Timeliness – the key to efficiency in project management
Organizations value timely project completion. Studies cited often and managers’ practical experience in various industries confirm that many projects do not finish on schedule, and some exceed these deadlines significantly. Unfortunately for the company, this means measurable losses, not only in financial terms.
What are the essential consequences associated with missing project deadlines?
First, a company with a delay may benefit from the results the project was supposed to deliver. In addition, it is also associated with incurring more costs than initially anticipated. In the long run, this reduces the effectiveness of achieving the adopted strategic objectives and the project budget.
How do you think we could avoid project delays?
First, every new project should have a clearly defined end date. It can’t always be predicted precisely, but it’s worthwhile (based on available information) to describe it as precisely as possible.
Second, project reviews should be scheduled and carried out regularly to effectively (and preemptively) manage risks that could delay the project deadline. If, however, a change in the deadline is necessary (and this may happen for objective reasons), it should receive appropriate approval. Depending on the internal arrangements adopted, this could be the board of directors, the project sponsor, or the steering committee.
The third decisive factor is the project manager’s (and the sponsor’s) commitment to completing the project within the stipulated timeframe. The sponsor must not limit himself to passive observation. He or she must also actively seek to understand the project situation and, if necessary, make every effort to ensure that the project team is given the necessary resources for implementation and decisions.
In addition to determination and commitment, an essential part of ensuring project completion on time is undoubtedly the support of an appropriate information system. A well-tailored project management program can effectively support management in carrying out the abovementioned issues.
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Four functionalities that significantly affect meeting project completion deadlines
1. Recording the project completion date in the system Project Charter, which is also a commitment of the Project Manager and Sponsor.
2. Approved project plan and its in-progress monitoring—The black underlining of each task on the Gantt chart indicates the approved project plan. At the bottom of the screen, you can see how the project implementation needs to meet the approved plan.
3. A significant change in the project plan requires authorization from the Project Sponsor / Steering Committee or the Board of Directors.
4. Automatic project reviews greatly facilitate management’s ongoing understanding of the company’s project situation. The project manager should use the automatic review format to communicate in real-time any threat to the completion of a project on time.
