Project management concepts and practices

Project Management

Integrated project management involves the practice of ensuring that the various elements of the project are effectively and efficiently coordinated. This involves making trade-offs amongst competing objectives and alternatives with the aim of meeting or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations. The project management system plays a critical role in the process of allocating resources to a given project or task. Resource allocation involves the development the project plan, determining the various resources required in order to accomplish the project successfully and implement the designed plan. Although this may seem like a relatively simple activity, it is a highly complex task that requires skilled personnel and an effective project management system in practice. This is mainly because the acquisition of resources requires funds, which is a limited resource in itself. In fact, the project management team must be skilled in the use of limited resources. This may include the process of allocating and utilizing them effectively to the various project activities and optimally for the timely completion of the project (Meredith & Mantel, 2011).

With a competent team, it is possible to execute resource leveling effectively. The available resources, although limited, are delegated with tasks or project deliverables to be executed. At the initiation phase, the team assigns the various roles to the human resources, identifying, and allocating the required non-human resources. The project management system enables an organization to use the available resources optimally through resource leveling. Consequently, the organization avoids wastage of resources like avoiding the over-allocation of resources. The project management team can identify the unused time by a resource and consequently taking the necessary measures required to prevent it or making an advantage out of it (Lock, 2007).

Question 2

In the project life cycle, unexpected problems and issues may occur. In such a circumstance, the project manager has to deal with them appropriately before they can potentially mar the project's outcome. The ability to make decisions or issues appropriately is important in fostering the success of a given project. Issues relating to escalation occur when the issue is raised to a higher-level management, project sponsor or the steering committee seeking further direction or approval on a proposed solution. Besides, the project sponsor and higher-level management play the critical role during project escalation. They are final decision-making organs in the project and have the ability to either increase or decrease resources for a given project. They also approve of changes to the project in order to counter the unexpected problems encountered during the project implementation phase (Meredith & Mantel, 2011).