The Strategy Process

A strategy is a process, as it involves the conversion of information by the individual or group making the strategy. The information of the market such as the behaviour is taken in and processed.




Senior                       Organizational       @ Competitive analysis
Management            Strategy                 @ Organizational requirement 

                                  


Management 
Steering                     Aggregate              @ Existing project
Board                         Project Plan           @  Organizational Capabilities & Capacity
                                                                                         



Project                       Project                    @  Prioritized customer requirement
Management             Strategy                  @  Supplier capabilities
                                  



Project Team             Project 
                                Activities

The high-level decision made at a senior management level within an organisation is reflected through to the project activities. Organisational strategy takes in the organisational requirements and the results of competitive analysis. SWOT analysis is a high level analysis that organisation regularly carried out.

            SWOT is stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It may also consider the impact of changes in technology, new entrants to the market and other force changes such as currency movements, legal change. The outcome of this deliberation is the statement of policy which provides a focus for all the activities of the organisation including all projects. There is an important concept that those aspect of the product or service offering into these things money, time and effort.

Role of strategy in project management

There are three levels in the role of strategy in project management.

v  Strategy

v  Tactical

v  Operational

The project management has focused on the tactical and operational levels. This has resulted in those arias,

•  Project being carried out in a reactive mode with project managers having little or          no input to the strategy process
•  A lack of definable objectives for projects
•  Inevitable conflicts with line manages over resources

First project manager should understand the strategy process and he can make an input to process. The strategy is like a set of principles that guide and inform the actions and decisions of managers.

The major classifications of strategy are:

•         The environment in which an organisation exists
•          In an absolute sense, as a statement of the vision for the organisation

Strategy in the context of project management is the outcome of a strategy process. This process includes two key elements. There are:

•           Assessment of the present
•           Anticipation of the future

Furthermore strategy process is conducted at two levels,

•           Organisational
•           Project level

At the organisational level, the aspects of interest are external to the project but those policies will affect its objectives. At the project level, these are internal aspects that are generated by the project manager and refer to the project specifics. As a minimum requirement, the project strategy should be in line with the organizational strategy. 

Project as a conversion process

            The project is viewed as a conversion or transformation of some form of input into an output.The inputs are some form of want or need which is satisfied through the process. The project will take place under a set of controls or constraints.

                                               

                                                 Constraints:

 Ø  Financial

 Ø  Legal

 Ø  Ethical

 Ø  Environmental

 Ø  Logic

 Ø  Activation

 Ø  Time

 Ø  Quality

 Ø  Indirect effects

 

             Project                                                                                   

Input                                                                                 Output

Want/need                                                                         satisfied need

                                                                    

                                                      Mechanisms:

  Ø  People

  Ø  Knowledge and expertise

  Ø  Capital

  Ø  Tools and techniques

  Ø  Technology                          

·         Inputs

                        A document which provides a statement of the want or need that is to         transformed by the project. There are two types of needs. They are original    explicitly stated requirements and customer’s changing needs or perceptions        (emergent needs).

·         Constraints

                        There are several no of constrains used in conversion process.

v  Financial- the amount and timing of release of capital to the project and the         revenue or other benefit it should generate.

v  Legal- this may not be explicitly stated but there will be legal constraints

v  Ethical-this is at present limited to certain sectors of the community the need to behave in an ethical manner as well as being seen to behave ethically is a factor in the way that projects are managed.

v  Environmental-the role of environmental control from a subsidiary issue to one due to management thinking

v  Logic constraints-the need of certain activities to have been completed before a project can start

v  Activation-action to show when a project or activity can start

v  Time-the biggest constraint for most projects

v  Quality-the standard of both product and process

v  Indirect effects- it is practically impossible for any change to take place in isolation. Because the output of a project will be a converted information such as a new product, a tangible product such as a building or changed people when followed a training programme.

·         Output

                        The output of a project describes as a ‘satisfied need’. That is very wide     interpretation of the possible outputs of a project and includes. Always the output     should be fulfilled the customer’s requirements.

·         Mechanisms

                        Mechanism is that used to build the final output of the project.so the           mechanism achieve the output as follows,

v  People-those involve direct and indirect

v  Knowledge and expertise-consultants

v  Capital-the money that provided for resources

v  Tools and techniques-potential work organising

v  Technology-the available physical assets

Successful Project Manager

A successful project manager is responsible for projects deliveries on time, within budget and exceeding client expectations.  He should have a very good understanding of the client’s needs and requirements. 

The project manager’s role can be determined as follows,

• *        The nature of the project
• *        The nature of the organization
• *        The personality of the project manager
• *        The construction under which they are working.

A successful project manager is someone that always has the big picture in mind.  He acts as the liaison person between all the various stakeholders.  His role is crucial in the successful delivery of a project, making sure that all outputs are delivered on time, on budget and within the agreed level of quality.  To be able to deliver successfully, a sense of urgency is recommended, as to optimize results with the given resources.

The characteristics of project manager can be classified as attitudes or skills. Attitude of project manager is determined by way a person thinks about a particular issue and which are reflected in the intent of that person. The skills are those characteristics which person has been trained in or has learned, and determine the tools available to that person regarding how to handle a particular situation.

The project manager should has these of attitude as follows,

Ø  A desire not just to satisfy but to delight customers and stakeholders alike

Ø  Accepting of both challengers and responsibility

Ø  Being focused on action, rather than procrastination

Ø  A desire to make the best use of all resources with minimum wastage

Ø  Does not lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel

Ø  Project manager has personal integrity

Ø  He is flexible about the route that must be taken to achieve the started end-goals

Ø  Project manager has personal goals that are consistent with those of the project organisation.

The project manager should has these of skills as follows,

Ø  Ability to determine the real needs/desires of the customers by getting close to the customer

Ø  Analytical skills to turn data into information and break down the project into comprehensive parts

Ø  Technical skills

Ø  Team handling skills

Ø  Ability to delegate effectively

Ø  Ability to manage own time –it will be save your valuable time

Ø  Balancing of stakeholder perceptions of project progress

Ø  Negotiating skills

Ø  Problem solving ability

Ø  Question all assumptions made by stakeholders at all stages of activities.

            The organisation is managed their role and it consider around four factors.

§  Responsibility

§  Authority

§  Accountability

§  Credibility