Effective project management is one of the popular processes used by modern companies to introduce new strategies and policies into practice. The idea of effective project management is that the company selects the best methods and tools available today, and applies them to its unique environment. Strategic vision and planning are important elements of effective project implementation that determine the project outcomes (Blanchard and Johnson 2002).
The development of effective project management becomes important in the maintenance of human relationships and ensuring the physical well-being of employees so that they give the maximum contribution to efficient working. Thesis For successful performance, organizations need an effective project management system that consists of control activities and effective resource allocation to achieve the overall objectives of the company.
Historically, project success has been defined as bringing a project to the final on time, within budget, and according to certain standards. This framework is so commonly heard on projects that these success criteria have been given a name: the triple constraints. Traditionally, project failure has been viewed as the inability to achieve one or more of the three constraints. Project management aims to achieve specified performance within an agreed time scale and budget. The work of the project manager starts at the procurement and specification stage where details of performance, time, and cost are needed to describe ways of meeting the specifications (Frame 2002).
Every aspect of the project is defined, e.g. quality and reliability, weight, power, etc. Other points to consider design, tendering, manufacture, construction, etc., right up to post-sales services. In general, project management is defined as “the process of managing, allocating, and timing resources to achieve a given goal in an efficient and expedient manner” (Badiru 1991, p. 1). The goals of the project give a sense of direction for the activities of an organization. They give broad guidelines towards which more detailed and specific plans are directed. The important point of the project management is that “the elements are expected to work synergistically together to generate a unified output that is greater than the sum of the individual outputs of the components” (Badiru, 1993, p.1).
The main elements of the effective project management are resource scheduling, budgeting and cost control, teamwork and leadership.. The book A Guide to the Project Management underlines that the main characteristics of projects are: “performed by people, constrained by limited resources and planned, executed and controlled” (2000, p. 4). All of them underline importance of successful planning and control operations to achieve specific goals of the project. Effective projects are based on extended model of project management and describe the impact of resource scheduling, budgeting, teamwork, conflict management and knowledge management on the outcomes of the project.
The times within the project when certain activities are undertaken can be altered to reduce the overload on critical resources. This approach is called resource leveling and, whilst it enables resources to be used more effectively, it may result in the project taking longer to complete if it is necessary to reschedule activities that are on the critical path. However, if the activities can be rescheduled to take account of float within non-critical activities, the overall completion date would not be affected. “On some projects, collocation may not be an option; where it is not viable, an alternative may be scheduling frequent face-to- face meetings to encourage interaction” (A Guide to the Project Management 2000, p. 115).
This approach is used when there are no time constraints and when the project has cost constraints and the teams are seeking to use the minimum number of resources in the most effective way (Frame 2000). Leadership and effective management help the project manager to direct and guide human resources and establish a positive culture and morale inside the organization
The core of effective project management is effective control of all operations and resources. Control should be considered as the main stage which should be flexible and should vary depending on the type of project (Bradbary and Garrett 2005). When control a simple project employees may simply consider the type of financial and materials resources necessary for each stage of the project, equipment or skill groups.
The project manager should use both open and closed-loop control, organizational and operational control. Though, if control a project with fewer resources, the project employees may consider not just the skill types essential but particular employees, especially if the project has a short duration (Schwalbe, 2007).
In sum, the outcomes of the project depend upon all elements of the project and effective implementation of all parts of the plan. Resource scheduling and resource location the main keys of effective project management based on control of project and its security. All elements are interdependent and cannot be considered in isolation. For instance, better customer relations lead higher morale of staff, lower program costs result in higher profit margins. Individuals have a lot of freedom, but when they join a project their freedom is restricted and their effort must be joined with those of others to achieve organizational goals. For this reason, the project manager should take a special attention to all areas of the project and resources involved to achieve desirable and stipulated outcomes.
References
Badiru, A.B. (1993). Quantitative Models for Project Planning, Scheduling and Control. Quorum Books.
Bradbary, D., & Garrett, D. (2005). Herding chickens: Innovative techniques for project management. Alameda, CA: SYBEX /Harbor Light Press-Wiley.
Burkun, S. (2005). The Art of Project Management. O’Reilly Media; 1 ed.
Blanchard, K., Johnson, S. The One Minute Manager. Berkley Trade, 2002. A Guide to the Project Management: Body of knowledge PMBOK Guide (2000) edition. Project management Institute.
Frame, J.D. (2002). The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Complexity, and Other Business Realities. Jossey-Bass.
Schwalbe, K. (2007). Information technology project management (5th ed.). Boston: Course Technology-Cengage.