We will never have all the facts to make a perfect judgment, but with the aid of basic experience we must leap bravely into the future. Certainly, expert judgment is such an essential factor that must be deemed and practiced in a project management. In looking for an expert to give verdicts and conclusions experience and knowledge must also be considered. As they say good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. With this statement I can say that it simply implies that judgment must be acquired from someone who had undergone through many situations and experience and encompasses wide range of knowledge on particular matters. Experience is also very important, it is the best teacher we can ever have.
Expert Judgment, does this tool give importance in managing a project? Definitely it is. As we have mentioned expert judgment in majority of our reporting sessions in our Project Management class, it is already undeniable that this topic is familiar for everyone. Based on my learning on the things I have grasped from the reporting and from reading articles Expert Judgment can be obtained from someone who has the enough knowledge on what certain thing you are going to consult. It is best to ask professionals on giving verdicts on your project for you to know what are the observations, simulations, measurements that must be pursued or changed as well as to identify the things that must be improved. Expert Judgment is the data given by an expert in response to a technical problem. Expert Judgment is very important like for instance you are going to determine when it would be too costly or impractical to measure the quantity of interest. For sure, teachers or nurses have no perfect idea with regards to this matter. In order to get proper judgment we must consult to those professionals in order for us to know if our project is good or not. Expert Judgment can be done through groups or individuals, of course with specialized knowledge, experience or training. Either way can be depending on the thing that must be consulted. Expert Judgment can be in many forms. Below are the possible sources of expert judgment that could give aid on your project.
Expert Judgment could be through consultants or advisers. These are the individuals that can be appointed from outside the company. These are the professionals who provide proficient or expert advices. For instance if you need to know what are the best medicines that must be taken then you have to consult to doctors or someone who is in line with this field.
Expert Judgment could be through other units or departments within the performing organization. Therefore these are the people who are part of the company. Preferably other units or departments within the performing organization are good or we can say the best place to obtain expert judgment. Why? Because it can give you less cost or really no cost at all.
Expert Judgment could be through professional and technical associations. These people can give verdicts or it is better to say expert judgment in times of the need of a more detailed judgment. In this kind of judgment technical matters are being dealt. For example if you need to know the code of a certain area then you may ask the associations that are responsible with this matter.
Expert Judgment could be through industry groups. These people can provide general information. For instance you want to know how long would it take to construct a building then you may ask the people who knows better such as the engineers and the like.
Judgment offered by those people mentioned above with expertise in appropriate project area is exploited at various stages of project phase in order to do effective project management. Their expertise is used to analyze historical information, define & ensure appropriate standards, get various suggestions/advice, evaluate different options, determine best suited options.
Expert Judgment has different techniques that can be used we can elicit expert judgment through acquisition, adjusting leads and lags, alternative analysis, approved change requests review, benchmarking, bottom-up estimating, conflict management, control charts, cost of quality, critical chain method, dependency determination, inspection, interviews, make-or-buy analysis, quality audits, training, technical performance measurement, vendor analysis and more. The mentioned techniques can be elicited varying on the matter that must be considered.
From reading some articles I can view interviewing or it could also be Delphi situations method are the good ones or we can say the best among the techniques.
Interviewing can be done individually or by groups. This is conducted in which an interviewer or knowledgeable person interviews the expert in a private or face to face environment. Interviews are conducted by asking questions that will be helpful on your project. It could increase your knowledge in regards to your concern.
The other thing is the Delphi situations where in the experts, in isolation from one another give their judgments to a moderator. The moderator makes the judgment anonymous, redistributes them to the experts and allows them to revise their previous judgments. These iterations can be continued until consensus, if it is desired is achieved.
Though I can regard these techniques as the best yet it would always depend on the kind of project you are engaging with or with the kind of consultations or judgment you want to be done. Like so many things expert judgment also has disadvantages. It may be time consuming as well as cost consuming. But on the brighter side if you just know how to manage also expert judgment then it is really a powerful and invaluable tool for estimating, simulating determining and indentifying factor that could make or break your project. It allows for different perspectives and more creative solutions. Most importantly, when you use expert judgment, your team will be less likely to re-invent the wheel.
An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgments simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore. Thus it is better to consult and to undergo through this important process in project management.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
How is a project different to any other work? Is Project Management relevant to me?
I can certainly say that project is always around us. Projects do always exist even on our daily living. Though it is sometimes unnoticed and regarded as unimportant and not urgent but still it would somehow affect some matters. Aside from deeming projects as part of our daily activities we could also consider some other works that would also take part. But the question is, are they similar or do they differ on some ways or another. What is really a project and what is a work. As defined in the PMBOK, a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. With the help of the lessons I have grasped from our past discussions and from reading the PMBOK as well as I can remember from what I had read and wrote on the past exercises project in my own description is an assignment, task or obligation that will give solution or solve any dilemma within a particular matter. A project is a set of tasks that must be executed or performed within a fixed period of time limit. A project must observe time management that must be convened in order to achieve goals. It has to observe scope and limitation. In making a project there are lots of factors that must be considered to make it flourishing. A project could also be a product of the learning that you acquired. Projects must also consider cost. Cost is one of the important issues that must be out looked in making a project. Project also needs focus, attention and hard work. A project is a very critical aspect in which you have to be efficient in any step and thing that will be engaged. A project must be unique. You must possess leadership skills and not management ability. A project must be planned carefully. On the other hand work is something done by people. It requires energy and effort to be accomplished. A work is done on an object when you transfer energy to that object as what physics defines. It doesn’t require so much management in terms of time, cost and scope, etc.
To lay it into a more comprehensive differentiation project would primarily differ on work on a way that a project is just temporary. As I had ascertained, project is impermanent which signifies that it has a definite beginning and a definite end while on the other hand work is ongoing and repetitive though somehow they would be similar on lot of things and they share some common characteristics which contains the following: projects and work is done with performance of people or man power; a project as well as work is planned, performed and controlled and lastly projects and works has constrained resources. Projects and works also differ on their objectives. Their goals are basically different. As what have mentioned a project is temporary, it has definite beginning and definite end so in other words a project will be terminated accordingly after its objective and goals are being obtained or achieved. In opposition, work is a continues process. It would not terminate immediately it is recurring. An example of a project would be to develop a new product. Ahmm, before stating other examples I have to cite that a project may be at school, it may be on the engineering phase or in business or corporation. A project at school may be an assignment, a final requirement, a research or something given to students that need time and effort. It may be individual or by group. It checks on how you are able to understand and study your lessons. It confirms on how independent you are in carrying out tasks. A project at school needs resources such as books, internet or references. Examples of school projects include: Machine problems, essays, assignments, science investigatory projects, thesis, and more. A project may also be an engineering project which uses technological system. This kind of projects must be carried out by professionals or engineers. This kind of project involves companies. . That is, companies with license to carry out such works as design and construction of buildings, power plants, industrial facilities, installation and erection of electrical grid networks, transportation infrastructure and the like. Examples of this kind of project are bridges, roads, buildings or construction phases. This kind of project usually has contracts. Conversely, works would include cleaning the house, washing the dishes, washing the clothes, cooking and such things that are just repetitive where it can be observed always and is done continuously.
The next question would be, is Project Management relevant to me? Without any hesitation I can conclude, yes definitely it is. Honestly, managing time, cost and any matter is very hard for me. Despite the fact that even before, back when I was in high school I have always been part of leadership issues. I have been a leader so many times when I was still in high school. From 1st-3rd year I had been a class officer, I also had undergone being part of the student body government, and a club president, as well as a vice president of the school’s leadership organization. Why am I saying these things is that to create an understanding of how many organizations and clubs I have went through and affixed with these are also the projects that must be implemented in order to improve something. By that time I am not yet familiar with project management and stuffs. As long as I know we follow rules and objectives then its okay then. But as I have observed with this kind of leadership or management risks and uncertain events would really be hard to solve and prevent. Moreover, changes that will occur can’t be handled properly. As I studied project management now I realize how important project management is. I have understood why it is relevant and why must it be followed. As what I have seized project management is the method of planning, organizing and managing assets to be productive and being able to succeed on definite purposes and objectives. Project management contains planning, developing it, setting goals, determining tasks and ways to achieve a successful project. Project Management is the process of monitoring or operating an objective in order to identify possible changes and adaptations to be done. It is a way of making sure that all the aspects are going well and all the works are done in relation to the plan. Project management includes managing implementations and innovations for the project to be more effective. It ensures of accurate processes that must be applied for the task. A Project Management is the way of being able to meet demands and changes immediately. It is the process of finding solutions to the possible risks or uncertain events that may occur. It follows phases for the effectiveness and succession of a certain project. Therefore it is really vital for us to achieve our goals and objective for us to have a successful and fruitful result. Project management is relevant to me because it can guide me on how to manage or lead a project properly and how to avoid failure. Essentially, in my present situation as a third year student I can state that project management is unquestionably relevant to me. Why? Because as everybody knows we are undergoing a hard time with managing our studies since we are experiencing heavy loads of projects, assignments, tests and assessments. With the help of project management we will be guided accordingly to prevent failure. As what Sir Randy have stressed out before. We failed from our previous courses because we planned to fail and not for failing to plan. Though it’s confusing because as what I can remember I failed but I never planned to achieve that result. But as I discern well, yes I really planned to fail. I planned to fail by not considering all aspects of my studies and by not following proper management. This time since I am already knowledgeable then I am very familiar with the proper management that must be regarded. Now let me share some experiences right now that show some project management areas. Although some of which are not considered as project yet project management reminds me of managing these matters according to some rules. Like in my subjects, I am now setting time management and to do lists for me to accomplish my assignment on time. Presently I consider and list down important and urgent things that must be deemed. Cost management is also part of my improvements. This time I am more responsive on obligations. Like in our multimedia assessments we have guided by some project management lessons such as planning, setting goals, managing time, making Gantt charts and such. We make it sure to follow the things we set in order not to fail and to achieve success. Truly project management has a big impact on the way we manage things not just project but also simple works and I can say it is really helpful and relevant in my part. It is a very significant input, tool and technique that would supplement me in attaining an effective and fruitful output.
To lay it into a more comprehensive differentiation project would primarily differ on work on a way that a project is just temporary. As I had ascertained, project is impermanent which signifies that it has a definite beginning and a definite end while on the other hand work is ongoing and repetitive though somehow they would be similar on lot of things and they share some common characteristics which contains the following: projects and work is done with performance of people or man power; a project as well as work is planned, performed and controlled and lastly projects and works has constrained resources. Projects and works also differ on their objectives. Their goals are basically different. As what have mentioned a project is temporary, it has definite beginning and definite end so in other words a project will be terminated accordingly after its objective and goals are being obtained or achieved. In opposition, work is a continues process. It would not terminate immediately it is recurring. An example of a project would be to develop a new product. Ahmm, before stating other examples I have to cite that a project may be at school, it may be on the engineering phase or in business or corporation. A project at school may be an assignment, a final requirement, a research or something given to students that need time and effort. It may be individual or by group. It checks on how you are able to understand and study your lessons. It confirms on how independent you are in carrying out tasks. A project at school needs resources such as books, internet or references. Examples of school projects include: Machine problems, essays, assignments, science investigatory projects, thesis, and more. A project may also be an engineering project which uses technological system. This kind of projects must be carried out by professionals or engineers. This kind of project involves companies. . That is, companies with license to carry out such works as design and construction of buildings, power plants, industrial facilities, installation and erection of electrical grid networks, transportation infrastructure and the like. Examples of this kind of project are bridges, roads, buildings or construction phases. This kind of project usually has contracts. Conversely, works would include cleaning the house, washing the dishes, washing the clothes, cooking and such things that are just repetitive where it can be observed always and is done continuously.
The next question would be, is Project Management relevant to me? Without any hesitation I can conclude, yes definitely it is. Honestly, managing time, cost and any matter is very hard for me. Despite the fact that even before, back when I was in high school I have always been part of leadership issues. I have been a leader so many times when I was still in high school. From 1st-3rd year I had been a class officer, I also had undergone being part of the student body government, and a club president, as well as a vice president of the school’s leadership organization. Why am I saying these things is that to create an understanding of how many organizations and clubs I have went through and affixed with these are also the projects that must be implemented in order to improve something. By that time I am not yet familiar with project management and stuffs. As long as I know we follow rules and objectives then its okay then. But as I have observed with this kind of leadership or management risks and uncertain events would really be hard to solve and prevent. Moreover, changes that will occur can’t be handled properly. As I studied project management now I realize how important project management is. I have understood why it is relevant and why must it be followed. As what I have seized project management is the method of planning, organizing and managing assets to be productive and being able to succeed on definite purposes and objectives. Project management contains planning, developing it, setting goals, determining tasks and ways to achieve a successful project. Project Management is the process of monitoring or operating an objective in order to identify possible changes and adaptations to be done. It is a way of making sure that all the aspects are going well and all the works are done in relation to the plan. Project management includes managing implementations and innovations for the project to be more effective. It ensures of accurate processes that must be applied for the task. A Project Management is the way of being able to meet demands and changes immediately. It is the process of finding solutions to the possible risks or uncertain events that may occur. It follows phases for the effectiveness and succession of a certain project. Therefore it is really vital for us to achieve our goals and objective for us to have a successful and fruitful result. Project management is relevant to me because it can guide me on how to manage or lead a project properly and how to avoid failure. Essentially, in my present situation as a third year student I can state that project management is unquestionably relevant to me. Why? Because as everybody knows we are undergoing a hard time with managing our studies since we are experiencing heavy loads of projects, assignments, tests and assessments. With the help of project management we will be guided accordingly to prevent failure. As what Sir Randy have stressed out before. We failed from our previous courses because we planned to fail and not for failing to plan. Though it’s confusing because as what I can remember I failed but I never planned to achieve that result. But as I discern well, yes I really planned to fail. I planned to fail by not considering all aspects of my studies and by not following proper management. This time since I am already knowledgeable then I am very familiar with the proper management that must be regarded. Now let me share some experiences right now that show some project management areas. Although some of which are not considered as project yet project management reminds me of managing these matters according to some rules. Like in my subjects, I am now setting time management and to do lists for me to accomplish my assignment on time. Presently I consider and list down important and urgent things that must be deemed. Cost management is also part of my improvements. This time I am more responsive on obligations. Like in our multimedia assessments we have guided by some project management lessons such as planning, setting goals, managing time, making Gantt charts and such. We make it sure to follow the things we set in order not to fail and to achieve success. Truly project management has a big impact on the way we manage things not just project but also simple works and I can say it is really helpful and relevant in my part. It is a very significant input, tool and technique that would supplement me in attaining an effective and fruitful output.
Is Project Management the best method of implementing change?
Change is expected. It is the only constant thing in the world. Just like in projects, changes do occur but the question is does project management provides the best method in implementing these modifications. There is a certain relief in change though it may affect many aspects like your time management as well as your scope and cost management but it could be the reason for the success of a project if proper implementation is applied. This is also one of the things I remember from our discussion. We have already discussed different chapters and kinds of management based on the Project Management Book of Knowledge and I think we are about to finish it having one chapter left to end the reporting. On what I have grasped on the reporting we have discussed about various aspects of managing a project. There are inputs, tools and techniques and outputs in regards to each phase. The different knowledge areas include: integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resource management, communications, risk and procurement. As we go on with these areas, it is certain to meet the term change. Changes in a project may occur because of risks that may come along or because of the demands of the team and the clients. So, usually requests for change come from stakeholders. By meeting this change it is the responsibility of the project manager to assess the impact of accepting these into the project but you must also consider the team, the project itself and everything that will be affected with the change that you will be implementing. To do this, you need a good approximation of the impact the change will have in terms of the extra effort and cost involved. This will often impact the schedule as well, so by having a comprehensible understanding of how the time and funds will be affected you can make the judgment in regards to whether or not you will accept the change.
Project management is the best method in implementing change. If you will implement any change to your project it is best to consider project management. There are inputs, tools and techniques and outputs in project management that could give guiding principles in order to be successful in putting the changes into action. In implementing a change there is a process to be followed. I you possess a good control process then it’s possible to achieve your desired output. The process should have guidelines. Though changes can serve as risks yet it often is necessary to achieve your project goals. In implementing change in your project you must go after the change management phase. This phase will help you to manage the requests for change in your project. Like what we have discussed in our reporting there are requested changes that will happen along your project which must be processed according to the Integrated Change Control Process in which is the process to review all change requests that may be submitted in regards to the project’s organizational process assets as well as to all of the deliverables that are in question. The teams and individuals that may put forth some form of this integrated change control can include the project management team, the particular project management team leader, and or any particular individual who represents the financial interests of the project. If you consider this change process in place and time, you will have no difficulty in monitoring and controlling the amount of changes that will take place. Before implementing change you must be able to identify requests for change, you must confirm the feasibility of each change, you must control the way the change is undertaken and of course you must be able to manage the approval of the change based on guidelines and proper judgment. And also, before implementing the change you must explain clearly or step by step the process and the effects of the change to the team and the stakeholders to achieve the desired output.
Change is a fundamental part of continuous quality improvement. Changes are important and are helpful depending on how the implementations are putted into actions. Even if the change is just small you should never disregard it or accept it without understanding its effect on the whole project especially on the scope, time and cost. Based on my experiences, when we had our projects changes do really exist. Just like in our final project in Network Technologies1 where in we were to make a network design for the 5 campuses of University of Southeastern Philippines including the departments and the administration offices, unexpectedly after we finally created a design without putting IP addresses we had come into a point that we decided to change it. Unfortunately we only have 3 days left before the submission date. Before we have implemented the change we wanted we first consider things that may be affected. We also think of the time if we could still make it. It is really hard to put changes having limited time left. Fortunately after we have decided we were able to implement the change we wanted by the help of identifying properly the advantages and disadvantages, its effects and the efforts to be exerted. We both agreed with my partner to apply the change we determined and finally it resulted to a successful output. We just have to take considerations of the possible effects it may bring.
Changes may result to failure of your project. Thus, it is vital to take it into considerations and give proper verdict as to what actions will be implemented by these changes. In order to achieve a successful implementation of change in your project you must follow an effective change process. You must consider the impacts that the change may bring to deliver your objectives, consequently changes are critical. Changes may increase costs and put pressure on scheduling matters. In order to control these changes properly it is best to pursue the rules and guidelines of how to implement a change by the methods in project management. As they say feather and down are padding. Thus, changes and contingencies will be real events. They may break or make the success of your project. But surely, change always comes bearing gifts.
Project management is the best method in implementing change. If you will implement any change to your project it is best to consider project management. There are inputs, tools and techniques and outputs in project management that could give guiding principles in order to be successful in putting the changes into action. In implementing a change there is a process to be followed. I you possess a good control process then it’s possible to achieve your desired output. The process should have guidelines. Though changes can serve as risks yet it often is necessary to achieve your project goals. In implementing change in your project you must go after the change management phase. This phase will help you to manage the requests for change in your project. Like what we have discussed in our reporting there are requested changes that will happen along your project which must be processed according to the Integrated Change Control Process in which is the process to review all change requests that may be submitted in regards to the project’s organizational process assets as well as to all of the deliverables that are in question. The teams and individuals that may put forth some form of this integrated change control can include the project management team, the particular project management team leader, and or any particular individual who represents the financial interests of the project. If you consider this change process in place and time, you will have no difficulty in monitoring and controlling the amount of changes that will take place. Before implementing change you must be able to identify requests for change, you must confirm the feasibility of each change, you must control the way the change is undertaken and of course you must be able to manage the approval of the change based on guidelines and proper judgment. And also, before implementing the change you must explain clearly or step by step the process and the effects of the change to the team and the stakeholders to achieve the desired output.
Change is a fundamental part of continuous quality improvement. Changes are important and are helpful depending on how the implementations are putted into actions. Even if the change is just small you should never disregard it or accept it without understanding its effect on the whole project especially on the scope, time and cost. Based on my experiences, when we had our projects changes do really exist. Just like in our final project in Network Technologies1 where in we were to make a network design for the 5 campuses of University of Southeastern Philippines including the departments and the administration offices, unexpectedly after we finally created a design without putting IP addresses we had come into a point that we decided to change it. Unfortunately we only have 3 days left before the submission date. Before we have implemented the change we wanted we first consider things that may be affected. We also think of the time if we could still make it. It is really hard to put changes having limited time left. Fortunately after we have decided we were able to implement the change we wanted by the help of identifying properly the advantages and disadvantages, its effects and the efforts to be exerted. We both agreed with my partner to apply the change we determined and finally it resulted to a successful output. We just have to take considerations of the possible effects it may bring.
Changes may result to failure of your project. Thus, it is vital to take it into considerations and give proper verdict as to what actions will be implemented by these changes. In order to achieve a successful implementation of change in your project you must follow an effective change process. You must consider the impacts that the change may bring to deliver your objectives, consequently changes are critical. Changes may increase costs and put pressure on scheduling matters. In order to control these changes properly it is best to pursue the rules and guidelines of how to implement a change by the methods in project management. As they say feather and down are padding. Thus, changes and contingencies will be real events. They may break or make the success of your project. But surely, change always comes bearing gifts.
Why do projects fail?
Why do projects fail? This is a question that would comprise loads of answers. Well first and for most let me define what a project is. A project is an assignment, task or obligation that will give solution or solve any dilemma within a particular matter. A project is a set of tasks that must be executed or performed within a fixed period or time limit. A project must observe time management that must be convened in order to achieve goals. It has to observe scope and limitation. In making a project there are lots of factors that must be considered to make it flourishing. Project Management or the method of planning, organizing and managing assets to be productive and being able to succeed on definite purposes and objectives is very important in a project. Without proper management of projects failure would surely be a result of it. As what has been mentioned above, project has lots of factors to be considered and without looking consideration into these dynamics, failure will be inevitable.
Last time on our discussions, our instructor Sir Randy mentioned some reasons why projects do fail. It was based on the PM book of knowledge. With the discussion we had I have acquired information as to what factors can make projects fail. It includes the following:
♪Poor Estimates can lead to project failure. Planning is a very important step in project management. Poor planning could be the reason of poor estimate. Bad estimates direct to bad cost projections which in the end associate to poor release. The trouble being when estimates are wanted for efforts to be completed to project costs. Often a project is estimated for supply effort before it is budgeted. Poor estimates can also be the liability of the client, stakeholders.
♪Scopes Changes can also lead to project failure. To Control and to manage scope change is critical to the success of any projects because scope changes can significantly affect the cost, schedule, hazards and quality of the total effort. It could also be difficult on the project team to lack direction or to change scopes. They must work hand on hand in order to solve this kind of uncertain event.
♪Work Breakdown Failures. A work breakdown must be structured well otherwise it can affect your project along the way.
♪Not enough time/resources allocated. Estimation mistakes of time or resource cause project related problems. One common problem during the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure is assuming that the time on task equals duration. The time on task is the time the task will take to complete without interruptions, whereas duration is the time the task actually take to complete including interruptions.
♪One of the reasons is having an incompetent project manager. Choosing a responsible and outstanding manager should be checked. The manager should be competent and can handle risks and can adapt easily to possible changes.
♪Ineffective use of Project Management discipline and process can make projects fail. Proper education on project management must be learned before indulging into a real project in order to secure project efficiency and to have enough knowledge to solve possible project risks that may occur. Ineffective use of project management disciple and correct process can really affect. Disciplines must be observed because it will serve as guides to achieve goals in a project.
♪Lack of proper management support, if your team doesn’t work hand in hand your project will really fail just like the saying no man is an island. In large projects human resource is much needed in order to divide responsibilities in order to give focus on different aspects, you cannot be successful on handling everything just by yourself. If you talk about large projects you must need a team that would work independently on the fields assigned to them. Projects sometimes fail due to improper communication along the team, so this must also be considered.
Lastly is the wrong use of technology. Use of proper technology must also be observed in order to succeed on your goals.
Those were the things that must be observed and prevented in order to make your projects succeed. As I browse and read on the internet I have found this statement to ponder on. According to Bryce’s Law, “It must be remembered that project management is first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques. It will only be as effective as the people who use it.” Some companies ask why they fail on their projects and on their project management. It is because some things that are happened to be not observed or wasn’t given enough attention. Some companies see project management only as a tool or technique and not a must. In this case they only evaluate project management as a supplement and not a must in order to achieve goals. Well in fact a company can achieve its objective if they will consider project management as a must thing to consider. If they suppose project management as an essential piece of the company’s general performance, it will be more successful rather than a business who regards it as of no importance. In other words, Project Management is a fundamental part of the business background. And also, practicing proper project management can help on preventing project risks or could help on solving unexpected events and problems that would come along the way in your project. Project management can be considered as one of the major factors why a project fails since project management is the process where in you will plan, set goals, brainstorm, implement and solve. It is the way you coordinate with your team in implementing proper ways in order to not to fail your project. In addition it is being a manager or possessing skills of a manger could also be a reason of project failure. Instead of being a manger, one should be a leader. Managerial skills are needed but leadership is more of a must. Several may think that a leader and a manager are the similar yet they are not. An effective manager will have leadership qualities and "manager" will be only one facet of a "LEADER." A Leader has a natural set of talents with the purpose of inspiring people to follow, to be loyal, and to produce while a manager demands and directs dependently. Being a leader is what we all need and not just a manager that would direct us on things we must do. If we will be managers then we are dependent on others faculties. We cannot work on our own which leads to failure while if we will be leaders then we will possibly be successful on our endeavors. Success in being a good follower lies in picking the right leader.
Aside from what mentioned there also some aspects that we can regard as the reasons of why do project fail. These things comprise the following:
The lack of knowledge, ignorance, backwardness, illiteracy, lack of education, unknowing or whatever they call is one of the things that can bring breakdown. It is a fact that knowledge on the things you do is important. But some say that they don’t consider knowledge as power. If knowledge were power, all smart people would be powerful and no stupid people would be. Nevertheless, knowledge is a powerful resource. As mentioned, just a resource and not a power, and it’s a resource you can never have too much of. I know someone once said a little knowledge can be hazardous; that not true because no matter what is taking place in your professional or personal life right now, you can always cultivate knowledge. The process of learning strengthens the mind, cultivates emotional and spiritual resources and increases your reserve of knowledge. The same as in a project I could say that lack of knowledge is not an excuse since it would really affect the progression of your project. Some managers, laborers and members in a project team may lack basic information of the technicalities of a Project Management. Having this situation, you may be prone to failure. Once you get into a project you must look at its elements carefully. I mean you have to study deeply about the things that would regard on it. You may not have knowledge but you can acquire it by working hard on achieving such. A project management team must know largely about the project that they will be conducting since it is very critical to indulge into sometime where in you don’t have enough knowledge about it. Lack of knowledge would affect the phases of planning, coordinating, setting objectives, and almost the overall production of the project. By having not enough information on your project you cannot easily adopt changes and give solution immediately to the risks that will occur.
Lack of organizational policy could be a reason of failure. In your team or company you must set policies to be followed in order for you to be guided throughout the period of your project. You must adopt formal policy for the management of your project. There are lots of benefits that can be acquired from setting organizational policies. Organizational policies are principles or regulation to guide the team in discerning or making decisions and achieve rational outcomes. OF course of you have policies then there would be discipline this would help a lot. Your team members would not dependent on others and would work effectively with the help of the policy that would also serve as a motivation for them.
Another factor is the lack of enforcement of policy and procedure. After implementing organizational policies you also need to enforce the policy and the procedure that you made. Even though a policy has been recognized, it is not enforced. As a result, conflicting consequences come out. If a normal and constant approach to Project Management is formulated, it should be routinely policed in order to make sure that it would be accurate and have uniform results. As what I have grasped from somewhere it is one thing to enact legislation, quite another to enforce it.
An additional thing is the lack of consideration for the magnitude and complexities of project management. As what Bryce’s law states it must be remembered that project management is not first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques, nor is it an administrative function. Rather, it is concerned with managing
human beings towards the accomplishment of work (it is a "people management"
function). As such, project management will only be as effective as the
people who use it. Thus, failure could happen by giving no consideration on the scope of project management and how hard is it to manage a project. If you lack of consideration for the magnitude and complexities of project management you wouldn’t be able to identify some estimates properly and solve problem easily.
The stakeholder conflicts could also be disadvantage in a project. Stakeholder conflicts can cause lots of different roles of project failures. Frequently, stakeholders comprise personal basis for not being able to work together. Misunderstanding and such should be avoided. Personal conflicts with the stakeholders can largely affect and can cause delay, ineffectiveness and unproductivity of projects. Since stakeholders don’t work hand in hand then it is really a big problem if there will be no solidarity in a project. Pride and ego must be set aside because almost always it will end in some disaster. Sometimes other projects fail because the developers do not know who the "real" stakeholders are. For many businesses, how they handle these conflicts is a significant component of their business. Get it right and the business is able to improve and grow. Get it wrong and it could spell problems for the business. Communication is important in a business. So you must have good relationship and communication with the stakeholdsers.
Another thing is about the vague requirements of a project. In a project management scope is important. IT is an element. You have to identify clear requirements. Even in the starting part of the process which is in planning. Identifying requirements must take place. This should be one of the points that must be discussed before going on to the project. So for this to be prevented a solution is to create a sensibly stable requirements baseline before proceeding to any other work. But even when this is made, requirements could still persist to sneak. For instance in your project, you had already classified patent requirements. Let’s us state a project like creating a system for a company. You have already settled and identified the requirements needed but after meeting the given requirement the customer or client would demand for another feature. But in this case time would be the factor to be adjusted a lot. At least by knowing the complete requirements needed clearly it will not be that much risky.
Poor cost and schedule estimation one of the most occurring problems in a project. This problem happens when someone makes up a number and won't listen to anyone about how long other projects took. Projects are often purposely underbid for the reason that of the attitude that putting a development team under adequate stress can get them to bring almost anything. It is true that pressure can increase the quantity of results one receives, but after it severely diminishes the quality of those results. In fact, pressure sometimes produces the opposite of its intended effect. For instance is a data structure machine problem. The machine problem should logically need five members or programmers (to be more pleasant to hear) and a month to accomplish but instead you are given four programmers and 2 weeks, you will have to skimp on design time and on quality checks to reach project milestones. Cutting a bend that challenges the whole foundation of the project is not cutting the bend. There will roughly certainly be deeply uneven costs downstream. Time management is very important in a project. If one couldn’t meet the time period or deadline it will surely be a failure. I will set an example of a time management failure. Last semester in our Network Technologies1 subject, we were given a final project of creating a network system for USEP’s 5 campus. We were given enough time to accomplish such project yet others failed to comply. Perhaps I can say I with my partner would almost fail also but fortunately we were able to meet the risks that occurred. With our project we were provided instructions and criteria to be followed. The whole finals period were allotted for us to complete our final project. Because of having no proper time management some of us started to make the project a week before its deadline in which that week was scheduled for our field trip, some of us made our project when we arrived at the hotel and some wasn’t able to do so for the reason of being tired because of the trip. On our case with my partner before we depart for the trip we already made the foundation or the structure of the network using CISCO packet tracer yet we still didn’t made the IP addressing and more in which is the hardest part. So we finished our project on the day before the deadline which brought pressure and stress. I almost gave up because it was hard. But many of our classmates weren’t able to succeed because of having no proper time management and sticking to the habit of making the project the day before the submission deadline.
Lack of skills or skills that do not match the job can also be a reason. Of this one is very obvious but often unnoticed. In the project you must include the accurate people to do the right job. There is no getting around it. For example in programming, programmers need to have experience in the technology before you can count on them, so select them wisely. You should not just hire someone that knows nothing about programming. Furthermore, managers can perform poorly if they lead projects that do not match their strengths. Projects dealing with high technology need managers with solid technical skills. For instance in projects like building, you shouldn’t hire IT specialists, teachers, businessman, etc. but of course you must have engineers, architect and such. In such projects, authority must reside with people who understand the inferences of precise technical risks. Nevertheless, the best technologists are not unavoidably always poised to be the best managers. The skill set for management and programming are dislodged. The larger the project, the more need there is for people with excellent planning, oversight, organization, and communications skills; all excellent technologists do not necessarily have these abilities.
Failure to plan is a big drawback. Planning is the first and most important thing to be considered. In project management planning is the first step to make. As what I can remember it was stated by our instructor that planning is the most important step in project management. If you fail to plan then bigger possibility of failure or possibly it will result to failure immediately. If we fail to plan then we will fail. Planning is important because this is the stage of brainstorming, setting goals, arranging schedules and more. Thus, planning should be considered most to prevent failure.
Lastly, this statement was brought up by our instructor. Most of us fail in our projects because we PLAN TO FAIL AND NOT WE FAIL TO PLAN. Such as our projects and final requirements, we failed perhaps because of even at the start of it we already planned to fail. We didn’t give our best and showed efforts in achieving our goals especially to pass. We disregarded some factors that must be considered. We didn’t manage our time properly, we didn’t consider ourselves as leaders and we let ourselves become lazy students. Therefore it is not appropriate for us to say that we failed because we failed to plan but we failed because we planned to. With this statement we realized a lot of things that we must improve and must motivate us in acquiring good skills and proper project management.
References : http://www.adaptivepartners.com/projfailb.htm
http://www.4u-2.com/business/business-project-management/why-does-project-management-fail/
Last time on our discussions, our instructor Sir Randy mentioned some reasons why projects do fail. It was based on the PM book of knowledge. With the discussion we had I have acquired information as to what factors can make projects fail. It includes the following:
♪Poor Estimates can lead to project failure. Planning is a very important step in project management. Poor planning could be the reason of poor estimate. Bad estimates direct to bad cost projections which in the end associate to poor release. The trouble being when estimates are wanted for efforts to be completed to project costs. Often a project is estimated for supply effort before it is budgeted. Poor estimates can also be the liability of the client, stakeholders.
♪Scopes Changes can also lead to project failure. To Control and to manage scope change is critical to the success of any projects because scope changes can significantly affect the cost, schedule, hazards and quality of the total effort. It could also be difficult on the project team to lack direction or to change scopes. They must work hand on hand in order to solve this kind of uncertain event.
♪Work Breakdown Failures. A work breakdown must be structured well otherwise it can affect your project along the way.
♪Not enough time/resources allocated. Estimation mistakes of time or resource cause project related problems. One common problem during the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure is assuming that the time on task equals duration. The time on task is the time the task will take to complete without interruptions, whereas duration is the time the task actually take to complete including interruptions.
♪One of the reasons is having an incompetent project manager. Choosing a responsible and outstanding manager should be checked. The manager should be competent and can handle risks and can adapt easily to possible changes.
♪Ineffective use of Project Management discipline and process can make projects fail. Proper education on project management must be learned before indulging into a real project in order to secure project efficiency and to have enough knowledge to solve possible project risks that may occur. Ineffective use of project management disciple and correct process can really affect. Disciplines must be observed because it will serve as guides to achieve goals in a project.
♪Lack of proper management support, if your team doesn’t work hand in hand your project will really fail just like the saying no man is an island. In large projects human resource is much needed in order to divide responsibilities in order to give focus on different aspects, you cannot be successful on handling everything just by yourself. If you talk about large projects you must need a team that would work independently on the fields assigned to them. Projects sometimes fail due to improper communication along the team, so this must also be considered.
Lastly is the wrong use of technology. Use of proper technology must also be observed in order to succeed on your goals.
Those were the things that must be observed and prevented in order to make your projects succeed. As I browse and read on the internet I have found this statement to ponder on. According to Bryce’s Law, “It must be remembered that project management is first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques. It will only be as effective as the people who use it.” Some companies ask why they fail on their projects and on their project management. It is because some things that are happened to be not observed or wasn’t given enough attention. Some companies see project management only as a tool or technique and not a must. In this case they only evaluate project management as a supplement and not a must in order to achieve goals. Well in fact a company can achieve its objective if they will consider project management as a must thing to consider. If they suppose project management as an essential piece of the company’s general performance, it will be more successful rather than a business who regards it as of no importance. In other words, Project Management is a fundamental part of the business background. And also, practicing proper project management can help on preventing project risks or could help on solving unexpected events and problems that would come along the way in your project. Project management can be considered as one of the major factors why a project fails since project management is the process where in you will plan, set goals, brainstorm, implement and solve. It is the way you coordinate with your team in implementing proper ways in order to not to fail your project. In addition it is being a manager or possessing skills of a manger could also be a reason of project failure. Instead of being a manger, one should be a leader. Managerial skills are needed but leadership is more of a must. Several may think that a leader and a manager are the similar yet they are not. An effective manager will have leadership qualities and "manager" will be only one facet of a "LEADER." A Leader has a natural set of talents with the purpose of inspiring people to follow, to be loyal, and to produce while a manager demands and directs dependently. Being a leader is what we all need and not just a manager that would direct us on things we must do. If we will be managers then we are dependent on others faculties. We cannot work on our own which leads to failure while if we will be leaders then we will possibly be successful on our endeavors. Success in being a good follower lies in picking the right leader.
Aside from what mentioned there also some aspects that we can regard as the reasons of why do project fail. These things comprise the following:
The lack of knowledge, ignorance, backwardness, illiteracy, lack of education, unknowing or whatever they call is one of the things that can bring breakdown. It is a fact that knowledge on the things you do is important. But some say that they don’t consider knowledge as power. If knowledge were power, all smart people would be powerful and no stupid people would be. Nevertheless, knowledge is a powerful resource. As mentioned, just a resource and not a power, and it’s a resource you can never have too much of. I know someone once said a little knowledge can be hazardous; that not true because no matter what is taking place in your professional or personal life right now, you can always cultivate knowledge. The process of learning strengthens the mind, cultivates emotional and spiritual resources and increases your reserve of knowledge. The same as in a project I could say that lack of knowledge is not an excuse since it would really affect the progression of your project. Some managers, laborers and members in a project team may lack basic information of the technicalities of a Project Management. Having this situation, you may be prone to failure. Once you get into a project you must look at its elements carefully. I mean you have to study deeply about the things that would regard on it. You may not have knowledge but you can acquire it by working hard on achieving such. A project management team must know largely about the project that they will be conducting since it is very critical to indulge into sometime where in you don’t have enough knowledge about it. Lack of knowledge would affect the phases of planning, coordinating, setting objectives, and almost the overall production of the project. By having not enough information on your project you cannot easily adopt changes and give solution immediately to the risks that will occur.
Lack of organizational policy could be a reason of failure. In your team or company you must set policies to be followed in order for you to be guided throughout the period of your project. You must adopt formal policy for the management of your project. There are lots of benefits that can be acquired from setting organizational policies. Organizational policies are principles or regulation to guide the team in discerning or making decisions and achieve rational outcomes. OF course of you have policies then there would be discipline this would help a lot. Your team members would not dependent on others and would work effectively with the help of the policy that would also serve as a motivation for them.
Another factor is the lack of enforcement of policy and procedure. After implementing organizational policies you also need to enforce the policy and the procedure that you made. Even though a policy has been recognized, it is not enforced. As a result, conflicting consequences come out. If a normal and constant approach to Project Management is formulated, it should be routinely policed in order to make sure that it would be accurate and have uniform results. As what I have grasped from somewhere it is one thing to enact legislation, quite another to enforce it.
An additional thing is the lack of consideration for the magnitude and complexities of project management. As what Bryce’s law states it must be remembered that project management is not first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques, nor is it an administrative function. Rather, it is concerned with managing
human beings towards the accomplishment of work (it is a "people management"
function). As such, project management will only be as effective as the
people who use it. Thus, failure could happen by giving no consideration on the scope of project management and how hard is it to manage a project. If you lack of consideration for the magnitude and complexities of project management you wouldn’t be able to identify some estimates properly and solve problem easily.
The stakeholder conflicts could also be disadvantage in a project. Stakeholder conflicts can cause lots of different roles of project failures. Frequently, stakeholders comprise personal basis for not being able to work together. Misunderstanding and such should be avoided. Personal conflicts with the stakeholders can largely affect and can cause delay, ineffectiveness and unproductivity of projects. Since stakeholders don’t work hand in hand then it is really a big problem if there will be no solidarity in a project. Pride and ego must be set aside because almost always it will end in some disaster. Sometimes other projects fail because the developers do not know who the "real" stakeholders are. For many businesses, how they handle these conflicts is a significant component of their business. Get it right and the business is able to improve and grow. Get it wrong and it could spell problems for the business. Communication is important in a business. So you must have good relationship and communication with the stakeholdsers.
Another thing is about the vague requirements of a project. In a project management scope is important. IT is an element. You have to identify clear requirements. Even in the starting part of the process which is in planning. Identifying requirements must take place. This should be one of the points that must be discussed before going on to the project. So for this to be prevented a solution is to create a sensibly stable requirements baseline before proceeding to any other work. But even when this is made, requirements could still persist to sneak. For instance in your project, you had already classified patent requirements. Let’s us state a project like creating a system for a company. You have already settled and identified the requirements needed but after meeting the given requirement the customer or client would demand for another feature. But in this case time would be the factor to be adjusted a lot. At least by knowing the complete requirements needed clearly it will not be that much risky.
Poor cost and schedule estimation one of the most occurring problems in a project. This problem happens when someone makes up a number and won't listen to anyone about how long other projects took. Projects are often purposely underbid for the reason that of the attitude that putting a development team under adequate stress can get them to bring almost anything. It is true that pressure can increase the quantity of results one receives, but after it severely diminishes the quality of those results. In fact, pressure sometimes produces the opposite of its intended effect. For instance is a data structure machine problem. The machine problem should logically need five members or programmers (to be more pleasant to hear) and a month to accomplish but instead you are given four programmers and 2 weeks, you will have to skimp on design time and on quality checks to reach project milestones. Cutting a bend that challenges the whole foundation of the project is not cutting the bend. There will roughly certainly be deeply uneven costs downstream. Time management is very important in a project. If one couldn’t meet the time period or deadline it will surely be a failure. I will set an example of a time management failure. Last semester in our Network Technologies1 subject, we were given a final project of creating a network system for USEP’s 5 campus. We were given enough time to accomplish such project yet others failed to comply. Perhaps I can say I with my partner would almost fail also but fortunately we were able to meet the risks that occurred. With our project we were provided instructions and criteria to be followed. The whole finals period were allotted for us to complete our final project. Because of having no proper time management some of us started to make the project a week before its deadline in which that week was scheduled for our field trip, some of us made our project when we arrived at the hotel and some wasn’t able to do so for the reason of being tired because of the trip. On our case with my partner before we depart for the trip we already made the foundation or the structure of the network using CISCO packet tracer yet we still didn’t made the IP addressing and more in which is the hardest part. So we finished our project on the day before the deadline which brought pressure and stress. I almost gave up because it was hard. But many of our classmates weren’t able to succeed because of having no proper time management and sticking to the habit of making the project the day before the submission deadline.
Lack of skills or skills that do not match the job can also be a reason. Of this one is very obvious but often unnoticed. In the project you must include the accurate people to do the right job. There is no getting around it. For example in programming, programmers need to have experience in the technology before you can count on them, so select them wisely. You should not just hire someone that knows nothing about programming. Furthermore, managers can perform poorly if they lead projects that do not match their strengths. Projects dealing with high technology need managers with solid technical skills. For instance in projects like building, you shouldn’t hire IT specialists, teachers, businessman, etc. but of course you must have engineers, architect and such. In such projects, authority must reside with people who understand the inferences of precise technical risks. Nevertheless, the best technologists are not unavoidably always poised to be the best managers. The skill set for management and programming are dislodged. The larger the project, the more need there is for people with excellent planning, oversight, organization, and communications skills; all excellent technologists do not necessarily have these abilities.
Failure to plan is a big drawback. Planning is the first and most important thing to be considered. In project management planning is the first step to make. As what I can remember it was stated by our instructor that planning is the most important step in project management. If you fail to plan then bigger possibility of failure or possibly it will result to failure immediately. If we fail to plan then we will fail. Planning is important because this is the stage of brainstorming, setting goals, arranging schedules and more. Thus, planning should be considered most to prevent failure.
Lastly, this statement was brought up by our instructor. Most of us fail in our projects because we PLAN TO FAIL AND NOT WE FAIL TO PLAN. Such as our projects and final requirements, we failed perhaps because of even at the start of it we already planned to fail. We didn’t give our best and showed efforts in achieving our goals especially to pass. We disregarded some factors that must be considered. We didn’t manage our time properly, we didn’t consider ourselves as leaders and we let ourselves become lazy students. Therefore it is not appropriate for us to say that we failed because we failed to plan but we failed because we planned to. With this statement we realized a lot of things that we must improve and must motivate us in acquiring good skills and proper project management.
References : http://www.adaptivepartners.com/projfailb.htm
http://www.4u-2.com/business/business-project-management/why-does-project-management-fail/
All about Project Management
Project Management, it looks interesting. This is what my first impression was. As I enrolled in this subject I was inquisitive on what kind of understanding can I obtain with this subject. As the moment I heard that Dr. Randy Gamboa will be the one to handle this particular subject, honestly I was nervous yet excited. Nervous because I know how he handles classes since I have been under his instruction. I am somehow tensed because of strict regulations that must be followed during his session such as the need to observe time since time is so important to him and being an effective student. Yet I am excited because he is so inspiring in which you will be determined to do well and be challenged to be productive which is a positive aspect to look forward for this semester with this subject.
Conversely, on our first meeting we had a quiz that asks us to define 3 words that would greatly be associated with our subject Project Management. We were just limited to the number of lines to be filled up with our answers during that time. Surprisingly upon seeing the exercise on the forum I was shocked by the fact of defining the words in a more expanded description that would be challenging on my part. The questions to be responded comprises: What is a project? , what is a project? And what is project management?
Let us define first what a project is. Project in my own description is an assignment, task or obligation that will give solution or solve any dilemma within a particular matter. A project is a set of tasks that must be executed or performed within a fixed period or time limit. A project must observe time management that must be convened in order to achieve goals. It has to observe scope and limitation. In making a project there are lots of factors that must be considered to make it flourishing. A project could also be a product of the learning that you acquired. Projects must also consider cost. Cost is one of the important issues that must be out looked in making a project. Project also needs focus, attention and hard work. A project is a very critical aspect in which you have to be efficient in any step and thing that will be engaged. A project must be unique. You must possess leadership skills and not management ability. A project must be planned carefully. A project has many types. A project may be at school, it may be on the engineering phase or in business or corporation. A project at school may be an assignment, a final requirement, a research or something given to students that need time and effort. It may be individual or by group. It checks on how you are able to understand and study your lessons. It confirms on how independent you are in carrying out tasks. A project at school needs resources such as books, internet or references. Examples of school projects include: Machine problems, essays, assignments, science investigatory projects, thesis, and more. A project may also be an engineering project which uses technological system. This kind of projects must be carried out by professionals or engineers. This kind of project involves companies. . That is, companies with license to carry out such works as design and construction of buildings, power plants, industrial facilities, installation and erection of electrical grid networks, transportation infrastructure and the like. Examples of this kind of project are bridges, roads, buildings or construction phases. This kind of project usually has contracts. Lastly a project could also be a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, result or service which is applicable in project management. It is a management environment which is made for the reason of delivering one or more business products according to a particular business case.
The second word to define is management. What is management? As what I wrote on the first meeting’s activity. Management is holding or carrying out a specific task with responsibility. Management is being able to adapt to the plans and needs of a certain project. Management is the process of organizing, planning and coordination of specific thingss. It also comprises leading with independency. Management is somehow controlling group of people or team for the accomplishment of the common objective. Management can also be defined as human resource to facilitate the production of something. It would also refer to the individual who does perform the act of management. Management is frequently incorporated as an aspect of production along with machines, resources, and funds. Examples of management comprise time management. Time management is one of the most important factors in project management. Time management is the skill to meet deadlines. Time management is being able to accomplish tasks or projects and objectives in accordance to time limit. Time management includes monitoring and scheduling of activities to be set timetable in order to achieve goals. This is the kind of management that let you maximize the given time to accomplish something. Another type of management is people management. It is important and hard to manage people. This kind of management is the process of leading, motivating and encouraging the team within a project.
The last word is Project Management. Project Management is the method of planning, organizing and managing assets to be productive and being able to succeed on definite purposes and objectives. Project management contains planning, developing it, setting goals, determining tasks and ways to achieve a successful project. Project Management is the process of monitoring or operating an objective in order to identify possible changes and adaptations to be done. It is a way of making sure that all the aspects are going well and all the works are done in relation to the plan. Project management includes managing implementations and innovations for the project to be more effective. It ensures of accurate processes that must be applied for the task. A Project Management is the way of being able to meet demands and changes immediately. It is the process of finding solutions to the possible risks or uncertain events that may occur. It follows phases for the effectiveness and succession of a certain project.
Sharing about my reflection/learning's on the first day of class. I can say with confidence that somehow I obtained realizations and learning that I have never learned before. It is all about management of a project. Before our first meeting we was informed to research about Gantt charts which is a prominent tool used in project management for systematic way of illustrating project schedule. Someway I read some articles about definition and sample of Gantt charts but to my surprise our first topic and was about the definitions of project, management and project management. We gave some descriptions about it that served as our first quiz. We also shared our answers and discussed with the class. On the next meeting we finally had our official class. Our instructor gave some points and brief discussions about the concepts in the PM book of knowledge. First on the list was about project. We discussed some key points about project. It was mentioned that project is a sequence of unique, complex and connected activities having one goal. It is important that the project or the task must be unique. Since in our world today it is hard to enter to the business world without having any competent proposal, we must end up on creating something that is uncommon and does not yet exist. A project should be complex. It must be competent for it to be acknowledged. A project possesses key points that consist of temporary, unique products, services or results and progressive elaboration.
First is about temporary. A project is temporary which signifies that it has a definite beginning and a definite end. Of course projects have starting points. It is where you start to plan, organize and set goals for your project. A project must have a good start for it to have a good result. A project must be planned systematically for it to continue its operation. If a project has a definite start it also has a definite end. A project is temporary because it will end on the time it successfully achieve its goals and purpose. In other hand it could also end if it will not meet its objectives. Another reason could also be that the project is not needed anymore or if it seems not useful. It was also stressed that temporary doesn’t apply on the products but in the time duration of the project. Products of a given project usually are created for lasting outcome. The nature of being temporary could also apply on the time frame given. It also refers to the team or unit that performs and manages the project. They are temporary in a way that they wouldn’t last forever because after the project end the team will split up and will be assigned to another project. The second nature was about unique products, services or results. In creating a project it is very vital to make sure that what you are making is unique. Uniqueness should really be considered in project deliverables. A project must be unique in order to gain attention and for it to be competent as well. The third nature was about progressive elaboration. It means that a project must go on a process or a step. It means that you keep creating, adapting, and constructing upon the raw ingredients of your project, in a planned approach. It explains that progressive elaboration is a technique wherein the plan for the fastidious and chosen project is being always and constantly modified, and enhanced as newer and more improved plan.
Examples of projects was also stated such as Developing a new product or service; Effecting a change in structure, staffing, or style of an organization; Designing a new transportation vehicle; Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system; Constructing a building or facility; Building a water system for a community; Running a campaign for political office; Implementing a new business procedure or process; and Responding to a contract solicitation. I also learned about some facts about project and strategic planning. It was stated in the PMBOK Projects are typically authorized as a result of one or more of the following strategic considerations: A market demand, an organizational need, a customer request, a technological advance and a legal requirement.
I also have acquired information as to what factors can make projects fall. It includes the following:
Poor Estimates can lead to project failure. Like what I have written, planning is a very important step in project management. Poor planning could be the reason of poor estimate. Bad estimates direct to bad cost projections which in the end associate to poor release. The trouble being when estimates are wanted for efforts to be completed to project costs. Often a project is estimated for supply effort before it is budgeted. Poor estimates can also be the liability of the client, stakeholders.
Scopes Changes can also lead to project failure. To Control and to manage scope change is critical to the success of any projects because scope changes can significantly affect the cost, schedule, hazards and quality of the total effort. It could also be difficult on the project team to lack direction or to change scopes. They must work hand on hand in order to solve this kind of uncertain event.
Work Breakdown Failures. A work breakdown must be structured well otherwise it can affect your project along the way.
Not Enough time/resources allocated. Estimation mistakes of time or resource cause project related problems. One common problem during the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure is assuming that the time on task equals duration. The time on task is the time the task will take to complete without interruptions, whereas duration is the time the task actually take to complete including interruptions.
One of the reasons is having an incompetent project manager. Choosing a responsible and outstanding manager should be checked. The manager should be competent and can handle risks and can adapt easily to possible changes.
Ineffective use of Project Management discipline and process can make projects fail. Proper education on project management must be learned before indulging into a real project in order to secure project efficiency and to have enough knowledge to solve possible project risks that may occur. Ineffective use of project management disciple and correct process can really affect. Disciplines must be observed because it will serve as guides to achieve goals in a project.
Lack of proper management support, if your team doesn’t work hand in hand your project will really fail just like the saying no man is an island. In large projects human resource is much needed in order to divide responsibilities in order to give focus on different aspects, you cannot be successful on handling everything just by yourself. If you talk about large projects you must need a team that would work independently on the fields assigned to them. Projects sometimes fail due to improper communication along the team, so this must also be considered.
Lastly is the wrong use of technology. Use of proper technology must also be observed in order to succeed on your goals.
Aside from these matters, I also gain knowledge of the natures of a project. As to the natures are, they are the ff:
The first one state that all projects are work but not all work is a project. Indeed, all projects are work. Projects are tasks and are responsibilities which are considered as works since there would be an employer and the other one the employee. As what I have read also on the book Project Management G. Michael Campbell and Sunny Baker, it states there that in business; we could probably breakdown the work that is done and call the repetitious, day to day work operations and the work that is unique and only lasts for a short time as a project. The next nature talks about a job done once. It must be unique. The third cites that a project has a distinct start and end just like what I mentioned above that a project is just temporary. I t has its definite start and its definite end.
A further topic we discussed was Project Management. In the lecture, PM was defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. It is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Three faces of Project Management was tackled which includes building the plan, track and manage of project and closing (project). In project management you have to plan well. This is where everything starts. It serves as the foundation of your project. If you build a good plan then you have a bigger chance of succeeding your objectives. You have to consider types of information that would be needed in your project such as tasks. In planning your projects you must be able to think of the tasks that must be done. You must also properly divide the tasks along your team. Next is duration. You must set deadlines for you to be motivated and to follow disciplines in PM to avoid failures. Task dependencies, this is the relationship between two tasks in which one task depends on the finish of another task in order to begin. It can help you decide when a task can be started. For example, a project in programming, you cannot run a program without compiling your codes. Resources should also be included in planning. This will be the things that you will need in order to perform your works. Resources are the things that will help or supplement. Last is a cost. Costs must be observed in planning. Lack of consideration for this aspect can truly make your project fail. In fact one of the major reasons for project failure is the lack of project cost management. The second phase in project management is about tracking and managing of project. This is where the application of you plans is viewed. You must be able to manage your project as well as its track and progression.
Another learning I have acquired was about the project strategy. In which you have to gather or develop information such as the objectives, the assumptions, the limitations and the scope of your project. Sir Randy also mentioned about what his professor said about the acronym SMART. The project must be S-pecific, M-easurable, A-ttainable, R-eliable, and T-ime bounded. What struck me was when he told us that he contradicted his professor and stressed more on the ACRONYM SMARTER than SMART which the letters E and R was added bearing the meaning E-njoyable and R-ewarding. Project Management’s triple constraint was also featured in the discussion which includes project scope, time and cost. High quality projects deliver the required product, service or result within scope, on time, and within budget.
Lastly the most lessons I can consider I learned for that day is that in order to be successful, one must be an effective leader and not a manager. Managerial skills are needed but leadership is more of a must. Several may think that a leader and a manager are the similar yet they are not. An effective manager will have leadership qualities and "manager" will be only one facet of a "LEADER." A Leader has a natural set of talents with the purpose of inspiring people to follow, to be loyal, and to produce while a manager demands and directs dependently. Being a leader is what we all need and not just a manager that would direct us on things we must do. If we will be managers then we are dependent on others faculties. We cannot work on our own which leads to failure while if we will be leaders then we will possibly be successful on our endeavors. Success in being a good follower lies in picking the right leader.
In this world of today, we must be great leaders and would not settle for others help. We must work on our own and bring out the leadership skills that are just keep inside us. Our powers are not in our strengths but in how we use our strengths.
Conversely, on our first meeting we had a quiz that asks us to define 3 words that would greatly be associated with our subject Project Management. We were just limited to the number of lines to be filled up with our answers during that time. Surprisingly upon seeing the exercise on the forum I was shocked by the fact of defining the words in a more expanded description that would be challenging on my part. The questions to be responded comprises: What is a project? , what is a project? And what is project management?
Let us define first what a project is. Project in my own description is an assignment, task or obligation that will give solution or solve any dilemma within a particular matter. A project is a set of tasks that must be executed or performed within a fixed period or time limit. A project must observe time management that must be convened in order to achieve goals. It has to observe scope and limitation. In making a project there are lots of factors that must be considered to make it flourishing. A project could also be a product of the learning that you acquired. Projects must also consider cost. Cost is one of the important issues that must be out looked in making a project. Project also needs focus, attention and hard work. A project is a very critical aspect in which you have to be efficient in any step and thing that will be engaged. A project must be unique. You must possess leadership skills and not management ability. A project must be planned carefully. A project has many types. A project may be at school, it may be on the engineering phase or in business or corporation. A project at school may be an assignment, a final requirement, a research or something given to students that need time and effort. It may be individual or by group. It checks on how you are able to understand and study your lessons. It confirms on how independent you are in carrying out tasks. A project at school needs resources such as books, internet or references. Examples of school projects include: Machine problems, essays, assignments, science investigatory projects, thesis, and more. A project may also be an engineering project which uses technological system. This kind of projects must be carried out by professionals or engineers. This kind of project involves companies. . That is, companies with license to carry out such works as design and construction of buildings, power plants, industrial facilities, installation and erection of electrical grid networks, transportation infrastructure and the like. Examples of this kind of project are bridges, roads, buildings or construction phases. This kind of project usually has contracts. Lastly a project could also be a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, result or service which is applicable in project management. It is a management environment which is made for the reason of delivering one or more business products according to a particular business case.
The second word to define is management. What is management? As what I wrote on the first meeting’s activity. Management is holding or carrying out a specific task with responsibility. Management is being able to adapt to the plans and needs of a certain project. Management is the process of organizing, planning and coordination of specific thingss. It also comprises leading with independency. Management is somehow controlling group of people or team for the accomplishment of the common objective. Management can also be defined as human resource to facilitate the production of something. It would also refer to the individual who does perform the act of management. Management is frequently incorporated as an aspect of production along with machines, resources, and funds. Examples of management comprise time management. Time management is one of the most important factors in project management. Time management is the skill to meet deadlines. Time management is being able to accomplish tasks or projects and objectives in accordance to time limit. Time management includes monitoring and scheduling of activities to be set timetable in order to achieve goals. This is the kind of management that let you maximize the given time to accomplish something. Another type of management is people management. It is important and hard to manage people. This kind of management is the process of leading, motivating and encouraging the team within a project.
The last word is Project Management. Project Management is the method of planning, organizing and managing assets to be productive and being able to succeed on definite purposes and objectives. Project management contains planning, developing it, setting goals, determining tasks and ways to achieve a successful project. Project Management is the process of monitoring or operating an objective in order to identify possible changes and adaptations to be done. It is a way of making sure that all the aspects are going well and all the works are done in relation to the plan. Project management includes managing implementations and innovations for the project to be more effective. It ensures of accurate processes that must be applied for the task. A Project Management is the way of being able to meet demands and changes immediately. It is the process of finding solutions to the possible risks or uncertain events that may occur. It follows phases for the effectiveness and succession of a certain project.
Sharing about my reflection/learning's on the first day of class. I can say with confidence that somehow I obtained realizations and learning that I have never learned before. It is all about management of a project. Before our first meeting we was informed to research about Gantt charts which is a prominent tool used in project management for systematic way of illustrating project schedule. Someway I read some articles about definition and sample of Gantt charts but to my surprise our first topic and was about the definitions of project, management and project management. We gave some descriptions about it that served as our first quiz. We also shared our answers and discussed with the class. On the next meeting we finally had our official class. Our instructor gave some points and brief discussions about the concepts in the PM book of knowledge. First on the list was about project. We discussed some key points about project. It was mentioned that project is a sequence of unique, complex and connected activities having one goal. It is important that the project or the task must be unique. Since in our world today it is hard to enter to the business world without having any competent proposal, we must end up on creating something that is uncommon and does not yet exist. A project should be complex. It must be competent for it to be acknowledged. A project possesses key points that consist of temporary, unique products, services or results and progressive elaboration.
First is about temporary. A project is temporary which signifies that it has a definite beginning and a definite end. Of course projects have starting points. It is where you start to plan, organize and set goals for your project. A project must have a good start for it to have a good result. A project must be planned systematically for it to continue its operation. If a project has a definite start it also has a definite end. A project is temporary because it will end on the time it successfully achieve its goals and purpose. In other hand it could also end if it will not meet its objectives. Another reason could also be that the project is not needed anymore or if it seems not useful. It was also stressed that temporary doesn’t apply on the products but in the time duration of the project. Products of a given project usually are created for lasting outcome. The nature of being temporary could also apply on the time frame given. It also refers to the team or unit that performs and manages the project. They are temporary in a way that they wouldn’t last forever because after the project end the team will split up and will be assigned to another project. The second nature was about unique products, services or results. In creating a project it is very vital to make sure that what you are making is unique. Uniqueness should really be considered in project deliverables. A project must be unique in order to gain attention and for it to be competent as well. The third nature was about progressive elaboration. It means that a project must go on a process or a step. It means that you keep creating, adapting, and constructing upon the raw ingredients of your project, in a planned approach. It explains that progressive elaboration is a technique wherein the plan for the fastidious and chosen project is being always and constantly modified, and enhanced as newer and more improved plan.
Examples of projects was also stated such as Developing a new product or service; Effecting a change in structure, staffing, or style of an organization; Designing a new transportation vehicle; Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system; Constructing a building or facility; Building a water system for a community; Running a campaign for political office; Implementing a new business procedure or process; and Responding to a contract solicitation. I also learned about some facts about project and strategic planning. It was stated in the PMBOK Projects are typically authorized as a result of one or more of the following strategic considerations: A market demand, an organizational need, a customer request, a technological advance and a legal requirement.
I also have acquired information as to what factors can make projects fall. It includes the following:
Poor Estimates can lead to project failure. Like what I have written, planning is a very important step in project management. Poor planning could be the reason of poor estimate. Bad estimates direct to bad cost projections which in the end associate to poor release. The trouble being when estimates are wanted for efforts to be completed to project costs. Often a project is estimated for supply effort before it is budgeted. Poor estimates can also be the liability of the client, stakeholders.
Scopes Changes can also lead to project failure. To Control and to manage scope change is critical to the success of any projects because scope changes can significantly affect the cost, schedule, hazards and quality of the total effort. It could also be difficult on the project team to lack direction or to change scopes. They must work hand on hand in order to solve this kind of uncertain event.
Work Breakdown Failures. A work breakdown must be structured well otherwise it can affect your project along the way.
Not Enough time/resources allocated. Estimation mistakes of time or resource cause project related problems. One common problem during the creation of the Work Breakdown Structure is assuming that the time on task equals duration. The time on task is the time the task will take to complete without interruptions, whereas duration is the time the task actually take to complete including interruptions.
One of the reasons is having an incompetent project manager. Choosing a responsible and outstanding manager should be checked. The manager should be competent and can handle risks and can adapt easily to possible changes.
Ineffective use of Project Management discipline and process can make projects fail. Proper education on project management must be learned before indulging into a real project in order to secure project efficiency and to have enough knowledge to solve possible project risks that may occur. Ineffective use of project management disciple and correct process can really affect. Disciplines must be observed because it will serve as guides to achieve goals in a project.
Lack of proper management support, if your team doesn’t work hand in hand your project will really fail just like the saying no man is an island. In large projects human resource is much needed in order to divide responsibilities in order to give focus on different aspects, you cannot be successful on handling everything just by yourself. If you talk about large projects you must need a team that would work independently on the fields assigned to them. Projects sometimes fail due to improper communication along the team, so this must also be considered.
Lastly is the wrong use of technology. Use of proper technology must also be observed in order to succeed on your goals.
Aside from these matters, I also gain knowledge of the natures of a project. As to the natures are, they are the ff:
The first one state that all projects are work but not all work is a project. Indeed, all projects are work. Projects are tasks and are responsibilities which are considered as works since there would be an employer and the other one the employee. As what I have read also on the book Project Management G. Michael Campbell and Sunny Baker, it states there that in business; we could probably breakdown the work that is done and call the repetitious, day to day work operations and the work that is unique and only lasts for a short time as a project. The next nature talks about a job done once. It must be unique. The third cites that a project has a distinct start and end just like what I mentioned above that a project is just temporary. I t has its definite start and its definite end.
A further topic we discussed was Project Management. In the lecture, PM was defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. It is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Three faces of Project Management was tackled which includes building the plan, track and manage of project and closing (project). In project management you have to plan well. This is where everything starts. It serves as the foundation of your project. If you build a good plan then you have a bigger chance of succeeding your objectives. You have to consider types of information that would be needed in your project such as tasks. In planning your projects you must be able to think of the tasks that must be done. You must also properly divide the tasks along your team. Next is duration. You must set deadlines for you to be motivated and to follow disciplines in PM to avoid failures. Task dependencies, this is the relationship between two tasks in which one task depends on the finish of another task in order to begin. It can help you decide when a task can be started. For example, a project in programming, you cannot run a program without compiling your codes. Resources should also be included in planning. This will be the things that you will need in order to perform your works. Resources are the things that will help or supplement. Last is a cost. Costs must be observed in planning. Lack of consideration for this aspect can truly make your project fail. In fact one of the major reasons for project failure is the lack of project cost management. The second phase in project management is about tracking and managing of project. This is where the application of you plans is viewed. You must be able to manage your project as well as its track and progression.
Another learning I have acquired was about the project strategy. In which you have to gather or develop information such as the objectives, the assumptions, the limitations and the scope of your project. Sir Randy also mentioned about what his professor said about the acronym SMART. The project must be S-pecific, M-easurable, A-ttainable, R-eliable, and T-ime bounded. What struck me was when he told us that he contradicted his professor and stressed more on the ACRONYM SMARTER than SMART which the letters E and R was added bearing the meaning E-njoyable and R-ewarding. Project Management’s triple constraint was also featured in the discussion which includes project scope, time and cost. High quality projects deliver the required product, service or result within scope, on time, and within budget.
Lastly the most lessons I can consider I learned for that day is that in order to be successful, one must be an effective leader and not a manager. Managerial skills are needed but leadership is more of a must. Several may think that a leader and a manager are the similar yet they are not. An effective manager will have leadership qualities and "manager" will be only one facet of a "LEADER." A Leader has a natural set of talents with the purpose of inspiring people to follow, to be loyal, and to produce while a manager demands and directs dependently. Being a leader is what we all need and not just a manager that would direct us on things we must do. If we will be managers then we are dependent on others faculties. We cannot work on our own which leads to failure while if we will be leaders then we will possibly be successful on our endeavors. Success in being a good follower lies in picking the right leader.
In this world of today, we must be great leaders and would not settle for others help. We must work on our own and bring out the leadership skills that are just keep inside us. Our powers are not in our strengths but in how we use our strengths.
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