Nature and Scope of PM:

Project Management encompasses a set of core activities that help to achieve project goals and
objectives. It includes planning, organizing, and managing different project arenas through which
necessary results can be achieved. It looks into aspects such as scope, time and budget which
restrict activities or which set the limits within which project management must be handled. The
aim of project management is to achieve all engineering project goals and objectives, while
keeping in mind the limits within which these must be achieved. The limitations that must be
considered include scope, time and budget.
It covers the following arenas as part of its scope. They are initialization, planning and
development, project execution, project monitoring and finally project closing. There are many
different approaches and these include traditional approach, critical chain, extreme, and event
chain methodology. The project manager must be able to effectively communicate requirements,
handle the decision-making process with respect to project scope and goals, manage employee
activities, negotiate with other members of the team, build a good team and allocate resources
according to requirements.
As part of the management process, it should make use of tools that help them to organize tasks,
track hours, create a centralized location from where everything can be taken and collaborate
with partners. In order to keep the project on the right track it is essential to have project control
mechanisms in place. The appropriate level of control must be implemented because too much of
control can be really time consuming, while toll less of control can make the project go out of
hand. A project's success is determined if or not the project was completed within the stipulated
time period and within the set budget and if it has met customer requirements.

Importance of PM:
Today's corporate organisations have developed a completely new way of doing business that has
overturned the rigid, hierarchical and divided system of labour in years past. This new model
hinges on projects: distinct activities grouped together with the aim of attaining a specified goal
whether it's a new software package, a marketing strategy or a new brand of toothpaste.
Modern organisations are characterised as dispersed, technology driven, human focused and skill
based. Rather than relying on pigeonholed workers to conduct single routine tasks, they rely on
teams of connected experts to work together on holistic projects, focusing their energy on one
goal at a time.
Projects are completed by teams of people who are specially chosen for their skills, knowledge
and potential to contribute to the final result. The team is led by a project manager. He or she is
responsible for keeping the project tasks on schedule, communicating with all stakeholders and
managing resources the people, money, tools and time needed to achieve the goal. The project
manager is the centre of the project and the driving force behind the team.

The discipline of project management is extremely versatile and can be adapted to any business
or industry. Its strength is focused teams of experts who can quickly adapt, organise and
troubleshoot, meaning that most problems can be resolved efficiently.
Here are three reasons why project management is important to modern businesses.

Human focused
Today's employees are no longer satisfied with comfortable, rote work for which they need not
take any responsibility. In fact, many people are looking for more creative, empowered and
hands-on positions where they can make a real impact. Project-based organisations provide this
since they focus on goals and outcomes rather than working according to the clock. This makes it
a more logical and stimulating structure for skilled people.
In addition, since project management relies so much on good communication, the discipline
emphasises the need to focus on the realities of working with people mistakes and successes,
good and bad days, conflicts and so on. Research has proven that the more understanding and
flexible an employer is, the more devoted, productive and happy the staff are.

Flexible but structured

Project management perfectly combines the two needs of organisations first, to be adaptable to
changing circumstances, and second, to be structured, predictable and organised. Good project
managers spend a lot of time ensuring that everybody knows what their responsibilities are and
when requirements are due. They are also masters at adapting these schedules if something goes
wrong, or things proceed better than expected.
Project-based organisations can be adapted much more easily than other business structures since
whole teams can shift together to accommodate changes.

Efficient
A core project team with an excellent manager can be much more efficient than a whole stable of
workers because, as a cohesive and dedicated unit, they can focus all of their energy on the task
at hand. Fewer people can accomplish a single project, meaning that human resources are freed
up for other work.
One of the essential concepts of project management is balancing the three requirements of cost,
time and quality a project needs to be under budget, delivered by the deadline, and of
sufficiently high quality. Often, however, these three factors are in conflict and not all of them
can be achieved at once; a project may be running late due to some unavoidable delays, or the
quality desired may require more money than was initially budgeted for. A good project manager
balances these three factors and produces the most efficient result possible.

On top of that, good planning and organisation can save a lot of mistakes, confusion,
backtracking and delays all of which decrease the efficiency of an organisation. Planning for
risks is inextricably linked to project management; the sooner these can be avoided, mitigated or
prepared for, the better for the team, project and organisation as a whole.

Project Challenges:

The recent spotlight on the Infrastructure Development Bill highlights the problems our country
faces with getting projects completed within budget and on time. This is however not an issue
exclusive to either the public sector or South Africa.
Projects are not only an integral part of infrastructure development, but also a key element in
service delivery improvement, technological advancements and environmental sustainability
imperatives. Problems with project completion reduce resources available for developments and
improvements in other areas.
A staggering 42% of respondents to a recent survey said they did not know how often projects
are completed on time, on budget and within scope.

Project completion challenges

Well-known challenges related to project management experienced by even seasoned project
managers include lack of support resources and the variety of complex project management tasks
that need to be performed.
Lesser-known, and less technical, inhibitors to successful project completion include the lack of
knowledge about project completion, as well as a lack of opportunities for the formal recognition
of successfully completed projects.

Impact of soft skills on successful projects

When project participants across the supply chain are not aware of the project outcome,
motivation for future projects is reduced, posing a significant risk for project funders. The lack of
feedback may also result in the continuation of project-related practices that are no longer
needed, leading to wasted resources.
Survey data verifies that soft skills are necessary to manage stress created by supply chain
projects strikes at a personal level among project team members.

The communication of project outcomes does not receive nearly enough focus. It is in the best
interest of an organisation funding a project organisation to promote the use of a supply chain
management mindset that spans the dynamic relationships of project participants located inside
and outside organisations.

The silver bullet: supply chain project management

According to APICS, the US-based professional association for supply chain and operations
management, supply chain project management "enhances the best of a supply chain
professionals skill, including forecasting, soft skills, planning, and risk management. This
combination builds strategic and advanced management experience and positions the
professional for a higher management position and successful career path.
Further benefits of a supply chain project management mindset include:

holding accountable those who must deliver;

helping prevent silos from forming, promoting cross-functional collaboration and

enhancing the capability of an organisation to succeed at complex projects;

turning ideas into practical endeavours that consider strategy in terms of organizational
culture and behaviour, priorities, risks, resources, and visibility.

Supply chain management in South Africa

Supply chain and project managers in SA must learn to become resilient. No project is ever as
simple as it seems on paper, and it is impossible to predict every risk and potential problem area.
Proactively building resilience into supply chains will make it a lot easier for projects to get back
on track when problems arise.

Project Simulation:
Project simulation is a process in which a proposed project or idea is run through a simulation to
get an idea of what might happen if it was put in action. Simulation plays an increasingly
common role in project planning, providing opportunities to experiment with variables which
would be difficult to manipulate in the real world. A number of software companies make project
simulation software for various industries which is designed to streamline the simulation process.
A big part of project planning involves anticipating potential problems with the project, and ways
in which these problems might be addressed. Whether a project involves the construction of a

new high rise building or the enactment of a new public health policy, project simulation can be
used to identify hiccups which may occur along the way. People can also use project simulation
to test out several approaches to the same problem to see how well these approaches might work
in the real world.
Some simulations are performed in the real world. Health care responders, for example, use
simulations to experiment with their abilities to respond to mass casualties, public health
emergencies, and other issues. In this type of project simulation, people may sit around a table
and work their way through a scenario, or they may actually simulate the events with the use of
actors and props, giving people an opportunity to work in a simulated high pressure environment
so that they can identify weak points in a response plan which will need to be addressed before a
real emergency happens.
Computer modeling can also be used for project simulation. Using a computer model, it is very
easy to manipulate variables which could influence the outcome of a project, such as delays, bad
weather, unexpected changes in parameters, and so forth. Simulating the outcome of projects has
become an expected part of project planning in many regions of the world, as teams developing
new projects show that they have thought carefully about every aspect of the project before
beginning.
When developing a project simulation, people may draw upon the experiences of people who
have been involved in similar projects. These experiences can be used to shape the direction of a
project, and to provide examples of potential issues which may arise. Even with careful
simulation, however, it is impossible to predict everything which can happen along the way, and
sometimes catastrophe strikes despite the most careful thought on the part of project planners.