How to Become a Great Project Manager?

Every project is a new challenge for any project manager for that matter. Experience helps but new project often brings along new team, new clients, new bosses and a new problem to solve. The only thing constant is change. So your ability to cope up with new people and new situations becomes very important here.

Project objectives– In the starting the projects objectives are not always clear. PM needs to determine what portions of a project are not clear to the team and other stakeholders and note feedback and questions that come up.

Deadlines – Some time the deadlines imposed are not based upon the estimates or efforts but other factors like end of quarter, budget cycle, boss’s vacation and so on. Some are more compulsive like regulatory compliance or marketing events. In cases where project manager has a choice, the stress of hard project schedules and other project issues needs to be managed with proper expectations management, creative planning, and finding alternative ways.

Managing Risks –Most project plans have risk management sections, which contain the risk data based on the analysis done before start of the project. Further to that, no analysis takes place until a risk event actually occurs and becomes an issue.

Team skills and non performance – Starting with the project manager role, the core set of skills required to accomplish the expected workload needs to be documented and honestly compare each probable team member’s skills. Using this assessment, project managers can facilitate the team towards better performance by imparting external trainings, consultants, and many other ways including augmenting with additional resources.

End users communication – Effective communication of project progress, challenges and issues (only relevant) to end users and other stakes holders is very important for smooth functioning of any project. Teams become so focused on deadlines, deliverables and day-to-day challenges that this important aspect of communication often gets neglected. Regular meetings involving important stakeholders are required, where this information can be exchanged in a well planned manner. These meetings can be used a platform to gather information and timely stakeholder feedback so that there are no surprises when the final product is delivered.

Project communication – Much of the communication and instructions in a project are verbal. They are understood to that moment but the vigor (and details) might get lost as the time passes by. All such communication might be supported by emails and minutes of meetings (MOM) that convey the message with proper context that is needed to comprehend (and execute) them. It will help, if the expectations from the team members are set, right from the beginning. Doing all this will increase the confidence level of team members as they will know what exactly they are expected to do? Project communication plan is another important tool that contains how, when and in what form; you will communicate with your team, client and other stake holders.

Project Management Templates Save You Time and Effort

Project management is a planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific objective like constructing a building or carrying out a new computer system to use. It includes developing a project plan, which includes defining and confirming the project objectives and aims. Identifying tasks and how goals will be achieved, knowing what resources are needed and determining the budgets all form a part of planning management. Plans follow major phases or stages including project planning, implementation and evaluation.

It involves the process of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about successful completion of specific goals and objectives. A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to meet goals and objectives to bring about a beneficial change or additional value. Project Management Templates save you time and effort as you never have to create project delivery from scratch. Using a scheme management template will help save you time and effort, increase cost savings, reduce project risks, improved deliverable quality, efficient monitoring, better supplier management, higher performing staff and greater project success.

Project Closure involves releasing the final copy or deliveries to the customer, handing over project documentation to the business, terminating supplier contracts and releasing project resources and communicating closure to all shareholders. Project management templates help you take up projects, undertaking a credibility study, completing a charter, recruiting the project team and setting up an undertaking office. Templates like business cases, feasibility study, project charter, job description and phase review form are popular. Project Management templates are used by small and large businesses, in all industries like accounting and finance, childcare, education, healthcare, marketing, real estate, information technology and retail.

Templates save your time and increase your efficiency. After defining your project and appointing your team you will enter the Project Planning phase. This involves creating planning documents to help guide you team through the project life cycle. Execution templates are created when the final work is presented to the customer for acceptance. Management templates like Time Management process, Timesheet form, Cost Management Process, Expense Register and Purchase Order Form help you execute projects successfully. Templates help you work smart and give you a headstart. Templates and guides are usually professionally laid out, come with step by step instructions, contain practical examples and include tips and hints.

Planning is a process for accomplishing purpose. It is the hallmark of business growth and a road map of development. A lot of professionals in major companies and corporations use project templates to they create quality documents for projects. Templates help create professional documents easily. They are suitable for all kinds of programs and projects, whether business or IT development and infrastructure with small or multi million dollar budgets. Most templates are either in Microsoft, Word, Excel, Project Visio or PowerPoint. Templates are easy to use and give you more time to do what's essential, less time is wasted innovating project items. Good project management documents improve the successful delivery of a project and are a professional method to create documentation you can be proud of saving you time and effort in the bargain.

What Is Project Management?

There is plenty of speculation available concerning the definition of project management. However, what is project management in actuality? What do managers have to be knowledgeable about in order to create projects that are successful? We are going to talk about the basic concepts of project management.

People are born with the ability to solve problems. When a difficult issue hinders us from achieving our goals or other positive things that we want to achieve, we use all of our known resources to devise a plan that will solve those issues and help us get what we want. Via projects we try to find answers for the issues that are presently stopping us from reaching our goals.

What is a Project?

A project is a short term task that intends to provide an answer to a difficult issue. It involves putting a new plan in place in order to get positive results. The majority of projects are basically the same in nature. They generally have these components:

An established time of existence, which consists of both a beginning and ending date
Specified goals of what has to be accomplished
Certain allotted budgets and revenue
Specified goals with guides to assess success

It does not matter how large the project is or how difficult it may be, the action plan is the key to it being successful and the foundation for its life cycle. A good plan exists due to project management.

What is Project Management, Again?

Project management is basically the action plan that is used to combine and optimize the required assets to effectively finish the project and obtain the desired outcome. Project management consists of the general plans, action plans, particular tasks, timeframes, duties as well as goal expectations. Project management combines the tools and methods for strategizing, implementing and monitoring the project.

The project management action plan goes through these steps:

Initiating
Planning
Implementing
Monitoring/Ending

What is Project Management in Actuality, Really?

There are two basic methods for project management:

1.Bottom-up-approach (participatory):

Participants figure out and study the requirements, the options to fix the problems or come up with new methods to make a situation better. A plan is submitted after the contingency stages.

2.Top-down approach (directive):

An upper level manager gives the project to the project manager.

Even though it takes up more time, the bottom-up project method is the better method because it places the authority wherever there is potential and opportunity. It gives authority to everyone that is participating and it also gives them opportunities for making decisions for all aspects of the project management stages. This method also makes all commitments and accountabilities much stronger. In addition, it creates values that can be followed for the long term.

The top-down method specifies the requirements and methods for tackling them. Managers determine who will have authority, how the project will be done, and what assets will be used and how long the project will last. This method does not provide the same values as the bottom-up approach, but it does give faster answers.

The project participants might not be active in all parts of the project management stages; however, there are chances for them to stay in a supportive position.

Manager's Key Guidelines to Successful Project Management:

It doesn't matter what type of method is applied, the top-down or the bottom-up, most parts of the components are created, implemented and watched by the project manager.

Here's a set of rules to help your project campaign:

* Make sure that the project's goals are solid, obtainable and reachable. The SMART tool is a helpful example.

* Create a workable outline with designated tasks, timeframes, duties, needed assets, expectations and guidelines.

* Identify project stakeholders: A stakeholder is anybody who is interested, influenced or affected by the project.

* It is essential to establish participants and their duties from the very first of the project. A stakeholders analyses would be the best way to handle this.

* Understand the project's hardships, setbacks and risks. If you know how to identify project restrictions and hardships at the start, it will be much simpler to handle them when they occur. Also, have a backup plan for when something does not go as you envisioned it.

* Establish a project budget. Itemize all costs of the project and determine the cost of each expense such as administrative, delivery, outsourcing, so on and so on. This will give you the capability to adequately manage the budget.

* Pinpoint the resources of the project such as the skills, capabilities, physical assets as well as intellectual assets. Create a listing of everything involved. It is essential to understand and work with the project resources. This is a wonderful strategy for re-cycling the team's skills and experience and putting them on a totally different playing field.

* Pinpoint the strategies and plans that are required for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the project.

* Correspond-Correspondence and interaction are very important in project management. You need to describe and provide credibility of your projects to your clients, partners and investors. You have to discover methods for making them interested enough to want to invest and be supportive of the project. Make sure that everybody constantly knows what is going on and what to expect during the course of the project. Get them involved by utilizing their expert planning and implementing skills as much as you can. Write everything down, even if it requires a lot of your time. You should always have good documentation of the project's progress and success.