RELATED SEARCHES
Sponsored Project Management Results:
Project Management Control Variables
By:
Published: October 20, 2006
While managing a project, the overseer must make decisions about how to meet specific goals while constrained by certain other variables. Usually these limiting variables are involved with resources such as money, time, physical resources and human resources. The question then becomes how to optimize the mix of these variables so the project is completed in the most efficient and timely manner.
The Variables
Money: Money is usually one of the most important control variables involved in project planning. This is because no one wants to waste money and choices one might make can vary immensely in cost. A specific monetary constraint is called a budget, which should be set from the beginning of the project and should not be exceeded. The cost of each step should be estimated so it fits into the final, overall budget. Quality decisions will be important in making cost decisions because they can have a big impact over cost and time variables.
Time: Once a final deadline has been set, the project should be broken down into different time segments, allowing only a certain amount of time for each step. Sticking to these pre-set deadlines ensures the project is completed on time. Deciding on time constraints can be difficult because you might be able to do something well in a certain amount of time, but do it exceptionally with a longer period of time. Deciding on the desired or the acceptable quality will help make a decision on time constraints just as in budget constraints.
Resources:
Physical resources – Decisions regarding this type of resource will be directly related to availability and cost. Costs of resources are determined by the economic principles of supply and demand. The scarcer the resource or the more demand there is for it, the more expensive it will be. Are there substitutes for the resources you need that are less expensive or more readily available? This is where creativity is needed in project management.
Human resources – Decisions about the human element of a project also are important. People's limits differ from person to person and often are unpredictable. Certain skills and knowledge will be needed, specific to the different steps of a project. In general, the more educated or highly skilled the person, the more expensive their labor will be, especially if it is intellectual in nature, rather than physical. The more creative the nature of the project, the more unpredictable the human element of the project management will become. This is because the final product is more reliant on the ability of a person to create new solutions. Project management should decide on an appropriate level of room for human error or time acceptable in idea development for projects like this.
Some specific elements that should be considered in project management are:
1. Planning the work or objectives
2. Analysis and design of objectives
3. Assessing and mitigating risk
4. Estimating resources
5. Allocation of resources
6. Organizing work
7. Acquiring human and material resources
8. Assigning tasks
9. Directing activities
10. Controlling project execution
11. Tracking and reporting progress
12. Analyzing the results based on the facts achieved
13. Defining the products of the project
14. Forecasting future trends in the project
15. Quality management
16. Issues management
In each of these steps, the project management control variables listed above should be considered to make decisions both in planning and execution of the project. As a general rule, the more unpredictable the variables involved in the project, the higher the level of risk the project might not be completed within the pre-planned control variables.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management< br />http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art8. html?http://oldeee.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management
The Variables
Money: Money is usually one of the most important control variables involved in project planning. This is because no one wants to waste money and choices one might make can vary immensely in cost. A specific monetary constraint is called a budget, which should be set from the beginning of the project and should not be exceeded. The cost of each step should be estimated so it fits into the final, overall budget. Quality decisions will be important in making cost decisions because they can have a big impact over cost and time variables.
Time: Once a final deadline has been set, the project should be broken down into different time segments, allowing only a certain amount of time for each step. Sticking to these pre-set deadlines ensures the project is completed on time. Deciding on time constraints can be difficult because you might be able to do something well in a certain amount of time, but do it exceptionally with a longer period of time. Deciding on the desired or the acceptable quality will help make a decision on time constraints just as in budget constraints.
Resources:
Physical resources – Decisions regarding this type of resource will be directly related to availability and cost. Costs of resources are determined by the economic principles of supply and demand. The scarcer the resource or the more demand there is for it, the more expensive it will be. Are there substitutes for the resources you need that are less expensive or more readily available? This is where creativity is needed in project management.
Human resources – Decisions about the human element of a project also are important. People's limits differ from person to person and often are unpredictable. Certain skills and knowledge will be needed, specific to the different steps of a project. In general, the more educated or highly skilled the person, the more expensive their labor will be, especially if it is intellectual in nature, rather than physical. The more creative the nature of the project, the more unpredictable the human element of the project management will become. This is because the final product is more reliant on the ability of a person to create new solutions. Project management should decide on an appropriate level of room for human error or time acceptable in idea development for projects like this.
Some specific elements that should be considered in project management are:
1. Planning the work or objectives
2. Analysis and design of objectives
3. Assessing and mitigating risk
4. Estimating resources
5. Allocation of resources
6. Organizing work
7. Acquiring human and material resources
8. Assigning tasks
9. Directing activities
10. Controlling project execution
11. Tracking and reporting progress
12. Analyzing the results based on the facts achieved
13. Defining the products of the project
14. Forecasting future trends in the project
15. Quality management
16. Issues management
In each of these steps, the project management control variables listed above should be considered to make decisions both in planning and execution of the project. As a general rule, the more unpredictable the variables involved in the project, the higher the level of risk the project might not be completed within the pre-planned control variables.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management< br />http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art8. html?http://oldeee.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management
Featured Project Management Products:
