מנהיגים ברשת שולחן העבודה למנהלים בישראל
מאת: פילת, יעוץ ניהולי הנדסי
פורסם לראשונה ינואר 2001
What is a project?
A project is a temporary mission or endeavor to produce a unique product or service and thus have the following attributes:
A project usually has a limited duration, which means a beginning and (hopefully) an end. Some times this duration is forced artificially for control purposes such as in maintenance projects that are yearly based and each year a "new" project is open and the old one is closed.
A project outcome is unique and usually is not repetitive in most of it's features, and thus it's not mass production but more of a made to fit operation.
A project is made to achieve a predefined outcome that is stated in the beginning of the effort and is part of what is called "Project Scope".
Projects usually involve coordination of multidisciplinary task in order to achieve the desired goal and thus involve a very critical design phase that is made more complex by the uniqueness of the project and the limited ability to draw from past experience.
What is Project Management (PM)?
Project Management or PM is a discipline that evolved in order to meet or exceed the project stakeholders need and expectations from the project.
Project Management is composed of the know-how, skills, techniques and tools that where developed over the years by large project oriented organizations (such as the US DOD and COE) and borrows heavily from Operation research, Human Resource, Logistics and Industrial Engineering.
What is the difference between PM consulting and Management Consulting?
PM consulting is a subset of Management Consulting and is focused at the operational side of doing the project and making the business more capable of doing projects. While management consulting is focusing on the "Business plan" side of things (trying to answer the what question) PM consulting will deal with the details of translating the layout of the business plan into the actual operations (dealing with the how question).
Why is PM so relevant today?
The modern economy is turning from mass production into made to fit production. The client is the center of the universe and in order to fulfill its needs one has to provide a solution that is suitable.
The other trend in global economy is time to market which is everything, and thus products and services are not only made to fit, but are supposed to be made fast. Since the solution is different for each case and the time constraints are effective – Project Management comes to rescue.
What are the popular PM methodologies and techniques?
Well, a lot of PhD's were made on this subject, but practically speaking the methodology should be fitted to the needs of the project/organization.
We believe that the best way to fit a methodology into the organization is to pick the most applicable PM practice from the available list (a good source is the PMBOK® from the PMI™). The selection process is no rocket science but the work has to be done with a great attention to the business needs and especially the implementation phase.
Why do I need PM?
Project Management is a tool. The value gained from using it entirely dependant on the usage. The test for deciding whether to embark into PM is to ask oneself whether the activity is time constrained and with flexible definition, if the answer to one of the questions is yes then considering PM is highly recommended.
How can PM be used in my organization?
Project Management should be implemented and used according to the organizational maturity. It is hopeless to try to implement PMO (Project Management Office) in a seed phase startup organization, however a suitable solution can delivered for each need from education program for team leaders to outsourcing fully qualified Project Managers.
What does PM consulting mean?
Project Management consulting is a service which is composed of the following modules all together or each separately:
Educational services – Teaching and certifying the Project Managers and would be Project Managers in the organization. This can be done on site.
Couching – Providing on going expert advice services to Project Mangers.
OJT – On The Job Training in PM using real life data and experience.
Outsourcing – Providing certified Project managers, and Project administrators for full or part time mission.
Organizational reengineering – Initiating better PM procedures in a PM oriented organization with the intent of enhancing organizational performance.
What PM software tools one need for good PM?
A project lifecycle is composed of the following phases and each in phase emphasis should be made on a different tool:
Conceptual phase – The initiation of every project is composed of requirement gathering and scope definition, which should become what is called the project charter. Tools that support this phase are requirement gathering tools (Requisite pro from Rational for example) and surveying tools.
Planning phase – Planning is usually done using an off the shelf Project Management tool like the MS Project2000® and other time and resources design tools like spreadsheets.
Execution – During project execution the main activity of the project manager is controlling every thing from resources, schedules, scope and HR to budget and quality. For this phase the tools are usually collaboration application like ProjectCentral®, workflow applications and ordinary email.
Termination – Project termination phase is often a neglected one because all attention is usually on the next project. However this phase is extremely important because it enables us to draw from past experience and build up knowledge for future projects. The tools used for this phase are usually documentation tools surveying and OLAP tools that enable Knowledge management of the data gathered during the project.
What educational services exist in order to learn PM?
Project Management is part of several academic learning paths and is also available via professional organizations like the Project Management Institute (PMI), which provide certification programs and testing facilities.
How does PM relate to HR (Human Resources)?
Managing is all about people and Project Management is no exception. In organizations at the initial maturity like startups it's the most important factor because nothing else exist, however even in mature organizations HR in PM is not to be ignored and education and teambuilding is a process that should be done at infrastructure level in the organization.
Is PM context sensitive, or is it generic for all business types?
Project Management is NOT directly related to the product or services provided by the project. PM is actually very generic because it deals with tasks, resources, costs and time that are the "shadow variables" of the actual product or service.
What makes things complicated in PM is that implementing it wisely is dependent on the industry, type of organization and personnel. This implementation is very closely related to Knowledge Management issues.
What certifications are there for Project Managers?
The most popular certification program is the PMP® (Project Management Professional) from the PMI™ certification that is compulsory for PM in several large organizations.
קישורים נוספים שנמצאו בידי מנהיגים ברשת:
Civil Engineers Leverage the Net
מתוך: http://www.office.com
A Rare Breed
מתוך: http://www.office.com
Project Management – מאמרים בנושא
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