How to Deliver Quality On-Time and On-Budget
In today's rapid ever-changing world, businesses want more for less and fast. Projects are expected to be turned around in the shortest time, within the leanest budget, demanding the best of practices possible while maintaining the highest industry standards. To meet these seemingly implausible expectations, the right balance of planning, monitoring, evaluating and controlling can make all the difference in project management. It enables bringing projects to completion on-time, on-budget and on-quality. Project objectives can be achieved by aptly leveraging certain project management processes, guidelines and techniques effectually.
By implementing the following best practices of project management, it could phenomenally help you reach your project objectives:
Table of Contents
1. Plan the Project Work Plan
The idea of immediately beginning work on the project and jumping right into it, needs to be set aside. Create a project work plan that constructs project deliverables and manages the project. The time invested in planning the project will pay off with end results of reduced costs, quick turnaround time, right resources assigned, reduced leeway for errors and improved quality of the project's life. Once the work plan is approved, it becomes the foundation from which to build upon and grow. If you are not confident of how to manage a project plan, completing the PMP test will give you the push in the right direction. By completing the PMP test you get the opportunity to brush upon the fundamentals of project management.
2. Monitor the Work Plan's Agenda and Budget
Now that the work plan is in place, execution of project work can commence. However, periodically and regularly, keep a tab on the Agenda created by the work plan and ensure the project timelines are not deviating from the set path. Constantly keep a check on the budget and update the statuses or raise flags if required. While challenges might come your way, proactively work towards completing the project within the original effort, cost, and duration. Cost and Time are crucial factors at any level of project management and these two important knowledge areas are covered in the PMP boot camp training class.
3. Evaluate Scope-change Management Procedures
Over and beyond the effectual management of the project's agenda and budget, managing scope is another very important factor to look into. Effectively try to establish stringent scope-change management procedures in place. If you are unsure about how to go about it, a quick 4-day boot camp at a PMP class will greatly help you. Scope creep (a series of small scope changes) apparently is one of the top reasons that result in project failures resulting in projects to be not delivered on-time and on-budget. Ensure to focus and track scope creep.
4. Control Risks and Resolve Issues
By identifying the risks up front, it will help in quickly mitigating the impact the risk might have on the project without creating any further problems. The possible risks and its associated impacts needs to be gauged. The high-risk events that have been identified should have strong backup plans in place to ensure they do not occur. Along with the risk management and assessment process, ensure that on a constant basis the varied issues that rise up are immediately being given attention and resolved in a timely fashion. One must be equipped with good knowledge of risk management to handle such a situation. It would help to attend a 4-day classroom PMP boot camp training course, to quickly garner knowledge on one of the key PMP knowledge areas - Risk Procurement.
Therefore, by diligently planning, monitoring, evaluating and controlling at varied levels of the project, you are well on your way to deliver quality on-time and on-budget!
Blogs you might also like