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Showing posts from September, 2011

Project Planning and Management Decisions

The number of project planning and management decisions that are required to make a business opportunity turn into a successful project are numerous. In most instances, each decision will be the foundation for the following decisions that need to be made. To begin with the project planning and management decisions, there must be a firm foundation for the following decisions to be set upon. To complicate matters, the business world does not wait for these decisions to encompass a great deal of time. This is where the project manager tools that arte available to the project manager play a significant part in being successful. With the correct project management tools in place the project planning and management decisions can be implemented in the shortest time span. This will allow for the construction of the project plan to be completed so the deliverable can be on the market with the smallest amount of delay as possible. The most often and productive project management tool used in t

Project Management Process for the Global Market Place

The need to understand the entire project management process by the project managers of the world is important if their deliverables are to compete on the global market place with an edge over the competition. This way you can manage the entire process from its initiation to the successful conclusion of your projects lifecycle. The sum of a project management process is of all the components that make it. This will include in the global projects the Project management processes of 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. The vast number of formal documents, procedures and forms that comprise the project management process is the leading reason so many project mangers look for a project management tools to assist them with this daunting task. Th

Posting a Position Description must be Specific

The posting of a position description must be very specific in order to get the pool of applicants you desire the most. This will help to eliminate people that are unemployed from applying for a position they are not qualified for thus making the job of your human resources staff easer. The most common things to list in a position description for a job opening are the minimum level of education required for the position, tasks that the position will be responsible for and if the job is full time or part time. The greater the list of responsibility the job requires, the more detailed the position description has to be in order to obtain the necessary applicants for the position. For the project manager position, the detail that is most beneficial is if an applicant has previous training and usage of your project management office program. By stating this in the position description when posting the job, the number of applicants will be more limited, but the respondents will be better

Taking Project Management Methodologies and Applying them for your Needs

Today there are many project management methodologies available in the business world that has components that could be applicable to many businesses in the global market place. Just like each region of the world is different and requires a different approach in marketing products to, so are there difference in the availability of resources and equipment of the business there. Because of the many project management methodologies , a good number of businesses can find the right one that fits their needs, resources and facilities. Unfortunately this is not always the case. For those organizations, the need to tweak the existing methodologies is required to take advantage of them to their fullest potential. This is why there is now a program available to take several project management methodologies and organize them into one that will fit the specific needs of a unique business. This program allows for the importation of as many different methodologies as you feel necessary. You can th

Following a Project Methodology sets the Course for your Business Venture

The decision on which project methodology your business is to follow is a very important factor on whether your business venture will be successful or a failure. Following one that is not right for the application or industry you are in could spell disaster. By applying the correct project methodology at your company, the possibility of delivery your projects faster is possible. They will also save you time in money by making your processes more efficient in terms of time management and resources management. One of the most noticed advantages by the project manager of using the right project methodology will be how much easier it is to produced the required formal documents for the projects under their guidance. By reducing the time required to produce these documents, more time can be spent on progressing the project forward increase the chance of the project becoming a success. A project methodology that follows the best practice models are the ones that have the products accepted

The Manager Job Description must be Accurate

When a manager job description is being prepared for advertising, the qualities of the person needed and their schooling must be included. That might sound basic, but many forget to include the simple things. Many make the assumption that most job seekers will already have the basic qualifications if they are applying for the position. Unfortunately this is not always true. In today’s economy, the listing of a manager job description position or any for that matter must be very specific. The leading reason for this is so the people viewing the help wanted sections will know what is expected of them before applying for the position. This will avoid an onslaught of applicants that are not qualified for the position. Included in your manager job description should be how large of a team this position will be in charge of along with number of production lines they will be supervising. This will give the prospective applicants a good idea of the scope of the job size and their responsibil

The Purchase Order Form is one of the Modern Business Practices Today

The use of a purchase order form when placing an order for material or items you need is common place today. It is a form of credit a merchant extends to new and existing customers that generally are placing large orders to maintain their business needs. In most instances with a new customer, the purchase order form is sent via fax or electronically by email to the vendor so the number on the purchase order and the company’s name, address and other contact information can be verified. Upon receiving the shipment, the news customer also receives a bill that is due within 7 working days. For established customers of a merchant, they prefer allow for the accumulation of more than one purchase order form to occur before payment is required. This is common when there is more than one order by the customer each billing cycle or month. This is the common cycle of using a purchase order form for a business to acquire what they need, when they need it without going thru the delay of sending a

Using a Project Management Methodology to your Benefit

You can use a project management methodology to your benefit when you match up the right methodology to your business style and resources that you have available. This allows for the most to be done with the money, raw materials and other resources a business has to work with in order to create a revenue stream for the company. The most common and widely used project management methodology is the one that makes the most out of the project lifecycle. This is a 4 phase approach to managing a project from beginning to end. This methodology can be adapted for large and small project alike without any comprise on the details or standard of quality in the deliverable that is produced. This project management methodology is also set to observe the internationally recognized standards of PMBOK and Prince2. Which are needed for many companies to have their deliverable accepted by their clients. This also permits this type of methodology to be applied to any company in any region of the world w

Using a Sample RFP to your Advantage

The best way to use a sample RFP to your advantage is to make the terms in the proposal to your benefit without hurting your vendor. By taking into consideration the differences in the economic environment when the sample was used as to the current environment you can justify a precautionary section. The justification for the inclusion of a situation from the sample RFP that is carried forward to the present request for proposal is that the business environment is constantly changing. This can be as simple as a cost reduction in the raw material that is being supplied if the global market value of it changes before the full delivery of the material is made. The explanation to your third party vendor should include the sample RFP so they know its validity and will not question its authenticity. This will help to avoid any possible misunderstandings between the two parties involved which might lead to a delay in receiving the necessary material for your project. Another common use of

Using the Lean Methodology is the way of the Future

The use of lean methodology by the manufacturing sector of the business world has increased the profit potential of said businesses. This is all because the same deliverables are produced as before. What has been removed is all the waste and non-contributing processes to the construction of the deliverables. When you are utilizing the lean methodology , a system of constant monitoring and review has to be in place. This monitoring and reviewing process assesses the value each process contributes to the deliverable in the execution phase of the project. In the lean methodology , the responsibility of maintaining the processes and determining which ones actually make a significant contribution is the project manager. They are the ones that review to reports from the monitoring processes. In most instances the monitoring process of the lean methodology is conducted by the quality control department. They are responsible to determine where waste might be occurring that should be eliminate

How a Risk Plan Reduces your Exposure to a Financial Loss

How a risk plan can reduce your financial exposure to a loss is all in how it is created. This takes planning before you begin in creating your plan on how to achieve your goal of a reduced exposure to risk and their negative impact on projects and you’re business as a whole. To create a risk plan that is effective, it must be proactive. This means it does not wait for a risk to impact your business or project before action is taken. This is the approach most project management templates take to help you better deal with any risk. B y having a proactive risk plan , you will already know the risks that could impact your business or project well before any possibility of damage could occur. This is because this approach to handling risks requires you to identify all known possible risks. The next step in a well devised risk plan is to characterize the risk level of each identified risk. This will be for both impact potential and level of damage an impact could reach. By categorizing th

Life Cycle Methodology used to its Fullest Potential

The potential of the life cycle methodology can be maximized when all four phases are fully understood by the project manager. This requires them to know the meaning, purpose and expectations of each phase. This includes the initiation, planning, execution and conclusion phases of the project’s lifecycle. The first phase in the life cycle methodology is all important. This is where a firm foundation is established so the project will be sound. This is the phase where the deliverable is analyzed to see just what the potential it has for producing a revenue stream for a business. This begins with a sound Business Case that is then approved by the stakeholders for exploration. Then the Feasibility Study is conducted so see if the theory of the business case holds true in the real world. If the results from the Feasibility study are positive, then the next part of the initiation phase of the Life Cycle Methodology is to create a Project Charter and establish the criteria for the project

A Risk Management Plan to help Prepare for the Unexpected

Having a good risk management plan in place will help prepare your business for any unexpected impact of a risk or issue that could negatively affect your company. This is an important concept that must be devised so your projects and daily business routine is not effected to the point of disruption. To begin in the creating of a risk management plan , the use of a template from a project management office program is advised. This will already have the structure in place that has been proven to help business operating in the current market condition. When creating your risk management plan, you will able to list the known risks that could impact your business by properly identifying them. This is an important step that should include any risk, no matter how small or insignificant you might feel it has a chance of impacting your business. Once all of your risks are identified in your risk management plan, then you must categorize them and prioritize them appropriately. Both the impact

The Six Sigma Methodology is all about Improving Quality

The six sigma methodology was developed to help reduce the number of defects that are being produced in the production lines. This was to help bring an American company in line with the quality of its Japanese competition in the electronic field of industry. By deploying a six sigma methodology at a business, they are utilizing a business quality management strategy that takes aim at reducing the errors in the manufacturing process by first identifying them then eliminating them. In some companies this is referred to as a reduction in defects in the deliverables. This six sigma methodology is a statistical approach that has an overall goal of obtaining only 31 defects in a production line out of every 1 million units that are produced. Because this goal is so hard to achieve and then maintained a system for approaching this rate of defects and keeping it at that level, a system had to be developed. The system that has proven to work to achieve the six sigma methodology goals is a co

The Supply Contract is an Important Formal Document

The reasoning behind the creation of a supply contract by your firm is so the creation of a legally binding document can be created that will give your business a certain level of insurance with your third party vendors. The creation of a supply contract is now easier than ever before with a template from a project planning office program. These templates provide all the necessary sections of this formal and legally binding document that is required to help keep a good working relationship between businesses properly in place. With the terms and conditions of the agreement laid out is black and white, there will be no ambiguity on what was agreed to and for what amount of revenue is to be exchanged. The supply contract will also bring consistency to your business because the template can be used for all of your third party agreements. This will allow for a clearer understanding on a continuous basis so there will be no surprises on either wend and the raw materials will be on hand w

Development Methodology means Structure

The term development methodology is used when the structure of the process to control information is being developed. Many businesses need to use this or are using a framework of this type but do not always know its proper terminology. The use of development methodology has been around for many years since the need of formally documenting the processes of a project is a necessary part of the modern business world. The first use of this terminology began in 1969 with structured programming. Unlike a good deal of other terms and process in project planning, the use of development methodology is mostly used in reference to software programming. This now permits for a framework to be established as a baseline so commonalities can be used for future applications. From the development methodology has spanned many different approaches to projects and how they travel thru their lifecycles. This is includes the linear approach of the Waterfall methodology, the use of iterative framework as i