Normally SCOPE CREEPS occur mainly on account of the fact that the key stakeholders WANTS and EXPECTATIONS were not read, understood, documented and converted to PROJECT SCOPE...!!
This GAP in the PROJECT SCOPE expected by STAKEHOLDER and that understood & provided by CONTRACTOR leads to SCOPE CREEP...!!
Stakeholder analysis is seldom given importance in many projects which inturn leads to huge risks on landing up in project failures.
Stakeholder analysis deals with study of the following:
By performing stakeholder analysis, all these needs, wants, requirements and expectations could be documented , understood and converted to Project scope, which forms the HEART of any PROJECT SUCCESS...!!!
Prioritize..!!!
is a powerful word in the field of multiple project management or program or portfolio management.
At any juncture of decision making you may have to prioritize and decide on any of the following:
Fund Allocation
Bar charts are of course used widely due to its simplicity in indicating progress compared to actual planned.
But in reality the activities in a bar charts could be well planned so that the project looks on track. This is because the interdepencies are not higlighted in these charts. This inturn could not trigger any possible threat in the schedule leading to product delays.
Project managers do prefer such charts to gain top mgmt and client's confidence.
Uncertainties of varying degree and impact forms the part and parcel of any Project. Without uncertainties there is no project.
Our objective should be to standardize and manage the project such that these uncertainties are minimized to the extent possible.
A contingency plan and contingency fund to be established for uncertainties not under our control or not predictable from past experience.
Success Criteria defined in a project shall act as a scale or benchmark. Achievement of this benchmark determines that the project is successful as per plan.
In order to assess whether project is on track or to forecast whether in future the project could be brought back on track, an effective project performance measurement system in line with the success criteria parameters are to be defined and implemented.
Success Criteria : Eg. Profit 10%, Milestones achieved within scheduled date etc.
Performance measurement : Earned Value Method (EVM) !
The performance measurement information and the success criteria forms the backbone any decisions made by the project management team for a healthy project completion.
Most of the cost estimates in a project go wrong because we totally rely on vendor quotes and three quotation system instead of doing a detailed Item Rate Analysis for indivudal items of work.
By relying on a vendors estimate blindly, the following risk components are on our head :
A Good Cost Accouting Management Information System..!!
To manage cost, first you have to use an MIS which tracks and depicts the cost booked in the project as on date, accurately and in details under various cost heads freezed by your management for monitoring purposes.
Forecasting and other management techniques shall be of no use if the cost booked figure in hand in not accurate enough to make decisions effectively.
Hence it goes with the saying that, "If you know and understand your past well then you shall be in a position to rightly predict the future course".
Projects are all made up of negotiations at various stages of project cycle.
When we talk of negotiation its all about, getting more from less, which is the mantra for present generation. And hence effect of any negotiation process can lead to conflicts.
Hence conflict management and negotiations go hand in hand in affecting the success of any construction projects.
If you master Negotiation and Conflict Management skills you control the Project.
Even if any of above set success criteria is unrealistic and not in consensus with the stakeholders, then projects performance may be misled to be a failure.
Not defining realistic success criteria itself is a major contributor to declare project as failure...!!!
Lack of Scope Clarity & Formal Acceptance of Deliverable !!!
Lack of scope clarity in the project leads to various ambiguities which inturn affect project completion.
If there is no scope clarity then there is no consensus on the deliverable to be produced between owner and contractor. In such cases the deliverable never get signed off or formally accepted by the owner leading to delay and over staying in projects.
Hence Lack of Scope clarity and Absence of Formal Acceptance of Deliverable go Hand in Hand to delay completion of Project Closeout Phase.
Sounds funny! but its true.
We all talk of Risks in Construction, but it is very rarely that a stringent and religious implementation of Risk Management is being effected in all construction projects.
Risk Management doesn't necessarily enforce that separate team or individual to be nominated for performing Risk Management activities in a project. But every individual in the project team shall have to contribute to this.
At times a Risk Register or Risk Management efforts looks very active and attractive towards start of the project just to get some contingency funds approved by top management.
This approved risk fund forms a part of budgetary cushion for Project Managers instead of serving the purpose for which it was intended to.
These Issue Logs when maintained shall aid any party in supporting themselves with necessary evidences to avoid disputes or to win in any of the claims / disputes raised...!!!
Problem : GOOD CONCEPT, But at what level to be applied, WBS - Work Package, Summary Level or Activity level???
The following are the areas where a new project manager shall fall in a dilemma on to what decision or step to be taken:
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