project management essay conclusion

project management essay conclusion

The Importance of Effective Project Management: A Comprehensive Analysis

1. Introduction to Project Management

Introduction Project management is an important topic because all enterprises, be they large or small, at one time or at recurring intervals, are involved in implementing new undertakings. These undertakings may be diverse, such as the development of a new product or service, the establishment of a new production/operations facility, a marketing campaign, or a major advertising program. While it is recognized that small projects also need management, small projects usually imply small revenue through the duration of the project and are not managed as rigorously as large projects. Everyone gets involved and does what is necessary to get the project done, which usually gets completed, but with some degree of slippage about schedule and budget. However, in the case of large projects, the difference between the achievement of a high-quality project is greatly recognized, and the purpose of project management needs to become an important focus with any strategy.

2. Key Principles and Techniques in Project Management

Each phase of the life cycle is defined by a map and a collection of guidelines that identify the purpose and component products of the phase. The map and most products of each stage flow concurrently through that stage and direct most of the work. Once the map is delivered to the conducting agency, and details of policies and phase products are sorted out, the project is ready to be turned over to an independent project director. The form of governance suggested for the presence of the client in the organization, the context, and building strategies is the task-based or project-specific organization for those parameters. This characteristic versatility is another reason for the newly elected project director to perform a well-constructed management task. The project director has to work with specific procedures and concrete description tools that are already designed. It will have clear guidance and project efficiency.

Designing a project is largely an iterative process. A project begins with the definition of the stakeholders’ needs. They are made known through a project proposal. This state is shown as a circle at the initial stage in the accompanying figure. These must be evaluated, adjusted, and refined as support from both the owner and the provider allows project formulation. The result is a lucrative funding agreement that allows the owner and provider to proceed with the next stage.

The keys to effective project management are workflows, organization, and flexibility. A project management team typically assumes that the project will follow the plan. However, project management is not solely deciding how a project should proceed without recognizing that things will change. It is the management of planned and unanticipated events. These three areas, when their principles and techniques have been recognized and mastered, will enable an experienced team with the willingness and desire for valuable communication and coordination to work together effectively. As long as a team possesses these qualities, there is a good chance that you will have an effective management team.

3. Challenges and Solutions in Project Management

Projects cannot succeed without good project management. It is a set of processes, procedures, rules, and tools to work in a process that is defined in a structured manner. Promoting effective allocation and control of resources, project management ensures that all possible efforts are made to realize the projected benefits. In short, project management aims to bring about the desirable change so that strategic objectives are met. The project management, as tools and methods become more traditional and efficient, is at the top and in front of the business tool. The project management knowledge area is not missing, but few have contributed to practice. The greater complexity of projects is to contribute to the activity of project management in a crucial way, being able to determine if the methods by which the traditional company works represent a competing advantage or a handicap, if they misrepresent their strategic goals.

In the business world, project management can be seen as one of the most important activities to address. It defines a finished product or service, the resources that are required, and the costs and timescales for true completeness. However, managing successful projects seems problematic due to the unpredictable erratic nature of work effort, technology capacity, and specification source. Projects are unique endeavors. Once created, it may not be the same. There may be some similarities in detail, but what matters is that you are new and different; each project is unique and an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of new creation.

4. Case Studies and Examples of Successful Project Management Practices

Another famous project management case is the Channel Tunnel (also known as the Chunnel). The case highlights the need for strong project management leadership and understanding and effective coordination and communication among a large number of players. The idea for a tunnel between Great Britain and France was first proposed in 1802 and again in 1945. It was not until 1986 that work began, and only two years later the project ran into serious difficulties. The project was delivered nearly 80 percent late, and costs were nearly twice the initial budget. Significant unresolved project management issues led to major escalation of costs and delays—weak and not well-coordinated client management, problems with the contracting process, bad construction management, bad project oversight, and not understanding and not managing construction risks.

One of the more famous examples of poor project management, and perhaps the reasons it is so often cited, is the Sydney Opera House. In 1957, a competition was held to design an opera house for Sydney. Utzon, a little-known architect at the time, was announced as the winner in early 1957. The planned costs and timelines were very ambitious, with the opening day being scheduled for early 1963. The actual project took 16 years, was completed in 1973, and was over 1,500 percent over budget. These failures are, in effect, all down to poor project management. The competition to find the right concept and final architect, misunderstandings of the competition, too high expectations for the completion and cost schedules, political interference at the client team level led to three different client teams, and poor contract management all led to additional costs and long delays.

5. Conclusion: The Critical Role of Project Management in Achieving Organizational Success

This step implies that many organizations that we consider primarily as ‘operating’ organizations and only secondarily as ‘decision-making and planning’ bodies. However, many large organizations pay a great many people to make such decisions and plan, analyze and provide strong support for such decision-making and planning. Businesses would not be able to identify their structure and recognize that project management structures of different specifications and design furnish different services in the real world. We can also distinguish between full-scale organizational structures and more limited establishment structures developed for special OSS types. Simply stated, enforcement of checks and balances within an organic establishment structure is performed far more successfully in the world of theory than in the world of practice.

This chapter sought to present the critical nature of project management in any organization by portraying that project management, as a hospital, directs the flow of work in an organization along the channels of goals and objectives. Once the quality of these structures’ functions are designed and maintained through project management in different enterprises, the likelihood of organizational success rises dramatically. Without this in-depth commitment coupled with experience, personnel in an enterprise, even the brightest, will often miss the significance and complexities of undertaking. They may encounter problems or opportunities that require comprehensive delineation of objectives and strategies. Just as importantly, the step-by-step nature of project management, particularly when complex, detailed planning is performed, forces managers and participants to clarify their thoughts in ways that make lots of errors and oversights less possible.