Success Factors in Project Management
The project manager has to do a lot of work at the same time, constantly making decisions at all levels about resource use, schedule adjustments, budget issues, human relations management, communication and technical issues. The main issues must therefore be identified, strategically, regularly or operationally, in order to set priorities and enable the project manager to focus on critical issues, which alternate depending on the phase in which the project is located.
The following are identified as the main success factors of a project:
Project goal. Setting clear goals is key to planning and executing a project. Understanding performance and evaluation measures is important to ensure good coordination. Therefore, all stakeholders should be aware of the project objectives from the outset.
Management support. Competition for resources combined with the high degree of uncertainty that governs a project often leads to conflict and crisis. The constant presence of management throughout the life cycle of the project helps to understand the purpose of the project and its importance. This awareness leads to support, which can prove invaluable in resolving problems in times of conflict or crisis or when uncertainty arises. Therefore, clear and frequent communication between project manager and management catalyzes the success of a project.
Project planning. Transforming goals and performance measures into a feasible plan is the link between the conceptual design phase and the production phase. A detailed plan covering technical, financial, organizational, communication, control and schedule issues is the basis for achieving the objectives. Scheduling does not end when execution starts, as the need for changes or conversions is constant. Scheduling is therefore dynamic and ongoing and links changing goals and performance to end results.
Cooperation with the Customer. The end user of the project is also the end judge of its success. In the theoretical design phase it is very important to have good communication with the customer (internal or external), so that the goals that will be set are fully in line with the needs of the customer. In the next phases, continuous cooperation with the customer is necessary in order to correct possible mistakes when converting the goals into performance measures. However, due to changing needs and circumstances, although in the early stages it is useful to have a statement of the customer’s exact needs, this probably ceases to be the case in the planning or implementation phase. The configuration management system is a link between existing plans and change requests of the client and the project team.
Staff issues. Satisfactory achievement of technical objectives without violating the schedule or budget does not mean that the project is completely successful, even if the customer is satisfied. If the various stakeholders in the project do not maintain good relations, the success of the project is questionable, as good cooperation and dedication to the project are essential for success.
Technical issues. The technical training of the staff and the fulfillment of the technical specifications must be one of the first concepts of a project manager, as without them a project cannot be completed.
Customer acceptance. Continuous collaboration with the client throughout the life cycle of a project increases the chance of success, in terms of user acceptance. In the final stages of implementation, the client must judge the resulting project and decide whether it is acceptable or not. If the project is not accepted at this stage, then it is a failure.
Project control. The constant flow of information about real progress and the feedback mechanism allow the project manager to deal with uncertainty. By comparing real progress with current plans, the project manager can spot deviations, expect problems and start corrective actions. Any deviations from the original plans can be corrected when they are noticed in time.
