successful project manager ensure that an organization’s resources are being used both efficiently and effectively. Most projects need to be uniquely developed require a sense of customization and the ability to adapt to any posed challenges. The scope of effective project management includes defining what the project is and what is being expected to be accomplished. Projects are imposed to fulfill a certain need and project managers must have the ability to create the proper definition. Goals and the means used to attain those goals have to be clearly stated. Project Managers must also have the ability to plan
It is important to have the whole team involved and every team member should about the status of the project and identify there responsibility towards the project success.
The first stage in developing a team as it relates to group dynamics is forming, this is the stage where team members come together and they question what they are therefore, who else is a part of the team, who they are comfortable with, and this enables them to get involved as well as allowing the team the opportunity to introduce themselves to each other. The second stage is storming, and in this stage the team members begin to voice their opinions and differences as well as align themselves with others who share their same beliefs. This is an important stage for the team because team members will begin to become more involved with one another, and when they voice their concerns, they can feel like they are being represented and understood. The third stage is norming in the stage team members begin to establish a shared common commitment to the purpose of why the team is there, where they can establish their overall goals and how the goals are going to be achieved. In the fourth stage, known as performing, the team works effectively and efficiently to gather towards achieving the goal.