Project monitoring is an important component of the project management cycle. It is one of the key ingredients in the success of the project. The project monitoring component must be included during the project initiation phase. Project monitoring is not a one time affair, it must be carried out continuously at different phases of the project. In most of the companies, the projects are usually monitored by the project managers or team leads. It is their primary duty to design an effective monitoring mechanism that will keep a hawk eye on the project progress. It is observed that, organizations who don’t implement an effective monitoring plan, find difficulties in understanding why their projects went wrong, and why it failed to create the desired impact, even though it was successful.
The information about the ongoing project must be conveyed to the managers, supervisors, board members and stakeholders periodically. The information conveyed gives them a clear idea about the status of the project. Apart from the top level management officials, the information must also be passed to the project team members and also to other employees of the company. This activity is generally taken care by the project coordinators or their supervisors. They have the responsibility to record all the developments that take place in the project from time to time. They can make use of two-way flow project monitoring, and ensure that the project is implemented in an effective manner. Listed below are the steps, that will help project leaders in monitoring the project effectively and efficiently.
Step 1: Designing an Efficient Plan For Monitoring.
Designing an effective plan is the most important activity in the project monitoring process. Though, it might look simple, but there are lots of aspects which the project leader must consider while designing this plan. They have to identify the key areas in the project life-cycle that needs continuous attention. After identifying the key areas, project leads must set the targets that need to be achieved. Project leads must also take a note that, they cannot commit to a target which is difficult to attain. They have to set targets, that can be achieved by the team members. Project managers must also take a note of the resources that are available to them. These resources can be human as well as technological. If required they must request for more resources. Apart from the outputs, project leaders also have to focus on the efficiency of their team and quality of the output.
Step 2: Designing Effective Report Management Mechanism
Project leaders can conduct meetings with the team members on a regular basis. This can be a formal meeting or an informal one. They have to ensure that these meetings take place at regular time intervals.Doing this, project leaders will have a clear picture about the project progress, and also help them in identifying the problems that might hamper the progress or speed of the production process, and give them time to plan accordingly. They also have to keep an eye on the budget, and if they feel that the project might exceed the budget allocated, they have to pass this information to the top-level management. The project lead must also ensure that the team is performing in accordance with the specified deadline of the project.
Step 3: Recommendations For Project Improvement
This is one of the important activities in project monitoring. The project lead has to design a report management mechanism that effectively passes the information among the team members, top tier management, and other people linked to the project process. This is important because the project leads get feedback and advises from the top level management teams which will give him better ideas for the project monitoring process.
Step 4: Ensuring Guidelines And Recommendations Are Followed Accordingly
Project managers must also ensure that the team is working according to the guidelines given by the client and also must see that the recommendations made by the top tier management team is implemented by the production team. Project managers or leads can also make use of technology for tracking the performance of their team members and give recognition to the top performers in the team. This will boost the morale of the team member and also inspire the other members in the team.
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