Key principles of successful project management

¶ … Project management is an area of concern for the majority of large companies, and should be considered as a primary component in most business ventures. When most individuals think of project management they likely imagine a construction foreman in a yellow hard-hat perusing blueprints whilst deciding what his/her next move should be. In actuality, the project manager is like the quarterback of a football team, everything (at least on offense) runs through him. He is the leader and the man who determines the overall success of the team. There are other almost as equally important individuals, but the reason why quarterbacks are so highly valued, is because in reality they are the ones who are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the team accomplishes its goals and objectives.

Key Principles

Philbin and Kennedy (2016) wrote that a project manager who wishes to experience success on a project needs to ensure that there are effective communications and engagement between the various project participants, partners, clients and other stakeholders. There are a wide variety of other principles of successful project management besides effective communications and engagement however; one of the most important things to remember includes the fact that a pre-determination on whether the project is of a viable nature, whether the project should even be initiated, is of dire importance. If a project is doomed from the very beginning, then it is likely to cause more headaches than it is worth it to even start the project. Is the project a good use of resources, is the project worthwhile, will it provide a reasonable return on investment, are all questions that should be asked before the project is approved.

Keeping in mind the fact that projects are temporary in nature is another principle along with the fact that each project should have an ending date or a timeline that keeps the project manager (and the team) on track for completion of the project. Creating a timeline allows the project manager to not only track the progress of the project, but also allows him/her to assign responsibilities for completing tasks along the path to completion. By assigning the tasks to a specific individual or individuals, the project manager can ensure that the best possible person will be assigned to each task. There are intrinsic tasks to almost every project and Sarkisov, Stoyanova and Dli (2013) found that the way to solve most intrinsic management problems is through the use of intrinsic methods and sources; employees are not only good intrinsic sources, they can also offer intrinsic solution methods.

Risks are inherent in every project; what if the project fails to accomplish the set goals and objectives? That is just one of the risks that has to be considered. Other risks to consider is that the project will take too long to complete, that the project will be too costly, and that the project itself can be derailed. Weighing the risks against the rewards that the project will likely provide is a good method for determining whether the return on investment meets any criteria set forth by the firm.

Another principle in project management is developing a project plan that takes into account the employee's strengths and weaknesses and how those can be used to the best advantage; this is a skill that a proficient and effective project manager needs to develop in order to efficiently manage the project.

Two other principles are key in project management; that is how the design process is developed and the quality of the design product.

Volker (2010), Abdirad and Nazari (2015) found that the structure of the tasks as well as the flow of information throughout the project design provides a more likely successful conclusion to the project. Some of the intangible requirements of the design help to address such concerns as the employee's character, innovations, creativity and sense of place (Sebastian, 2005).

Project Management Systems

As mentioned above, an important and key principle to successful project management is to create a process that will lead to success. Creating a process is a relatively simple matter as long as the correct system is in place. In today's modern electronic world there are a myriad of project management systems that provide the project manager with the ability to command and control all aspects of a project and most tout the idea that the system can bring forth successful completion of the project on time and within budget. Many management software systems feature benefits such as the ability to plan, schedule, and inspect the project in an ongoing and consistent manner. The more comprehensive project management systems capabilities track key tasks and milestones and allows the manager to select certain features to be communicated to project employees and/or stakeholders. Selecting the proper management system, and implementing it, is an important cog in the successful completion of the project. Some of the features that should be considered by the project manager in choosing the correct system includes; 1) the ease of navigating through the system, 2) how the system allows management of the project resources, 3) provides reports and documents in a timely and efficient manner, and 4) provides end-to-end management capabilities (especially for larger projects).

Considering the project management system can be as easy as determining the four above factors, but oftentimes the company will already have a project management system in place. If that is the case, then the project manager should ensure that he/she is knowledgeable and comfortable with that system.

Project Leadership

According to Philbin and Kennedy (2016) a project leader needs to tackle problems as they present themselves during the project life cycle by developing appropriate responses to mitigate those problems. Tackling project problems are only part of what a project manager is responsible for; he/she must be prepared with a project schedule, timeline and ensuring that all the employees buy into the project and put forth their full efforts to achieve success. Some of the things to remember in project management is that when working with schedules and employees, is to (for the most part) allow the employee to set the deadline based on his/her workload and level of comfort; employees can then be part of the intrinsic solution methods as stated previously in this paper. Being a good project leader takes more than just showing up and telling employees what their particular job(s) are. Giltinane (2013) states that "a leader's role is to elicit effective performance from others" (p. 36). Ensuring an effective performance can be a difficult task; especially if something goes wrong with the project, or the project's progress is being hindered in some manner. Depending on the project, a collaborative approach will often work best, but in the end there almost always has to be a person of authority and responsibility, a person in charge. That person is the leader of the project. Of course, just because an individual is titled as the project manager does not necessarily mean that he/she is a true leader.

Leadership, and leadership styles are important cogs in the smooth progression of a project. Describing leadership can best be done as providing a plan or instructions to employees who will then be motivated to complete a project. Tiffin (2014) stated that there are a variety of leadership styles but establishing a leadership style that displays a common purpose is the first step to success.

Participative Leadership

The participative style of leadership seems to be much more conducive to project management; it allows for discussion, debate and collaboration between the members of the organization and the organization's leaders. Bennet (2014) stated that for a truly effective leader, you must calculate what's the critical matter at hand, and figure out the best path to reach success; in order to accomplish that task, input is needed, usually from more than just one source. Other individuals and groups need to participate (hence, the term participative) in the process. The participative leader is one that inserts himself into the group as more than just a leader, although he would often be facilitating the conversation or discussion, it would likely be more as a member of the group rather than in the explicit leadership role. Once the group was able to come to a consensus upon the path or actions to take, then the leader can revert back to the role of responsibility for ensuring that whatever actions are necessary for successful completion would be initiated and taken by the various members of the organization. Grasmick, Davies, and Harbour (2012) found that participative leadership is not only highly interactive and dynamic, it is a developmental process for building environments for broad participation. Broad participation is exactly what a project manager needs from his/her team (there is no "I" in team).

It would seem likely therefore that the project manager -- as a leader -- would want not only his staff and the employees working on the project to buy into his/her philosophy, but the other stakeholders as well. who would ultimately be putting the philosophy into play, to buy into it as well. The best manner in which to get all the stakeholders on board can be accomplished to no small degree through collaboration, discussion and training. Of course there are other leadership styles that might work even better than the participative style; one style that might work for some project managers is the directive style of management. The directive style provides the project manager to manage the project through directing the actions of the other employees. The Directive leadership style works is often said to work best in a military type of setting, or a setting that demands complete control and responsibility by the leader. If the Project Manager is the one individual who is responsible for ensuring that a project comes to successful fruition, then a directive style of leadership may work best. A leader who directs his/her employees is one that comes up with the idea or project, plans or designs how it will be accomplished, and then designates duties, jobs and chores to the various employees telling them exactly how it should be done.

The importance of the above studies is not necessarily that the leadership style is categorized in a certain way, or that a particular manner be used in every set circumstance, in fact what Kruglanski et al. (2007) confirmed was that different scenarios and environments calls for different styles of leadership. To some extent, all project managers will have to use the directive style at some point throughout the project process. Leadership can best be described as providing a plan or instruction(s) to employees who will then be motivated to accomplish a goal or objective.

Tiffan (2014) stated that the first thing necessary in establishing a leadership style is to be cognizant of a common purpose that individuals in the group can buy into. If what Tiffan states is true, then leadership consists of knowing what is best for the group, and then getting enough individuals who are members of the group to buy into that purpose. Of course, being a good leader often depends upon the person's leadership style and how well the individual implements that style in his/her environment. Azar, Asiabar, (2015) concluded that there is a correlation between how effective and ready to lead a leader is with the leader's style of leadership. Based upon the Azar and Asiabar (2015) study it would seem that leaders who are ready and effective likely have already established a leadership style that works well for that particular individual. In other words; to become an effective leader a complementary leadership style must first be established.

The Project

WalMart recently announced that it was shutting 154 stores across the United States (Petersen, 2016). Petersen (2016) states that most of the stores (102) are the smaller Walmart Express stores that are unprofitable. According to Kim (2012) the average size of the stores is between 12,000 and 15,000 square feet. Closing 102 stores across the United States displaces over 10,000 employees and leaves a hole in the local economies that are affected by these closures. An action such as this is not undertaken lightly by management, and a variety of factors are considered; chief among those factors is how the local population will perceive the actions taken by management.

In order to address that concern, WalMart has decided to turn the WalMart Express buildings into community athletic and cultural centers that are leased to the city and/or local groups and entities interested in providing easily accessible centers and activities for youth and adult citizens. The project is to turn these express store locations into small and viable cultural centers for local usage.

Project Viability

One of the first principles of project management is to determine whether the project is even viable. Viability of the project is often determined in terms of financial commitment which often includes such considerations as return on investment (ROI), return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). For this particular project the need to determine what is viable and what is not viable must also be weighed against the goodwill that can be established in each community. Oftentimes when closures like this take place, negative perceptions against WalMart run high and the bad publicity generated by such events can lead to the remaining stores becoming less profitable. The financial aspects of the building closures (based on dollars and cents -- or sense) from a business viewpoint might be entirely good business, but the negative perceptions are something that can last for a long, long time. The question must still be asked though; what will the overall project cost and can those expenses be justified? A complete budget analysis is included in Appendix A -- Budget Detail Worksheet

What is needed

To accomplish a goal such as the project suggested herein takes an efficient application of project management principles.

The first thing to do is hire a leader that can "rally the troops" and use a collaborative approach to ensuring the success of the project. Since the project is going to be national in scope, a Project Manager who has the ability to travel extensively is a must. The Project Manager must also be able to implement one of the key principles of project management (communication) through establishing a method for communicating with those individuals and groups that will take an interest in this type of project. Electronic communications through a well-maintained and accessible website would most likely make the most sense in this type of project. Because each closed WalMart location will have differing capabilities and likely will be used for a variety of purposes, a plan to control procedures for progress will have to be created and communicated in a well-written manner using the advantages of website communications to do so. In order to ensure that communications are trouble-free and efficient, an Information Technology Specialist will have to be hired. he/she will be responsible for creating a viable website, maintaining email and other communications, and establishing a social media presence. This individual will report directly to the Project Manager. A third employee is needed to ensure that the financial viability and integrity of the project is monitored and maintained. This person will be required to have a financial background; preferably an accountant with experience in analysis. This person should also have a management background based on the fact that he/she will be responsible for managing a number of underlings who will be responsible for ensuring the long-term viability of the various locations. One other specialist that will be needed is an Engineering Specialist.

The Project Manager will work closely with the local groups and entities interested in using the former WalMart Express stores as cultural or athletic centers in an effort to determine how to best utilize the buildings with minimal costs and refurbishing. Each of the three specialists will be expected to complete WBS charts for any employees hired to assist them in their duties and responsibilities.

Project Hierarchy Chart

Project Timeline

As based on one of the principles of project management, a timeline to accomplish the project, as well as guideposts to confirm events throughout the timeline will be created and adhered to. One of the primary responsibilities of the Project Manager is to ensure that each area of concern is addressed in an ongoing and consistent manner. The project timeline is created to allow the Project Manager the capabilities to ascertain whether the goals and objectives of the project are being met in a timely and efficient manner.