IntroductionIn this course, the general premise is to introduce key concepts and methodologies involved in managing projects and the use of specific project management tools and processes within health care organizations. Project ManagementProject management, a concept and process so crucial to many and most organizations in which is responsible for majority of the processes and….
. we as consumers take for granted in our everyday lives. Before project management can be delve into as a whole, we must first discuss what exactly the entity stems from. Based off of information from the Project Management Institute, a project can be defined as a temporary venture that is undertaken to establish a unique service or product as a result. Projects are not normal operations of an organization in that they are deemed to be unique in the set of operations that occur to complete an end objective or goal.
Projects may be isolated to one location or sprawled over several geographical locations including people who may have never worked together from within or outside companies.Projects range from small ventures to large goals which may be spread out over years before meeting completion. Some examples of projects that may occur within the healthcare field range from the adoption of EMR/EHR systems, building of facilities, expansion of market, rebranding to changing building color schemes.
As you can see, there is no set type of project, all have a reason and purpose no matter how small or large, simple or complex and anything else. The one entity that connects all of these different projects is that all must be managed to meet expected deadlines while also following projected budget limits to deliver the most pertinent information, innovation and results.Project management utilizes knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in order to execute and meet project requirements set forth by an organization. Project management is composed of 5 major phases representing the life cycle of a project. All projects involve initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing to produce feasible results to an organization.Every project stem from an idea which has been thoroughly examined to determine whether it would be beneficial to the organization. During the initiation phase, a decision-making team determines whether a project can be realistically undertaken and completed.
The second phase involves project planning involving the creation and drafting of a project charter or scope. This process creates an outline of the work to be performed in a prioritized manner including a budget and schedule along with needed resources. After these two phases have been completed, the project moves to the execution phase involving establishment of teams with distributed tasks and set responsibilities.
Along the journey of the project, performance is constantly monitored and controlled by comparing the current progress and status to that of the original plan. Scheduling and or other necessary components are adjusted accordingly in order to keep the project on track to meet scheduled delivery times. Finally, after the outlined project tasks have been completed and the organization is satisfied with the outcome the project management team evaluates the entire process analyzing success along with lessons to be learned.Project management relies heavily on ten areas which are crucial to helping complete a given project. Every project should consider integration, scope, time, cost, quality, procurement, human resources, communications, risk management, and stakeholder management.
Always remember to consider these areas when executing a project to ensure success to follow. Now that we have a general understanding of project management, let us examine how organizational culture and ethics play a role in making projects successful or troublesome.Organizational CultureEvery organization has some sense of culture that can be felt from the top to bottom, it influences anything and everything in between ranging from decisions to work place aura. Organizational culture is an important building block for an organization and plays a key role in determining success. This is the one moniker that is unique to each organization as it cannot be copied.
What exactly is organizational culture and how does it connect to project management?Organizational culture can be defined as how a specific organization operates and behaves ranging from leaders down to employees. Organizations are deemed to be unique in the sense of the values and behaviors that contribute to the psychological and social environment of
