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This week’s assigned readings included an overview of the framework for project management, culture and project management, and stakeholder management. The PMBOK guide contains all the information you need for managing a project and there are 10 knowledge areas. For a project to be successful you need to manage various aspects to ensure seamless execution. Managing project scope is very essential for any project. Often, when the scope is not defined properly, it leads to scope creep which results in delayed timelines, inefficient resource utilization and other issues. The project manager has to manage integration, schedule, costs, quality, risks, communication, and stakeholders effectively for a project to be deemed successful. Since most projects have a definitive start and end date, it is important to manage and split the time among various stages and activities. Projects continually evolve throughout the lifecycle and it is imperative that the process allows room to accommodate change, mitigate risks and adapt to changing customer needs. The 10 knowledge areas mentioned in the PMBOK are all interrelated and have to be monitored constantly to achieve project success. The Stakeholder Register table provides a very useful idea of what areas of project management can be applied in which phase of the project development lifecycle.

Another important and widely used concept that was covered was Scrum. It is a part of the agile methodology used in project management. Scrum uses sequential sprints for development where the team meets every X number of days or weeks, and discuss the project status, changes, and how to proceed from that point. At the end of each sprint, whatever has been developed is tested and the next cycle begins. A lot of organizations have a designated PMO or Project Management Office to reduce the failure rate of projects. Some of the objectives are:

• To ensure all projects are aligned with the company’s objectives.
• Provide training and mentorship.
• Provide a reference for all future projects by managing detailed project documentation.

Stakeholder management is a key aspect of project management. Even if a project has met all its deliverables but the stakeholders are not satisfied, it is considered a failure. Stakeholders are parties that are either directly or indirectly involved in a project. Project managers have to deal with both people external to the organization and internal stakeholders. Their relationship varies with the type of stakeholders as well. It was interesting to read about how this relationship works and the tips to facilitate effective stakeholder management. As discussed in the previous chapters, it is also very important to take into the consideration the role social, political, and cultural factors play in a project.

Organizational culture is responsible for setting the tone of a workplace. While the main objectives of most organizations are meeting their goals and turning profits, it is equally important to maintain a conducive environment where employees have a sense of belonging and feel valued.

References

Watts, A. (2019). Project Management. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/.