successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

and distance learning (ODL) organisation, for example? Why shouldn’t the
coordinator simply get started on the actual work instead of drawing charts? You may
not have asked such questions as a past or present project manager, but I am
certain you have heard them from other managers or team members. Important
stages for the project manager are to ensure that the team gets together; agrees on
the project mission; structure the tasks.
The Project Mission
The question you need to answer is: How do we go about it? The first thing to have is
the project scope statement. This is captured in the project mission statement and
the
project vision statement. Members of the team, to ensure unity of purpose, must
share these two. The project mission is a concise expression of purpose of operation
and the desired end state that that serves as the initial impetus for planning
purposes. A Mission Statement for the BOCODOL/ZOU Project could read
something like:
To develop, adapt, contextualise and deliver by distance education the
degree in Human Resources Management for academic and entrepreneurial
empowerment of the students.
Jurgen Appelo (2009), talking about the characteristics of a project mission
statement observes that it should tell you about the fundamental purpose of the
project, and concentrates on the present. It defines the customer and critical
processes, and informs you of the desired level of performance. Revisit the mission
statement cited above, and establish the extent to which it measures up to the
criteria spelt out by Appelo. Having done that, I want you to spell out the mission
statement for the project you are either managing or intend to manage, then read on.
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