successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

More documents

Recommendations

Info

?? Activity My project is about: The project problem is: These are the stakeholders in my project: The milestones that necessitate scheduling are: Bear these in mind as you go through the training. We now turn to the definition of a project. The shortest definition of a project is one given by Juran (cited in Lewis, 2002:2). He defines it as a problem scheduled for solution. Lewis (2002) himself defines a project as: A multi-task that has performance, cost, time, and scope requirements and is done only one time. That means a project has specific performance requirements that have to be met (performance); a budget (cost); a definite starting and ending points (time); and clearly defined range of work to be done (scope). We shall henceforth refer to these as the PCTS targets of a project. A graphic way of expressing what a project is through Figure 2A. Figure 2A: The PCTS targets of a Project Performance Cost Time Scope In sum, therefore, a project is a one-off scope of work, of predetermined cost, designed to bring about a change of a defined quality performance in a given time. For example, the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) was a project, which had to be completed on time specification, and within a budget. Now 24
that it is complete, it is no longer regarded as a project. The continuous programme of maintenance, to keep it in good condition is something separate. You may want to relate this example to your project. The Standish Group (www.standishgroup.com) offers interesting statistics about the success and failure of projects in the United States of America. This is with specific reference to software projects. It was found that only about 17 percent of the projects meet the PCTS targets; 50 percent must have the targets changed, that is, they are late, overspent and have the performance requirements reduced; and 33 percent are actually cancelled. This is quite informative and causes us to reflect on the significance of the statistics. Isn’t it somewhat surprising that as many as 83 percent of projects either fail to meet targets or are cancelled altogether? If anything this state of affairs proves that it is necessary for you to learn something about project management towards a better understanding of procedures and skills the project manager ought to be acquainted with. So, what is project management? What is Project Management? Before reading on, mention any three things you are expected to do as project manager in a distance education set up. You may now add to your interesting response the explanation that project management is the facilitation of the planning, scheduling and controlling of all activities that must be done to achieve project objectives. The objectives include the PCTS targets previously alluded to. Many people share a common misunderstanding of the role of the project manager. In educational contexts, project managers have been known to have practically nothing to do except to: • decide for members what is to be done; • tell somebody to do what needs to be done and why it should be done; • listen to excuses and promises from the person supposed to do something, and to follow up again to see if the task has been done; • wonder whether it is not time to get rid of the person who cannot do the thing right; • consider how much simpler and better the task would have been done if the manager had done it himself/herself; and 25
Page 1 and 2: SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGEMENT Insig
Page 3 and 4: About the Authors Stanslaus Tichapo
Page 5 and 6: The content of your message……
Page 7 and 8: DEDICATION To the intellectually in
Page 9 and 10: Foreword The goal of this book is t
Page 11 and 12: Overview Successful Project Managem
Page 13 and 14: Abbreviations BOCODOL: Botswana Col
Page 15 and 16: To come up with a quality product a
Page 17 and 18: allowed effective resource allocati
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 2 What is a Project? Work o
Page 21 and 22: Stakeholders Stakeholders is the te
Page 23: Project Areas in Open and Distance
Page 27 and 28: A useful tool you could use to capt
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 3 Interaction For Successfu
Page 31 and 32: are then requested to append their
Page 33 and 34: ?? Activity 1. Suggest any improvem
Page 35 and 36: Please note that this is not the pl
Page 37 and 38: knowledgeable about issues may not
Page 39 and 40: ?? Activity To what extent do you a
Page 41 and 42: You may now contribute to our discu
Page 43 and 44: • Use language that shows you ack
Page 45 and 46: • Fourthly, avoid jargon because
Page 47 and 48: You will note that these are sugges
Page 49 and 50: Perhaps this is a difficult questio
Page 51 and 52: Chapter 4 How to Plan the Project D
Page 53 and 54: Planning involves answering the que
Page 55 and 56: S= The course should help officers
Page 57 and 58: • Is the product, at various stag
Page 59 and 60: ?? Activity i. What is meant by obj
Page 61 and 62: Chapter 5 Structuring and Schedulin
Page 63 and 64: ?? Activity The Mission Statement f
Page 65 and 66: Table 5A WBS for the B. Com. Degree
Page 67 and 68: Sample Gantt Chart Figure 5B Course
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 6 The Project Team Knowing
Page 71 and 72: observation, how productive is your
Page 73 and 74: The tasks to be done In project man
Page 75 and 76:
• have a clear knowledge of proje
Page 77 and 78:
critics who question ideas from tea
Page 79 and 80:
Two members are in disagreement wit
Page 81 and 82:
our own things without interference
Page 83 and 84:
vi. Members being unable to manage
Page 85 and 86:
Organizations perform work either a
Page 87 and 88:
Let us now share ideas about the ma
Page 89 and 90:
• infrequent communication with s
Page 91 and 92:
On the basis of what we said above,
Page 93 and 94:
Project Cost Management Regarding p
Page 95 and 96:
1. Do you concur that managing a pr
Page 97 and 98:
?? Activity 1. Explain what you und
Page 99 and 100:
Chapter 8 Project Control and Evalu
Page 101 and 102:
Individual activities Team activiti
Page 103 and 104:
• New tasks without guidance or t
Page 105 and 106:
?? Activity Suggest five ways in wh
Page 107 and 108:
Project closure You will recall tha
Page 109 and 110:
• Evaluation is planned at the ou
Page 111 and 112:
surprising that project team meetin
Page 113 and 114:
determined, it is important to cons
Page 115 and 116:
In our opinion, if you produce agen
Page 117 and 118:
• informed as to the meeting’s
Page 119 and 120:
?? Activity Five types of difficult
Page 121 and 122:
• the language of meetings. 121
Page 123 and 124:
Case Study A Two lecturers from the
Page 125 and 126:
Case Study C Two distance education
Page 127 and 128:
The NGO recommends re-education of
Page 129 and 130:
The head of your institution decide
Page 131 and 132:
• The learner does not have to le
Page 133 and 134:
References Andersen, E.S., Grude, K
show all

successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?