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Project Management

In this article The Best Tutorial on Project Management Skills we will discuss about the fundamental project management concepts,project management techniques.

Introduction to Project Management Skills

The project management is involved with comprehensive planning and coordination Comprehensive planning and coordination of a project from concept to accomplishment to complete the declared demands and ensure the completion in time within stipulated cost and desired quality specifications is called The project management.

Project Management Skills is typically reserved for concentrated, non-repetitive, time-bound actions for which an organization is answerable. 

Basics of Project Management

Project management steps are listed below

1. Project and Project Manager definition
2. Scope
3. Technical design
4. Financing
5. Contracting
6. Execution
7. Achievement tracking.

What are the project management fundamentals?

“A provisional effort attempted to accomplish a time limited goal directed, particular aim requiring the responsibility of varied skills and assets” is known as a Project Management Skills.

Project Manager

The person conclusively answerable for the accomplishment or collapse of a project.

Accidental Project Manager

A person who is assigned a job of project manager due to the system organization requirement and incidental. The accidental project manager is not created for this job at the initial stage of their career path. 

Pros and cons of accepting the job of a project manager

Pros

1. It can often be a channel to breakthrough
2. It provides a strong feeling of achievement
3. There is appreciable diversity; All the days are not identical
4. There is essential freedom of preference.
5. It allows the convenience to effect change across the organization.

Cons

1. It requires compelling patience in politics
2. It requires persuasive patience to vagueness and unpredictability 
3.  There is a lot of obligation but little or no authority.
4. You may feel detached from your technical practice
5. Some may anticipate you as not having a real job.

Basic components of Project Management Skills

1. Resources
2. Time and schedule
3. Cost
4. Scope

Resources Management

A project manager must adequately manage the following resources allocated to the project.

Project Management Skills

1. Project team labor hours
2. Labour subcontractors
3. Vendors

Equipment Management

1. Cranes
2. Trucks
3. Heavy equipment

Material

1. Pipes
2. Insulation
3. Computers
4. Manuals
5. Other project material to accomplish the project

Time and Schedule Management

A successful Project Manager should have the demanding skill of time management. Lack of schedule management will be the reason for the bloated project. . Modern project management utilises the developed software to manage the project schedule

Sub- divides the project in to several activities for the better acheievement of the target.

Cost Management

Usually, a project manager is appraised for his competence to execute the project within the budget. The cost is inclusive of estimated cost, actual cost, and fluctuating cost. Probability cost is influenced by weather, suppliers, and design tolerances.

Help with the 80/20 rule.

Project managers should understand the 80/20 rule. As per this rule initial and final 10 % of the activities consume 80% of the avalable resources and time.

Progress flow of Project management is as per the below flow chart

Fundamental and concepts of project management ( Project Management Skills)

1. Identification of components
2. Inception
3. Planning
4. Execution
5. Monitoring

Identification of components in Project Management Skills

To identify components of the project is the first step of the progress. Project need to be identified both externally as well as internally.In internal indemnification energy manager identifies a combination of energy-saving opportunities during the daily management actions, or from the facility audits. Sytematic energy audit conducted by competent enrgy auditors will determine the external identification of energysavings.

Following norms should be adapted to position-order project opportunities while screening the projects

• Cost potency of energy savings.
• Sustainability & Viability of the savings over the life of the machine
• Easy to evaluate, monitoring and authenticating fuel and electricity saving.
• Availability of Technology and easy to adaptability technology to the regional conditions.
• Other environmental benefits of reducing pollution.

Inception

For getting the project started, the basic process of inception should be completed. This starting point is demanding. The project performers, the end-users, and the stakeholders must reach an agreement at the inception. The accomplishment of the project team depends upon beginning with complete and authentic information, management backing, and the endorsement mandatory to manage the project.

Planning

The planning stage is treated as the most critical stage in project management. Project activities are defined in the planning stage. Will explain the actions of the product and the method to accomplish the project. The project planning will define each significant task, time estimation, resources, and required cost. The project will also provide the structure for the management review and control.

Planning will be involved in identifying the following aspects of Project Management Skills

• Documentation scope
• Task
• Schedules
• Cost
• Risk
• Quality
• Staffing requirement.

The project plan will be an approved, for the comprehensive document that guides a project team to start and accomplish the work required to conclude the project goals and objectives. In addition project plan will address to project team to manage the project elements.

Executing

The project team and all necessary assets for the execution of the project should be in place and ready to execute the project activities.

The focus of the project manager and project team gets shifted from planning the achievement of the project to engaging in execution activities, monitor, and evaluating the work being performed.

 During the execution stage, the work activities of the project plan are executed, resulting in the conclusion of project realization and attainment of the project objective. This step brings all the project management disciplines from a product or service that will fulfil the project realization requirements and customers’ requirements. During this phase, components accomplished in the planning phase are achieved, time is expanded, and money is spent.

Monitoring

Project monitor function that associates correlates actual achievement with planned achievement and taking remedial action to get the required conclusion when there is a symbolic discrepancy. By controlling and assessing evolution regularly, pinpointing deviations from plan, and taking corrective response if needed. The project monitor assures that project targets are accomplished.

Closing out 

Project closing out is implemented after all specified project objectives have been accomplished. As a result, the customer has regularly accepted the project’s output and end product or, in some cases, when a project has been cancelled or terminated early. Despite the fact, project closeout is a customs procedure. By perfectly concluding the project closeout, institutions can benefit from lessons learned and data collected. 

The closeout stage is inclusive of contract closeout and legislative closure. 

Technical Design for Project Management Skills

Identified components for the technical design of a project are listed below.

1. Proposed new technologies, process renovations, machinery replacements, and other measures combined in the project.
2. To identify the source of supply for local availability, to be imported, and reliability of supply.
3. Financial viability for Internal rate of return, net present value, cash flow, average payback. 
4. Any unique technical complications for installation, maintenance, repair, and required associated competence. 
5. Initial designs, including schematics, for the considerably needed equipment, design requirements, Original equipment manufacturers details, and capital estimate.
6. Management plan for application, including timetable, personnel requirements, workforce training, project engineering, and other procedural issues.

Ways of financing can for an energy efficiency investment

The project can take the funds from either internal or external sources

Internal Source

• Direct cash from the company 
• From revenue budget with the condition that the payback should be within a year.
• Share capital

External Source of Funds in Project Management Skills

• Bank loans
• Leasing arrangements
• Payments by savings
• Private financial institutes

Contracting– Project Management Skills

Aspects of being considered in the Project anagenebt skills

• Competence and capabilities of a contractor
• Discipline between contractors and suppliers.
• Penalty imposing clause for not meeting the contractual obligations.
• Help by project owner in case of the genuine problem faced by the contractor.
• To retain the independence to offload (partially or wholly) the contract where delays are anticipated.

Type of contracts

• Conventional contract
• Continued technical guarantee/services
• Continued financial terms
• Guaranteed savings performance contract

 Hurdles faced in the implementation of a project-The Best Tutorial on project management

The main problems faced by the project manager during implementation are listed below.

• Poor control of progress
• Poor risk handling
• Poor cost control

Project Management Techniques

Three project planning are mentioned below

1. Gantt Chart
2. CPM
3. PERT

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a project management technique that symbolizes a plan. A Gantt chart has two sections; the left side describes a list of activities, while the right side has a timeline with organized bars that anticipate the work. Start and finish dates of tasks, milestones, dependencies between activities, and assignees also can be included in the Gantt chart.

Use Of Gantt Chart

1. Build and manage an exhaustive project
2. Regulate logistic and activity dependencies
3. Invigilate progress of a project

CPM- Critical Path Method-The Best Tutorial on project management

CPM or Critical Path Method is a method used in Project management scheduling activities. Critical path refers to the longest span of the activities and an evaluation of them from beginning to end.

With the help of CPM, we will determine the following.

• Activities required to complete the project
• Dependencies between activities
• Activity completion required period.

Concepts of CPM 

1. Events
2. Activities

Events

Events are illustrated by a circle and will take place at the beginning and end of the activity. Thus, event 1 is the tail event, and event 2 is the ahead event. About our diagram, the events are 1, 2, 3,4, 5, and 6. Considering nodes 1 and 2 and the connection between these nodes, 1 will be referred to as tail event, and 2 will be referred to as the head event.

Same way, for 2 and 3, 2 is the tail event, and 3 is the head event.

Activity

An activity represents the response and utilization of resources like human resources, money, and material to accomplish the project. In our diagrams, A, B, C, D, E, and F represent the activities happening between their respective events.

Dummy Activity

A dummy activity represents a contract between two events. For example, in our diagram, the dotted line represents a relationship between nodes 4 and 3. Therefore, the activity between these nodes will have no value.

Benefits of CPM

• Produces a graphical view of the project
• Anticipates the period required to accomplish the project
• Prioritization of activities. 

CPM Limitations 

Time variation can have a significant impact and is not considered in CPM. 

PERT ( Program Evaluation Review Technique Chart)

Project management tool that produces a graphical depiction of a project timeline is known pert chart. Individual task is broken-down to study individual tasks of a project is performed by PERT. PERT charts are preferred to Gantt Charts because it is easy to identify the task dependencies. 

  PERT chart Key Points 

•  A PERT chart allows Project managers to check out the time and resources necessary to manage a project. 

The description on working of PERT chart

A pert chart uses circles or rectangles called nodes to represent project events or millstones. These nodes are linked by vectors or lines that represent various activities.

Dependent tasks are components that must be accomplished definitively. For example, if an arrow is drawn from task 1 to task 2 on a pert chart in the figure, it must compete for task 1 before working on task 2.

Components at the same production phase but on different task lines within a project are specified as parallel tasks. Therefore, they do not depend on each other, but they are planned to take place simultaneously.

Performance Control (Project Management Skills)

On project completion, carry out the performance review systematically to compare actual performance with projected performance.

Benefits of performance control  

• The performance control helps in understanding practical assumptions underlying the project
• Performance control produces a chronicle record of understanding for the decision-making for the future of projects.
• Proposes remedial response be taken in the light of actual performance
• Exposes subjective unfairness
• Inclusion of the desired alert amid project promoters. 

Budget Planning

The budget requirement differs depending upon the period and intensity of projects comprising long duration with multiple tasks and procuring. Therefore, collateral needs to be appropriately allocated as and when required.

Procurement Strategy (Project Management Skills)

After identifying material and required equipment for the project, the preceding step is selecting the various vendors, producing specifications, calling quotations, and carrying out a dialogue with preferred vendors. Then, for high-value equipment and material tendering process is to be initiated. Tenders need to be evaluated for technical and commercial aspects. Involvement of Purchase manager Involvement is desirable for the project team to expedite a smooth procurement strategy.

Construction

The plant needs to be shut down during the construction phase. It should plan to undertake this phase without affecting production. The project manager should be aware of the annual shutdown of the plant for maintenance or any major breakdown period during which period the plant will anyway shut down. Both the Project manager and energy manager should supervise the construction activities for quality and safety compliance.

Measurement & Verification (M&V)

Project Energy savings are resolved by the comparison between the baseline and post-installation.

Proper Evaluation of savings is inclusive of modifying for alterations that influence energy use but are not induced by the control measures. For example, such adjustments may account for differences in capacity utilization, raw material quality, product mix, and other parameters between the baseline and performance periods. 

Best Books On Project Management

Introduction to Project Management

A Guide to the Project Management

PMP Exam Prep Simplified

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 

PMP Exam Prep

Conclusion

I hope the post on Project Management Skills would have provided useful information on The Best Tutorial on project management.

Good Luck!!