Question

address three important issues in project management: 1) the phases of project management; 2) characteristics of change management; and 3) how a SWOT analysis is used. Begin this discussion with an initial post describing the four phases of project management. Address why buy-in and partnering are important to the success of implementing a project. Then, integrate the use of a SWOT analysis as a business driver for a project.

Answer 1

Phases of project management:

PHASE 1: PROJECT INITIATION

This is the start of the project, and the goal of this phase is to define the project at a broad level. This phase usually begins with a business case. This is when you will research whether the project is feasible and if it should be undertaken. If feasibility testing needs to be done, this is the stage of the project in which that will be completed.

PHASE 2: PROJECT PLANNING

This phase is key to successful project management and focuses on developing a roadmap that everyone will follow. This phase typically begins with setting goals. Two of the more popular methods for setting goals are S.M.A.R.T. and CLEAR:

S.M.A.R.T. Goals – This method helps ensure that the goals have been thoroughly vetted. It also provides a way to clearly understand the implications of the goal-setting process.

Specific – To set specific goals, answer the following questions: who, what, where, when, which, and why.
Measurable – Create criteria that you can use to measure the success of a goal.
Attainable – Identify the most important goals and what it will take to achieve them.
Realistic – You should be willing and able to work toward a particular goal.
Timely – Create a timeframe to achieve the goal.

PHASE 3: PROJECT EXECUTION

This is the phase where deliverables are developed and completed. This often feels like the meat of the project since a lot is happening during this time, like status reports and meetings, development updates, and performance reports. A “kick-off” meeting usually marks the start of the Project Execution phase where the teams involved are informed of their responsibilities.

Tasks completed during the Execution Phase include:

• Develop team
• Assign resources
• Execute project management plans
• Procurement management if needed
• PM directs and manages project execution
• Set up tracking systems
• Task assignments are executed
• Status meetings
• Update project schedule
• Modify project plans as needed

While the project monitoring phase has a different set of requirements, these two phases often occur simultaneously.

PHASE 4: PROJECT PERFORMANCE/MONITORING

This is all about measuring project progression and performance and ensuring that everything happening aligns with the project management plan. Project managers will use key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine if the project is on track. A PM will typically pick two to five of these KPIs to measure project performance:

• Project Objectives: Measuring if a project is on schedule and budget is an indication if the project will meet stakeholder objectives.
• Quality Deliverables: This determines if specific task deliverables are being met.
• Effort and Cost Tracking: PMs will account for the effort and cost of resources to see if the budget is on track. This type of tracking informs if a project will meet its completion date based on current performance.
• Project Performance: This monitors changes in the project. It takes into consideration the amount and types of issues that arise and how quickly they are addressed. These can occur from unforeseen hurdles and scope changes.

During this time, PMs may need to adjust schedules and resources to ensure the project is on track

PHASE 5: PROJECT CLOSURE

This phase represents the completed project. Contractors hired to work specifically on the project are terminated at this time. Valuable team members are recognized. Some PMs even organize small work events for people who participated in the project to thank them for their efforts. Once a project is complete, a PM will often hold a meeting – sometimes referred to as a “post mortem” – to evaluate what went well in a project and identify project failures. This is especially helpful to understand lessons learned so that improvements can be made for future projects.

Once the project is complete, PMs still have a few tasks to complete. They will need to create a project punchlist of things that didn’t get accomplished during the project and work with team members to complete them. Perform a final project budget and prepare a final project report. Finally, they will need to collect all project documents and deliverables and store them in a single place.

Characteristics of change management:

Change management, similar to project management, involves people, processes, and tools to effectively help organizations manage all the changes that occur, whether as a result of project initiatives, or other factors that might impact the business.

Here are some basic charactersitics:

1. Change management, while increasingly becoming a highly recognized and documented area, doesn't involve a formalized set of guidelines and processes like PMBOK.

2. There is no start and end date, and no set formal tasks or milestones. The change management processes can vary, despite goals.

3. This discipline manages only the impact of changes that result of organizational and PM activities, and involves the implementation of strategies to deal with change (sustainability aspects).

4. Because change is inherently unsettling for people at all levels of an organization, when it is on the horizon, all eyes will turn to the CEO and the leadership team for strength, support, and direction

5. Successful change programs pick up speed and intensity as they cascade down, making it critically important that leaders understand and account for culture and behaviors at each level of the organization

6. No change program goes completely according to plan. People react in unexpected ways; areas of anticipated resistance fall away; and the external environment shifts.

Buy-in and partnering for project implementation

Buy-in

Along the path to completing your project, stakeholders can be partners, resources or roadblocks -- and potentially all three rolled into one. Stakeholder buy-in, the cooperation or positive participation of a stakeholder, is the preferred condition for any successful project. Let's say your organization or internal client is implementing a new company-wide system, and training is required to get everyone up to speed and ready for the change. You and your team should be able to sign-up everyone for the appropriate training, get them through their courses, and have everyone ready to start using the new system on day one, right?

The reason being, buy-in or, more specifically, a lack of buy-in at one or more levels of the organization.

In this scenario, a handful of people at the top levels of the organization have bought-in to the idea that a new system will improve efficiency, eliminate redundancy, and have a positive impact on the bottom line. They bought into this idea to the extent that they authorized a large sum of money to purchase and implement the new system, and have assigned the project to people in a position to make the project happen.

Here’s where buy-in begins to break down. Many executives don't make the effort to help gain buy-in from everyone, from those just below them, all the way down to the people who will use the new system every day to do their jobs. Instead, that job usually falls to the project team.

Partnering

Partnering is a flexibly structured process that typically begins with an initial 1-2 day Partnering workshop, scheduled in advance of the project start-up. Additional informal Partnering sessions are conducted on an as-needed basis throughout the course of the project. At the project’s conclusion, a final Partnering session is frequently held to evaluate and celebrate the project’s success.

Because of its versatility as a project management strategy, the Partnering process may be applied within teams, between teams, with customers and/or across organizational boundaries.

Partnering is a proven approach to team building and collaborative project planning that enhances team performance and project management effectiveness by:

• establishing a clearly focused vision, and shared goals and objectives.
• developing a deeper appreciation of team member values, needs, strengths and differences.
• analyzing the driving forces, constraints and critical path of the project.
• developing creative approaches to problem solving.
• mapping clear channels of internal and external team communication.
• strengthening consensus building and issue resolution skills.
• designing practical “action plans” that build in accountability and follow-through.
• establishing clear guidelines for evaluating both project performance and the Partnering relationship.

SWOT analysis for project:

SWOT analysis for project management is a simple, yet effective process. It allows the project manager to identify areas that needs improvement. By implementing the correct methodologies for the analysis, it is possible to ensure that a project will be completed on time and within budget. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The use of SWOT analysis lets the project manager to improve the whole project or individual tasks where better efficiency can be gained. It also mitigates risks associated with the tasks and optimizes the whole process. The team members get to do more with less. Because of the nature of the analysis, it is important to conduct the SWOT analysis during the startup phase. It can provide a solid backbone to the project plan.

SWOT Analysis as a business driver

It is important to have a clear objective during SWOT analysis sessions. That way, each stakeholder understands what is expected of him/her. If the analysis is done during the initial startup phase, key members must come together and identify all required tasks and the potential risks to each step of the project. On the other hand, it is also possible to have a SWOT analysis session in the middle of the project. If this is the case, the main focus is usually to reassess the schedule, the budget, or to conduct a cost/benefit analysis of certain processes.

While the purpose of the SWOT analysis may be clear on paper, its actual implementation can vary. In addition, it is common for the discussion among stakeholders to go off-topic during the session itself. For this reason, it is important to create a set of pre-defined questions.

This will serve as the guide for the SWOT analysis session. The project manager may also present his initial set of findings for discussion. Any relevant information will give attendees an opportunity to clear things up. The process results to improved productivity.

To sum up, SWOT is a useful business driver because it is:

• Straightforward and only costs time to do.
• Produces new ideas to help take advantage of an organisation's strengths and defends against threats.
• Awareness of political and environmental threats allows an organisation to have response plans prepared.