ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: Project Management: The Science of Execution

by: Ryan Fyfe

Success of any project depends on managing the four important elements: Time, Resource, Money and Size. Generally the first three factors are considered to be of utmost importance but managing the size of the project after understanding the right requirement is also a very important factor. If one changes the size of the project there is corresponding change in time needed to complete the project, the required budget and resources.

A project manager is responsible for accomplishing project objectives. Important responsibilities of a project manager are planning, creating clear goals, quantifying the project requirement and managing time, money, resource and size. He prepares the WBS , the work breakdown structure which subdivides the work into manageable chunks. The challenging part for him is to optimize the use of allocated resources to meet predefined objectives. He understands the expectations of the clients and executes the project as per their specifications.

A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects. Project management makes it essential for the project manager to clearly identify the scope and size of the project so that the timelines can then be planned and resource can be allocated accordingly.

Project management is the task of planning and organizing resources to reach a specific objective for example developing a software program. Project manager will sketch a project plan for developing the program which will include identifying the tasks and deliverables, allotting responsibilities to right people, quantifying the resources and setting timelines for various phases and have project control systems in place.

Project Management needs project control systems that help in keeping the project on time, in budget and on track. Project control systems review every step of the project right from the planning stage to the post implementation stage. One needs to make sure how much control is right for the project. One cannot be wasting too much time on reviews and on the other hand if the project is not reviewed properly after important steps, it could result in a disaster. A project manager may take an auditor of the project as a control consultant on board. Project management policies on resource planning and timing should be clearly stated.

Today product management is more of a science than it ever was. The technology has come to the aid of a project manager and new methodologies help him understand the complexities of his project well so that it is easier for him to execute his plans. Today firms have their product portfolio specifications and they resort to PPM , or product portfolio management when ever they need to decide on a project. PPM with the help of gathered data enables them to choose the right projects and then helps them do it in the right way.

Source