Community Government Tool Kit
Project Management
Project management is the process of directing and coordinating people and material resources throughout the life of a project by planning and managing to achieve a set of objectives including scope, cost, time, quality and participation satisfaction.
There are 4 phases of project management:
ª Defining the project – in this phase the community government determines the objectives and decides how to proceed with the project.
ª Planning the project – the planning stage includes documenting the scope, budget and schedule of the project.
ª Implementing the plan – the actual construction of the building or the purchase of equipment is the implementation phase of the project. Also included in this phase is monitoring of the project and dealing with issues when they arise.
ª Completing and evaluating the project – this phase includes the acceptance of a project/product, the resolution of deficiencies and documentation of project details, best practices and future projects.
In some cases, community governments will have the staff resources to manage their capital projects. However, for larger projects community governments may need to hire a Project Manager. Senior Administrative Officers, Finance Officers and Works Foremen need to have an understanding of how consultants and contractors work and the processes involved in obtaining and managing their services.
The following chart demonstrates how a large construction project is typically completed in a community:
