Introduction #
Project planning management refers to initiating a project and carrying out the necessary documentation and requirements to its final stage of completion. The projects are divided into 3 phases of initiation, execution, and closure. However, many factors are taken into account during project management to ensure successful implementation. These can include delaying the project for strategic reasons, analyzing the clients’ needs, applying project management software, and taking into account lessons learned from past projects.
Reasons why projects delay #
Projects can be delayed if the time allocated to complete them cannot be met. This failure can occur due to the slow progress of activities from different factors such as poor project scheduling, poor cost estimation, lack of cooperation from the members, labor absenteeism, and availability of labor. Durdyev, Omarov and Ismail (2017) states that a poorly planned project will experience difficulties and delays caused by Poor project scheduling right from the initial stages. A well-planned project should contain all the aspects of implementation. This program can be achieved by writing down a comprehensive plan for your project before you undertake any task to ensure that it has the necessary workforce, is cost-effective, and can be completed within the parameters put in place. Poor cost estimation is also another cause whereby the cost of a project is underestimated in most cases. This will lead to a delay in the delivery of material, equipment, and tools and, hence, a delay in delivering the work. It is advisable always to overestimate the budget from the initial planning stages to meet the unexpected cost. Lack of cooperation from the various members responsible for different tasks can lead to delays, especially in meeting the deadlines. This will create a situation where the subsequent deadlines will also be met late; hence, the supervisor should be firm in allocating the responsibilities and roles and achieving the deadlines, a non-negotiable feature of all the projects.
Durdyev and Hosseini (2019) states that Labour absenteeism from the workforce can lead to delay of the activities that were supposed to occur, leading to slow progress of the labour and, hence, affect the duration allocated to a particular project. Labour absenteeism can be caused by either the workers living far away from the site, bad weather, especially during the rainy seasons, or lack of focus on the project they are doing. They also stated that the availability of labour is also another factor where every activity requires a skilled professional, an unskilled, and a semi-skilled labour for the success of the project. Lack of labour is a critical element in the delay of the project. Some site location makes it hard to attract skilled labour since some prefer to live in places where the living standards are low which has become a problem all over the world.
Importance of client needs analysis #
Any business is always driven by meeting customers’ needs, and project management also follows a similar path. Customers are the most crucial element in any business; hence their satisfaction is paramount. Understanding the customer’s needs helps an individual and businesses deliver a task to their satisfaction, which is an essential aspect in the growth of a business. In project management, assessing the needs of a client/customer is tasked with the project manager. He/she, together with the project team/staff, is supposed to analyze to know what the client requires, what specific needs the business is supposed to supply, what resources are needed, and how best to manage them to deliver those needs. This works towards helping in understanding the client’s suggestions to a project, or if any changes are to be made, whether the customer is satisfied with the work done, the project manager will be able to deliver as per the client’s needs, helps in growing awareness of the client’s satisfaction (Stretton, 2016).
Project management software #
Project management software helps in scheduling, planning, organizing, cost-control, and managing the resources available to implement and complete a project successfully. Project life cycle refers to the stages that a task will go through from the first stage until it’s complete. The stages are initiation, planning, implementation, and closure. In the initiation phase, the project manager meets with the customers and potential stakeholders and analyzes a project’s idea, what needs to be accomplished, and the expectation of the completed project. Microsoft software will be used, such as an office, to come up with a usually easy to update a flexible template. In addition, they are good at maintaining the consistency of the ongoing project. Once the project has been approved, the planning process starts where risks, resources, and costs are analyzed. Responsibilities are assigned to different team members, and the project manager comes up with a clear outline of the project. A Microsoft excel software can be used to come up with the scheduling of the work. The third stage of the cycle is the execution stage, where the work is done. The project manager monitors the activities to ensure that it is in line with the client’s requirements. The project manager can use Microsoft PowerPoint software to display the information as he or she tries to communicate or pass and suggestions to the members. He also allocates resources to the member if needed. The final stage of the cycle is the closure stage, where the project is finally completed.
Project managers should keep up with the pace of technology evolving daily to ensure knowledge and lessons learned from previous projects are not lost and can be shared to benefit future projects. Below are the tools and techniques. Landau (2019) states that Critical path method is a technique that requires one to come up with a model, which contains all the task that is to take place. Its main elements are activities and nodes, where an arrow represents an activity while a circle represents a node. The length of the arrow has no connection to the duration or resources required for an activity. The arrow’s tail represents the start of an action, while the arrow’s head represents the end of an activity. The critical path gives the minimum duration period that a whole project will take to complete. Its characteristics are only used for repeated activities. It is a deterministic method of project management. The time calculation for any activity must be accurate. Besides, it cannot be used in any project that doesn’t have a priority. Pert is also another planning tool that helps to analyze a task and estimate the duration it will take it to complete by using a chart. The chart makes it easy to plan and schedule the activities that are to take place. It helps in monitoring the progress of the project. This tool is similar to the critical path method in that they both help estimate the time for completion of a project.
Agile is the most famous technique used in project planning. It helps to break down projects into small cycles or sprints. This helps the members focus on a small piece of work and sets a goal to achieve them. In this technique, an individual alters their plans as many times as possible once they see it necessary while Gantt chart. This technique helps to simplify complex projects by planning and to schedule them. The information is represented in a bar chart that shows the starting and the completion dates of a task. It minimizes the use of resources and helps monitor the progress of a project. The waterfall method is a technique where the new task cannot be performed unless the previous task is completed. The activities are performed in a sequence manner, ensuring that the project’s flow makes it smooth and easier to follow (Landau, 2019). Another way that the project manager can ensure that future projects do not make the mistakes made earlier is by ensuring that they capture both the negative and positive features from the lessons learned from the past projects. This process can be done using software that will make the sharing of information and knowledge easier without any difficulties. In addition, it will help in knowing where a focus is essential by learning from the previous tasks and how to tackle a current issue.
Conclusion #
The above-discussed factors discuss the different ways in which a project can be made successful. These include aspects like the need for project delaying, client need analysis, the employment of project management software that an organization can use to manage its projects, and tools and techniques that used to store data for future references. When taken into account seriously, all these factors can ensure a successful implementation of a project.
References
Durdyev, S., & Hosseini, M. (2019). Causes of delays on construction projects: a comprehensive list. International Journal Of Managing Projects In Business, 13(1), 20-46. doi: 10.1108/ijmpb-09-2018-0178
Durdyev, S., Omarov, M., & Ismail, S. (2017). Causes of delay in residential construction projects in Cambodia. Cogent Engineering, 4(1), 1291117. doi: 10.1080/23311916.2017.1291117
Key benefits of using Project Management Software | Kissflow Project. (2021). Retrieved 29 April 2021, from https://kissflow.com/project/benefits-of-project-management-software/
Landau, P. (2019). 5 Project Management Techniques Every PM Should Know. Retrieved 29 April 2021, from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-management-techniques-for-every-pm
Sanni-Anibire, M., Mohamad Zin, R., & Olatunji, S. (2020). Causes of delay in the global construction industry: a meta-analytical review. International Journal Of Construction Management, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/15623599.2020.1716132
Seymour, S. (2021). Why Is Project Management Software Useful: Benefits, Importance, and Features – Financesonline.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021, from https://financesonline.com/project-management-software-useful-benefits-importance-features/
Stretton, A. (2016). Customers’ needs and project requirements. PM World Journal, 5(3).
