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Showing posts from December, 2010

Project Quality Goals

The thought of project quality must be present from the very beginning of any project for the goals and scope of said project to be achieved. This is a must since the level of quality each deliverable is to achieve is different for each target audience. The project quality standards are set in the business charter of the project that the stakeholders have already approved. It is this level of quality that must be met for the project to be considered a success. In most cases, this level of quality has a range of specifications so the target is easier to hit. This applies to size, function and composition of the deliverable. The color of the deliverable generally only has one standard and is the strictest when being adhered to. To obtain this level of quality, the project quality plan must be correctly devised by the Quality Assurance department. The development of a totally new process or method by this department generally makes use of a project management template for assistance an

The purpose of project management case studies

The purpose of project management case studies is to learn from the past. This is a valuable source of information that should never be wasted or discarded. The information that can be learned will cover the entire project process with both the good and bad included. Just like with history in general, those that do not study the past are doomed to repeat its failures. The project management case studies and their review should include both the successful ones and the ones that failed from the past. In both instances, the economic conditions of the business sector, health of the company and available resources should be noted for further reference. It should also be remembered that just because an approach to a project of the past failed does not mean that with new conditions it will fail again. The opposite is also true that will be seen with project management case studies. A successful project might no longer have a viable approach in the present time and could fail when applied in

Change Management Strategies

All change management strategies have three elements to them that lead to success in their implementation. These are situational awareness, support structures, and strategy analysis. In all change management strategies , each element plays an important role. These must be considered and included for the change of a business routine, style or procedure to be properly implemented. Just hoping the change will occur without a properly devised plan is a recipe for failure. The situational awareness of the change management strategies is basic in its approach. The management must be fully aware of all aspects of the change and who in the business it is going to impact. This must include the characteristics of the change, which include the number of people in your organization that will be affected. The organizational attributes involving the groups of people that will be affected by the change need to be understood. The support structure for change management strategies must be defined. Th

Management Consultant

Part of being a management consultant is knowing the project management process in detail. This comes after being in this area of business for an extended time. This type of consultant must have a firm grip of understanding of the different areas or topics such as time, costs, quality, change, risk, issues, tender, procurement, acceptance and communications. The good management consultant will be able to have compelling proposals for their clients. Their pre-sales pitch and market offerings must fit your business profile to be beneficial to your company. Ask about the consultant’s delivery proposals and how often do they met the framework of their proposals in time and market goals. There is more than one type of management consultant for a business to choose from. There are the individuals that work as independent contractors who gained expertise due to the length of time they have spent in their field. This gives a business individualized attention and focus, but lack any guarante

Enterprise Risk Management

A business uses enterprise risk management as an approach to dealing with the seizing of available opportunities and to manage their risks thru the appropriate methods and processes. It is the development of these methods and process that are the crucial step to ensuring this risk management plan succeeds. This framework for handling your enterprise risk management plan will enable you to better deal with the risks before and during their impact on your project. To lay out this process a project management tool has been found to be most useful. This project management tool to assist in the establishing of an enterprise risk management plan is the risk management template. This is a pre-formatted document that is used as a guide to help the user create a complete and useful plan of attack against the numerous risks that could interfere with their business. In the enterprise risk management plan has to be a section on the procedure for identifying all possible risks that could be enco

Project Process1

A project process is any course of action that helps move a project along during the execution phase to its conclusion. In most cases the conclusion is hopefully successful. But that is highly dependent on how well the project is planned out by the managers. To quality as a project process it must be an action that assists in the progression of the deliverable to a successful conclusion either directly or indirectly. There are eleven different project processes that are included in nearly every project being run in the manufacturing sector of the business world. The project process list includes the project management process, time management process, cost management process, quality management process, change management process, risk management process, issue management process, tender management process, procurement management process, acceptance management process and communications management process. Each one plays a critical role on how the deliverable is created, funded, chec

The Project Planning

The approach you take towards the project planning at your facility is a choice you or the management has to make. This approach can be with an individual effort or a team effort. With the team approach, because of the advancements in software communications, team members can be in the same plant or around the world. What is vital in the approach to project planning is that it covers all the necessary process with the details that will be required in the execution phase. Unlike many past projects that were run with only the use of a Gantt Charts or two, today’s projects have to be thoroughly planned out with many different components. One of the reasons for the increase in complexity of project plannin g is in part due to the globalization of the market place. This has made manufactures in China, India, Japan, Europe and America all competing for the same target audiences.  Because of this increased competition, the cost and efficiency of the projects execution has evolved into being

Management Methodologies

The modifying and developing of new management methodologies to fit the needs of industry is an ongoing process. With the use of a computer, this has become a much easier process than before. This has made it very easy to create, customize and import existing methodologies along with managing several of them at once. You can use management methodologies to define new process you have developed or group any set of existing process into a new methodology. There are project management methodology programs that can assist in the documentation of your new methodology so it can be used and shared by those you have approved. You can even customize a methodology for a particular size project with this type of program. The most often use of this type of software program is to use several different management methodologies and modify them to you specific needs. This way you’re working environment and available resources can be made the most of in running your project. Most programs that allow

A Position Description

The position description for a project manager has become as complex as the projects have become in this global economy. Because of this complexity, when the position of project manager needs to be filled, a guide or template is useful so all the necessary data is included so the correct applicant can be chosen. The correct position description will target the roles and responsibilities of this challenging position that a company will depend on for the creation and sustainability of a revenue stream. the template used to create this description will not only help you describe in detail what is needed, but how to measure the different qualifications of the different applicants so the right one is assigned this duty. A position description should include many things including the real purpose of the project manager along with clearly definition of their role within your organization. There should also be a list of key responsibilities that will be required of this position by the appli

Software Development Methodology

The approach to software development methodology saw the need for something different a few decades ago. The old approach of the well known Waterfall methodology was seen as to restrictive to take full advantage of the type of workers that create software programs. Since the linear approach to software development methodology , like the waterfall, had so many pitfalls, other approaches were examined. This included the prototyping and cyclic methodologies. Each of these was an improvement but still very structured and restrictive. What was needed was an iterative approach for a software development methodology to follow. This came into being in 2001 with the use of the Agile methodology. This is a combination of both iterative and incremental methodologies that was found to best suit the type of workers that were in this industry. This type of worker that was needed usually worked best alone and isolated from others. They find Inspiration and ideas that come in spurts so a less struct

The Purchase Order Template

With the use of a purchase order template, a business can help establish consistency in their purchasing process. This is beneficial to both the business that utilizes this practice and all of their third party vendors. The purchase order template is like any other tool a manager of a department uses. They are a time saving tool that saves money. They also help to establish a pattern of consistency for the paperwork of an establishment to follow. In most cases today the purchase order template is an electronic one that can be used by any of the managers that are working for a company. This will help the receiving and accounting departments since they only have one form from every department to deal with and learn. With consistency in a process evolves efficiency and fewer mistakes. With fewer mistakes being made, there is a reduction in the overall waste that is produced and wasted time determining the correct path or recipient of the goods. The purchase order template is also benef

A Methodology used in Business

The exact type of methodology a company uses is dependent on the sector of business they are operating in. The use and definition of each of the methodologies that are in use are clearly defined. The correct one for your business must take into account what your normal business practices include and the process you have available to utilize. With so many to choose from the right methodology for your application should be a daunting task, but it’s not. For example in the development of software the Agile methodology is the most popular and wide spread. There are many variations to this including Scrum, but they all basically work the same and only work in the development of software. In manufacturing there are three basic models that are widely used when approaching a methodology that works best for an organization. These are the waterfall, lean and lifecycle methodology. Each one has specific advantages along with a few distractions. The lean methodology was first used after World

A Risk Management Plan

The risk management plan is one of those necessary procedures that only become important when the need arises for them to be used. This plan involves one of the largest variables in running a business or project. No one can predict every risk that you will encounter because they change with time and economic conditions of the world around us. Because of the unpredictability of risks and their impact, a good risk management plan must be in place to be utilized just in case such an event occurrs. This way you and your business can be prepared to minimize all of the risks if impact occurs and reduce the problems that arise from them. The four basic areas that a risk management plan covers include the identification of the risks. Each identified risk also needs to be analyzed for its impact potential then prioritized. This prioritization is important. Both the impact potential and magnitude of the impact have to be considered. If possible, every identified risk should be included in the

The Project Solutions can vary

There are many project solutions that can solve the problem a project manager encounters in the planning or execution of their project. It is all dependants on the source of the problem that will lead to where the proper solution will be found. While not every all problems can be connected to any of the known project solutions , there are ways you can minimize their impact. This is done with proper planning of the project. Every aspect of a project needs a well thought out plan of attack on how it should be accomplished. This will reduce the problems and thus reduce the need for a solution. This approach to finding project solutions is considered pro active. To attain this approach all of the different aspects of a project need a well documented plan. To do this will take a certain degree of discipline and knowledge of the project. Many project managers are looking at the management tools at their disposal to assist them in this quest. One of the more useful tools are the project man

A Supply Agreement

The establishment of a supply agreement between two businesses is for some considered a loose business arrangement or partnership. In nearly every instances of this type of arrangement, both businesses make a profit on the transaction. This loose arrangement is generally forged because one of the companies know how to get a raw material at a below average cost while the other knows of a buyer that is looking for a deal. In many cases the supply agreement is just a temporary partnership to making money. In many cases the agreement is just verbal so there is no paper trail and little evidence that the transaction has actually occurred. The purpose behind using this form of agreement can be for tax evasion or to artificially boast the revenue streams on the books. The use of a supply agreement has been reduced over the years with all the legal complications that are involved with running a business. With more government intervention in business and business practices, the supply contra

Enterprise Project Management

When at the enterprise project management level, more is demanded by the project manager. Because of the vast financial resources that are placed into this type of venture, the delivery of the projects deliverable must be on time and in budget so the expectations of the shareholders are met. The use of enterprise project management programs is on a larger scale than what was expected from a project in the past. This has come about because the market has changed. No longer are businesses just worried about supplying their local communities with a product that is of better quality than their competitor, if one exists. Today business are participants in the global market that has stiff competition from other parts of the world. The use of enterprise project management is necessary to help even the playing field with your global competitor. In every part of the world, the competition has certain advantage that only exist there. In the Far East the advantage is the low cost of labor. Thi

A Sample RFP

By researching a sample RFP from their own company, a manager will be exposed to how their company has contacted third party vendors in the past along with knowing the results. This can help them to determine if a new approach should be taken. The sample RFP is just one of the many important and necessary documents that will be needed so the correct appropriations can be made for the business or a specific project. The reason the sample and the results should be observed is to notice if there can be an improvement in this process. By observing the results of a sample RFP that was used in the past, you can directly compare the results. This should especially be done if there were wrong or not correct components that were received after an order was placed. You can look at the sample RFP and notice if all the required information was present before the document was sent out. It should also be compared to the RFI or request for information document that was sent to the same third party

Project management courses for that competitive edge

There are many companies offering project management courses . Many of them are covering the same information as the others. What a project manager needs is to find the one that most others are skipping that is covering sections that is not commonly available. The latest and most advantageous of these project management courses are the ones that deal with the global trade and economics of the different countries around the world. This is not the general courses that cover what most consumers or businesses are looking for but what is specific to a region or country itself. The reason the variation in the necessary project management courses is because of all the cultural and social difference that presently exists in the world. The approach used in Delhi, India that should be used is dramatically different that what works in Beijing, China which is different than what is appropriate in Moscow, Russia. Most project managers are use to the way business is done in North America and Europ