Project management is a discipline that can help development organizations meet their strategies by:

Standardizing processes and best practices for managing projects

Reducing risks and increase the chance for success on all phases of a project

Avoid duplication of efforts and sub utilization of resources

Increase the impact of its interventions and beneficiary satisfaction

An organization that systematically employs project management methodologies, ensures that available resources are used in the most efficient and effective manner, which increases the chances that the needs of the beneficiaries will be met.

A Modern Project Management Methodology helps organizations select and focus on the Right Projects that give the most impact and ensures Projects are done Right from the start.

Customer Feedback

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I think it is fantastic that you are making these kinds of materials available. I have worked in international development for over 10 years and have seen various attempts to provide appropriate project management training fail because of a lack of understanding of the context in which we work. I hope this will provide the kind of thing that development organisations need.

PM4DEV was created to provide with expert project management consulting and training services based on a methodology customized to the challenges of development projects. Our objective is to serve the needs of the global development community by providing the tools and processes to plan, implement, and monitor projects in a more consistent, reliable and predictable manner. Our methodology is based on a project management cycle that incorporates all the processes, tools and practices to effectively manage projects of all sizes.

A project management methodology can help development organizations meet their strategic goals by standardizing processes, reducing risks, and avoiding duplication of efforts that will ultimately increase the impact of their interventions. We believe that organizations that systematically apply project management methodologies can ensure that donor, organizational and beneficiary resources are used in the most efficient, and effective manner; and that will increase their chances of meeting the needs of the beneficiaries.

PM Connect is our quarterly newsletter that provides information, insights and best practices on project management.

On this issue:

1. Why use a methodology?

2. Project Governance

3. Project Organization

4. Project Management vs Project Cycle

pmconnect-Q3-08.pdf

PM4DEV offers a certificate in the Fundamentals of Project Management for all people interested in learning and increasing their proffesional credentials. The certificate requirements are designed to accommodate the highly demanding schedules of development professionals.  Using a blend of eCourse and a book, students will learn and take a test to validate their knowldege.

Click on the link below to obtain more information about the requirements to obtain this certificate.

Every project has to manage fours basic constraints; scope, budget, schedule and quality. The success of a project depends on the skills and knowledge of a project manager to take into consideration these constraints and develop the plans and processes to keep them in balance. PM4DEV has four ebooks available to understand the processes required to manage these constraints. Click on the tabs to view the description and click on the picture icon to open the ebook.

• PM4DEV
• scope
• schedule
• budget
• quality

Project management is the planning, implementing, and monitoring of project activities to meet project objectives, achieved by effectively controlling and balancing the constraint of scope, schedule, budget in producing quality deliverables that meet or exceed the expectations of the project stakeholders. Its about ensuring the project is able to accomplish its objetives in an efective and efficient manner without compromising the quality of its interventions.

Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required to complete the project successfully. Project scope management’s primary concern is with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project. Scope is the description of the boundaries of the project. It defines what the project will deliver and what it will not deliver. Scope is the view all stakeholders have from the project; it is a definition of the limits of the project. The purpose of scope change management is to protect the viability of the approved Project Contract (or agreement) and the approved Project Logical Framework (Log frame). In other words, the Project Contract defines the overall scope of the project, and the Logframe defines the deliverables in detail.

Schedule Management is the process includes the actions required to ensure the timely completion of the project. It includes the development of a schedule that contains all project activities, the project schedule is a communications tool that informs project stakeholders the status of the project and gives project team members information, in the form of graphs and charts, as to when each activity must begin and end. A Schedule is created using a consensus-driven estimation method; the reason for this is that a schedule itself is an estimate: each date in the schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the people who are going to do the work, the schedule will be inaccurate. Schedule management includes the procedure to control schedule changes and define who can authorize changes.

Budget management is a set of processes required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. This is the area that receives a lot of scrutiny during and after the project is completed. The project’s ability to manage the financial resources obtained by the organization will be a measure of the organizations probity, not only in compliance with donor’s requirements but also a measure of its efficiency. Risks in this area have the highest impact to the project, the organization and to the beneficiaries; inadequate budget management can lead to misappropriations of funds, improper assignment of expenses and losses that the organization may have to cover using their limited unrestricted funds. Poorly executed budget plans can result in a last minute rush to spend the allocated funds.

Quality management is the process to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs of the beneficiaries. Quality is defined as a commitment to deliver the project outputs and meet the expectations of the beneficiaries, which means that quality is ultimately defined by the beneficiary. Quality is not about delivering the most expensive materials or services; is ensuring the project outputs are relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries, that they are delivered in a timely manner and are adequate to the conditions in which they have to be used. It is not necessarily doing additional work if it does not add value or benefit to the beneficiaries, it’s about delivering on the commitment the project made at its initiation, and it’s doing what the project said it was going to do.