Strategic planning in every project is important and almost every organization employs this strategy for various reasons such as capital management. There are five major steps that a project team would follow for effective strategic planning and they include strategic analysis, guiding principles, strategic objectives, flow down objectives, and portfolio alignment (Timothy, Vittal & Kathryn, 2019). Strategic analysis involves a comprehensive review of strengths and weaknesses by taking into consideration all the external and internal factors that would affect the organization. Guiding principles involve mission and vision statement. While a vision is a short precise statement highlighting the expected changes and accomplishment, a mission is an informative statement that includes the culture, beliefs, values, purpose and customers (Timothy et al., 2019). Mission statement is critical as it gives individuals the actual picture of how and why a certain project is carried out and to whom a project addresses. Setting strategic objective is the next step and it involves coming up with well-defined strategies on how to fulfill the mission and accomplish the vision. Objectives should be measurable, time specific, achievable and result based. The fourth step is flow down objective which sets up clear ways in which the objectives will be implemented depending on the organization. The fifth and final step of strategic planning is portfolio management, a strategy employed by many organizations to ensure maximum benefits are reaped from the project at hand. The overall importance of strategic planning is that it provides a project team with clear guidelines of how the project will be done, its purpose and the objectives they are expected to meet ( Bian & Guo2016 ). Additionally, strategic planning ensures that the available resources are maximally and effectively utilized.
Mission and vision statement can be considered as the basic guiding principles in any project. They provide organizations with a general idea of what a project is about and what the project will achieve in the long run. In the current project, “coming up with a more centralized model of delivering HR services”, specific facts about what necessitates the change of delivery model could be used.
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Vision
Deliver High quality and cost effective Human Resource services.
Mission
The Organization will strive to provide the most preferable Human resource services that are acceptable and recognized to ensure the customers are satisfied by reducing the cost, maintaining the standards, time management and efficient leadership.
For a project sponsor, project manager or a team member, a project charter is the most imperative concern in project management. A project charter includes a concise statement of the project purpose, problem addressed, Objectives, scope of the problem and the expected outcomes ( Lynch & Cloutier, 2003) . The name of the customers and the departments influenced by the project are also included. A project charter can be considered an informal contract amongst the project sponsor, manager and the project team. It is a reflection of collaboration and understanding between the participants. Just like any other contract, a project charter is an agreement between two willing individuals or parties and neither party has the mandate of changing the agreement (Timothy et al., 2019). It is also an item of value for both parties and under certain agreed conditions, the document can evolve. The document is drafted by either the project manager or the sponsor but prior to implementation, they both discuss every part of the charter to ensure that both parties fully understand the agreement. Unlike a contract, however, both parties feel obligated to the charter spirit due to the fact that the details of the project have not been worked out and there are chances that some specifics will change in the course of time. The significance of the project charter cannot be underrated.
A charter serves four major purposes which include authorizing the project manager to start the actual project and helping the project participants develop a mutual understanding. First, a charter formally authorizes the project existence and gives the project manager the mandate of using the organizational resources in the project. Second, a charter enables the project team and the managers develop a mutual understanding of the entailment of the project which includes a comprehensive rationalization of the scope of the project, resources needed, project schedule and the major risks (Timothy et al., 2019). A clear understanding of the charter enhances teamwork, commitment, collaboration, trust and communication amongst the project sponsor, project manager and the entire project team. Such an agreement could also ensure that neither party unilaterally modifies the content of the original agreement. Third, a project charter ensures that every individual is formally and personally committed towards achieving the objectives. Finally, a charter provides the project team with an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects. In other words, it is a lot easier to identify poor project choices and make necessary changes before implementation. The charter contains several elements including operating principles, risks and assumptions, success criteria, business case, resources and milestone schedules.
Different charter elements answer different questions and each of them is uniquely important. None of these elements can be underrated but the most important of them all are milestone schedules, operating principles, and risks analysis. In order to improve the performance of the team, the team principles or guidelines should be critically evaluated. The main objective of setting operating principles is ensuring that both parties are aware of the expectations and also to increase the effectiveness of the team. The most productive principles deal with decision making, respect among the participants and conducting meetings (Timothy et al., 2019). Another important element of the project charter is analysis of uncertainties, their degree and what might hinder project implementation. Major negative and positive risks should be identified so that appropriate measures are taken ( Kliem & Ludin, 2019) . A milestone schedule clearly indicates the anticipated accomplishments by the end of the project period. These three elements are undoubtedly vital in any project. The operating principles ensure that the project objectives are well understood which would eventually affect the overall success of the project. If such guidelines are not well drafted, the project team will start the project without specific goals. Risk analysis is also important; it ensures that the team develops effective strategies in case of any hindrance. It implies that under whatever circumstances the team will still meet its objectives. Finally, milestone schedules are important because they provide the project team with guidelines of when to do what. It ensures that the project is done comprehensively without leaving any detail within the specified time.
In making decisions on organizational changes, the project teams must incorporate several factors in their plan. Strategic planning which involves strategic analysis, portfolio management and guiding principle, is vital prior to starting any project. It ensures that the project team is well versed with the purpose and the expected outcome of the study as well as ensuring that all the available resources are maximally utilized. Developing the mission and vision of the project allows the involved persons have a bigger picture of the project and its significance. A project charter is a short concise document that outlines the actual scope of the project. It enhances collaboration, commitment and communication amongst the project sponsor, project manager and the project team. The three most important elements of the project charter are operating principles, milestone schedules and risk analysis.
References
Bian, J., Li, K. W., & Guo, X. (2016). A strategic analysis of incorporating CSR into managerial incentive design. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review , 86 , 83-93.
Kliem, R. L., & Ludin, I. S. (2019). Reducing project risk . Routledge.
Lynch, D. P., & Cloutier, E. T. (2003). 5 steps to success. ASQ Six Sigma Forum Magazine, 2 (2), 27-33. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/213850965?accountid=45049
Timothy, J. Kloppenborg , Vittal Anantatmula & Kathryn, N. Wells (2019). 4 th edition. Contemporary Poject Management.
