Inadequate planning is considered the number one mistake in project management. Many troubles can be prevented and tracked by effective and efficient planning. So this time I’m going to describe what primary mistake some executives make when trying to set up and handle their project initiatives.
Planning is vital to success. A well-planned project makes 80% of successful product delivery, while the rest 20% are achieved by effective control and execution. However, good planning doesn’t mean that a project manager needs to spend most of his/her time on creating and polishing a project plan. Instead, this executive must proportionate the time spent on the planning stage to the time expected for project implementation to ensure that valuable resources aren’t wasted and real progress is made.
The purpose of a project staffing plan is to make certain that the project is provided with sufficient human resources that possess the talents, knowledge and experience required for successful work completion. Roles, responsibilities and skills are the key elements that compose the plan and thereby should be considered with great care. The following article provides common definitions of project role, responsibility and skill and briefly describes how to plan project staffing needs by considering these definitions.
Traditionally, the objective of a well-planned procurement process in business is to acquire goods and services in response to internal needs. By accomplishing this objective companies streamline business activities, reduce cost of raw material, and practice better supply management. In terms of project management, the procuring activity involves exploring the most cost-effective way of providing project teams with needed products and services, within available funds and time frames. To recognize how this process can be planned out, first we must understand what procurement is about and what basic steps are involved in defining purchasing requirements for projects and identify potential sellers.
Creativity, patience and organizational ability are all important talents for project managers, but detailed documentation is a critical success factor which should addressed first of all, and mind mapping is a great way to manage project documentation. Because mind maps create visual and easy-to-understand-and-follow documents, many professionals regard this tool as ideal for project planning and management. Priorities, tasks, dependencies, milestones, resources, durations, lead times and more can be visualized and presented to the team with help of mind mapping software. And you don’t have to be well experienced in idea visualization and presentation – everything you need is to use your creativity and have right understanding of subject matter to stimulate your mind and create a project map, either Gantt chart, WBS hierarchy, Team organizational chart, or whatever else document.
Team Leadership as a Driving Force for Project Success
December 6, 2010
Project Constraints and Assumptions – A Planning Checklist
December 30, 2010
