Selling Project Management

Selling Project Management

Ann Cooper

South University

PMCC 6601

Foundations of Project Management

Instructor: Dr. John Yelvington

20th October 2016

Executive Summary

Project management involves complex procedures set by industry standards from accredited institutions like PMI. The benefits of having a PMO and making use of the functions of a project manager can generate credibility for an organization. The functions of the project manager are very important in the company. For this reason, Roto Air sought to educate the Project team at the newly acquired company and make them understand the need for a project management system. Roto Air is a global manufacturer of aircraft including the Quick Drop 100. In the process, the project team learns to form workable schedules and manage resources better because they can create measurable targets and focus on deliverables per phase, and the sponsors became confident as the project metrics could give them a benchmarking system to assess resource usage. The project progress assessment metrics that apply in this report include a work breakdown structure, data driven decision making, a project charter, phase management system, financial control and earned value management. Any issues that became apparent at the start of the project are mitigated and other risks avoided or transferred where possible. Delayed resource delivery and equipment breakdown could contribute to the stopping of the project, and for the project to be successful the project manager has to create ways around the problem. The report focuses on creating an understanding of why project management is important and provides recommendations for Roto Air’s local management at the newly acquired electro-mechanical plant.

Introduction

Roto Air is a company that assembles helicopter drones and electro-mechanical designs for its aircraft for the local and international market. Its main assembly plant in Florida handles the majority of its products. Recently, it has developed a new product called the Quick Drop 100, which uses better technology and helps to make faster user transportation and pickup trips. The project manager in charge of the company oversees the initiation of the project from the research and design facility to the main manufacture and assemble relocation from New York to Florida. In the acquisition of the electro-mechanical plant, the company had to establish a strategy for running operations. Unfortunately, the company lacks a formal project management system. It is my role as a project manager to develop the educational material for the training of the team as to why it would be important to adopt a project management system. This report outlines the importance of project management, the benefits of project management, the roles of project team members and sponsors, the ways to enhance communication during a project, the importance of a work breakdown structure, data-driven decision making, risk management during a project, and a number of reasons why every firm should have a project management system.

Project Management, Its Advantages, and Significance

Project management involves a few things that bear similarity in every company or situation. Its enhancement of project initiation, progress, resource control, project team management, effective value management, and communication between players in projects, all play part in introducing efficiency in a company activities and projects. These functions of project management are played by the project manager, whose leadership skills and communication skills come into play to achieve successful completion if applied well. The project manager ought to consider the time given for the completion of a project, and consider the financial obligations of the project before starting the project. The selection of the suppliers and material needs of the project from start to finish are within the helm of the project manager’s functions. These are some of the aspects of project management that a company must take into account in order to understand why a project management system is important. The project manager must formulate ways in which all the require material resources can be acquired and delivered to the project location ahead of schedule to avoid project creep and other related risks. The role of sourcing the materials required falls in the helm of the project manager, who must assess the suppliers available and determine who can provide the best quality, at the right time, and within the duration it is required for the continued operation to carry on. Supplier selecting outsourcing workers and utilities such as worker transportation means, material management, site control and communication of progress, needs, roles and general meetings and reports are the things that are needed of a project manager. The project manager has to oversee all similar functions involving the project initiation and completion. The functions of project management have recently been emphasized due to the need to ensure that projects can be initiated and completed according to budget and plan with minimum cost in loss of time and resources. The role of the project manager in the organization is to ensure that the money and strategy applied in any project are aligned and that work is completed ahead of schedule.

Project Management Routine Operations

        Project management involves the use of various processes and measures that create a project management model. These pre-established procedures are part of a profession, project manager’s training and skills that are acquired and developed with learning and experience. Learned lessons and project completion findings are incorporated in future projects for the improvement of a project manager’s preparedness in dealing with project issues.

        Among the skills and methods used in project management include project planning, strategic planning, development of project charters, ethical decision-making in project management, development of concepts and models, analysis, scheduling, and selection of partners, project integration, developing project plans, managing project execution, monitoring and controlling project assignments, integrating change control, directing and managing project execution, and project closing.

Role and Importance of a Project Sponsor

        Project sponsors are the enablers and evaluators of progress and phase completions in project. For a project to start and complete successfully, the project sponsor has to fund it to allow for objective attainment, work completion, production of deliverables, and meeting its financial obligations. All decisions have to be authorized by the project sponsor. By this definition, one can get the idea that the sponsor is an individual/organization that wields the most power in the project initiation and progress till successful realization of the goals set at the start of the project.