Project management can be defined as the knowledge, skills, methods required to perform a set of tasks which are carried out by a group of individuals working towards a common objective. Project management highlights risks, cost, scope, time and quality in a project. According to me, Project management plays a vital role in today’s professional environment because of the following reasons:
- It gives you a clearer objective and a specific goal.
- It ensures the product or the service delivered is correct and will have returns or profits in the business.
- It ensures a clear plan which the team can follow and focus on to meet the project tasks.
- It ensures that the team identifies risks, categorizes the risks and prioritizes them.
- It ensures that the tasks are completed within the specifies time frame.
- It ensures that the project is completed within the specified budget.
- It makes the team constantly track the quality of the product so that it meets the clients expectations.
- There may be changes in an organization, project management prepares the individuals in a team for such changes.
- Project management encourages team work: The people working in a project share new ideas with each other. This also improves communication between project teams.
- Sometimes if projects fail, project management ensures that the individuals learn from this failure. It makes people gain experience like this which helps them in working in projects in the future(Aston,2017).
According to me The Boring Company’s ‘Not a Flamethrower’ is one product which can give a good example of the role of project management in today’s environment. This product is basically a blow torch which looks like a flamethrower. ‘Not a flamethrower’ was launched by Elon Musk from Tesla from a subsidiary construction company he owns known as The Boring Company. This was actually a promotional merchandise product of the company. The production of this blow torch were limited to 20,000 units and each blow torch was priced at 600 USD. This product was sold in 15 minutes(Roy, 2018). The marketing of this product is a good example of project management because:
- It was a well-defined project because projects are unique, temporary and have a deliverable. This satisfied all 3 prospects of a project and was launched within a specified time period.
- Proper market research was done in this project because no company before had released such a product as promotional merchandise.
- It had a clear and a specific goal.
- It had a fixed deadline and was launched in early 2018.
- It raised 10 million USD within 15 minutes.
- This, despite being such an immature idea generated a lot of money for the company.
- Reverse psychology was used to market this product which also played a role in the success of this project.
- Naming the product ‘Not a flamethrower’ gave the product an edge which the consumers found very appealing.
IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS:
As organizations today function, they face ferocious competition. Organizations, irrespective of the industries face a lot of challenges on the global market perspective. To deal with such challenges and competition, organizations need a specific strategy and a plan. Project management provides the organizations with a structured method to plan, categorize, lead and operate projects. It helps companies be aware of their resources to produce a high quality product which satisfies the need of the client. According to PMI, a structured Project management would start initially at the portfolio level where strategically available budget and value measures are taken into account. After this, the project, program and portfolio management strategy surrounds the entire company, authorizing the team to perform tasks at each stage and simultaneously delivering products.
As we take into account the rapid globalization in the past 10 years, we notice a lot of changes that have affected organizations. Changes in technology, competition, new requirements set by clients and new expectations by customers have affected organizations. So, to manage such changes which if not handled properly may lead to a potential risk, project management has become very important(Rastogi, 2018). Project management continues to be a primary lens in organizations because of the following reasons:
- It plans and schedules the project so that the team can perform tasks.
- It clearly defines the resources available in a project.
- It ensures the quality of the project is acceptable to the needs of the customers and the requirements set by the clients.
- It helps in cost management.
- Introduces the concept of team work within the organizational groups.
- The knowledge the individuals gain from working in a project is carried on and used when they take part in other projects as well.
- Improves the communication between different people working in the project.
- Keeps track of the project deliverables.
- Project management reduces the rates of failures in a project.
PROJECT, PROGRAM, PORTFOLIO AND ITS LINK WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING:
Project : A project is a short term venture that an individual or a group of people undertake to deliver a product or a service. A project has a clear start and an end time. It can also be defined as a set of connected tasks performed by an individual or a group which works towards a common objective.
Example – Organizing a wedding, constructing a building, Ad Campaign about a new product etc.
Program: A program is a set of interrelated projects which aim to complete a set of activities together which would not have been beneficial if done separately.
Example – Building a set of bungalows in a colony: Building a single bungalow is a project but building a set of these in a colony is an example of a program.
Portfolio: A portfolio is a set of projects and programs that are looked after collectively to accomplish calculated tasks. In a company, there may be a portfolio which contains details of all projects, programs and other activities in which the company was involved.
Link between projects, programs, portfolio and strategic planning:
They are linked in such a way that projects and programs are the executions of a company’s strategic plan. Strategic planning for a portfolio would ask questions like whether the company is working on good projects, investing in right areas or whether they have adequate and correct resources in the right projects. Strategic Planning in a company is executed by portfolios and programs monitoring the projects undertaken by the company. Strategic Planning is basically a management technique used in companies to set priorities to tasks, look after resources and check whether the stakeholder and the team are on the same page when it comes to goals. (Emerson, 2018).
TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON A PROJECT:
Organizational structure means how the tasks and activities in a company are carried out to meet specific objectives. It displays how project teams within an organization work and how they carry out tasks. Also, how hierarchies are defined and how the information flows between them. The most common types of organizational structures are:
- Functional Structure: This means dividing your employees based on their specialities. Advantage with this structure is that each individual focusses on and performs his specific tasks, so the roles are clearly defined. Drawback with this is that communication becomes difficult between different divisions of the company.
- Divisional Structure: This means dividing your employees based on the products or subsidiaries in which they work. For example Volkswagen owns Lamborghini, Porsche and Audi. All are different companies but they are under the Volkswagen brand.
- Matrix Structure: This structure means involvement of multiple managers or multiple bosses. This means one employee from IT may have to report to marketing manager in addition to IT manager.
- Flatarchy Structure: This structure is used in small businesses. Unlike most organizations which have a vertical structure, Flatarchy follows a somewhat flatter structure which gives its employees a lot of freedom and power. Its main advantage is that communication is very easy in this structure(Mar, 2016).
HOW PROJECT MANAGEMENT ADAPTS WITHIN THESE STRUCTURES:
- Different Structures have different levels of communication, which may be easy in some (flatarchy) and difficult in some (functional).
- Strategic Planning is performed more efficiently.
- Planning becomes easier in organizational structures.
- It invites and encourages ideas by the team.
- It accommodates promotion of people, so they perform more efficiently.
- It facilitates well defined roles and responsibilities.
- It gives employees freedom and also keeps them disciplined.
- For a project manager, it becomes easier to manage his team.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS AND METHODOLOGIES:
Project management methodology means in which way projects are managed in an organization. Some companies follow a single methodology while some follow multiple methodologies. Project management methodology is basically a set of rules which are used to govern a project.
Waterfall: This method is a sequential process in software lifecycle development. It has well defined stages and is called waterfall because its diagram represents a cascade of waterfalls. The stages are:
- Requirement Phase
- Analysis & Design
- Implementation
- Testing Phase
- Execution Phase
- Maintainance & Support
It is very simple easy to use. Since the product is developed at a very late stage, changes are not possible. It involves high amounts of risks.
Agile: It focusses highly on the processes and handles different projects in a different way. It can also alter the methods to fulfill user requirements. It is divided into different iterations and a working model is ready after each iteration which makes it adaptable to change.
AGILE VS WATERFALL
Agile uses an approach where there is no planning of any upcoming tasks. A fully working product is available at each iteration. Customer interaction and communication is very effective in this model. Obdurate testing is done often in this model. It has very low risks as the client knows about each phase. It focusses on the quality of the product.
Waterfall model follows an approach where all stages are pre-planned. A fully working product is available at the last stages of the cycle. Customer interaction and communication is not possible here. It involves high amounts of risk. It involves faster delivery of the product.
BENEFITS OF AGILE MODEL:
- It ensures effective communication.
- Has low amount of risk.
- Its structure adapts to changes.
- Ensures client understands each phase.
- Working model is ready at each iteration.
- Very less documentation.
- No planning is required
- Easy to handle
BENEFITS OF WATERFALL MODEL:
- Well defined stages
- Easy to use
- Good for small projects
- Processes are completed one at a time.
- Phases do not interfere with each other
27.2.2019