It also brings together the best practices and ensures they are applied while handling the current project. The project must create something unique whether it is a product, service or result and must be progressively elaborated. For a project manager, managing the expectations of the stakeholders and clients is one of the most challenging tasks. Imagine building IKEA cabinets with only a picture of the finished kitchen to go by. Apart from this, it does the strategic planning for the project keeping the goals of the organization in mind. PRINCE2, Project management, Project planning, Requirements, Stakeholder management, Task management Why is it important to plan a project and why are project plans not taken seriously enough? “Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the … Planning also helps an organization to avoid doing some random ( done by chance) activities. But in project management, small margins can have a big impact on whether a project fails or is a success.. It requires a deep level of understanding of project planning, scheduling, reporting, tracking, and importance of project management. SME (Subject Matter Expert): Project Management is important here as it ensures that everyone is doing their respective work properly. It will also include the statement of the parameters; time, budget, scope, range, authority and territory of the project. I’ve taken on executive responsibilities for some programs where the projects have been well planned (and have documented project plans), and have also encountered programs where the project plans were embarrassingly incomplete and unusable. A project is a temporary endeavor, designed to produce a unique result. That’s why it’s important to define the scope of both product and project. Project Management is too big an area to be covered in a few pages and the attempt is to provide concise and lucid definitions of the various terms and terminologies associated with a project. Your champion must be someone who is passionate about the project, believes it will make a positive impact on the organization, and is willing to put in the time and effort to make the project succeed. The existence of a documented communication plan does not by itself guarantee good communication during the project planning stage. With projects becoming bigger and complex, demands are increasing like never before. Let’s take a look at 10 benefits of project planning and why having a plan is so important in project management. Importance of scope project management. Planning is one of the elements of management, next to organizing, motivating and control. Plans minimize stress. It is the responsibility of the manager of project management to talk and communicate with all the stakeholders, management and his team to have a better understanding of objectives and priorities before negotiating achievable deadlines. The pre-planning stage is often overlooked in terms of importance to the overall project. You’d start out completely overwhelmed, and every wrong move you make would only amp up your stress and frustration. Project planning is at the heart of the project life cycle, and tells everyone involved where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. It ensures such a plan is made that is aligned with the overall strategy. You need to identify stakeholders and define project objectives that set the boundaries for project success. It keeps working hard to fulfill these goals. Some will be highly visible projects like new roads or bridges, or a major sports tournament; others will only affect employees in a single organisation. The plan is used to guide all aspects of a project along the project management basic steps; a path from start to finish, highlighting the importance of project planning. They will entail the description of the purpose, objectives, aims and deliverables. The main advantage of creating a resource plan is following the deadlines of the project and client deliverables. The primary function of project management is to avoid confusion by outlining a clear plan and a process from the beginning to the end. Importance of planning in project management - theoretical approach 85 • developing the budget; • risk planning; • gaining formal approval to begin work. The objective of the project plan is to describe, in the most detailed manner, the potential of the project, prior to its organization and implementation. It's hard to think of any complex business endeavor that was ever achieved without organization & planning. The term project may be used to define any endeavor that is temporary in nature and with a beginning or an end. These reasons and many other factors are why companies employ people with project management skills. Before planning, both the processes are required as you will be planning based on the high-level information from project charter and most … The Importance of Project Planning For Successful Outcomes. Communication must circulate through the project management team and external stakeholders to maintain the health and the viability of the project. The primary business function of project management is organizing & planning projects to tame this chaos. Typically, there are time constraints involved. The output of this phase is the project deliverables. Paul Naybour. The Importance of a Project Plan. Strategic planning is one of the several components of project management that a high-functioning organization requires to operate at its maximum operating level. Project management is the organization, planning and control of projects. Project Management is the art of managing all the aspects of a project from inception to closure using a scientific and structured methodology. The project management plan is probably the main communication document for the project. Importance of planning in management are: Planning is the first and most important function of management. Overview of Project Planning After the project has been defined and the project team has been appointed, you are ready to enter the second phase in the project management life cycle: the detailed project planning phase. The Importance of Communication to Project Planning. Every project needs a champion who can bring together the resources to make it happen. The plan, however, is a „description of a possible future selection and arrangement of activities united by a common purpose or possible future selection and arrangement of 5components of the product of steps so united”. However, pre-planning is where the project is defined: The team is set up; Deliverables are established; GANTT charts are drawn; and; Activities are delegated. Importance of project scope management. Project management ensures that lessons are learned from project success and failure. Establish Plan and Schedule; Having agreed on a project schedule, sticking to it inculcates discipline required to avoid delays. The execution/implementation phase ensures that the project management plan's deliverables are executed accordingly. SUGGESTED CONTENTS OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN: Executive summary – This section should include a few paragraphs describing, at a high level, the key elements of the project that are detailed throughout the project plan. Start with finding the project champion. Published: 28th February 2018 . That is where proper planning and the importance of project management comes in. The deliverable for your planning phase is a document called the project plan. With a definite project scope, managers can easily stay on track and ensure that all the deadlines are being followed throughout the project life cycle. At any one point in time there are thousands of projects being carried out simultaneously across the world. If innovative thinking is the hippies and artists of the organization’s project management, strategic planning is the architects and engineers. 7. Project Documentation. With every large project, you need more time, efforts, resources to make things happen. That’s why today, I’ll tell you something more about the importance of time planning in project management to help you work more effectively and avoid such moments of doubt! Dissertation Project plan. Pre-Planning is the Key to Project Management Success. Generally planning is performed only when the initiation stage had been performed by the project manager, i.e., developing project charter in project integration management and identifying stakeholders in communication management knowledge area. This phase involves proper allocation, co-ordination and management of human resources and any other resources such as material and budgets. Planning selects policies and procedures in order to achieve objectives; scheduling converts a project action plan into an operating timetable. Project management is important for several reasons: 1. A … The role of the project management office is to govern the project at each level and approve the team for the usage of the resources required. Planning helps an organization to achieve these aims, but with some ease and promptness. The importance of project management is that it looks at the larger picture and makes a proper plan that is realistic. The first stage of project management is planning and outlining your fundamentals: the issues you need to solve, the people who need to be involved, the actual work you’ll do. realistic cost estimations and sufficient ground investigations. Organizing Chaos Projects are naturally chaotic. Project management is broken down into 5 phases: Project Initiation. The ideal goal of effective project management and the role of project manager work is to reach the expected outcome of a project on time and within budget. This blog post will outline the importance of planning in project management. The types of information you will communicate typically include project status, project scope statements and updates, project baseline information, risks, action items, performance measures, project acceptance, and so on. Planning and scheduling are distinct but inseparable aspects of the successful project. It seems to be important to investigate more in adequate planning including e.g. A well-defined project scope management helps avoid common issues like: … In the absence of planning all the business activities of the organisation will become meaningless. Project Management is important here as, without an orderly and easily understandable process, the organization risks project failure. Planning in any job role, in any industry, is crucial in order to achieve organisational and team goals. The importance of planning has increased all the more in view of the increasing size of organisations and their complexities. It is needed at every level of management. Sounds quite overwhelming, I really understand it. Importance of resource planning: A human needs food, water, and comfort to live; similarly, projects need resources to maintain and complete project goals. If you are looking for a new career in project management, take a look at our How to become a project … Planning: The Importance of Project Management . The Importance of Project Management in the Planning Process of Transport Infrastructure ... financing of the projects has to be secured and the employees have to be equipped with the methods and techniques of project management. The project will therefore follow the following project management process; Terms of reference: these are the specification of the project. It’s important to remember that project success is not just about meeting the deadline within budget – these are important factors, of course but it is just as important (some would argue it’s more important) to deliver what the client actually wanted. This is why project management is so important, as it increases the chance of a project’s success. 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