Downright Project Management Project Management

The management of an engineering project is too important to be left to chance. Having a management plan will provide the ability and control to shape the project as desired, and also will justify a project manager's existence.

To develop a management plan that works for a particular project, careful thought should be given to determine what's consistent with the manager’s mission and philosophy. Then, with that in mind:

• Consciously choose or design a management model that will comfortably fit the project and will accomplish your final goals.
• Define the relationships among administrative staff, engineering staff and the technical crew to conform to the needs of effectively operating the project management structure you've chosen.
• Develop, with appropriate input from those affected, a comprehensive set of policies and procedures to cover the five essential management areas: people; money; supplies and equipment; activities; and relations within as well as the outside world.
• Design a regular system and schedule for evaluating and adjusting the management plan, so that it will continue to function successfully with continuous improvement based on dynamic feedback.

The author will make an effort to illustrate how to utilize the associative and cognitive knowledge acquisitions in the curving of the project management plan, with examples of his almost three decade of engineering practice. When you have a management plan that seems right for your specific project, you've completed a necessary step on the road to effective action. In a project the destination is important and also fixed, while the path is not fixed, although every step of the journey is of cardinal importance.