Basic functions of project management

Any company, whether new or old, whether small or big need to run smoothly and achieve the goals and objectives which it has set forth. For this they had developed and implemented their own management concepts. There are basically four management concepts that allow any company to handle the corporate goals, planned and set decisions. The four basic functions of the management are just to have a controlled plan over the preventive measure.

The four functions of management are: Plan, Organize, Direct & Control.

Plan:
It is the foundation area of management. It is the base upon which the all the areas of management should be built. Planning requires administration to assess; where the organization is presently set, and where it would be in the upcoming. From there an appropriate course of action is determined and implemented to attain the company’s goals and objectives. Planning is unending course of action. There may be sudden strategies where companies have to face. Sometimes they are uncontrollable. You can say that they are external factors that constantly affect a company both optimistically and pessimistically. Depending on the conditions, a company may have to alter its course of action in accomplishing certain goals.

Organize:

The second function of the management is getting prepared, getting organized. Management must organize all its resources well before in hand to put into practice the course of action to decide that has been planned in the base function. Through this process, management will now determine the inside directorial configuration; establish and maintain relationships, and also assign required resources.
While determining the inside directorial configuration, management ought to look at the different divisions or committees. They also see to the harmonization of staff, and try to find out the best way to handle the important tasks and expenditure of information within the organization. Management determines the division of work according to its need. It also has to decide for suitable committees to hand over authority and responsibilities.

 Direct:

Directing is the third function of the management. Working under this function helps the management to control and supervise the actions of the staff. This helps them to assist the staff in achieving the organization’s goals and also accomplishing their personal goals which can be powered by motivation, communication, committee dynamic and committee leadership.

It is very important to maintain a productive working environment, building positive interpersonal relationships, and problem solving. And this can be done only with Effective communication. Understanding the communication process and working on area that need improvement, help managers to become more effective communicators. The finest technique of finding the areas that requires improvement is to ask themselves and others at regular intervals, how well they are doing. This leads to better relationship and helps the managers for better directing plans.

Control:

Control, the last of four functions of management, includes establishing performance standards which are of course based on the organization’s objectives. In an effort of solving performance problems, management should higher standards. They should straightforwardly speak to the employee or committees having problem. On the contrary, if there are inadequate resources or disallow other external factors standards from being attained, management had to lower their standards as per requirement. The controlling processes as in comparison with other three, is unending process or say continuous process.

Activities:
Software Project Management consists of many activities, that includes planning of the project, deciding the scope of product, estimation of cost in different terms, scheduling of tasks, etc.

The list of activities are as follows:

1.     Project planning and Tracking

2.     Project Resource Management

3.     Scope Management

4.     Estimation Management

5.     Project Risk Management

6.     Scheduling Management

7.     Project Communication Management

8.     Configuration Management

Basic competencies for project management:

Project management requires efforts and it is certainly not an easy job. It involves several steps; from the initiation, planning, executing, and controlling to the closing of a project. The most challenging part is that the project is delegated to a team with specific goals to achieve over a defined timeline for a determined budget. A successful and effective project manager is one who can keep projects and the team on track. This normally takes more than just technical know-how.

The key, of course, is being able to manage a project on time and on budget, by gaining the confidence of all stakeholders and leading a highly motivated team to a successful outcome. An innovative training and development program is one of the best ways to help project managers improve their skills and knowledge.

There are 9 competencies are required for project managers to succeed the project management. They are-

1. Execution

·         Drives scope development and management

·         Develops and manages project budgets, schedules, and timelines

·         Employs strong organizational skills

·         Incorporates time management principles into the work flow

·         Integrates ongoing risk management trade-offs

2. Decision Making

·         Collects and structures the available data impacting the project

·         Makes timely decisions based on facts, circumstances, and needs

·         Conducts scenario analysis

3. Communications

·         Conveys information to all key stakeholders in both written and verbal formats

·         Determines and utilizes the appropriate communication channels

·         Infers meaningful insights from a collection of data

·         Employs active listening

·         Prepares and delivers presentations

4. Strategy Development

·         Understands the impact of a project directly to and across various functions

·         Understands the impact of a project to the overall business

·         Integrates business goals into the project scope and deliverables

·         Develops metrics to track progress towards goals

·         Understands project and organizational dependencies

5. Team Management

·         Motivates and inspires the team

·         Leads by example

·         Manages and resolves conflict

·         Builds relationships within and outside the team

·         Delegates appropriately

·         Demonstrates team organization and governance

6. Business Acumen

·         Understands industry trends and their impact on business

·         Responds to market and business changes that affect the project and business

·         Monitors competition and its impact on the project and business

7. Technical Competence

·         Understands and integrates appropriate project management tools and processes

·         Applies/obtains the necessary requisite subject matter expertise (SME)

8. Critical Thinking

·         Determines the validity of project progress

·         Maintains project objectivity

·         Applies ongoing analysis to the project

·         Integrates the project with cross functional objectives

9. Leadership

·         Takes initiative

·         Mentors team members

·         Effects change and monitors’ progress

·         Responds in a politically astute manner