The benefits of project management
The fundamental objective of project management is to ensure the success of projects. This includes leadership tasks, leadership organization, leadership techniques, and means to initiate, define, plan, control, and complete projects.
Project management has become an integral part of today’s business world for many reasons:
1. Efficiency and productivity
Whether on the construction site or in the office: Good project management offers a clear structure and organization for tasks and processes. This helps the implementation team work more efficiently and productively. At the same time, it offers a better overview of resources. It is easier to make improvements and better calculate resources in advance.
2. Quality control
Good project management documents, learns and improves. Sticking to proven methods and having an overview of facts and figures ensures quality.
3. Achievement of objectives and result orientation
Good project management helps to define and achieve clear objectives and goals. Working in an objective and results-oriented way means providing concrete results and achieving project objectives.
4. Risk management
If you do everything right, you have already taken into account the possible risks in your project management plan. Or at least have a plan B in place. Project management allows you to identify these risks early. This way you can act in time. Additionally, strategies and plans can be developed to minimize risks. This allows you to respond effectively to challenges.
5. Flexibility and adaptability
Modern project management approaches allow teams to quickly react to changes and adapt to new needs. By regularly reviewing and adapting project plans, teams react more flexibly to external influences.
Project management basics
To better understand project management in its components, we would like to introduce you to the project life cycle and various project management methods.
What is the life cycle of the project?
The project life cycle covers the “life” of a project, from start to finish. Classically it includes the four phases of initiation, planning, implementation and conclusion.
In the first step the initiation the project idea is developed and elaborated. We check whether the project can be realized. In landscaping construction, for example, this is the customer’s first visit. During this visit, the client’s ideas and wishes are discussed. The place is visited. Subsequently, the feasibility is verified and an initial cost estimate is made.
If you decide to implement the project you move on to the second phase planning. Here a project structure plan, a schedule with milestones and activities are created and resources are planned. Risks are also analyzed in order to develop prevention strategies. Furthermore, communication strategies are defined in this phase. This favors the exchange of information between the individual parties.
The third phase is about this Execution. The project team is formed and the plan is implemented. Coordination and management of the project team are important for project management. Furthermore, quality requirements must be guaranteed. Communication between teams and employees must also run smoothly.
In the final phase the project completed. There are three important steps to take at this stage. First the project must be approved. This means reviewing the finished project together with the client and making sure the result matches their expectations. Once this is done, a complete project file should be compiled. It would be ideal if creation began in the first phase. Now it just needs to be checked, minimally modified and integrated. Project documentation and archiving ensure that the data can always be accessed. This way you can learn from the data for future projects. Learning also means honestly evaluating the project. Draw useful conclusions for the future from successes and failures. The invoice is created last.
Project management methods
Waterfall: A traditional method of project management
The whole point of the waterfall method is that no phase begins until the previous one has been completed. The order of the phases does not change. It is called the waterfall method because the water falls without being able to change direction. At the same time, one phase flows “fluently” into the next.
Advantage:
- Clear structures
- easy management
- good for projects with stable requirements
Disadvantages
- little flexibility
- not suitable for every project
- difficult to make changes
- potentially long wait times for completion
- not agile
Scrum: an agile project management method
Scrum is an interactive and agile project management method that allows flexible and rapid adaptations to changes. Individual teams work in short sprints and deliver intermediate products at the end of each sprint.
Advantages:
- very flexible and adaptable
- Transparency through regular meetings
- promotes teamwork
- normal transparent intermediate products allow for early customer feedback
Disadvantages:
- requires strong adherence to the rules
- clear role distributions and hierarchies
- Very complex for large projects
- takes time
- The method requires a lot of management and usually needs to be coordinated by one person
Kanban: an agile project management method
Kanban is a method intended to facilitate the continuous flow of work. Tasks are displayed on a Kanban board and moved through the different stages of the workflow.
Advantages:
- easy to adapt to changes
- clear view of the workflow
- Constant progress and continuous flow
- Easy implementation of existing processes
Disadvantages:
- Difficulty respecting task limits
- strong prioritization of tasks
- requires high discipline
- complex for large teams
Hybrid approaches to project management methods
Hybrid approaches are the combination of traditional and agile methods to leverage the benefits of both approaches. A project clearly follows the specifications of the waterfall method in the planning phase. In the development phase we then move on to agile methods such as Scrum or Kanban.
Advantages:
- Flexibility and structure
- better adaptation to individual projects
Disadvantages:
- more complex distribution and management
- requires a high degree of adaptability
- both approaches must be understood
How can modern project management methods be implemented in craft enterprises?
These project management methods all sound good, but many of them originated in offices and classic desk jobs. So how can craft businesses benefit from project working methods? We give you a guide to optimize the management of your project:
1. Create a basic understanding
Not only you, but also your employees need to know a few things first. You can teach your team the principles of Scrum or Kanban using short workshops or seminars.
And make sure you start small! Gradually introduce agile project management methods so as not to overwhelm your team.
2. Adapt Agile principles
The various project management methods are not rigid concepts. They can be individually adapted to your company. For example, you can very well focus on the customer: Customer requests are put in the center with the help of regular customer visits. They are used to obtain feedback and ensure that designs meet customer requirements.
3. The mix in craftsmanship
For example, you can implement the Scrum method in your craft business like this: You call very short meetings every day. These could also happen digitally. You will receive a short report from the team leaders on what they are currently working on and if there are any obstacles. This meeting is actually just a very short update. This will give you an overview of where you are in the project plan and where there may still be construction.
You could use Scrum sprints, where work is broken down into short, defined periods. At the end of the sprint the interim result is presented and feedback is obtained. This way, you can set more temporary goals for your employees and ensure that the schedule is adhered to.
4. Kanban in craftsmanship
The Kanban method has the great advantage of clearly visualizing the division of tasks. You can view the various activities digitally or analogically, i.e. using a digital tool or a whiteboard. You can introduce columns like “to do”, “in progress” and “done” to assign the corresponding tasks. How small and detailed you make it is up to you. The only important thing is to set boundaries. This determines how many tasks can be processed at one time. This helps avoid overloading your employees.
5. Tools and technologies
One step that can facilitate the implementation of modern project management methods is the use of digital tools. At the same time, this can further increase the efficiency of your company. Use digital tools, for example, to digitally map methods like Kanban. But also to keep track of your projects.
You can do this very easily, for example, with the clockin project documentation. Using the mobile app, employees can access all relevant information about a project from anywhere. They can also store information in the file itself and keep you constantly updated.
Agile project management methods for craft businesses: yes or no?
The introduction of agile and modern project management methods in craft enterprises certainly requires adapting the methods to the specific needs and circumstances of the company. However, it is not possible to enable craft businesses to work more flexibly, efficiently and customer-orientedly through training, gradual introduction and continuous process improvement.