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Since the 1950s the development agenda has beencharacterized by projects and programs aimed atimproving the quality of life of beneficiary communities,be it in physical or qualitative terms. Despite significantinputs of human and financial resources, many fell shortof expectations. Projects failed to meet the priorityneeds of communities; stated outputs were not achievedor, if achieved, not sustained; target groups did notbenefit in the manner intended; project costs escalatedand implementation dates slipped; and adverseoutcomes were not anticipated.These failures were attributed in part to poor projectmanagement, such as inadequate opportunities forpotential beneficiaries to participate in projectidentification, weak financial management, inadequatemonitoring during implementation, poor linkagesbetween project activities and project purpose, andinsufficient attention to the external
 
environment duringproject design. It was also recognized that projects weremore likely to succeed when account was taken of thesocio-economic context in which they operated.The rationale for using sound project management is toachieve sustainable development.The simplest definition of a project is "it is a unique setof activities with a beginning and an end, undertaken tomeet some established goals, objectives and deliverableswithin defined constraints of scope, quality, time, costand stakeholder or customer satisfaction."More than 2,500 years ago, the famous Chinesephilosopher, Confucius, expressed this sentiment. "In allthings, success depends upon previous preparation - andwithout such preparation there is sure to be failure." Inmodern parlance, this elementary observation translatesinto a simple two-step sequence: 'Plan before doing', orthe more popular exhortation 'Plan Your Work, WorkYour Plan!' This
 
basic concept is the foundation of theproject life cycle by which projects need to be managed.First plan, then produce.
PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
(Project Planning / Project Formulation / Project Implementation / Preparation of ProjectProposal)
Compiled by
S.Rengasamy,Madurai Institute of Social Sciences
One Of the most important administrative developments in the developed as well as in developing countrieshas been the initiation and growth of a large number of new programs projects in every field likeagriculture, irrigation, industry, communitydevelopment and social welfare etc.. The principleaims and objectives of all these programs have beento bring about overall changes in the existing socio-economic structure in the country providing therebydignified way of life to a citizen as a unit and socio-economic up liftment of the society.So most of the administrators are directly concernedwith the program / project administration than other activities. The capability of administrative system toformulate and implement, relevant and in able programs effectively constitutes a crucial element inthe process of development. Development requires planning and planning includes a lot of programs / projects. Plan requires projects and projects require alot of planning.As in the case of all definitions, the term program / project has a variety of meaning.
Definition of a project
1.
 
Programs / Projects are tools to achieve theplan goals
.E.g. Plan goal – Removal of poverty.Plan tool – 
IRDP, JRY, TRYSEM
etc.
2.
 
A project is an investment of resources in apackage of interrelated time found activities.Thus a project becomes a time found task. AProject should have definite beginning and anend.
3.
 
A project can be defined as a scientificallyevolved work plan devised to achieve specificobjectives within a specific period of time.
4.
 
An activity (or, usually, a number of related activities) carried out according to a plan in order toachieve a definite objective within a certain time and which will cease when the objective isachieved.
5.
 
A collection of linked activities, carried out in an organized manner, with a clearly defined startpoint and end point to achieve some specific results desired to satisfy some clearly definedobjectives.
6.
 
A group of activities that have to be performed in a logical sequence to meet pre-set objectivesoutlined by the client.
 
 
S.Rengasamy
-
PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
 
2
Categories of projectsBased on levels Based on time Based on the purpose
Centralized Normal ExperimentalDecentralized Crash PilotPartially decentralized Disaster Production / Service.
Projects may stand-alone or be integratedinto a program, with several projectscontributing to one overall goal.A unique, one-time operational activity oreffortRequires the completion of a large numberof interrelated activitiesEstablished to achieve specific objectiveResources, such as time and/or money, arelimitedTypically has its own management structureNeed leadership
7.
 
A project is a temporary endeavor involving a connected sequence of activities and a range of resources, which is designed to achieve a specific and unique outcome and which operates withintime, cost and quality constraints and which is often used to introduce change.Characteristics of a project:
1
. Each and every project should have a package of interrelated activities.
Eg. IRDPa. Identification of the poor  b. Knowing their choicec. Arranging bank assetsd.
 
Follow up / advisory activitiese.
 
Evaluation2
. Each activity is time found
3.
Each and every project should have a set of objectives tobe achieved
.
E.g. IRDP-Eradication poverty by distributing income-generating assets.E.I.P-Improving the environment in slums through providing basic amenities like drinking water, drainage,street lights, toilets and community centers etc.4.
Each and every project should be operated with constraints.
E.g. Eradication of poverty within a democratic framework, within a time frame, within a limitedresource within the present bureaucratic setup.5
. Each and every project should specify the (clientele) target group.
E.g. IRDP – Rural poor, SEPUP – Urban poor.6.
Each and every project should have well defined time sequence of investments.7. Each and every project should have an in built arrangement to evaluate the program.Project Life Cycle Phases:
All projects have to pass through certain phases. The attention that a particular project receives is again notuniformly distributed throughout its life span, but it varies from phase to phase. At a particular appropriateattention has to be paid.
Following are the general phases of a project.
1.
 
Conception phase2.
 
Definition phase3.
 
Planning and organizing people4.
 
Implementation phase5.
 
Project clean up phaseThe above phases won’t follow a sequence … rather they overlap; sometimes this overlapping is donedeliberately in the interest of compressing the overall project schedule. There are others who wouldencourage natural growth.
 
S.Rengasamy
-
PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
 
3
Why?What For?How?Where?With what with?
Need AnalsisAims & ObectivesStrategy or MethodologyPlan of ActivitiesImplementationEvaluationFollow u
Conception phase:
Phase in which the project idea germinates. This phase is also known as Identification of the problem,identifying the performance gap. It we avoid or truncate this phase, the project will have innate defects andmay eventually become a liability for the investors.How to implement the project is not the botheration of this phase. It we start thinking about theimplementation during this phase, it will unnecessary delays this phase.
Definition Phase:
The definition phase of the project will develop the idea generated during the conception phase and producea document describing the project in sufficient details covering all aspects necessary for the customer or investors to make up their minds on the project idea.
Planning and organizing phase:
This phase can effectively start only after definition phase,nut in practice it start much earlier, almost immediatelyafter the conception phase. This phase overlaps so muchwith the definition and also with implementation phases.That is why no formal recognition is given to this by mostorganizations.
Implementation phase:
Period of hectic activity for the project. It is during this period, something starts growing in the field and peoplefor the first time can see the project.
Project clean up phase:
Completion and handing over the project.The curve in the above diagram shows that effort to buildup a project is very slow, but effort to withdraw is verysharp. It can also be seen that time taken for the formativeand clean up stage & implementation stage. While this pattern is true for all the projects, the percentage of effortin different phases would not be the same for all projects.However for the same class projects the curve may be more or less the same. A life cycle curve can thusrepresent a class of projects.
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poojadahiya1

good one..

reply09 / 03 / 2009
S.Rengasamy

thank you for your appreciation

09 / 03 / 2009
brahma baba

thanku so much.i got all the solution of my problem.it is such a nice site

reply06 / 24 / 2009
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