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COVER
STORY
What
Do You Do When Uncertainty is Certain?
-- Doug DeCarlo
The worldview and related assumptions about predictability
that underlie in the traditional project management
practices backfire when applied to extreme projects.
These projects feature high speed, change, complexity
and stress. To be successful on these volatile ventures,
we first have to change our mindset from a Newtonian
to a Quantum worldview and recognize that "reality"
rules and not the project plan. Although we don't know
what reality may have in store for us, we can nonetheless
be proactive by identifying and mitigating the possible
root causes of our project's volatility in the areas
of business, product, project and organizational uncertainty.
© 2007 Doug DeCarlo. All Rights Reserved.
SPOTLIGHT
The
Perception of Projects and its Consequences
-- Roland Gareis
Projects
are temporary organizations that are used for the performance
of relatively unique, short- to medium-term, strategically-important
processes which are medium to large in scope. To ensure
the advantages of projects, the processes for which
projects are to be performed must be differentiated
from those processes which are not project-worthy. Project
management approaches can be differentiated by the way
in which projects are perceived. Traditional, method-oriented
project management approaches are based on the perception
of projects as tasks with special characteristics. A
systemic and process-oriented project management approach
is based on the perception of projects as temporary
organizations and as social systems.
© 2007 Roland Gareis. All Rights Reserved.
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Managing
Float in CPM Scheduling
-- PS Sarath Chandra
Communicating
project schedule to all the members of a project is
very crucial. Discussing the multitude of activities,
the amount of time available for each activity and understanding
the inter-relationships among various activities can
help in completing a project on time. Against this backdrop,
the concept of "Float" has become an integral part of
project scheduling.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Schedule
Development: A Key to Project's Performance
-- Sanjoy De
Scheduling is one of the important aspects of project
management as it involves a list of a project's terminal
elements with intended start and finish dates. And these
terminal elements are the lowest elements (activity
or deliverable) in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
The WBS is a basic and widely-used project management
technique for defining and streamlining the total scope
of a project by using a hierarchical tree structure.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Project
Scheduling for a Successful Project
-- Sunaina Mishra
Project
scheduling plays a vital role in the successful execution
of a project. There are several software tools, methods
and guidelines available for the preparation of the
schedule, but each of these has its own drawbacks and
limitations. Understanding these limitations and identifying
the needs of the organization can help a project manager
to implement the appropriate schedule. This article
focuses on different methods and their limitations and
the risks involved and their rectification for the project
scheduling.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Project
Performance Measurement : Strategy for Success
-- Siba Prasad Pothal
It is beyond doubt that performance measurement
is a significant component of all Total Quality Management
(TQM) programs. In this sense, measuring project performance
plays a vital role in determining progress and developing
strategic plans towards the achievement of specific
goals. This article outlines different aspects of project
performance measurement and discusses a number of steps
that are to be followed while measuring performance.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Project
Procurement Management : From Confrontation to Cooperation
-- N Vijaya Lakshmi
In the past, clashes between procurement officers
and project managers were very common. However, in today's
competitive world, as the process of procurement management
is gaining prominence, it is imperative that both sides
should work together so as to ensure effective and successful
completion of the project.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PROJECT
ENVIRONMENT
Challenges
Faced by the Project Managers in IT Industry
-- GP Sudhakar
Project
manager is responsible for success or failure of the
project. The challenges faced by the project manager
in IT industry are discussed in this article. The Challenges
in requirements gathering, Work Delegation, Communicating
with the Team, Conflict Resolution, Meeting Quality,
Maintaining the Schedules and Costs, Hiring and Firing,
Testing the Product and Configuration Management are
explained with solutions.
© 2007 GP Sudhakar. All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
Becoming
a Project-based Organization :What It Takes
-- Annam Anand
In
today's cross-functional and competitive environment,
projects have become a strategic weapon. Unfortunately,
few organizations have established the processes that
cultivate consistent project success. In most cases,
organizations are unable to meet their customer needs.
Their focus is still on management hierarchy, bureaucratic
procedures and interdepartmental politics. Even today,
they are focusing on paper work to fill out new forms
to track quality levels and time.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
TOOL
Method123:
For Faster and Efficient Delivery
-- V Venkateswara Rao
Achieving
project success helps businesses to became more competitive.
However, the project manager must know what the organization
wants and should have an idea of how to get it. Otherwise,
chances are that he may make a mess of the entire project.
To meet the ever-changing challenges, most organizations
use project management software as a tool to help implement
the process of management. However, the software should
make an impact on the working of a project. It is very
important that the organization should choose the right
software to meet its goals.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PERSPECTIVE
Effective
Project Initiation
-- D Satish
Managing projects is becoming complex day by day.
Given the constraints of time, cost and scope, the project
manager has to approach the project in a step-by-step
manner. The first step in project management is to initiate
the project. Project initiation, is the most crucial
step in which the project manager decides the scope
of the project. This is also the time where the project
manager tries to understand the business environment
and puts in place the control systems, in case of any
deficiencies.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
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