Project management: balanced scorecards, programs, and portfolios

Project Management

Balanced scorecard

This is a strategic planning and management system that is widely used in the industrial sector, the nonprofit organizations, in the business world and even the government in order to put the activities of the business to the strategy and the vision of the business. It is used to check whether the management and their visions and decisions are in line with the goals of the organizations and whether these visions are implemented by the employees. The balanced scorecard helps in improving the external as well as the internal communications of the organization. This also helps in monitoring the performance of the organization against the strategic goals that the organization set. The balanced scorecard also helps in increase in quality of service in the service oriented organizations and observance of procedure. These set procedures under the balanced scorecard will ensure the reduction of blame games within the organization.

The "do no harm" principle is the observance and ensuring that the particular project is not only implemented within the criteria fro effectiveness but done ins a socially responsible manner. A project cannot be considered to successful if at all it harms the employees, the society or the environment within which it was situated. A successful project is one that does no harm but instead gives positive impacts to the community and environment (Brown K.A. & Hyer N.L., 2010: Pp11).

2. Project, program and project portfolio

These are three interrelated terms that at times are used interchangeably and mistaken for the other. A project can be described as an endeavor that is temporary in nature targeted at solving a given problem, to seize an opportunity or to respond to a particular mandate. There are projects that are targeted at bringing significant changes to products, processes or even services yet others are geared towards spawning events or to handle a given crisis and others to produced some desired information. Most of the projects experienced require a team that draws it membership from diverse backgrounds to execute, however, there are some projects that can be executed by an individual. Projects vary in size as some can be large and other small in scale and size.

A program on the other hand is a term used when the effort to solve a given problem or achieve targeted results includes several subprojects therein. An example of a program targeted at creating safe and clean streets within a city will have other subprojects to handle the road repairs, signage, lighting systems, street cleaning, security patrols among other subprojects hence this is considered a program. In the same city, there are bound to be other projects that are not really related to the cleaner and secure streets but contribute towards the completeness of the city, for instance the building of an entertainment spots or public library. Bundled together, this effort to run a number of projects is what would be referred to as project portfolio (Brown K.A. & Hyer N.L., 2010: Pp2-3).

4. Phases of project management

There are basically five phases that each project will commonly go through, some of the phases may come together in some project and yet in some they may be separate. Below are the phases;

Selection stage -this is where an individual or a team decides that they want to undertake a given project, the organization in return looks at the significance of this project to the organization and how it fits in well with other projects already in the organization. The financial aspects that will be involved are discussed and the way this project will be in synergy with the mission and vision of the organization.

Initiation stage -- at this stage, the main sponsors of the project will give a clear go ahead for the project, the time line will be set and the cost looked into and financing authorized. The team that will run the project is established in terms of the positions and the responsibilities of each position. The goals and the purposes of the project are clarified as well.

Planning -- at this stage, the team that has been selected to handle the project will select the general approach that they will want to use and also determine the activities to be conducted, the person who needs to conduct them and the time frame and the cost as well. It is at this stage that the team will have the work breakdown structure (WBS) drafted and communication made to all concerned personnel.

Delivery and control -- it is at this stage that the actual project is executed by the team. Upon the implementation, there are constant checks that are made against the plan and necessary adjustments are made accordingly as the project progresses. Here, communication with stakeholders is vital and constant assessments are made at the end of each milestone/.

Closure and handoff to customer -- the deliverables of the project are given to the customer who is to approve and accept these results. Here, the project team completes all the required documentations and assesses the lessons learned (Brown K.A. & Hyer N.L., 2010: Pp12).