PMBOK-Guide: Proper Planning And Project Management

A project must have a beginning and an end. A project reaches its end when either, objectives of the project have been reached, it has been established that the project’s objectives cannot or will not be reached, or the project is no longer needed and is

Projects are used today as a way of achieving a variety of outcomes in local or international locations for new constructions, new product development, product improvement, process design, process improvement, utility installation, theory and technology development, and many more. Bringing a project to a successful conclusion requires the integration of numerous management functions like controlling, directing, team building, communication and others. It also requires cost and schedule management, technical and risk management, conflict and stakeholder 's management, and life cycle management.

The first step will be to look at the goals of the project, and align them with the mission of the company. Systematically, the project will be broken into phases: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Budgeting, Evaluating, and Reporting. Each phase will be further broken down into tasks and placed into a work breakdown structure. From this view, one is able to see the entire project duration, critical path, and milestones. The Planning phase is integral in any project. This phase of the project defines project objectives, mission, goals, and approach. In addition, outlining key elements of the project is critical: performance expectations, risks analysis, and contingency plans. However, after completion

In this paper, I, a student of University of Phoenix will explain and discuss project management. I will address three main points. I will first answer what is a project. Secondly, I will discuss what are the basic phases of the project lifecycle and their purpose. Finally, I will explain why it 's important for organizations to use project management to accomplish tasks.

Project management is managing the work to develop and innovate or even change within an existing operation. There are five steps in this management: Initiating the project, Planning and controlling all activities to keep the project on schedule, executing every phase of the projects process, monitoring/ controlling reviewing and regulating the progress and performance of all phases of the project, Closing process this is where all processes are finalized and completed to officially close the project out.

Project Integration Management – management of all processes to ensure proper coordination of the project.

Project Execution and Control Phase has a direct correlation to project progress and stakeholder 's expectations. If the minor issues are not noticed, they impact cost, schedule and risk and see the project from the Project Plan, thus

The nature and scope of a project is determined at the initiation stage. This involves analyzing the business needs, developing goals, budgets, tasks, deliverables, and the stakeholder analysis. The project planning stage determines the planning team, develops the scope, and identifies work breakdown structure and activities that will be needed to complete deliverables. The planning stage also estimates time and cost activities, develop schedule and risk plan, and gain formal approval for work to begin. The executing stage involves all processes used to meet the project requirement and involves managing people and resources. The process that entails the identification of potential problems and

c After the acceptance of all stakeholders is achieved, actual growth begins and a project management methodology needs to be selected based on the major areas seeking improvement. A project tracking and monitoring system has to be in place for improved estimation of project life-cycle.

During the project initiation phase, I can work collaboratively with the project sponsor in the development of project charter and lead up to the formal authorisation of the project/ new phase. From the sponsor’s project SOW (Business need, product scope), Business case etc., I can identify measurable project objectives, high level requirements, risks, summary milestones and budget and approval authorities. The key deliverables in this phase are project charter and stakeholder lists.

For a successful project management, there is need to have a good project implementation plan which is a singled document that particularize the duties, dates and who is in charge. Project implementation can be referred to as a process in which project inputs are transformed to project outputs as set out in the project charter. The process involves a chain of activities, which need to be planned, operated and controlled. The management of these activities is essential to the project manager so that the project can be completed on time and at a cost consistent with the project plan.

Understanding client’s vision - Finishing well means starting well. Even prior to project requirements, understand what client wish to achieve from it and its importance simultaneously considering its priorities.

Project management is a series of steps taken in sequence to manage a project through all phases from conception to completion. The steps are documented in a strategic plan. The plan is used to ensure that all parties are working towards a common goal. Project management requires applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to specific activities in accordance with established standards and guidelines. There are five basic functions of project management: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Basic activities of project management include: identifying project requirements to define the outcomes; addressing various needs, concerns and expectations of others; setting up, maintaining and carrying out communications; managing others; creating project deliverables; and balancing competing project constraints.

Once all of this information is determined the project team will present their information to gate team members to determine if the project should continue on to the next phase, stay on the current phase, or be discontinued.

Once a project has been approved, the next step in the project process is to develop a plan. A project plan provides a strategy in which an endeavor will progress and outlines the complete events essential to complete a project. The process also presents an outline for monitoring functions and milestones to track progress. A high level project plan must be developed in order to effectively outline the necessary activities, monitoring, and strategy in order for a project to be successful