PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Project Management

Introduction

The purpose of this research paper is to understand the role of the project manager of a Trunk Road Network in North West Scotland. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is often closely related to and sometimes conflated with program management.

Discussion

Role of Project Manager

Being a project manager my steps for establishing my role are as follows:

Define the Purpose

The purpose of Project Initiation is to begin to define the overall parameters of a project and establish the appropriate project management and quality environment required to complete the project. (Bures, 2008, p.18)

Development of the Project Charter is a pivotal starting point for the project, establishing the project definition that will serve as the foundation for all future efforts. The completion of this process is marked by the Project Kick-off Meeting, in which the Project Manager presents the Project Charter.

Successful projects begin with a detailed project definition that is understood and accepted by Stakeholders. As part of Project Initiation, an initial Project Plan is developed, which comprises the Project Charter, Cost/Scope/Schedule/Quality (CSSQ) documents, and preliminary risk identification list. These documents, once approved, ensure a consistent understanding of the project, help to set expectations, and identify resources necessary to move the project to the next level of detailed planning. Potential problems are identified so that they can be addressed early in the project. (Anderson et al., 2003)

Determine Available Resources

What people, equipment, and money will you have available to you to achieve the project objectives? As a project manager, you usually will not have direct control of these resources, but will have to manage them through matrix management (Judge, 2004) Find out how easy or difficult that will be to do.

Perform Feasibility Study

At any stage during (or after) the development of a Business Case, a formal Feasibility Study may be commissioned. The purpose is to assess the likelihood of a particular solution options achieving the benefits outlined in the Business Case. The Feasibility Study will also investigate whether the forecast costs are reasonable, the solution is achievable, the risks are acceptable and /or any like issues are avoidable. Project Manager, along with the Project Team defines the preliminary budget of the project. (Cornelius, 2005, p.21)

Establish the Terms of Reference

After solution has been agreed and funding allocated, a project is formed. The Terms of Reference defines the vision, objectives, scope and deliverables for the project. It also provides the organization structure (roles and responsibilities) and a summarized plan of the activities, resources and funding required to undertake the project. Finally, any risks, issues, planning assumptions and constraints are listed. (Bures, 2008, p.29)

Appoint Project Team

At this point the scope of the project has been defined in detail and the Project Team is ready to be appointed. Although a Project Manager can be appointed at any stage of the project, s/he will need to be appointed prior to the establishment of the project ...