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Project management templates… and more

Monthly Archives: February 2014

Methodology

Lean Methodology

February 17, 2014 – 2:02 pm

The creation of the lean methodology was necessary after the end of World War Two when there was a shortage of manpower for the production of civilian goods. Just as all wars do, there was a great amount of life lost. To help compensate for this low allowable allowance of manpower, the project managers in the Far East had to devise a new approach to getting their factories working so they could once again turn a profit.

The basic concept of the lean methodology is simple. It is the reduction of all waste from a process so only the components that contribute in a positive manner towards the deliverable and its staying on its production schedule are allowed to remain in place. One of the hardest parts of developing this methodology is deciding just what makes a positive contribution to the deliverable and what really is waste.

What most realize is that when deploying the lean methodology, it is a continuous process towards the improvement of all processes involved in the planning and production of a deliverable for the global market place. This process should involve every level of management to help make the final decisions. It will also be necessary to involve the entire project team. It is their hands on experience with the project that can pinpoint areas where improvements can be made. These small contributions from the project team have an accumulative effect that will make the difference in just how successful your project is at cutting and eliminating waste from the project.

One of the newest additions to the lean methodology is the “just in time” supply network. By bringing in the required resources necessary for your project as they are needed, the elimination of storage for them has been eliminated. This saves both money and space in providing a warehouse for the resources just to sit in waiting to be used.

The lean methodology has expanded far beyond its intended purpose of dealing with a manpower shortage. Today most manufactures have implemented it to some extent to best fit their needs. This increases the profitability of every project it is used in when implemented correctly.

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project management process

Incorporating a Project Management Process

February 2, 2014 – 4:48 am

By incorporating a project management process with your next business venture, its chances of success will increase. This is what stakeholders are referring to when they demand their employees to become better organized. By establishing a set plan of attack to planning and controlling your next project, the performance of the plan will be enhanced.

The project management process is an all encompassing approach to developing a revenue stream with the production of a deliverable. This will even begin in the inception phase of a project’s lifecycle. To come up with an idea and actually place it into a business case will not occur without a set plan. Then to ensure the idea is feasible and profitable must also be known before any planning of how the deliverable will begin. There is no need to plan the production of an item if you are not going to be able to make money with it.

In each project management process, there are nine separate and different processes that must be coordinated for it to be a success. Each one of these processes must be documented for each process so there is a paper trail for not only the project team to follow, but so there is a record of what was attempted.

To do the documentation of the project management process, the use of project management templates are most often used. This not only speeds up this documentation process of the process, but also helps to bring consistency to the paper trail. There will also be similarities from past project that can be used in your present project so the entire process does not have to be constructed from scratch.

Not every part of the project management process will be used by each member of your project team, but all nine processes need to be written because someone will need them during the course of the project. This documentation of the process is now a requirement in the industry set forth by the standards that are used globally.

By using a project management process for your next business venture, you will be able to meet the requirement set by these standards. This will allow your deliverable to be acceptable in more markets than ever before.

 

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