Process Steam Boiler Conversion Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Process Steam Boiler Conversion Project - Essay Example Failed projects have a colossal negative impact to any business, especially due to the time and resources spent. Ensuring that the project management process continues in a successful manner, tools are available to support and ensure that the aspects of project integration, time, cost, quality, as well as human resources are effectively covered. The project charter for instance is a very important document that is prepared to support a successful project management process (Schwalbe, 2009). This lays the framework for the project management process and remains a strong reference point during the progress of the project. Lack of a project charter reflects negatively on the project and can adversely affect its success. Scheduling under project time management can be demonstrated using scheduling chart tools such as Gantt chart and critical path method (CPM). During project activity documentation, the project manager can use illustrations and diagrams to ensure that communication is wel l effected among the members of a project team and with other stakeholders. Charts are used to ensure that information is accurately passed across to the target audience. Another common tool in use in scheduling is the project evaluation and review technique (PERT) which is an analysis tool that can also be used by the manager to schedule the project’s activities. The most important key to successful and effective project management is through planning. A logically constructed and orderly plan is essential to direct any type of project and to help in preparing a report from conception through completion. The key to good planning is in its turn founded on clearly defined project objectives. For instance, project planning can begin with the identification of the client's needs, the development of a budget and work schedule that fit these needs, and the planning for resources, including staff and materials. The setting up of a clearly defined project proposal plan is therefore v ery useful from the beginning as it can help ensure that matters as a technically capable staff and an adequate budget are part of the process. The understanding of the assumptions is important given how the expectations for the final results of the project are based on the initial suppositions made. Furthermore, changing assumptions throughout the project can bring about lack of satisfaction about the final results among the senior management; a scenario that is rather frequent in the project management field. Therefore, and despite the fact that project length remains a critical factor in the eventual extent of satisfaction exhibited with regard to the final results, assumptions should be documented at project initiation and throughout using the project charter as a possible means. The project manager should from then on continue to challenge and revalidate the assumptions to ensure that the project is either redirected towards a different set of objectives or simply terminated fu lly in the event of changing assumptions. Among the assumptions that need to be considered are related to both enterprise environmental factors as well as organizational process assets. Assumptions related to the external environment, and which can affect any given project and should be therefore taken well into account, include for