How Project Stakeholders Are Managed

A project is determined by a start and an end. Before the project started the work does not exist. During a project the work does exist. When the project ends work no longer exist. To determine if something can be identified as a project it must have certain characteristics. They include a defined scope, finite budget, deliverables (specific end results) and assigned resources. During a project there are interacting processes. The initiation process starts the project and identifies the organization’s commitment to the project. The planning process defines the objectives and the scope of the project. The processes must be executed which coordinates the resources that are needed to carry out the project plan. These processes must be controlled or monitored in order to take corrective action if needed. Finally, there are processes to close out the project which include acceptance of the deliverables that were identified.

In the recent PMI’s 2013 ‘Pulse of the Profession’ report, it has been clarified that the most crucial success factor in project management is effective communication within all the stakeholders. The research also finds that effective communication leads to more qualitative and productive works, hence allowing organizations to become highly effective in the

‘A project is a connected sequence of activities involving a range of resources, designed to achieve a particular outcome and frequently used as an instrument of change. It takes place within a defined period of time and is the responsibility of a single individual or agency’ (CMI p17)

In every single IT project has three fundamental characteristics, first, it’s unique, meaning that doesn’t exist another IT project with the same requirements, time or costs. Every IT project is unique, as every single human being is unique. Second, it’s temporary. IT projects are endeavors with a beginning and an end. Projects without end simply are not projects. Finally, a project should be progressively elaborated meaning that development occurs in phases or steps adding features and definition.

While time, cost, and performance present the most tangible measures of project success, the academic literature offers more vigorous metrics for success. Baker et.al., advocate that the stakeholder perceived performance is what should be measured (Baker & Murphy, 1983). They go on to provide at least 10 factors ranging from clarity of project goals, to the capacities of the team members (including the Project Manager), and robust project management practices are followed for planning and scope control. The limitation to the work presented by Baker et.al, as Mantel et., al suggest is that it was limited to only R&D projects and may have limited implications for other type of projects (Meredith & Mantel, 2012). An alternative framework for measuring and determining project success was presented by Belassi & Tukel, who proposed that success could be determined by four groups of factors; 1: Factors related to the project; 2: Factors related to the project manager and team; Factors related to the organization; and Finally, 4: Factors related to the external environment. In this model they argue that the factor groups are interrelated and depending on the project can greatly impact the different success of each or failure of each grouping and ultimately the project (Belassi & Tukel, 1996).

Organizations leaders are facing difficult challenges because of the rapid changes in government and technology, which has created pressure in organizations. The aforementioned changes have made way for a new type of management; project management, far different from the traditional structure for managing. This document will describe the definition of a project. The paper will also touch basis on the basic phases of the project life cycle and their purposes, and why it is important for organizations to use project management to accomplish tasks.

Ron Rosenhead is Managing Director of Project Agency. He believes the modern day manager needs project management skills to deliver the organisations’ agenda. He therefore decided to write this book to help support them. The writing of this Tips Booklet fits nicely with the company motto “Helping organisations deliver projects effectively.” The word project can be misleading. Many people think of large

Project governance is the management framework within which project decisions are made. Project governance is a critical element of any project since while the accountabilities and responsibilities associated with an organisation’s business as usual activities are laid down in their organisational governance arrangements, seldom does an equivalent framework exist to govern the development of project’s capital investments ( Sharma, Stone and Ekinci 2009 ). Project Governance extends the principle of Governance into both the management of individual projects via Governance structures, and the management of projects at the business level, for example via Business Reviews of Projects. Today, many organisations are developing models for

The essential processesof project management The process of project definition Part of a project definition checklist A functional matrix for a single project i a n manufacturingcompany Matrix organization for several simultaneous projects in a manufacturingcompany Matrix organization for a company engineering petrochemical, mining or large construction projects Project team organization Project team versus balanced matrix A hybrid organization A project with more than one project manager

In project management this approach is worthiness, it enables project managers to make decision that address the needs of the entire organization, not thinking in isolation, but, understanding how projects relate to the whole organization. Today, companies are surviving mainly because base their operations on projects, success companies and projects use a system approach to understand and identify technological, business and organizational issues related to each project in order to satisfy stakeholders and do what is better for the entire company (Wysocki, 2014)

The success principle states that the measure of the Dixon re-structuring project’s success “must be defined at the beginning of the project as a basis for project management decision” (Wideman, 2000). It is relevant to identify at what accomplishments the project must have for it to be reviewed as

The Importance of an effective and efficient project planning process in achieving successful outputs and

There seems to be agreement on an understanding of the importance of identifying project stakeholders especially the central stakeholders. While previous studies put emphasis on systematic identification of stakeholder and provide its significance, the evidence gathered from this study shows that stakeholder identification is rarely carried out systematically, instead rely on client-identified stakeholders, and majorly use contract document. This may results to what Yang and Shen (2015) called “random stakeholder management”. The danger is some key stakeholders may be neglected, who can affect future project undertakings. Unrevealed stakeholders may unexpectedly appear and request changes to project and so it is imperative to identify all stakeholders in each project stage, their necessities and expectations (Ackermann and Eden 2011). This can be

Another definition for a project given by the dictionary is “an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim”. The explanation given by the dictionary could be enhanced by adding that the project

In simple words a Project can be defined as temporary effort undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. Since the project is of temporary nature it has a definite start and end time. (Guide 2001)