E.I - Engineering - Project Management

Project Management

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What is Project Management?

Firstly, let’s outline a few of the more important things you need to know about Project Management:Project management is how a person organises and manages resources that are necessary to complete a project.

• People that manage projects are known as Project Managers.
• A project is a piece of work which is not a process or an operation. It has a start, an end, and goals to fulfil.

The objectives of project management

Could you see yourself working in Project Management?

The Four Components of Project Management

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The prime four components of Project Management are:

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Communication with your team is essential when managing projects. Each team member needs to understand the importance of immediate, accurate, ongoing communication, both with you and with other team members. Don’t forget, the success of one team member’s task usually depends on other members doing their job correctly. Communication will help ensure that the process is smooth and efficient.Finally, you have to ensure that you communicate with your stakeholders in case things like scope and budget changes. Any time money or scope increases, it needs to be approved and funded, or you’ll end up burning up your budget. It could also contribute to difficulties with your stakeholders.These problems can be avoided by communicating well at all times, and ensuring that Project Management is slick and comprehensive.

How can Project Management help your Career?

In today’s digital world, employers assume you’re going to be technologically literate and that you have the skills specific to your industry. Once you have the basics, they want to know that you can perform and achieve results - this means communicating with others.Communication, honesty, integrity, interpersonal skills, motivation/initiative, strong work ethic and teamwork skills are all qualities inherent in Project Management. Needless to say, Project Management is a surefire way of getting on in your career.

Some Common Project Management Tools

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Project management tools are usually defined by the different features they offer: They include but are not limited to:

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Project management tools are aids to assist an individual or team effectively organise workloads, or manage projects and tasks. The term “project management tool” usually refers to project management software you can purchase online or even use for free.Despite the label, project management tools are not just for project managers. Project management tools are designed to fit the needs of teams of different sizes and with different goals.

Activity: Scenarios

In this section, we are going to present two scenarios to you - one workplace-based, and one centred around your daily life. The aim of this activity is to get you to project manage these situations so that you reach logical and achievable solutions. You need to think about some of the skills and advice that you have learnt throughout this module.

Why not give this activity a try when you have some free time? It could be a great way to kickstart your journey toward future employment. Please note that participation in this activity is entirely optional, and you're not obligated to take part if you prefer not to.

Learn to identify strengths and areas for improvement, then act - What are your strengths? What skills do you need to improve? Project Management is about learning about yourself, and what you do well. The best Project Managers work hard on those things they don’t do so well. A continuous willingness to learn and improve are very attractive traits for employers.

Learn to adapt - Don’t ignore the change. Companies change. Deadlines change. People come and go. Anything can change at short notice! Project Management is all about adapting to change to ensure the project stays on track.

Learn to get things done and show the results - Project Management is the art of getting things done. As you improve your Project Management skills you’ll learn how to get things done quickly, and just as importantly, learn how to document the results.

Value teamwork - People hear the word teamwork, and they groan, or they say that they are, of course, a team player. The question is, do you work well with others? Do other people want to be on your project team? Are you respected? Do you listen actively to what others have to say? Good project managers know when to lead and when to get out of the way.

Resources – It’s very easy to slip into thinking that your project’s resources comprise just tools and materials. However, that’s not always the case. Your resources include people, equipment, materials, software, hardware and more. Technically, anything that aids your project can be deemed a resource.

Money – If there’s one thing more important to your project than time or resources, it’s money. Money impacts every aspect of project completion, from paying your team members to the cost of materials. Ensuring that you have those resources available to you in the first place is the fundamental part of the Project Management process. Money also implies profit, which may not always need to wait until the end of the project.

Get a grip! - Good Project Managers don’t freak out - they can remain calm and in control because they have a responsibility to problem solve without drama. Project Management is about knowing when all the deadlines are, who is responsible for what and when, and documenting changes. Everyone needs someone on the team who can stay calm and rational when a project comes across difficulties.

You and 2 friends decide to paint your living room. In order to complete this project, you decide that the whole process needs planning and that tasks need assigning and scheduling. You need to get it done in one weekend - so there are two days to complete the room, including getting the furniture back in place.You are the Project Manager and you are required to prepare the project planning. Assign tasks and timings (simply labelled Me, Friend 1 and Friend 2) to complete the project on time and to the highest level of quality.Using the template below as a guide, create your own template that makes sense to you to complete this activity.

Scenario 2 - Daily Life

Learn to lead with purpose and passion - People like to follow leaders; those who know what they are doing and who can generate results. Project Management is a powerful leadership tool because it demonstrates the will to persist and achieve. Few things feel better than accomplishment, do they?

Learn to create ongoing communication/dialogue - There is an assumption that once a meeting is over and everyone goes away, communication ends. No! Ask yourself this: are you communicating frequently enough, and with clarity? Are you communicating what is relevant? Are you communicating your successes? Project Management will teach you to open communication often and with greater effectiveness.

Planning/scheduling - Project management tools allow you to plan and delegate work all in one place with tasks, subtasks, folders, templates, workflows, and calendars.Here is an example: www.asana.com

Scope – Scope is one of those things that can be difficult to determine. There are several factors that go into making it up, including project requirements, project goals and project size (size and scope are not necessarily mutually exclusive). You often hear people refer to the ‘scope’ of something - they basically just mean the entire project as a whole.

The objective of project management is to produce a complete project which fulfils a client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are clearly established they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for example, Project Managers, Designers, Contractors and Sub-Contractors. Ill-defined or rigid project management objectives are detrimental to decision making, and can negatively impact the final product.Projects, as outlined above, are temporary in nature. They contrast with processes and operations, which are repetitive and often permanent / semi-permanent functional activities. Therefore Project Management requires savvy strategies and technical skills!

Collaboration - Email is no longer the only form of communication. Use project management tools to assign tasks, add comments, organize dashboards, and for proofing & approvals.Here is an example: https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/

Time – Time is a fickle thing, but we are all measured by time. Realistically, time impacts every area of your project, throughout its duration. You’ll need to keep a close eye on time”in the form of task durations, milestone achievements, project progress and much more.

Evaluation - Track and assess productivity and growth through resource management & reporting.Here is an example: www.clickup.com

Become super-efficient - When you apply project management principles to your work or your home life, you don’t have to start from scratch anymore. Project Management teaches you how to make the most efficient use of resources to generate the best results in the least amount of time. At the end of every project, you should consider your hits and misses - what went well and what didn’t - because constantly refining your Project management approach and skills will literally make you a much more valuable prospect.

Be reliable and keep your commitments - Missed deadlines can be career killers. Project management skills focus on timelines and results that build your reputation and give team members a reason to trust you. If you deliver, you’ll stand a far greater chance of getting more orders!

Documentation - Avoid missing files with file management features: editing, versioning, & storage of all files.Here is an example: www.docs.google.com

You are the Project Manager, and you have two writers working under you in your team. So, it’s a 3 writer team, including yourself.You have 4 Programmes to complete in one week, as a team, to fulfil your department deadline. Each Programme usually takes one writer one full week to complete (approx 40 hours). It works out that the two writers working in your team average €15.90 per hour. You have a budget of approximately €600 in additional funds that could potentially help you complete the project.Give at least 2 possible ways you could project manage this situation to ensure that the project is completed on time and to the highest level of quality.

Scenario 1 - Workplace

Learn to be confident, consistently - When someone shows confidence, everyone in the room feels it. Project Management promotes confidence, especially if there is success involved. You should learn and grow from successes, as well as failures. Nobody gets everything right all the time.