Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling

1 Running Head: COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

Components of a Successful Project

Leela Kanthi Nagisetty

American National University

2 COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

Components of a Successful Project

Introduction

The main purpose of project management is success of the project. Project management is

employed nearly in every project to ensure that the desired outcome of the project is achieved

and within the set timeline of the project. In today’s world there are various projects with

different sizes, but project management is there to ensure each project is accomplished as

planned by the project stakeholders. Project management as a huge impact on a project in that for

a project to be successful there must be appropriate management of resources and other

components of the project. There are various components of a successful project that has been

there in existed since the early projects of the ancient times. however, those components have

undergone gradual development and now they are better than those of ancient times.

There are various components of project management that are crucial for the success of project.

Project planning is one of the crucial components of a successful project. Project planning is

usually referred to as the heart of project management since it determines the success or failure

of the project. Many people have come up with theories to explain what project planning is and

its purpose in project management. Project planning has a huge impact on the success of every

project (Kerzner, 2013). Research shows analysis and planning are important and a successful

project must have an appropriate plan. Project planning entails all the components of planning

such as scheduling and resource allocation to each part of the project.

Project Planning

3 COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

Project planning does not just exist in a vacuum it consists of various phases which are initiation,

planning, execution, and closure of the project. Those phases must be followed for project

planning to be successful.

Project initiation is the first phase of project planning. Project initiation is the conception stage of

the project where the idea of the project is manifested. The project stakeholders discuss the

benefits of the project in this stage and justify the reason for undertaking the project. The first

step in this phase is development of the business case. After the business case the project team

will undertake feasibility study (Kerzner, 2013). This phase is important because the project

team take major decisions which determine the direction and resource requirements of the

project. The project manager usually develops the project charter during this phase.

The project stakeholders will develop project objectives during the project initiation to ensure

they are on track, and no one is on a different page. Creating the business case is the first step in

project initiation. The business case is a document that explains the reason for undertaking the

project and explains the goals of the project as well as long term plans. the document justifies the

reason why should the stakeholders invest in financial, human, and technical resources on that

project. The business case focuses on business matters of the project and not entirely on technical

aspects of the project.

The next step in the project initiation is undertaking the feasibility study. When the business case

is approved, the next step is determination of the likelihood of the success of the project. This

step identifies the reason to proceed with project. The following step is project charter

establishment where the project manager develops a project charter. The project charter is the

most needed, important, and comprehensive part of the project initiation. The project charter

4 COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

identifies the constraints and goals of the project. It also identifies the project scope. The list of

resources is also found in the project charter.

After the project manager develops the project charter, the following step is the appointment of

the project team. Where various people with different skills are assigned different roles but work

as a team. The project team will have a leader who will communicate to the project manager and

sometimes makes decisions on behalf of the team members. Planning phase is the next step in

project life cycle where various plans are created by the project team together with the project

manager. In this phase, resource, financial, quality, risk, acceptance, and procurement plans are

created. After project planning, the next phase that follows is execution.

In project execution phase, the project team start to build the deliverables of the project. The plan

that was set previously will now be followed to ensure that everything is done according to the

plan. Project execution is where project plan is set to action. During this phase, project risks such

as shortage of resources and weather problems may started to manifest. In this situation the

project manager needs to perform the risk management plan. The last phase in the project life

cycle is project closure. That is where the project completion is reviewed, and project handed

over to the client.

Project schedule is another factor that determines the success of a project because it determines

what time will be spent on the project. Project schedule simply means a timetable that indicates

when the project will start and when it will end. It also shows which team members are

responsible for which tasks and resources needed for each task. There are various benefits of

project scheduling. The project schedule guides the project team during the execution of the

project. It also shows the progress of the project and ensures that the project is completed on time

and on budget.

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References

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 11th ed. Retrieved from VitalSource Bookshelf: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781118418550/

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project Management: Case Studies. Retrieved from VitalSource Bookshelf: https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781118415825/

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project Management: Case Studies. Wiley.