Project Management Strategies Paper Example

Introduction to Select Project

Planning for a project involves a series of steps determining how to achieve specific set of related goals either for a community or an organization. For one to select a project, he/she needs to identify the planning and management process, implement the stages, evaluate the project results, objectives and goals that were achieved, and monitor the stages allowing small adjustments, to ensure the project's success. Construction projects might be complicated as each one is unique and requires close supervision. Therefore, my preferred selected project is the construction project.

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Management Strategies

In this project, specific management strategies include: The construction project manager should create a flow of communication that every supplier and stakeholder is comfortable with. The simplest way one can handle this is by creating collaborative work management, syncing the comments and scheduling occurring changes. The drawn allows email-free project management method, more time will be spent at the construction site, and different contractors will be met to coordinate the next stage of work. Also, the construction project manager should make a habit of continuous planning, before, during and after the project. Pre-construction, designs and procurement stages require extensive planning and each needs to be revised as the scenes unfold. Anything can happen at the site, and with poor planning, everything might change (Kerzner, & Kerzner, 2017). Additionally, in the management strategies, the project construction manager should use effective tools to monitor the costs and budget. Projects managers are always responsible for monitoring and tracking all expenditures from the bidding process to the project closeout, primarily relating to initial budgets. They should, therefore, ensure that all indirect and direct costs are recorded, probably in software that can manage the costs and budgets for easy retrieval.

Responsibilities of Project Manager

Nonetheless, project construction managers have responsibilities that they should adhere to, to ensure their project's success. Firstly, as they are the bosses, they have the right to supervise, hire and fire non-effective employees. Although hiring and firing might be difficult, it is the manager's responsibility to ensure that all tasks are handled to the latter and construction workers are coordinated and directed as required. Also, it is the manager's responsibility to set specific goals, especially in projects signed by clients and do whatever it takes to meet the goals. These goals establish types of supplies and the number of workers needed to complete the project with ease. It also makes the client earn the construction project manager's trust and recommend him/her on other coming projects. Moreover, the project manager should be able to draft active contracts between the owner and the builder. The draft should have the architects, material suppliers, subcontractors and third parties involved in witnessing the project prosper. The other responsibility of the construction project manager is that he/she should have the skills in managing risks. Having been in the field for a long period, they should be aware of any risk they might encounter and how to manage them not inconveniencing the ongoing project.

Operational Subdivisions of Projects

Relating to functional subdivisions of projects, the construction project manager should have a written statement describing the work needed in the project; The project scope. The scope should be created in the first step of planning for the project and should set the tone for the remainder of project planning. Additionally, the project manager should have all the time and get dedicated to his/her project. That is, should spend most of the time at the construction site supervising that quality work is done, materials are appropriately utilized, and the daily construction target is achieved. He should also consider quality suppliers who are cost-effective and supply their articles in time. In case of absenteeism, another skilled deputy should be able to manage the project effectively, updating the project manager of the daily outlines to ensure the smooth running of the project (Schwalbe, 2015).

Business Objectives

However, a project construction manager will not stick to one project his/her entire life but will opt to finish their projects successfully and proceed to others, to gain more experience and earn more trust from different clients. Therefore, he or she must have other business objectives to make other incoming projects also a success. Firstly, the project manager should concentrate on one project at a time and finish it on time. To manage time, project construction managers should use Gantt charts to track milestones, dependencies, and tasks to identify a critical path. Critical tasks often delay projects making them not to be completed in time. Therefore, they should be able to identify these tasks, gauge their dependence on other jobs and determine how long each will take. Additionally, they should stay abreast when critical path tasks have been completed and assess the progress towards the on-time completion objective. Secondly, because the construction project is a business, the project manager should focus on building quality. Measuring the quality of work can be based on maintaining the balance of the scope, time, budget and reviewing stakeholder or customer satisfaction indicators.

Stakeholders get satisfied if a project meets all the key objectives, provides added value by improving efficiency et cetera, of the whole process. Also, additional benefit may be granted if a project comes in under a specific budget. Additionally, in the business objectives, the project construction manager should embrace the triple constraints model and see where adjustments need to be done in case a customer is not satisfied and compensate. For example, if the manager drew a deadline for the project and critical tasks are threatening late completion, then he/she should decide on adjusting the scope to reduce the project's requirements, or if the budget needs to be increased to expedite the completion of another more straightforward task. Nevertheless, a project's scope defines its boundaries, and therefore, the project construction manager should stay in-scope. For example, a project's scope may identify the functionality, features and work breakdown structures that must be included to finish the project.

Process Flow

However, in construction management, there is a process flow to ensure quality work is done and through this, the construction managers should follow all the construction process. The project initiation should be the first phase, where the feasibility and the objectives of the project are determined. This phase can indicate whether a process can proceed or wait, and if necessary, a feasibility study can be conducted, and its results gave a plan or solution. Also, in this phase, the project scope, team and requirements are identified, the type of deliverables, preliminary estimations, and tentative schedules are drawn to ensure the smooth running of the whole process. The planning phase is the second phase, where the team singles out the work to be done and with what period of completion. The costs, time and resources are also outlined from the start to the completion period. A work breakdown structure divides all the required work into small functional categories, and as soon as the schedules and work have been identified, the project begins. The execution phase comes in as the third phase, and here, all the project plans are put to work. The project team makes sure that all tasks are being performed and at the same time, progress is monitored and required changes made early (Mok, Shen, & Yang, 2015). The project construction manager depends on the information that he gets and redirects the tasks hence maintaining control of the project. The closing phase is the last process, and it represents the official completion of the project. The project manager evaluates the outcomes and refers to any failures that might occur. At the end of the project, the construction team calculated the final budget, conducts a report and offer information about the unfinished tasks. The drawn report in combination with failure analysis gives valuable feedback for a future construction project.

Network Structure

A practical project operates with people, technology, and the process of an organization since it has impact and influence on the organization. Therefore, there are various network structures responsible for making a construction project success. The projected structure where projects and the project manager organize a company takes control of every task. Each employee is assigned a mission, and on completion, he or she draws a report to the project manager. Also, in a matrix organization, employees report into both the project manager and the functional manager to ascertain the accuracy and proper communication before proceeding to other projects.

Project Risk Management

Risk management is a way of dealing with uncertainties to minimize the adverse outcomes and capitalize on the positive results. Although project construction managers encounter risks during their construction process, they have possible ways of managing the risks as they are not only for an individual but all the team members. Firstly, relating to risk management, the project manager should be able to identify the risks at the site during planning and construction. Complete coverage of a threat is impossible, and therefore, risk identification should be carried in such a way that it is both forward-looking and in line with the project's progress. Since in starting a project, not all risks are entirely recognizable and during the implementation, further risks emerge. Secondly, risks should be analyzed, and the situation is described wholly and precisely prioritizing the risks. In this case, the identified risks are investigated regarding their occurrences and the effects they impose on the project.

Criteria should be found in the area in which individual risks can be compared and assessed with another. A risk must be described as damage entailing an event to which a value can be allocated. Additionally, risks should be evaluated by the project manager. Risk assessment comprises of quantitative measurement and qualitative assessment of individual risks regarding the interrelationship of its effects. Nonetheless, using the key performance indicators help to manage risks as threshold values where risk warnings exist are determined. Also, the assessed risks should be controlled, and cause-related and effect-related measures should be taken. Cause-related measures reduce or avoid risks while effect-related measures safeguard or decrease the amount of expected damage (Walker, 2015). Lastly, the project construction manager should monitor all the found and hoped risks to help guarantee that the project's risk position corresponds to the risk situation strived for.

Legal Requirements

In every course or career that one venture in, there have to be legal requirements by the authority to ensure quality services are delivered. The drawn helps to track a contractor or the engineer responsible for losses incurred or in case of the collapse of a building. Therefore, in becoming an active construction project manager, one should possess: Accredited degree with a focus on management or business in case he or she is an undergraduate, at least three years' experience in the field, TUV ISO 9001 certified management program, agree to AAPM ethics guidelines to name but a few (Turner, 2016).

Project Tools Analysis and Evaluation

In construction, there are a variety of tools that should be used to ensur...