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Time: 8 hours
Level: Masters
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 Introduction Resource- The focus of this unit is on implementing a project. The first part considers how the activities of a project start. Although planning and action run side by side, it is often difficult to initiate action...
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- 1.1 The transition from planning to action Resource
- In working on a project, it is sometimes difficult to make the transition from planning to action. It usually falls to the manager, as leader of the project, to make sure that activities are started; but...
- 1.2 Defining team responsibilities Resource
- Depending on the size of a project, responsibility for each key stage may need to be allocated to a member of the project team. Clear allocation of roles and responsibilities for tasks and key stages ensures...
- 1.3 Motivating and preparing staff Resource
- Motivation is important. In resourcing the project it may be worthwhile to build in a reward system that helps to motivate. This depends on the availability of the resources to make this possible. Even...
- 1.4 Resourcing the project Resource
- Work will be delayed if the necessary materials and equipment are not readily available, or if the accommodation for the project has not been arranged. Although the project manager is responsible for overall...
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| | 2 Controlling the project
- 2.1 Unique problems and constraints Resource
- In an ideal world, projects would be completed on time, within specified budgets and to the standards set out in the plans. In practice, any project involves a set of unique problems and constraints that...
- 2.2 Monitoring as control Resource
- To control you need a plan that indicates what should happen and information that tells you what is actually happening. This is monitoring activity. By comparing the information about actual progress against...
- 2.3 Interdependency of systems Resource
- The control system approach to project control provides a simple overview of the process of planning, measuring against the plan and taking action to bring things back into line if necessary. This suggests...
- 2.4 Project status reports Resource
- Project status reports are regular and formal. You will need to decide how often they are necessary – depending on the size and nature of the project, it might be weekly, monthly or quarterly. In some...
- 2.5 Project meetings schedule Resource
- You need to decide early on what meetings are essential to the monitoring process. All your stakeholders will expect to receive reports at regular intervals, whether formally or informally. So you need...
- 2.6 Maintaining balance Resource
- Monitoring is also concerned with achieving a balance of the three dimensions of the project:
- 2.7 Tracking progress Resource
- Gantt charts and critical path diagrams are useful for tracking project activity and for making necessary changes to the project plan. Project-planning software may also be used; the original chart is...
- 2.8 Controlling changes to the project Resource
- Sometimes an addition or change to the project will be requested. This can be difficult for those who manage the project, because you will want both to maintain good relations with your client and to protect...
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| | 3 Managing the communication process
- 3.1 Introduction Resource
- Communication on project work is the glue that holds everything together!
- 3.2 Communicating with the project team and other stakeholders Resource
- In project management, the quality of communication can make the difference between achieving your objectives and falling short of them. Projects often fail not because of problems with the work itself,...
- 3.3 Managing conflict Resource
- Conflict can emerge when a project is thought to be absorbing scarce resources or shifting the balance of power.
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| | 4 Developing solutions to problems arising during projects
- 4.1 Dealing with risk Resource
- Projects are high-risk activities, and it is in the early stages that uncertainty is greatest. Some of this uncertainty can be removed during design and planning, but in practice a great deal may remain....
- 4.2 Problem solving Resource
- Involving the whole team in the problem-solving process shows that you value their experience and knowledge in devising a solution. It may also be appropriate to involve other stakeholders and/or the project...
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- 5 Summary Resource
- In this unit we have focused on effective management of the routine activities of a project. I began by considering what a manager can do to ensure that tasks and activities start on time. You should now...
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| | References and Acknowledgements | |
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