Define

Project
A project is an activity to meet the creation of a unique product or service and thus activities
that are undertaken to accomplish routine activities cannot be considered projects

Simply put, a project is a series of tasks that need to be completed in order to reach a specific
outcome. A project can also be defined as a set of inputs and outputs required to achieve a
particular goal.

Project HRM
Project Human Resource Management includes the processes required to make the most
effective use of the people involved with the project. It includes all the project stakeholders—
sponsors, customers, individual contributors etc

Project Scheduling
Scheduling is the listing of activities, deliverables, and milestones within a project. A
schedule also usually includes the planned start and finish date, duration, and resources
assigned to each activity.

Project scheduling is a mechanism to communicate what tasks need to get done and which
organizational resources will be allocated to complete those tasks in what timeframe.

A project schedule is a document collecting all the work needed to deliver the project on
time.

Project management
is the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team
to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time.

Project management is about knowing exactly what your goals are, how you’re going to
achieve them, what resources you’ll need, and how long it will take you to reach that
specific goal

Reasons/Importance of Project management

1 Defines a plan and organises chaos – projects are naturally chaotic. The primary business
function of project management is organizing and planning projects to tame this chaos. A
clear path mapped out from start to finish ensures the outcome meets the goals of your
project.

2. Establishes a schedule and plan – Without a schedule, a project has a higher probability
of delays and cost overruns. A sound schedule is key to a successful project.

3. Enforces and encourages teamwork – A project brings people together to share ideas and
provide inspiration. Collaboration is the cornerstone to effective project planning and mgt

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4. Maximises resources – Resources, whether financial or human, are expensive. By
enforcing project management disciplines such as project tracking and risk management, all
resources are used efficiently and economically.

5. Manages Integration – Projects don’t happen in a vacuum. They need to be integrated

with business processes, systems and organizations.
You can’t build a sales system that doesn’t integrate with your sales process and sales
organization. It wouldn’t add much value. Integration is often key to project value.
Project management identifies and manages integration.

6. Controls cost – some projects can cost a significant amount of money so on budget
performance is essential. Using project management strategies greatly reduces the risk of
budget overruns.

7. Manages change – projects always happen in an environment in which nothing is constant

except change. Managing change is a complex and daunting task. It is not optional. Project
management manages change.

8. Managing quality – Quality is the value of what you produce. Project management
identifies, manages and controls quality. This results in a high quality product or service and
a happy client.

9. Retain and use knowledge – projects generate knowledge or at least they should.
Knowledge represents a significant asset for most businesses. Left unmanaged knowledge
tends to quickly fade. Project management ensures that knowledge is captured and managed.

10. Learning from failure – projects do fail. When they do, it is important to learn from the
process. Project management ensures that lessons are learned from project success and
failure.

Identify 4 features of Projects

1. A single definable purpose, end-item or result. This is usually specified in terms of

cost, schedule and performance requirements.
2. Every project is unique. It requires the doing of something different, something that was
not done previously. Even in what are often called “routine” projects such as home
construction, the variables such as terrain, access, zoning laws, labour market, public
services and local utilities make each project different. A project is a one-time, once-off
activity, never to be repeated exactly the same way again.
3. Projects are temporary activities. A project is an ad hoc organization of staff, material,
equipment and facilities that is put together to accomplish a goal. This goal is within a
specific time-frame. Once the goal is achieved, the organization created for it is
disbanded or sometimes it is reconstituted to begin work on a new goal (project).

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4. Projects cut across organizational lines. Projects always cut across the regular
organizational lines and structures within a firm. They do this because the project needs
to draw from the skills and the talents of multiple professions and departments within the
firm and sometimes even from other organizations. The complexity of advanced
technology often leads to additional project difficulties, as they create task
interdependencies that may introduce new and unique problems.
5. Projects involve unfamiliarity. Because a project differs from what was previously
done, it also involves unfamiliarity. And oft time a project also encompasses new
technology and, for the organization/firm undertaking the project, these bring into play
significant elements of uncertainty and risk.
6. The organization usually has something at stake when undertaking a project. The
unique project “activity” may call for special scrutiny or effort because failure would
jeopardize the organization/firm or its goals.
7. A project is the process of working to achieve a goal. During the process, projects pass
through several distinct phases, which form and are called the project life cycle. The
tasks, people, organizations, and other resources will change as the project moves from
one phase to the next. The organizational structure and the resource expenditures build
with each succeeding phase; peak; and then decline as the project nears completion.
8. Risk and uncertainty:
Every project has risk and uncertainty associated with it. The degree of risk and
uncertainty will depend on how a project has passed through its various life-cycle phases.
An ill-defined project will have extremely high degree of risk and uncertainly Risk and
uncertainty are not part and parcel of only R and h projects—there simply cannot be a
project without any risk and uncertainty.
9 Team-work:
A project calls for team-work. The team again is constituted of members belonging to
different disciplines, organisations and even countries.
10 Objectives:
A project has a fixed set of objectives. Once the objectives have been achieved, the project
ceases to exist.
11 Life Span:
A project cannot continue endlessly. It has to come to an end. What represents the end would
normally be spell out in the set of objectives.

key roles and responsibilities of Project Manager

1. Activity and resource planning
Planning is instrumental for meeting project deadlines, and many projects fail due to poor
planning. First and foremost, good project managers define the project’s scope and determine
available resources. Good project managers know how to realistically set time estimates and
evaluate the team or teams’ capabilities.
They then create a clear and concise plan to both execute the project and monitor its progress.
Projects are naturally unpredictable, so good project managers know how to make
adjustments along the way as needed before the project reaches its final stages.

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2. Organizing and motivating a project team
Good project managers don’t get their teams bogged down with elaborate spreadsheets, long
checklists, and whiteboards. Instead, they put their teams front and center. They develop
clear, straightforward plans that stimulate their teams to reach their full potential. They cut
down on bureaucracy and steer their teams down a clear path to the final goal.

3. Controlling time management

Clients usually judge a project’s success or failure on whether it has been delivered on time.
Therefore, meeting deadlines is non-negotiable. Good project managers know how to set
realistic deadlines, and how to communicate them consistently to their teams.
They know how to effectively do the following:
 Define activity
 Sequence activity
 Estimate the duration of activity
 Develop a schedule
 Maintain a schedule

4. Cost estimating and developing the budget

Good project managers know how to keep a project within its set budget. Even if a project
meets a client’s expectations and is delivered on time, it will still be a failure if it goes wildly
over-budget. Good project managers frequently review the budget and plan ahead to avoid
massive budget overruns.

5. Ensuring customer satisfaction

In the end, a project is only a success if the customer is happy. One of the key responsibilities
of every project manager is to minimize uncertainty, avoid any unwanted surprises and
involve their clients in the project as much as is reasonably possible. Good project managers
know how to maintain effective communication and keep the company’s clients up-to-date.

6. Analysing and managing project risk

The bigger the project is, the more likely there are to be hurdles and pitfalls that weren’t part
of the initial plan. Hiccups are inevitable, but good project managers know how meticulously
and almost intuitively, identify and evaluate potential risks before the project begins. They
know how to then avoid risks or at least minimize their impact.

7. Monitoring progress
During the initial stages, project managers and their teams have a clear vision and high hopes
of producing the desired result. However, the path to the finish line is never without some
bumps along the way. When things don’t go according to a plan, a project manager needs to
monitor and analyze both expenditures and team performance and to always efficiently take
corrective measures.

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8. Managing reports and necessary documentation
Finally, experienced project managers know how essential final reports and proper
documentation are. Good project managers can present comprehensive reports documenting
that all project requirements were fulfilled, as well as the projects’ history, including what
was done, who was involved, and what could be done better in the future.

9 Team Leadership-The project manager has to take the lead right from the word go. He/she
must coordinate with different people to ensure that the project goes on in a smooth manner.
He/she needs to keep a regular check on the project developments. Managers ensure that the
project team members are meeting the deadlines and following the guidelines. He/she
regularly conducts meetings and makes that the team members do the follow-up actions.

10 Communicating with stakeholders

The project manager also has to interact with various people. It includes the project sponsors,
clients, external vendors and other important stakeholders. A lot of decisions are made during
the course of the project. And, all this requires the project member to communicate with the
key people higher up in the chain of command.

11 Project evaluation
The project manager conducts a project evaluation review to assess how well the project was
managed

Factors a project manager should consider when conducting a project feasibility study
Project manager, the sponsor and the stakeholders when examining whether or not to proceed
with a project. Some of those key factors are:

The Feasibility Study – Key Factors

Business Alignment
Whenever envisioning something new, a primary question to ponder is: does this project (and
its ensuing deliverable) correspond with the broader mission statement of the company? It’s
an important question to ponder since attempting something ‘new’ or ‘radical’ can sometimes
lead to great success or dismal failure. What is imperative is that when assessing the viability
of a project, it is important to ensure that it aligns well with the business initiatives. If, for
example, your company is moving to a very focussed .cloud route, projects that fall into that
scope should be given precedence. Conversely, if your company is strictly software focussed
but the project calls for hardware design and implementation, than that needs to be
scrutinized. Whatever the scenario, it is important to ensure that the project is in the best
interests of the company moving forward and that it’s implementation has some tangible
benefits down the road.

Technology and System Assessment

Once initially scoped and brainstormed, it is important for the project manager to determine
the technology viability of the proposed project and its deliverables. In many cases, the

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individuals brainstorming a new idea or concept may not have the requisite technical know-
how to be able to gauge whether the resultant solution is possible, given the technology of the
time or the capabilities of the company. So when scrutinizing the proposed project, the team
and stakeholders need to ensure they have several more senior technical consultants provide
input. There may be situations where the project can proceed but requires a partnership with
an external vendor. Additionally, certain contractors with specific skills may be needed and
their inherent cost needs to be considered. In any sense, having a firm grasp on what can be
done is important and this needs to be well-known up front. Otherwise, the project could end
up dying half way through its implementation because a key technology constraint was not
considered.

Economic Viability
When looking at how to proceed with a project, it’s necessary to look at the full impact of the
project from an economic standpoint. That entails determining the estimated costs of
implementation, the projected return on investment and the market niche being targeted and
saturated it is. If the project is looking to produce a deliverable that has some intrinsic
function that the company wants to be part of its broader portfolio, that is something that
needs to be considered. Cost/benefit analysis as well as SWOT and market analysis
performed by Product Managers can provide a good assessment of the economic viability of a
project and should be part of the overall feasibility study.

Operational Considerations
When looking at the project, what has been scoped and the inherent requirements listed, it is
important to ask: does the proposed solution adequately solve the problem or fill the niche in
the manner expected? In certain cases, a proposed project under consideration sometimes
provides a solution that is tangential to the expectations of the end market and as such, is not
fully viable in its current form. By reviewing the operational considerations thoroughly, one
can make a more informed decision as to whether the existing deliverable is the end result
every wants or does it need to be redesigned or re-scoped.

Legal Ramifications
Whenever a project is under consideration and has certain features scoped, it is important to
determine if there are any legal issues with the current implementation. Some of those areas
of concern might be government regulations (foreign and domestic), patent infringement
issues, company compliance measures, and so forth. Understanding what (if any) legal
considerations need to be addressed is important to ensure that the project does not run into
unexpected roadblocks in its implementation.

Schedule and Resource Concerns

Arguably one of the most important considerations for the feasibility study, how the project
affects the timeline of other release trains and how adequately it can be staffed is of vital
importance. Whenever scoping a project, the number of resources and initial schedule
estimates should be referenced against existing projects. What impact, if any, will
implementing the current project have on other projects? Will schedules slip or have to be

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pushed out if it is enacted? And will the necessary resources be available for full
implementation of the project? All are important considerations to ponder whenever
performing this portion of the feasibility assessment.

Market Dynamics
Whenever looking to implement a new project that involves some type of to-market
deliverable, it is important to look at market trends to gauge how viable the product will be.
Are there other solutions out there that already have a head start? Does the current solution
provide something ‘new’ or ‘unique’ in relation to its competitors? Is the current
implementation up to modern standards or is it based on technology or concepts that have
become stale? All of these need to be considered in the feasibility study.

Company Cultural & Political Concerns

Finally, when looking at the project, a consideration is to also look at the company and its
overall culture and functional directive. If the project is a process methodology change or
some fundamental shift in the internal way things are performed internally, that has to be
approached cautiously. Whether it be adopting an Agile process, implementing a new Change
Management System, or performing a portfolio shift, the sentiment of the company and its
current culture need to be taken into account.

Explain the following factors as applied in HRM

Organizational Planning—identifying, documenting, and assigning project roles,
responsibilities, and reporting relationships.
Organizational planning involves identifying, documenting, and assigning project roles,
responsibilities, and reporting relationships. Roles, responsibilities, and reporting
relationships may be assigned to individuals or to groups. The individuals and groups may be
part of the organization performing the project or they may be external to it. Internal groups
are often associated with a specific functional department such as engineering, marketing, or
accounting.

Staff Acquisition—getting the human resources needed assigned to and working on the
project.
Staff acquisition involves getting the human resources needed (individuals or groups)
assigned to and working on the project. In most environments, the “best” resources may not
be available, and the project management team must take care to ensure that the resources
which are available will meet project requirements.

Team Development—developing individual and group skills to enhance project

performance.
Team development includes both enhancing the ability of stakeholders to contribute as
individuals as well as enhancing the ability of the team to function as a team. Individual
development (managerial and technical) is the foundation necessary to develop the team.
Development as a team is critical to the project’s ability to meet its objectives

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Attributes/Characteristics of successful project management
Clearly defined roles
If the team’s roles are clearly defined, all team members know what their jobs are, but
defining roles goes beyond that.
Clearly defined roles help team members understand why they are on a team. When the
members experience conflict, it may be related to their roles. Team members often can
manage this conflict by identifying, clarifying, and agreeing on their individual
responsibilities so that they all gain a clear understanding of how they will accomplish the
team’s goals.

Open and clear communication

Excellent communication is the key to keeping a team informed, focused, and moving
forward. Team members must feel free to express their thoughts and opinions at any time.
Open communication encourages team members to express their points of view and to offer
all the information they can to make the team more effective;
Clear communication ensures that team messages are understood by speakers and listeners;

Effective decision making

Decision making is effective when the team is aware of and uses many methods to arrive at
decisions. A consensus is often touted as the best way to make decisions—and it is an
excellent method and probably not used often enough. But the team should also use majority
rule, expert decision, authority rule with discussion, and other methods. The team members
should discuss the method they want to use and should use tools to assist them, such as force-
field analysis, pair-wise ranking matrices, or some of the multi-voting techniques.

Effective decision making is essential to a team’s progress; ideally, teams that are asked to
solve problems should also have the power and authority to implement solutions. They must
have a grasp of various decision-making methods, their advantages and disadvantages, and
when and how to use each. Teams that choose the right decision-making methods at the right
time will not only save time, but they will also most often make the best decisions. This
completes the four basic foundation characteristics: clear goals, defined roles, open and clear
communication, and effective decision making.

Balanced participation
Balanced participation ensures that everyone on the team is fully involved, it also means that
each team member joins the discussion when his or her contribution is pertinent to the team
assignment. It also means that everyone’s opinions are sought and valued by others on the
team. Participation is everyone’s responsibility. As a team moves from a forming stage to
more mature stages of group development, team members must make certain that everyone is
an active participant. If you have team members who did not participate early in the
formation of the team, they will withdraw even more as the going becomes more difficult. To

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Managed conflict
Managed conflict ensures that problems are not swept under the rug. It means that the team
has discussed members’ points of view about an issue and has come to see well-managed
conflict as a healthy way to bring out new ideas and to solve whatever seems to be
unsolvable.
Managed conflict encourages participation. When team members feel they can openly and
constructively disagree, they are more likely to participate in the discussion. On the other
hand, if a conflict is discouraged, they withdraw. Teams can benefit tremendously from the
conflict they experience. Make it a point to maintain an environment in which conflict is not
only managed, but encouraged.

Positive team atmosphere

To be truly successful, a team must have a climate of trust and openness, that is, a positive
atmosphere. A positive atmosphere indicates that members of the team are committed and
involved. It means that people are comfortable enough with one another to be creative, take
risks, and make mistakes. It also means that you may hear plenty of laughter, and research
shows that people who are enjoying themselves are more productive than those who dislike
what they are doing.

A Clear Vision
With so many distractions along the way it is easy to lose track of what you are trying to do
in the first place. This is why it is important that you keep a clear vision in your hard about
what you want to achieve. The best way to make sure that you do this is to be clear in your
initial project documentation about the goals.

Risk Control
There are many different types of risk which could affect your projects and you will want to
have an effective way of managing them. Again, you need to identify them at the start and
then get your stakeholders to sign off the document containing them. After this you have to
track them and add in any emerging ones or others which change status. Project risks have a
habit of getting out of hand if you let them, so it is an area you definitely need to keep a close
eye on all the time.

Well Planned
If you want to have a chance of making a success of the piece of work then you need to get
the basics right and in projects that means planning well. This might not be your favorite
aspect of the job but it is one which is essential.

Why stakeholders interest should be measured during project

implementation and control/why Stakeholders are Important to a Project
1 Providing Expertise
Stakeholders are a wealth of knowledge about current processes, historical information, and
industry insight. Many times these team members will have been at the company or on the

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project longer than the project manager or project team. It’s important to involve all key
stakeholders when gathering and documenting requirements to avoid missing major
deliverables of the project. Project managers, or others who are in charge of deliverables,
may not be experts on every project. Key stakeholders can provide requirements or
constraints based on information from their industry that will be important to have when
understanding project constraints and risks.

2. Reducing and Uncovering Risk

The more you engage and involve stakeholders, the more you will reduce and uncover risks
on your project. When discussing initial requirements, project needs, and constraints,
stakeholders may bring up issues or concerns about meeting those things. Uncovering risks
and then discussing a plan to mitigate them before issues arise will dramatically increase the
success of your project. Involving knowledgeable stakeholders during this process will help.

3. Increasing Project Success

By gathering and reviewing project requirements with stakeholders, you will get their “buy-
in,” which will in turn help increase project success. If you can’t meet stakeholders’ needs,
due to conflicting needs or priorities, set expectations early in the project life cycle. This will
help you manage the relationship throughout the project instead of there being surprises at the
end. Stakeholders should always be aware of the project scope, key milestones, and when
they will be expected to review any deliverables prior to final acceptance.
Increased perception of success
Good management of stakeholders throughout a project should ensure they view it in a
positive light, regardless of the outcome. Newton explains if you effectively manage
stakeholder expectations over the duration, they’re “far likelier to perceive a project as a
success than those who have been ignored.”
Including them in the process increases transparency and makes them feel included
throughout the different project stages. The reason the perception of success is greater
when stakeholder management is done effectively, is due to the fact that the stakeholders can
see for themselves, the cause and effect relationship between the decisions made throughout
the process, and the end result.

4. Granting Project Acceptance

The more regularly you engage and involve stakeholders from the start, the more likely you
will have a positive project conclusion. By the end of the project, the team members should
have already been aware of delivery expectations, risks, and how to mitigate the risks. They
also should have reviewed draft deliverables along the way. This process should help avoid
any surprises at the end of your project. The final acceptance is just their final stamp of
approval during the project closure phase.

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5 Smoother handover process
It’s much easier to hand over the deliverables to someone who has been fully aware of the
project’s development. Stakeholders who have been managed effectively will be more
prepared to take the reins when your project reaches its conclusion.
If they have seen the project from start to end, and been made aware of the occurring updates,
they will have a better understanding of the most effective way to take over the deliverables
upon completion. It’s clear that stakeholder management supports successful project delivery
in many ways.

Factors to consider when selecting/Choosing members of a Project Team

1 Excellent/Good Communicator
Project team members work with individuals in all levels of the organization, coming from a
variety of different backgrounds. As a result, these project management professionals must
have the ability to effectively communicate with a number of different audiences. Poor
communication can make or break the success of a project, so this is essential.

2. Knowledge of Project Management Principles

While team members don’t have to be experts on every tactic, tool, and term, having a basic
knowledge of project management fundamentals provides them with a solid foundation to
work with.

3. Highly Organized
Mass chaos and project success don’t mix. A project team member must be extremely
organized, so they know exactly what is going on with each step of the project at all times.
These professionals must know how to leverage available tools and techniques to stay
organized, even when under significant stress.

4. Strong Ability to Read People

The best project team members are also solid leaders who know how to motivate people.
They’re able to create a vision for both stakeholders and their teams to look to for inspiration.
When crunch time begins they know exactly what it takes to motivate people to get the job
done.

5. Accurate Estimating Skills

The project manager relies on team members to provide estimates for their individual tasks.
It’s important for estimates to be accurate because they have the potential to throw the entire
project timeline off. One delayed task can result in a domino effect, ultimately causing
everyone to miss key deadlines.

6. Self-Assured
It’s important for a project team member to be able to politely-but-firmly stand their ground
when faced with opposition from others in the organization. These professionals need to
clearly convey their needs and stand up for the best interests of the project when faced with
roadblocks.
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7 Organized and knowledgeable
You don’t necessarily need experts, but your team must have the basic knowledge of project
management principles. This includes leveraging basic tactics and tools. Also, consider
choosing highly-organized members. Organized people have the ability to work efficiently,
even under stress.

8 Cooperative & engaged

Great employees assist and help their fellow members. They are cooperative, and they figure
out ways to solve problems together.

Also, it’s best to have people who share their knowledge and experiences. Selfless members
can help your other employees improve their skills and abilities. Engaged members are
excellent team players. They participate in team meetings and share their ideas in discussions.
They are not afraid to volunteer for assignments and they are willing to step up when
necessary.

9. Flexible
Sometimes, the team needs to try new ideas, tools, or take new directions in order to thrive.
Because of this, it’s beneficial to have team members who adapt to ever-changing conditions.
People who complain or resist to change can cripple the team and prevent it from moving
forward.

10 Reliable and committed

To meet your organization’s commitments, your members should be always reliable. This is
where commitment comes in. When they are committed to the team, they will always show
up, accomplish their tasks, and motivate the other members to do the same.

How to motivate project team members

 Provide rewards for work well done:
 Set clear and Realistic Goals
 Provide the right tools and training
 Assign challenging work
 Increase Their Commitment by explaining project benefits
 Measure Performance
 Establish an environment of openness
 Provide opportunities for self-development

What relevance does Maslows approach have for the management of projects within an
organization
The 5 basic needs here are

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1. Physiological needs — Physiological needs are considered the main physical
requirements for human survival
2. Safety — The needs to feel safe & comfortable in the environment we’re in
3. Belongingness — The need to feel like we have a human connection
4. Esteem — The need to feel recognised by our peers
5. Self-actualisation — The need to accomplish everything we desire

Physiological Needs in Project Management

This is quite simple, there are three basic needs for anyone who is part of a project
1. Let the team know their salaries
2. The purpose of the project as a whole
3. Desired outcomes of the project
Once these have been communicated, the person who is part of the team feels like their basic
needs have been met, they have money, they have purpose, and know an endpoint (outcome)

Safety Needs in Project Management

We’ve now covered basic needs, in order to create safety needs, people need to feel safe in
their ability to complete the project. I can think of three main needs from this perspective
1. Making sure everyone has the correct tools & capabilities to complete the project
2. Creating an environment where people feel confident in challenging yourself & others
3. Setting realistic expectations from the start — don’t give mindset that things won’t be
done on-time

Once these are done, people know they have the resources & an environment whereby they
feel safe in completing the project

Social Needs in Project Management

These are honestly simple to achieve. Humans are naturally social creatures, and one would
expect working in a project you would be collaborating with others. From my eyes, there are
three main things that need to be considered
1. Schedule regular check-ins, whether it a daily, weekly etc scrum meeting to start a day, or
a team meeting once a week and discuss project work
2. Schedule meetings to celebrate project milestones
3. In-person meetings > Online as much as possible. It’s important to get physical
interaction as compared to remote

Pretty easy right? These ones are fairly standard & should already been part of any good
project management experience. Well done, you’ve now created an environment where people
know why they’re there, they feel confident in completing their work, and they’re part of a
team! You’re doing amazing sweetie (Thank you Kris Jenner)

Esteem Needs in Project Management

Esteem needs are what make an OK leader to a good leader. Make your team feel important.
There are two main ways of doing this

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1. Recognise contributions to the project — Give them a shoutout on Slack, go up to them
and say well done.
2. Give people a purpose. Let them know how their individual contributions impact on the
entire project. It’s easy to forget how your personal work impacts the bigger picture at
times

Easy right? You’ve now created a space where people feel empowered! They understand their
work & know you appreciate what their doing. You’ve created a high-performing team.
You’re doing great!

Self-Actualisation Needs in Project Management

This is the hard part. This is where a good leader becomes a great leader. Humans have a
natural tendency to want to learn & grow, and this is where you give them the freedom to do
so. There are two main things to consider here
1. Take into account each team members professional goals when assigning responsibilities
2. Empower team members so that they can develop and grow

You’ve done it! You have now created a space where people have met all of their needs to
learn and grow. You’ve created a space of safety, confidence, and ability for people to achieve
what they want from a professional perspective.

Reasons why projects fail

 Poorly defined project scope
 Inadequate risk management
 Project managers who lack experience and training
 Lack of effective communication at all levels
 Key staff leaving the project and/or company
 Poor management of expectations
 Ineffective leadership
 Lack of detailed documentation
 Failure to track progress
 Lack of detail in the project plans
 Inaccurate time and effort estimates
 Setting Unrealistic Deadlines
 Lack of Interest from Stakeholders
 Not Paying Attention to Warning Signs

Importance of Gantt charts in project management/why they are used for scheduling
 According to Wikipedia, “A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project
schedule and shows the dependency relationships between activities and current
schedule status.”

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  In simpler words, Gantt charts are a visual view of tasks displayed against time. They
represent critical information such as who is assigned to what, duration of tasks, and
overlapping activities in a project. All in all, Gantt charts are the perfect allies for
planning, scheduling, and managing a project.

1. Know what’s going on in your projects

The biggest advantage of using free online Gantt charts in project management is that you get
to see everything related to project at a single place. It acts as a great visualization and
prioritization tool as it provides the total overview of the project and tells you about the
critical information such as members involved in each step, the order of tasks, duration, start-
to-end dates, task dependencies and progress made in them. Hence, online Gantt charts
software are helpful in equipping project managers with the information they need to oversee
while managing projects.

2. Improved communication and team cohesion

Communication is an integral part of a project that can make or break it. In fact, 86% of
employees feel lack of communication as the biggest reason for workplace failures. On the
other hand, Gantt charts are known to provide crystal clear communication. Project managers
can use these charts to know who is working on what and give inputs on certain tasks and
pass relevant information to them. This helps him to communicate better with team members
and also improves their relationship as a team. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for
having a separate tool for tracking and communication purposes.

3. Avoid resource overload

Too many problems arise when resources are stretched over too many tasks and processes.
Gantt charts allow you to use your resources effectively as you get to see a project’s timeline
where you can easily see how and where resources are being utilized. Within Gantt charts,
you can also delegate tasks and align resources without burdening them with too much work.
This way you can effectively manage resources and when resources are properly managed,
projects are more likely to be completed within budget and deadlines.

4. Measure the progress of projects

Once you schedule your project in a Gantt chart software you can check the progress of the
projects in it. The feature to measure a project’s progress enables you to make changes in
your strategy if it is lagging behind its schedule. As project members can update the
completed percent of each task, everyone stays on the same page. This information is quite
useful to determine if the project is headed in the right direction or not.

5. See overlapping activities and task dependencies

At times, you cannot start a certain task unless another task which is dependent on the former
is completed. Such task dependencies can make things difficult to be managed especially in
case of complex projects that have too many tasks. As you get to see an overview of projects
in a Gantt chart software, you can easily see which tasks are dependent on each other and

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schedule them in a way that they don’t impact the overall progress in any way and team
members share equal responsibility.

6. Experience more clarity

It’s not a good feeling when you get stuck in a project and you don’t know where things are
going. Although it’s quite common to get stuck while working on a project, however, Gantt
charts let you see things with a lot more clarity with just a click. As you can instantly see the
progress of tasks, it helps you and others working on a project to develop a better
understanding of how things are unfolding. More clarity means better understanding which
further leads to successful completion of a project.

7. Practice better time management

Many project managers pitch scheduling as one of the biggest benefits of Gantt charts in
project management. As time plays an important role in the life of a project, therefore a Gantt
chart software helps project members to understand the severity of time delays while
managing projects. It’s easy to get carried away and work mindlessly on tasks but when you
have a unified view of the overall progress, you can easily allocate time to each and every
task and do what really needs to be done.

8. Work with remote team members and motivate them

According to a recent study, almost 75% of American employees would prefer to quit their
jobs and change it for a remote position. Remote work is quite popular these days. It’s one of
the trends that are expected to dominate the world of project management in the coming
years. However, working with a remote team has its own challenges. When you manage a
project with a remote team, you have way more difficulties coordinating and keeping
everyone in the loop. A Gantt chart, being an effective solution for modern teams, makes it
easier for everyone to stay on the same page while working together. Gantt chart is certainly
one of the best ways to work with remote teams and keep them motivated. It allows you to
visualize what’s already done, what’s in progress, and what lies ahead, keeping everyone
shoulder to shoulder during the project development regardless of the country or time zone
they’re in

9. Create a sense of accountability

Using Gantt charts during project management allows both project managers and teams to
track team progress, highlighting big wins (like a task completed on time and a milestone
achieved ahead of the schedule), as well as major failures. This functionality of the Gantt
chart helps to create a sense of accountability in the workplace. It gives both managers and
team members a fair opportunity to leverage this solution to highlight how frequently they
exceed expectations and get recognition in the workplace.
10. Boost flexibility
Change is a crucial part of the project management process. Even if your project plan appears
to be foolproof, you and your team need to be prepared for the possibility that you might have
to adjust your expectations as per the changing situations. Having a user-friendly Gantt chart
tool can help you relieve yourself from potential headaches in such conditions. You can use a

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Gantt chart to help your team keep moving towards reaching the desired goal and milestones,
while still being flexible in how to get there.

11. Promotes transparency

Transparency in the workplace promotes trust and teamwork amongst your team. Being
aware of each other’s responsibilities in a project is an important part of that process. A Gantt
chart certainly helpful in this case. It shows the details of each team member’s tasks and
milestones in one place so that everyone is aware of each other’s workload and help those
who may be struggling to fulfill their own work. This kind of transparency in the work
process further boosts teamwork, honesty, and humility within the team.

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