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Why a CPM project schedule is developed?

Project Management Scheduling

In construction project management, planning holds vital significance.

Planning is one of those activities that is ubiquitous to construction. Knowingly or unknowingly, planning is a part of our psyche, as we are always looking ahead.

The success and the failure of any given project can be attributable to a successful plan and its subsequent implementation. A good plan is detailed and comprehensive, citing all the possibilities that could occur on the ground as well as having some contingencies for when things go wrong.

What is Project Schedule?

TO understand the nature of a CPM schedule, first, we need to delve into what a project schedule indicates. Scheduling is part of the planning process, and a project schedule is the result of this activity. Successful scheduling requires the scope of the project, duration of activities, and their interdependencies.

Once the interdependencies between the activities have been noted, you can input these into a planning software such as Primavera P6. Now, based on these interdependencies and the duration of the individual activities, you will get the longest paths and the shortest paths for project completion.

What is the Critical Path Method?

The critical path is usually referred to as the shortest path to achieve project completion. It means that this path cannot be squeezed any further in a bid to shorter the completion time of the project even further.

Once this path has been calculated, project managers get to know the milestones and the key activities that they need to focus on for project completion. For example, project activities falling on this critical path must be done in the allocated time; otherwise, the project schedule will slip further forward.

Why is the CPM Schedule Important?

The importance of the CPM schedule stems from the scheduling activity itself, which is a lynchpin of planning. A good plan results in an excellent schedule that is realistic and easy to implement. Moreover, it has contingencies and overlaps non-dependent activities for quicker project completion.

The CPM schedule offers insight into those activities that must be completed on time; otherwise, the project will be delayed. It also tells us the activities that need the project manager’s complete attention to the project’s overall success.

Use of Software and Resource Constraints

Another aspect of a project schedule is the resources needed to complete the project. In a typical plan for smaller projects, resource constraints are usually ignored. However, they are an essential part of scheduling and sometimes can become the limiting factor in a schedule.

The resource constraints can be added in project scheduling software which can result in slightly different schedules. The new CPM path will tell the project mangers the bottlenecks created from the limited resources they have.

The CPM schedule is an important tool for the successful completion of a project and the best friend of a project manager who, if adheres to this plan can steer the project towards completion in the given time.

PSG Primavera Consultants
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How to boost the Human Capital of the Organization?

Employees are the assets of any organization. Without human capital, an organization cannot sustain on a long scale or we can say the productivity of the organization is exceedingly depending on the employees through which they can get success. Employees in an organization, work according to their expertise which they get from learning, training, and experience. Such expertise makes them proficient in their work and benefits the organization by achieving the required task/goal. 

It is crucial to understand the importance of human capital in any organization. Organizations devote money to train their new employees so in return; they can work hard and assist to attain the organizational goal. But the motivation of employees is another important responsibility of the organization otherwise employees may lose their concentration from the organization which can reduce productivity at work. 

Here are some ways which can help to boost the human capital in any organization.

Train Frequently: 

Here is no doubt that the development of the organization depends on its employees. 

That’s why the recruitment of the right employee at the right place is a vital responsibility of human resource experts for the organization. In case of a mismatch for the required job can lead to a reduction in production as well as the waste of many other resources. It doesn’t mean that an organization can neglect fresh candidates for the job. It requires a suitable induction program that ought to be specially designed for new employees rather than boring manuals and static work roadmap. After that, the organization can provide its employees with frequent training which will help to upgrade their skills and help them to cope with upcoming challenges. 

Well-Defined Work Responsibilities: 

It must be defined to all employees that who are responsible for which work especially the key areas of the required task which should be defined according to the employees’ expertise otherwise it would only waste the time of both employee and organization with zero outcomes. The organization can also define milestones to keep everyone’s task on the track.

Monitor the Performance: 

The performance of the employees must be monitored by the managers or senior authorities of the specific department because it can increase the human capital. Performance can be monitored through employees’ weekly reports which are an easy and effective way to track the progress of employees. It will help the managers to keep updated along their employees as well as weekly feedback will assist them to identify the queries which employees face during their job performance so they could cope with that.

Communicate Directly:

The approach of Hitler cannot work in this era of corporate. No matter what is the position whether junior or senior, every employee should have the right to enter into the office of HOD (Head of Department) or manager to discuss any query or task. Direct communication is the bridge between problems and solutions among the employees and senior authorities. Every employee should allow giving his idea, suggestion, and feedback regarding any matter or project. It won’t only help to bring up new ideas but also create a sense of attachment in employees which will boost their confidence and motivate them.

Motivation: 

The motivation of employees is one of the important responsibilities of any organization to keep itself productive. It is the psychological fact, without the feeling of attachment no one can stay with you for a longer period. It is important to motivate the human workforce from time to time in various ways. It could be monthly meetings on employees’ general issues, appreciation in the form of incentives or awarding them as the Employee of the Month/ Organizations should not wait for the yearly promotions, small encouragements can give big rewards as well.

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5 Incredible Benefits of Remotely Business

Before COVID-19, many companies were not in the favor of remote business, or in other words, we can say they had some fence regarding work from homes. Though the current situation is quite challenging for them to make a strategic plan to carry out their business remotely it will provide them some unrevealing advantages for their business. 

If you are thinking to adopt remote working for your business or want to bounce a quick startup, these benefits of remotely business will going to help you to reveal the hidden benefits of modern technology. 

Decrease the Expenses of Business: 

Many companies can decrease their business expenses which are related to the routine operations through remote working which is also smartly increasing their profit on the other side. It is not only reducing the expenses of the business but also beneficial for employees by cutting the traveling, lunch, and attire cost. According to the Analytics of Global Workplace, by practicing remotely businesses, companies can save up to 11 thousand dollars annually per employee. Considering the size of the company, it can significantly beneficial for the companies. 

Enhance the Satisfaction and Retention of Employees:

Remote working of businesses is the most preferred offer which employers can prolong to applicants. According to the online survey of Mom corps, it is quite surprising that despite the great rate of unemployment, people are ready to cut their salaries up to 10 percent to accomplish the job with flexible remote working. In the survey of Owl Labs 2019, it is proved that employees who work remotely stay on their jobs over a prolonged period are increasing the chances of up to 13 percent. 

The better way to hire the Candidates: 

Remote businesses make the workplace more diverse which means more chances to get the right applicant for the position because there is no more hiring border geographically which confines the businesses. With the help of modern technology, Human resource managers can select the candidates, conduct the interview, select and screen them and done further evaluation remotely and cut the extensive process of applying to hire the candidate with a fence. 

Improved overall Productivity:

Some professionals perceive that remote working makes the employees lazy and least focused to achieve the task because of flexibility which is further proved as a myth. Remote businesses attested more productive as compared to the physical office-based businesses. The work efficiency of the employees is associated with the independence of work, enjoyment, flexibility, and comfort in terms of office noise and pressure. 

According to the survey report of Airtasker 2020, because of remotely working, employees work with breaks which makes them more focused on work tasks.

More Alert towards upcoming Challenges:

Coronavirus is an immense challenge for the whole world. It has made the world more alert towards the upcoming challenges in the next period. Many giants in the corporate world have already formulated a contingency plan to work remotely in the incident of any emergency, natural disaster, or pandemic disease. In fact, during the period of crises or bankruptcy, companies can sustain their businesses through remote working. Temporary shifted remote businesses can also get a big exposure in this current pandemic which is and will be beneficial for them. 

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Managing Small Business is an Art! A Guide For Effective Small Business Management

Managing Small BusinessLife is becoming difficult and competitive as the time is moving forward and with every passing day inflation is also increasing. One person’s earning is not enough to feed the whole family and on the other hand, it is not an easy task to get a job too. In this scenario what are the options for people who are not getting or doing any job and are looking for some ideas for earning? We have a solution to their problems and it is to start some small business and earn their livelihood.

Firstly it needs to be understood that what is a small business? In simple words, it is a form of independent business which comprises of limited size and limited investment keeping in mind which industry you are selecting. A business no matter how big or small it needs proper management and planning before the start-up and for that purpose proper working and a business plan is required.

A business plan comprises of the goals and objectives for starting your small business and also the strategies and guidelines to achieve your set targets. You have to keep in your mind the budget and strength you need to start your business because these two things will decide how much small your business is and how much investment you need. Even a small business requires proper management, planning and right allocation of time and resources in order to be successful.

We are mentioning below some guidelines for effective and successful small business management:

  • Set your goals and define your objectives that need to be achieved.
  • Keep in mind the 4 M’s of Business i.e. Men, Materials, Money and Machinery.
  • Effective time management can save your cost as well as give a boost to your business by allocating the saved time in the business.
  • Allocate your resources and finances appropriately.
  • Develop and build your network so that you do not have to spend more time or cost on advertising or marketing of your business.
  • Hire the best resources i.e. employees but keeping in mind the budget for the salary. Remote employees can also be hired for some tasks. It can save some money.
  • Communicate your vision to your employees.
  • Keep personal and business accounts and expenses separate.
  • Learn to negotiate in order to save money.
  • Try to automate your operations more through machinery and accounting systems for long term purpose. In this way, employee salary cost will be low and the result will be more effective.
  • Give attention to customer feedback.
  • Adapt to change keeping in mind the budget for your business because your customer needs some change and innovation after some time.
  • Try to cut extra cost such as the penalty for paying bills late or excessive luxuries because in the starting you need to focus on your costs in order to earn good profit.
  • Keep track of your progress. Properly monitor and measure the outcomes.

All these above mentioned guidelines are for effective and successful small business management. A person needs to focus and work on these guidelines if he /she wants to start their own business. There are some basic things that need to be focused and managed while starting a small business and then gradually things will start changing as a business will start to grow.

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Do Small Setups Need HR Department? Let’s Find Out!

HR DepartmentThe term Human Resource Management is widely used in organizations nowadays doesn’t matter how large or small, new or old the enterprise is. But people need to know that why do we need Human Resource Department in every organization and what it actually does. Many people have the perception that the HR department only talks in the interest of management whereas the fact is way different from this perception. In actual Human Resource is the people’s management. It is undoubtedly the key resources of any organization and the reason for the formation of HR department is to strategize and formulate the rules, regulations, and policies of the company keeping in mind the safety and security of employees as well as the employer too.

Today we will specifically, discuss the small setups having 10 to 50 or a maximum of 100 employees in the organization. Do these setups need a separate HR department? The answer is Yes! But why? As we said above the size does not matter, it is actually the work and importance of HR that need to be understood. Any small setup will ultimately grow and become successful one day. Mostly we have seen that at the initial phase small setups do not hire or have any HR department or HR manager but as the time passes and setup starts to grow they realize that they do need HR department. Secondly while establishing a new enterprise how management would hire and manage the staff and their concerns and issues, doesn’t matter if there are only five employees, to retain those five and expand the strength of the office HR department is required.

The most important reason to have HR department from the beginning of any setup is that HR’s tasks are not only to recruit but in reality  Human Resource Department is equally important as any other department because it keeps the company’s liaison with the market and people and then with your employees too. It serves as a bridge between the management and second or third party for business and for any other purposes too. To have HR department from day one will be beneficial because as time will pass your company’s rules, regulations and policies will be aligned according to the changing size of your company.

What Measures HR takes in New and Small Setups?

Let us talk about some important measures HR department takes:

  • It develops an organization’s culture and it is the responsibility of HR department to keep the balance and to maintain the discipline in the office.
  • Set your organization’s values and objectives and keeps on giving a reminder to the employees.
  • Creates a hierarchal structure of organization.
  • Develops the staffing plan according to the needs and requirements of the company.
  • Plan the salary structure according to the budget.
  • Advising compensation and benefits plan for employee’s attraction and retention.
  • Introduce the company in the market amongst potential employees.
  • Setup the hiring process and criteria
  • Gives orientation, training, and molds the employee’s expertise according to the company’s requirements.
  • Closely monitoring the environment of the office and each employee’s performance.

As time is passing, Human Resource Department is adding value and becoming more and more important for organizations. They are playing an important role in organizational development.

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A Closer Look at Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management deals with employees whether it is recruitment, training, managing, direction and assistance, hiring, employee development, motivation and communication between management and employees. Many business leaders regard human resource as a separate department that is designed in such a way that it provides many services that include new employee orientation and take care of labors work.In reality, human resource plays a bigger role than people think about it.In fact, human resource can increase profitability and not only this but also helps in the improvement of the bottom line of a business in several ways.

According to research, that is conducted by business and legal resources indicate that more than 60 percent of executives are beginning to see HR as partners with other sectors or departments to increase the worth of business as well as its profitability. There is an outdated notion that HR is there just to process the paperwork has given a way to understand that it actually important in the strategic development of the business as well as the organizational culture. There is the potential for HR to have an immense impact because HR can be aligned with other company’s operation. Human Resource is important for both large businesses, but it is one of the complicated aspects of running in small business. Yet, HR is incredibly important, the employee’s salaries and benefits can be a huge chunk of the business’s operating expenses. The employees are our biggest asset, and one has to manage and protect that asset.

A huge responsibility lies on the shoulder of HR. They have an intense influence on the workplace ambiance of the workplace, creating a friendly environment among employees, settle disputes and work with each other. HR is responsible to recruit the best employees that possess the hard and soft skills. The HR Department is responsible for the management of human resources and all the typical tasks, including recruiting, compensation, payout, conservation, health and safety, compliance, training, and development. Determining the equilibrium between effectively performing core tasks and adding value to an organization can be one of the greatest challenges for any HR team. In turn, they expect to find the individual who is enthusiastic about their career, which increases the chances that employees will stick to the job for a long time. When employees are properly trained and equipped with appropriate tools, they can more effectively perform their work and become more productive. HR plays a key role onboarding process and can take steps to ensure that new employees receive the necessary training and are ready to carry out their work at the highest level. With human resources program and policies, a business will be able to solve the inevitable problems that arise when a business is growing. Employee complaints, legal issues, and clear communication depend on staffing policies to solve the problem. Even if the business is small, employees are working in different places or who telecommunicate from a different location still HR is necessary for the business, different HR apps help the owners to handle the work that is located on different places that include time management, employee tracking and, recruiting and hiring.

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Email Marketing – A Guide for Newbie’s

Email marketing is essentially a digital marketing strategy where an organization sends email to customers and prospects. If done right, it can get organization loyal and consistent customers. It is one of the things that many organizations do not get right. It’s easy and has nothing technical but there are so many things to keep in mind to not it fail.

The significance of Email Marketing:

Email marketing is one of the key aspects of successful campaigns. In today’s tech-oriented world, it is one of the things that cannot be neglected. Despite the growing social media in today’s time, email is still a top prioritized communication channel. It is one of the platforms that nobody likes to be spammed (BEWARE! No unsolicited spamming) and hence is free of chaos, unlike social media platforms. Online sales have many advantages and bring much more loyal customers than real life sales. It is one of the safest and efficient methods for running campaigns.

Primary Goal of Email Marketing:

While the idea of jumping right onto it seems appealing, it’s wrong. You have to first set a goal, think about it, work on it and then decide what your emails will be about. You cannot and must not include any and every random detail in email because people tend to get bored with subscription email and can unsubscribe anytime. Your emails must serve a single purpose. Take a look at emails of some notable websites to get a hang of the idea.

Build a Contact List:

It’s time to build an email list and decide the audience at which your campaigns have to be targeted. For example, it’s useless to send a teenager emails about new business opportunities. Either you create a list using your known contacts or construct a new list from scratch. Building a new list means you have to offer customers an incentive. People don’t subscribe to something new unless there’s a great offer.  Discounts, giveaways, updates of sales are a few of the exciting incentives that can get people to sign up for email subscriptions. Other options include a pop-up option of subscription on the website to get people’s attention. By following these key aspects, offering incentives for subscribers, you can easily build an email list with a new yet interested audience that can soon become your loyal customers.

Select and Create Your First Campaign:

Campaigns can be of various natures. Your options include a monthly newsletter, an invitation to attend an event, updates about new things available and sales, an announcement of a new feature etc. You have to select a campaign that suits your organization and decide accordingly. When it comes to structuring your campaigns, there are a few things that need to be taken care of. Firstly, the emails should not be long. It has to be sort of an advertisement that Is short and easy to read. Secondly, it should be of interest to your entire audience. Lastly, make sure your emails are easy to access and convert. With these done right, you can eventually get better results. Make sure you measure your results.

You’re good to go!

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Why change initiatives drastically fail?

A 2014 study revealed that the success rate of change initiatives, mostly termed as innovations, is only 4.5%. In today’s time when innovations are immensely important and an essential driving force behind huge projects, this success rate figure is alarming. What needs to be understood is that deciding a change is just one of the many steps. It’s the process leading to the eventual outcome that needs effort and due attention. A thorough understanding should be possessed of why a change is needed, how it should be implemented, ways to not let it fail and how to counter the problems in the process of bringing a change.

Here are the factors that need to be taken due care of to not let a change initiative fail?

Strategy Communication:

When a project manager embarks on a new project, he needs to make sure all the team members and stakeholders involved in the project are explained the new strategy comprehensively. When the change is implemented is not communicated properly, team members often find themselves barely engaged or interested in the work. Such a scenario creates the disconnection between a project manager and his team ultimately harming the project results. It is also wrong on a project administrator’s part to assume that everyone on the team would understand the need for the change being implemented. A vision must be put forward that is understandable for all and highlighting the positive side because that encourages all team members to give in their best effort and thus work towards a positive outcome. If there’s an element of disconnectedness within the team, some serious action needs to be taken to restore the damage done. An activity as simple asking an employee each day about his opinions on the change and how is it benefitting the project can be beneficial in restoring the friendly work environment. Such a move makes team members feel valued and an essential part of the project.

Consistent Monitoring:

One of the major reasons why business initiatives often drastically fail is the lack of focus put in by a project manager. The project manager after bringing in a new change or initiative becomes busy with some other things gradually losing track of the project. While nothing can be ignored or neglected, a project in which a change has just been implemented needs a lot more focus. A project manager is the one connecting the employees to the project. In a case where a project manager loses focus, employees disengage. Hopping into one thing after another is a very disadvantageous and damaging move to make. When an initiative begins, the project needs even greater attention because the work does not end at just implementing the change. The process till the end needs to be observed and worked upon carefully to judge how beneficial the change was to the project and how it can be further improved.

To conclude, it takes the great understanding of the initiative to not let it fail. Effective strategy communication, observing cause and effect, consistent focus and monitoring are a few factors that ensure a positive result.

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Project Estimation – Are you doing it right?

Project estimation is one of the key aspects of project management and widely used to this day. However, a question often arises that if each project is bound to be unique in its own way, how can we estimate anything about it? The answer to this is that no matter how challenging it is to estimate the size or cost of a project, it is nonetheless possible. Project estimation has a degree of accuracy and with experience and effort, one can sure reach the accuracy level that, at first, feels insurmountable.
According to Wikipedia, project estimation is the foundation of sound project planning and without it, no project can move forward. If project estimation is not done right, the outcome may be achieved very late or a project may exceed the budget indicating a red signal of project failure. To run a thriving business and avoid failure, one must adopt skilled techniques to estimate project as accurately as possible. Being a great estimator is one of the stepping stones in the career of project management.
The very crucial task of project estimation includes scheduling, preparing a budget and resources. Below are a few foolproof techniques that one can acquire to achieve success.
Communication and Advice:
Taking advice from team members or those in the senior position can help estimate to a great level of accuracy. Expert advice mostly leads to correct estimates that inexperienced people otherwise would not be able to give. However, that does not mean excluding team members. But it is always better to inquire people that have in-depth understanding o the nature of the project and hands-on experience with a similar project before.
Parametric Model Estimating:
This estimating technique makes use of data from previous projects and involves a rather mathematical, or statistical, approach. To be precise, it takes data from previous work to determine the unit cost or duration to estimate the budget or duration of a certain task in the current project. It is very accurate in nature because of the statistical approach but it cannot be denied that it does have certain limitations. For instance, it does not take political, cultural or environmental factors into account.
Analogous Estimation:
When used alone, this technique is not as accurate as parametric model estimation. Essentially, it compares the current project to previous projects that are similar in nature to estimate the cost or time frame of the project. While the two techniques, analogous and parametric model, may appear to be same, they are not. Parametric is more statistical in nature. However, the two are similar in terms of making comparisons to the previous projects.
These techniques are inarguably the best from the lot but using only one of them might not produce the desired results. Estimation comes with its own set or risks and the real challenge lies in mastering the art. The best way to go about estimation is to combine the techniques that suit your project. In order to avoid risks, it is advisable to have a certain margin for fluctuation of schedule or budget.

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Organizational Performance Management

Performance management design concept. Typographic poster. Performance management concepts for web banner and printed materials.
Performance management design concept. Typographic poster. Performance management concepts for web banner and printed materials.

A very crucial question that need to be pondered over is how does organizational performance management fit in. when talking about small startups, OPM main seem quite a big deal. But what if the organization is somewhere in between. On one hand you no more do all the logistics yourself on the other hand, there is still time when you will be cutting checks for a large number of employees.

For understanding how organizational performance management fit in, you first need to understand that OPM is a good thing. Relating strategy with implementation, making a strong link between strategies, how it is planned and then implemented in order to deliver on portfolio grounds. Also realize how important its value is.

Thing to keep in mind is OPM at scale is even better. If you don’t scale OPM to where your organization is OPM may seem quite complex to you, even in try of attempting it. If you think OPM is a good thing don’t waste a single moment trying it. It has been witnessed that the organizations that doesn’t seem to care enough about OPM, witness a downfall in their businesses. At times teams get frustrated and at times the progress get halted. And the same answers are given by the leadership- work harder.

Performance management is a lot more than the appraisals given at the end of the year. It’s about translating goals into outcomes, or results that are effective and has a huge progressive impact on the organization. It includes individual employees, teams, processes and the organization as a whole.

Effective PM will help you in nurturing individual performance, foster ongoing employees hence increasing overall organizational effectiveness.

OPM and strategic planning is closely related, here we will discuss how strategic planning has influenced private and public sector organizations. Indeed strategic planning is a crucial step in the management of any organization, regardless of at what level they reside. Public agencies have a greater challenge in evaluating their results. Whereas, private organizations have clear goals and results as the outcomes are closely related to the financial goals. Rapidly changing and increasing demands for programs, products and services and greater demands for accountability are the adequate reasons the public sector organizations have tend to opt strategic planning which leads to good organizational performance management as well as good results in overall progressive growth of the organization.Organizational PM helps in improving different levels.

How OPM can help?

  1. Assessment of your existing performance appraisal system.
  2. Development of performance plans in accordance with organization’s missions and goals.
  3. Writing elements and standards that involve measure of performance.
  4. Pay for performance systems
  5. Reward systems linked to your performance appraisal systems.

OPM mainly involves identifying the gaps in performance against the objectives of business, further recognizing where the gaps lie and deploying the improvements to close the gaps. Some of the key features are

Establish objectives, analyze process performance data, identify and implement improvement, implementation of improvements

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