Principles of Project Management

Project management is aimed at finishing a project in time allocated without compromising the quality of the project.  Thus it is important to follow some basic project management principles, they are your guide to actual success in the boundaries of reality.

The Attributes of a Project

Before we could start to explain the basic principles, it is important to understand the attributes of a project as these will determine what the basic principles are.  Project all have time constraints because time is money and money is always in short supplies.  Projects also have a demand for human resources like labor, skills and  management. These are the basic attributes and most important attributes of a project.

So where do project management play a role?  If a project will be given no time constraint, and limitless resources, how long will it take to build a bridge?  The answer is quite simple, it will never be finished because there is always room for improvements.  This is why project managements is important, they are the guidelines to keep projects on budget and on time.

Research

Before on could start to planning a project it is important to remember that there is things that is possible and there are things that is not possible.  Research give you the chance to use tools like internet, Google, Wikipedia, and many other online as well as offline resources to do your research to figure out what your limitations are, and if possible, what will be required to make the project a success.

So where do one start when doing research?  Well at the finished project of course.  Let me explain the simple truth, it is easier and far more productive to go and find out if someone else have done something similar and study their case study rather to go through it alone.  Case studies give one good perspective on pros and cons, time constrains, labor force requirements, capital expenditure and the general net worth.

Secondly you will also have to build up your contacts and know who is who in the industries to always have the best quality and price at hand all the time.  It is not good if you search for the best price while you are managing the project. It is always better to know where to purchase and when to purchase.  Although you cannot know exactly how much "those services" or "products" will cost at the exact time you are planning to purchase them, however you will have good estimates.

Lastly it is always important to prototype a project before you plan to see the processes needed to accomplice a project.  All what needs to be done is to prototype a project.  Do an smaller project of the original project in DIY style.  This will give you good idea as a manager what the people on the ground of the project is going to be faced with.

Planning   

Planning is art, and requires accurate information to execute successfully.  Planning also requires absolute discipline when it comes to money allocated and time periods.  This will be your begin part when you start to plan.  OK, now we are so far so where do we begin;

Time Frame

Time frame at its core, is the time allocated versus the time the project really needs.  When working with time frames it is import to work out maximum time scenario and minimum time scenario out, and then take the two extremes and come to an compromise.

Remember that the more laborers and skills you have at a particular project the quicker the project will be done but at an greater cost.  The extreme opposite however will cost you far more less but will come to an compromise on time.  So time and labor and skills have that scale effect with the time span.

Labor and Skills

When planning it is always good to remember that labor force and skills run in different levels.  The simple truth is the more skilled and experienced the labor force the more will it cost to tender for that labor and skill-sets.  However when you choice labor force that is not that highly skilled and have not as much experience under the belt the learning curve is high and as a result you will end up with longer time span.

So how do one keep skilled labor force in budget with the project and get the benefit of both worlds.  It is simple, mix highly skilled and experienced laborers with the not so skilled and in-experienced laborers this will usefully make all laborers on the site just as experienced as the highly trained and experienced.  This doesn't only save your time and money but also give an opportunity to young people who otherwise will not be hired.

Materials and Services

Materials all come in different shape and sizes!  This plainly mean that sustain materials will be suited for your project that you have to manage and others will be time wasters and money wasters.  Communications with the suppliers is of crucial important when selecting the right materials.  Lets say you are not constructing anything and we are planning a web project.  The principle will basically be the same, let me explain!  You are going first to be faced with which programming language you are going to use, and programming languages all have there pros and cons to consider.  Furthermore if you decide to go for an View Model Controller (VMC), it is also important to remember there is an big difference in CodeIgniter and Cake PHP.

Services also differ from from one Company to an other Company as they all have different views of what  service they actually render.  Communications with Companies that render services and are suppliers is of utmost importance.  You should make certain that you get what is needed for the project....

Capital Burn Outs

All projects have capital burn out rates and all three factors mentioned above have an factor in capital demand.

This is crucially important factor to always consider that time and labor burns capital.  The soon you blow the budget then it is when you have burned all capital. 

It is crucial to always project how long your capital will last in different scenarios.  So that when you execute the pan you have enough executive plans to follow if some variable will show its face. 

The final Principle is Execution and Control

When you execute an project it is always good practice to have good control at all times.  However to deal with this it is better to study strategic management to have a proper knowledge how to execute and to control a project.

Courtesy- Ritter Cox