Project Implementation

Project execution is the process by which goals and promises of a project or programme are
carried out. Once a project has been established and the goals are set, the project manner has to
act to achieve these goals. Due to multi-disciplinary character for a project the manager has to
look around for help and get the things down through others. This help can be expected on from
internal and external.
Essential of Project Administration
For a company executing projects either regularly or for the first time it would be necessary for
the chief executive to issue what may be called project charter. It must define the project scope,
the project goals, name and authority delegated project manager, project reviewing authority and
request co-operation of all concerned in the execution of the project. An elaborate effort in this
direction may produce what is known as a project manual
To demonstrate the project manager’s authority in a simplest and quickest way it is essential to
develop a proper organization chart. The different forms of organization charts that suit to
particulars circumstances and nature of job have been discussed in the earlier lesson.
Time and cost over-runs of projects are very common in India, particularly in the public sector.
Due to such time and cost over-runs, projects tend to become uneconomical, resources are not
available to support other projects, and economic development is adversely affected. To
minimize time and cost over-runs and thereby improve the prospects of successful completion of
projects. A lot of things can be done to achieve this goal, the more important ones appear to be as
follows:
Adequate formulation
Sound project organization
Proper implementation planning Advance action
Timely availability of funds
Judicious equipment tendering and procurement
Better contract management
Effective monitoring

Adequate formulation

Often project formulation is deficient because of one or more of the following shortcomings.

¨ Superficial field investigation

¨ Cursory assessment of input requirements
¨ Slip-shod methods used for estimation costs and benefits
¨ Omission of project linkages
¨ Flawed judgments because of lack of experience and expertise
¨ Undue hurry to get started
 ¨ Deliberate over-estimation of benefits and under-estimation of costs
Care must be taken to avoid the above deficiencies so that the appraisal and formulation of the
project is through, adequate and meaningful.

Sound project organization

A sound organization for implementing the project is critical to its success. The characteristics of
such an organization are:

It is led by a competent leader who is accountable for the project performance.

The authority of the project leader and his team is commensurate with their responsibility.
Adequate attention is paid to the human side of the project.
Systems and methods are clearly defined
Rewards and penalties to individuals are related to performance.

Proper implementation planning

Once the investment decision is taken – and often even while the formulation and appraisal are
being done – it is necessary to do detailed implementation planning before commencing the
actual implementation. Such planning should inter alia, seek to:

Develop a comprehensive time plan for various activities like land acquisition, tender evaluation,
recruitment of personnel, construction of building, erection of plant, arrangement for utilities,
trial production run, etc.
Estimate meticulously the resource requirements (manpower, material, money, etc ) for each
period to realize the time plan.
Define properly the inter-linkages between various activities of the project.
Specify cost standards
Advance action
When the project appears prima facie to be viable and desirable, advance action on the following
activities may be initiated: (i) acquisition of land, (ii) securing essential clearances, (iii)
identifying technical collaborators / consultants, (iv) arranging for infrastructure facilities, (v)
preliminary design and engineering, and (vi) calling of tenders.
Timely availability of funds
Once a project is approved, adequate funds must be made available to meet its requirements as
per the plan of implementation – it would be highly desirable if funds are provided even before
the final approval to initiate advance action. It is a common observation that firms which have a
comfortable liquidity position are, in general, able to implement projects expeditiously and
economically.
Judicious equipment tendering and procurement
To minimize time over-runs, it may appear that a turnkey contract has obvious advantages. Since
these contracts are likely to be gagged be foreign suppliers,
when global tenders are floated, a very important question arises. How much should we rely on
foreign suppliers and how much should we depend on indigenous suppliers? Over-dependence
on foreign suppliers, even though seemingly advantageous from the point of view of time and
cost, may mean considerable outflow of foreign exchange and inadequate incentive for the
development of indigenous technology and capability. Over-reliance on indigenous suppliers
may mean delays and higher uncertainty about the technical performance of the project. A
judicious balance must be sought which moderates the outflow of foreign exchange and provides
reasonable fillip to the development of indigenous technology.

Better contract management

Since a substantial portion of a project is typically executed through contracts, the proper
management of contracts should be done:

¨ The competence and capability of all the contractors must be ensured – one weak link can
jeopardize the timely performance of the contract.

¨ Proper discipline must be inculcated among contractors and suppliers by insisting that
they should develop realistic and detailed resource and time plans which are congruent
with the project plan.

¨ Penalties – which may be graduated – must be imposed for failure to meet contractual
obligations. Likewise, incentive nay be offered for good performance.

¨ Help should be extended to contractors and suppliers when they have genuine problems –
they should be regarded as partners in a common pursuit.

¨ Project authorities must retain latitude to off-load contracts (partially or wholly) to other
parties well in time where delays are anticipated.
Effective monitoring

In order to keep a tab on the progress of the project, a system of monitoring must by established.
This help in:

· Anticipating deviations from the implementation plan

· Analyzing emerging problems

 · Taking corrective action

· In developing a system of monitoring, the following points must be borne in mind:

¨ It should focus sharply on the critical aspects of projects implementation.

¨ It must lay more emphasis on physical milestones and not on financial targets.
¨ It must be kept relatively simple. If made over-complicated, it may lead to redundant
paper work and diversion of resources. Even worse, monitoring may be viewed as an end
in itself rather than as a means to implement the project successfully.

Project Planning

Planning of the project can be done in four ways:

Contracting plan

This is the first step in the preparation of a project execution plan. Owners invariably need some
agencies with whom they can share responsibilities. In the interest of developing self-regulation
systems it would be necessary to contract out those areas where the owner’s company does not
have inherent competence.

Contract planning would involve examination of a number of alternatives since there are so
many possible arrangements in terms of sharing of responsibilities, types of reimbursements and
general conditions of contract.

Work Packaging Plan

Work packing plan will be the next important step in the preparation of the project execution
plan. A work package in a project is the smallest division of work where it still retains the
characteristics of a project. This when a project is progressively divided into systems and the
system into subsystems, a stage is ultimately reached where further division into components
will strip it of its multi-disciplinary character – the work at that stage can be consideration these
packages, grouping them or keeping them as they are, in order to from viable contracts.

Work packaging enables better organization and management of projects. A work package or
several work packages may be assigned to one individual who could serve as a mini project
manager. This enables projectization of the entire project execution effort which, in turn, ensures
the closest possible adherence to time, cost and technical performance targets.
Work packaging can also ensure that all agencies in a project think and channelize their effort in
one direction, i.e. towards the completion of the packages only. Thus, design engineers,
procurement engineers and construction engineers will then give priority to their work in relation
to a work package and not according to functional convenience.

Organization plan

Having decided the number of contracts and their scope, the owner is now in a position to set his
own house in order. The owner can deliberate on the form of organization to be adopted so that
the interest of the project is best served.

Several standard organizational arrangements are possible, ranging from pure functional
organization to pure project zed organization and an owner has to choose his own arrangement
depending on the project size, location, complexity, work packages, type and number of contacts.
It should be however, noted that an organization can become more self-regulation if it is on
taskforce or project zed. The participants in such cases fully identify themselves with the project
objectives and would regulate their behaviours on their own, as the situation may demand.

System and procedure plan

The last section of the project execution plan deals with system and procedure. A heavy
emphasis has to be placed on routine system and procedure so that no intervention is required in
the day –to-day operation of a system. There are at least eight routine sub-system of project
management for which appropriate procedures can be conceived right at the start of the project
implementation.

These eight sub-systems are:

1. Contract management
2. Configuration management

3. Time management

4. Cost management

5. Fund management

6. Materials management

7. Communications management
 While the routine system and procedure for each company will be different, in most of
the cases the difference may not be very significant. it is quite possible to examine the system
and procedure of one project and adapt it after making minor modifications.
Project Control
Cost control is important to al companies, regardless of size. Small companies generally have
tighter monetary controls, mainly because of the risk with the failure of us little as one project,
but with less sophisticated control techniques. Large companies may have the luxury to spread
project losses over several projects, whereas the small co., may have ten projects.

REQUISITES OF EFFECTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM

The requirements of an effective control system (for both cost & schedule/performance) should
include:

a) Through planning of the work to be performed to complete the project

b) Good estimating of time, labour and costs

c) Clear communication of the scope of required tasks

d) A disciplined budget and authorization of expenditures

e) Periodic re-estimation of time and cost to complete remaining work

f) Frequent, periodic comparison of actual progress and expenditure to schedules and

budgets, both at the time of comparison and at project completion.

Management must compare the time, cost and performance of the progress to the budgeted time,
cost and performance, into independently but in an integrated manner. The first purpose of
control therefore becomes a verification process accomplished by the comparison of actual
performance to date with the predetermined plans and standards set forth in the planning phase.
The comparison serves to verify that:

The objectives have been successfully translated into performance standards.

Performance standards are, in fact, a reliable representation of progress, activities and events.
Meaningful budgets have been established such that actual Vs planned comparisons can be
made.

In another words, the comparison verifies that he correct standards were selected and that they
are properly used.
The second purpose of control is that of decision making. Three useful reports are required by
management in order to make effective and timely decision:

The project plan schedules & budget prepared during the planning phase

A detailed comparison between the resources expanded to date and those predetermined. This
includes an estimate of work remaining and the impact on activity completion.

A projection of resources to be expanded through progress completion

These reports are then supplied to both the managers and the doers. Three useful results arise
through the use of these reports, generated during a thorough decision
– making stage of control.

Feed back to management, the planners and the doers.

Identification of any major deviation from the current program, plan, schedule and budget

The opportunity to initiate contingency planning early enough that cost, performance and time
requirements can undergo corrective action without loss of resources. These report, if properly
prepared, provide management with the opportunity to minimize downstream changes by making
proper corrections here and now.

Human Aspects of Project Management

Human resources are the important aspect of project management. A committed project tem is
the first requirement for a project success .Accomplishment is a major task. For this, employees
are to be motivated to perform their task with commitment to achieve the employers short term
goals and long term objectives. Major motivating factors are
Reward
Work
Hygienic Factor
Job Enrichment
Technological changes
Employees’ expectations
Life style change