scholarly journals An Evaluation Of A Communication, Facilitation And Project Management Tool To Enhance The Effectiveness Of Project Execution

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Schalk Van der Merwe ◽  
Mark Bussin

Project managers are in desparate need of a tool to help them save time and bridge the gap between different interfaces which they use to document, present to the business and manage their projecs. Mindmanager x5 Pro appears to be a viable solution. But it is of utmost importance that before rolling out the solution in the business that the solution be evaluated in the specific environment. Mindmanager x5 Pro makes certain claims that must be confirmed. Furthermore the software will be evaluated against best practices criteria in the field of change communication, facilitation and project management.

Author(s):  
Simon Cleveland ◽  
Cristelia Hinojosa

Universities' core project management courses address the key principles and best practices of project management methodologies, while elective courses are utilized to introduce alternative project frameworks. The concept of project complexity can be taught to strengthen competency in project managers and enhance the success of the projects they manage. Previous instruction methods were evaluated to determine the key concepts that pertain to project complexity. This article proposes a preliminary framework for the development of an elective course on project complexity.


2000 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Birkhead ◽  
Margaret Sutherland ◽  
Tudor Maxwell

Project management is internationally recognised as a management tool that is critical for success in the current work environment. In South Africa, initiatives are under way to produce internationally acceptable education and certification standards for the profession. The aim of this study is to identify the competencies and training needs required of project managers operating in South Africa's unique context. A questionnaire based on both previous international studies and personal interviews was administered by e-mail to members of the Project Management Institute of South Africa. Data was received from 128 respondents operating primarily in information technology, construction and engineering fields across the country. The results of the survey establish a rank ordered list of the competencies and training needs of South African project managers, and confirm that project management competencies are generic in nature. The findings are unique to South Africa, and proffer a set of core competencies which has important implications for the certification and training of South African project managers.


Author(s):  
Rafael Queiroz Gonçalves ◽  
Elisa de Freitas Kühlkamp ◽  
Christiane Gresse von Wangenheim

Many problems in software development projects are due to risks and could be avoided or minimized if identified and treated pro-actively. In this context, software tools to support risk management could be very helpful. However, it is difficult to find a project management tool, accessible to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that provides adequate support to risk management in conformance with best practices such as the PMBOK. Therefore, this paper has the objective to review support provided by popular project management tools with respect to risk management and to present enhancements made to the open-source tool – dotProject – in order to systematically support risk management aligned with the PMBOK. An initial evaluation identified benefits in the implementation of risk management processes in software SMEs, and, thus, contributing to their projects' success.


Author(s):  
Simon Cleveland ◽  
Cristelia Hinojosa

Universities' core project management courses address the key principles and best practices of project management methodologies, while elective courses are utilized to introduce alternative project frameworks. The concept of project complexity can be taught to strengthen competency in project managers and enhance the success of the projects they manage. Previous instruction methods were evaluated to determine the key concepts that pertain to project complexity. This article proposes a preliminary framework for the development of an elective course on project complexity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Marnewick

Purpose Standards are written by practitioners for practitioners. It is therefore logical that project managers should comply with project management standards. Benefits management is a domain within programme management. The focus of benefits management is to deliver benefits of initiatives beyond the closure of a normal programme or project. This is not the case with projects within the information systems (IS) discipline, implying that IS programme and project managers are not adhering to standards. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the best practices associated with benefits management are applied to IS initiatives in order to maximise the benefits of these initiatives. Design/methodology/approach Senior and middle managers in South African organisations were interviewed to determine how benefits are managed within their various projects. The purpose of the interviews was to determine adherence to standards and especially benefits management and, second, to determine whether these organisations are achieving any benefits and ultimately value. Findings There is an overwhelming non-adherence to benefits management best practices within the IS discipline, and IS programme and project managers do not have the slightest idea how to perform benefits management. Irrespective of this, organisations do believe that they are receiving benefits and value from these IS projects. Research limitations/implications The research was only done in South Africa with the specific focus of IS. The results are thus very specific and opens the door for more comprehensive research that focusses on various industries, countries and standards. Practical implications The results have several implications ranging from how standards are written to the professionalism of IS programmes and project managers. Organisations are not achieving the optimal benefits from investments. The fact that organisations do realise benefits from a broken process, implies that more benefits can be realised when the entire benefits realisation process is followed. Governance controls should also be put in place to ensure that programme and project managers are adhering to standards. Originality/value Standards are dominating the project management discipline and there is a general assumption that programme and project managers are adhering these standards. This research queries the value of standards as the results indicate that there is limited adherence to standards and best practices.


Author(s):  
Lenka SMOLÍKOVÁ

Purpose – this paper investigates the changes in managing and leading the projects due to COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. Research methodology – a literature review, qualitative analysis based on conducted interviews with project managers in the Czech Republic. The main research objective is to obtain best practices and lessons learned from project managers in the IT sector. Findings – the findings are based on interviews with project managers and reflect the reality in the Czech Republic in the field of project management. It describes what the project teams and project managers had to face during the pandemic. Findings are derived from the research and presented at the end of the paper. Research limitations – the limitation of this paper is related to the research location, which was in the Czech Republic. The author suggests to extend the sample of data and include other countries in future investigations. Practical implications – findings provide recommendations for successful project management in the future projects. Originality and value – can be found in the recommendations for companies and lessons learned that can be used in managing new projects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 530-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Joseph ◽  
C Marnewick

Although research has been done on sustainability in project management, little or no research has been conducted on sustainability within the domain of information system (IS) projects. This article reports on whether IS projects are executed sustainably and whether they contribute to organisational sustainability. A questionnaire, completed by 650 IS project managers, was used to determine the state of IS project sustainability. The results highlight that sustainability is not integrated into IS projects and IS project managers do not consider organisational sustainability. IS projects tend to focus on the economic dimension, i.e. increasing productivity and profits, with no thought being given to the social and environmental dimensions. This article recommends that sustainability should be incorporated into project management and IS best practices. Accordingly, the way IS projects are executed should be re-evaluated in terms of their sustainability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karuna Devi Mishra ◽  
Dr. Sudarsanam

This paper investigates the current challenges faced by the project managers in creating realistic expectations of customers in dynamic changing project environment which are created by rapid introduction of new unknowns, as they progress. One might say they are more akin to packing boxes of frogs without a cover, setting each thing right before a new challenge is faced. The difficulties posed by these projects are identified and the literature is reviewed for suitable approaches. Why do projects fail and what more is critical to the success of project? All projects are conceived with a vision to satisfy certain needs of the business. Hence, the beneficiary of these needs become key stakeholder. Appropriate participation of this key stakeholder in steering the project ensures the success of the project. Also businesses are impacted by competition and changing market place resulting in skewed expectation management. Managing expectations enhances the success of the project immensely. Now, goal of the project plays a pivotal role and hence respecting it, is an important task, in project management. Project governance is an important aspect which needs to change according to the requirements and requires a dynamic approach rather than a ‘rule book approach’.


Author(s):  
Tomislav Rozman ◽  
Tanja Kocjan Stjepanovič ◽  
Andrej Raspor

The article analyzes modern cloud document management systems and communication tools from the viewpoint of a EU project managers, who lead multidisciplinary, multilingual and international teams. It also explores the types of users who use these tools as well as the motivation factors guiding their choices. The research includes observation within the project group, interviews and semi-structured surveys among 40 EU project managers, who have managed 244 EU projects. The main finding is that a lot of project managers still don't use shared, cloud document system. The biggest obstacle to more efficient usage of existing systems is their un-friendliness, security concerns and lack of skills. Meetings are still perceived as the most efficient channel for distributing and receiving project tasks, but they are closely followed by communication software. Applying the authors' findings to the project management practice can lead to better communication and shared document storage management, which can influence overall effectiveness of project management.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document