We are all planning on doing various things in our lives, from going to make an assignment to planning a party, we are busy completing many projects that are important to us. Similarly, a company also executes many projects from time to time. Companies usually start these projects to bring out a new product, a new service or some desired result. These end goals are important the company that is why it relies on projects managers to successfully execute them.
But what exactly is a project and how you can also complete a project from start to finish? And what are some project management skills you should have to execute your projects successfully? All these questions will be answered in this article.
What is a project ?
A project is any task or event that has a starting and an end. It is to be completed within a time limit. The aim of a project can be anything from building and launching new products or services to getting a desired result for the organization. A project is executed with a series of steps with the help of all members on a team.
What is project management ?
The process of completing a project involves many variables such as time, resources, team members, kind of tasks etc. When so many variables are involved, completing a task can get difficult and complex to organize. So many companies resolve this issue with the help of a project manager.
A project manager helps organize all the big and small aspects of a project, manage and distribute resources among the different components of a project, keep track of the time that would take to complete the project efficiently, and manage overall functioning and execution of the project.
Not all projects need to be managed by a project manager, but for some complex projects having a project manager becomes a necessity.
Five major phases in the project management lifecycle:
All projects are not the same, but all projects have a similar series of steps to complete. Although these steps will be discussed in a series but in no way a project runs linearly. A lot of times a project manager reaches the fourth step only to come back to second step and so on. So, keeping this in mind that this process of project execution is cyclic we will go ahead and discuss five major steps that a project manager reaches while completing a project.
1. Initialising:
Any project is started in order to solve some existing problem or to grow the business more. So, identifying the reason for why you want to start this project, what goals are you trying to achieve and how this project will affect the organization, are some key points that you define clearly in initiating phase.
2. Planning:
After clearly defining the goals and objectives of a project the next step is to plan how to execute it. In project management lifecycle, the stage of planning is about creating a plan to complete this project with time, resources and cost in mind. It is a crucial stage because all these things: time, resources and capital are valuable and should be utilized with careful thinking and planning.
3. Execution:
In this phase of the project management, the working on the project gets started. All the team members are given their tasks, and they start working on their respective work.
4. Monitor and Control:
In this phase of project management, the project manager carefully monitors and controls the project process. He or she observes all the big and small parts of the project and change or improve the strategy accordingly.
5. Closing:
And at this final phase of the project management, the project management finalises and properly closes the project after completion.
Most important project management skills you should have:
To complete a project successfully every project manager must have these basic skills:
1. Communication skills:
Effective Communication skills means sharing your ideas and knowledge to other people and listening to their ideas and insights. It is about building a connection with the people and managing them. As a project manager, you are required to communicate regularly with a lot of different people. You will also be involve in leading teams and sharing your thoughts. So, communicating your messages effectively with the team members and other stakeholders is necessary for the smooth working of the project.
2. Time management:
Time management skills are about allotting time slots to different tasks of a project, making schedules and timetables for doing various tasks. It is an important skill necessary to complete the project on time.
3. Risk management:
Risk management skills are about planning your project with the risks in mind. Identifying what problem might occur, what steps you will take if these problems occur and how you will control risks are very important points to consider. You should also plan about how much risk the organization can tolerate so that you do not miss any opportunity. The better your risk management skills are, the easily your project will succeed.
4. Critical thinking:
Sometimes while working on a project, some complex or unclear tasks or problem may arise. In such cases, thinking critically is the right thing to do. Thinking critically involves collecting and analysing all the facts and data to come to a logical and unbiased solution. The solution you come to by carefully researching, thinking logically and listening to all parties can help you make an informed decision, which is a characteristic of a good project manager.
5. Cost management:
Most projects require significant amount of resources and cost. Knowing how much resources to allocate to which portion of the project is very important. For this you need to learn how to make a good budget plan for the successful completion of the project. It also includes monitoring the costs and expenditures while the project is going on.
6. Leadership:
As a project manager it is important to have good leadership skills as well. Being able to lead teams of people successfully will result in timely and successful completion of the project. By having good leadership skills you can motivate, encourage and support your team members. This can help your team avoid deviating from their path and put in the right amount of efforts towards the completion of the project.
Also read: How to write a business plan that gets you funded
Responses (0 )