In contemporary world, the pace of changes is forcing every organization to change and evolve. The process of change management can not be done without the structured approach through the project management

Project Management is a management routine that is used to plan, organize and control project activities. The project is initiated by executive committee that will initiate the activities. Usually, the executive committee is the top management of the company. The executive committee is assigning the Project Leader. The whole activity is being delegated to the leader, who is responsible for the project, budget, resources, activities and results. The committee approves the plans and monitor the performance. In specific situations the executive committee is changing, prioritizing or terminating projects.

The project management requires establishment of project team with clear roles and responsibilities. Usual structure of team have following positions:

The Executive Sponsor is authorized to represent the Executive Committee on matters related to the Project Management. The Executive Sponsor is accountable to interface with Executive Committee and team.

The Project Leader has the authority to manage and complete the assigned activities and change management. The leader is responsible for the definition of the objectives, tasks, organization of activities, and budgets control. The Leader requests an assignment of people from different functions to form the team. Committee members with the Project Leader to define work, activities, schedules and budgets required to accomplish the project objective.

Project Team members are responsible to execute planned work activities, respective to their filed of expertise. They are responsible to deliver the quality, schedule and budget targets, and to support the overall objectives. They need to serve the team members in a collaborative and supportive manner. Team members shall be authorized by their functional management to make commitments in the design of activities, time and cost estimate.

The composition of the team must be approved by the Executive Committee, based on proposal of Project Leader. The leader forms a team composed of appointees from the respective departments. The team members will be committed through full time or part-time engagement. Once when the team is formed, the project can be initiated.

There are 5 stages of project development within its life cycle.

1. Initial Phase

2. Planning

3. Execution

4. Monitoring and Control Phase

5. Closeout Phase

Successful finalization of project require sufficient expertise from areas of technical skills and project management. Around 70% of effects comes from the knowledge of project management.

Projects can be classified based on duration and magnitude of their effects. Classification is necessary in order to assess resources that are required for project development.

Based on duration they can be:

Small Project Duration – less than 1 month

Medium Project Duration – less than 1 quarter

Large Project Duration more – than 1 year

The duration of the project is determined by its complexity. The classification of project is the indication for the level of authority of the project manager and executive committee. For Example, major upgrade of business operation requires general management team to be involved as executive committee. Project manager should be manager from middle or top management. Duration of the project can be one year.

Project should be evaluated from several aspects. Cost/benefit analysis, the time value of money, and risk are components of many financial methods that are used to evaluate a project. Some of the methods are:

Simple Payback

Average Return on Investment

Net Present Value

Internal Rate of Return

Every method has it application. Before that, it is necessary to to define the time value of money and the present value of future payments to better understand the formulas.

The knowledge and discipline of the project management execution is the key factor of success of change management and transition to the different layout of the company.

Project Management and Change Management are some of the topics covered by the Biz Development site dedicated to development of managerial knowledge and skills.

Check http://www.biz-development.com/PerformanceManagement/2.30.1.Project-Management-Overview.htm for more information about Project Management.

Author Bio: Project Management and Change Management are some of the topics covered by the Biz Development site dedicated to development of managerial knowledge and skills.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: project management, project management life,project team,change management