Project management
The project Management is becoming increasingly important and widespread beacause of : ‐ Corporate downsizing, Global competition, Knowledge explosion, Small projects represent big problems, Rapid development of Third World and closed economies, Compression of product lifecycle. Project: a complex, non‐routine, one time effort to create a product or service limited by time, budget and scope (specifications). Project Management: it’s the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Project Manager: it’s basically the person responsible for managing all the aspect of the project Major Characteristics of a Project : –Has an established objective. –Has a defined life span with a beginning and an end. –Requires across‐the‐organizational participation. –Involves doing something never been done before. –Has specific time, cost, and performance requirements. Program : A higher level group of projects targeted at a common goal. The life cycle of a project has four phases : Définition : Goals, Specifications, Tasks, Responsibilities Planing : Schedules, Budgets, Resources, Risks, Staffing Execution : Status reports, Changes, Quality, Forecasts Delivery : Train customer, Transfer documents, Release resources, Reassign staff, Lessons learned. We need to align the projects with the organization strategy, because : ‐ Project managers must respond to changes with appropriate decisions about future projects and adjustments to current projects. ‐ Project managers who understand their organization’s strategy can become effective advocates of projects aligned with the firm’s mission. Strategic Management: It’s the process of assessing “what we are“ and deciding and implementing “what we intend to be” and “how we are going to get there”. We need strategic mangement in the firm, because : ‐ Provides the theme and focus of the future