FACULTY : HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

PROGRAMME : DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

PART : 2:2

FORMAT : BLOCK

GROUP MEMBERS : RACHEL S. MUTENDI L0191327C

Projects are used in all economic and non-economic fields to organize activities with the goal
of achieving desired outcomes. Projects, project portfolios, programs, and organizational
strategy all have a direct relationship. Projects are used to implement strategies because they
are the most common technique of creating and coping with change (Cleland, Gareis, 2006).
According to Meskendahl (2010), projects are the essential building element for
implementing strategies, hence project performance determines corporate success. Projects
that are aligned with strategic objectives add value to an organization, according to PMI
(2013). Successful project implementation has a favourable impact on the organization,
influencing not only short- and medium-term development, but also long-term development.
All the same, the purpose of the ensuing essay is to discuss some of the major factors that
influence or determine the success of the project; one thing to take note of is that, some of the
factors may be associated with the project directly, such as having competent project team
members, and ensuring that a proper project plan is designed and implemented, whilst taking
into consideration that excellent communication amongst all project stakeholders is put into
practice. On the other hand, outside forces that may or cannot be controlled need to
accounted for, which basically amounts to an element of proper risk management. All these
aforementioned factors are therefore imperative to the success of a project.

It's a good idea to start by defining some of the main terms and concepts connected to the
topic at hand. A project is a collection of actions that must be completed in order to
accomplish a certain goal. A project, according to the Project Management Institute (PMI), is
"any temporary undertaking with a defined beginning and finish." Depending on its
complexity, it can be controlled by a single person or hundreds of individuals. Project
management, on the other hand, is the act of organizing and preparing an organization's
resources in order to complete a given work, event, or duty. Project management is often a
one-time endeavour rather than a continuous one, requiring the management of both people
and financial resources.

Initially, project success was defined as achieving the project's goals and expected outcomes
while adhering to set schedule, cost, and performance parameters. The "golden triangle" was
no longer regarded sufficient to define project success as expertise in the field of project
management grew. Project success was recognized as a multi-dimensional, complicated term
comprising many factors (Mir, Pinnington, 2014). Because each project is unique, project
success criteria differ from one to the next (Müller, Turner, 2007). To add to the complexity,
the concept of project success has been tackled in respect to stakeholders' perceptions in
recent decades (Davis, 2014), with the understanding that success means various things to
different people (Shenhar et al, 2001). What determines project success, referred to as success
factors, is also approached and considered to be of great interest.

Project Success Factors

Competent Project Staff – Most project management practitioners assume that, by simply
having the right numbers to complete a specific project is the only way to attain project
success. However, in most recent times, it has been discussed and revealed that it is more
than that; a project which can be defined as a ‘legal entity’ as it has its own binding
documents, needs to make sure it achieves a perfect blend amongst having the right numbers,
whilst making sure these numbers have the right amount of professional experience in their
given field, and making sure that they also have the proper qualifications to adequately
perform their prescribed duties. Without the right team in place, any strategy and plan have
the potential of completely falling apart. Because of this, not only the core project staffs, but
also the expert resources and all stakeholders should be part of the team dynamic.

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities - When working with projects, clearly defined
roles and duties are essential for a successful implementation. The effectiveness of a team can
be boosted by knowing what they need to do and when they need to do it. The Responsibility
Matrix is a valuable tool for defining roles and responsibilities. Building from the above point
of having competent staff, it can be asserted that staff can only be effective and efficient in
their duties upon the condition that they are absolutely clear on what they are supposed to do,
and aware of where their duties end. This also presents an opportunity for clear accountability
as to knowing why certain tasks were or were not done, and by whom those tasks were given
to. A study by Beleiu et al (2015) revealed that at least 70% of respondents agreed that
clearly defined roles were imperative to the success of a project.

Proper Communication Plan – According to Davis (2014), the success of a project depends
on paying great attention to details and listening to outside sources of information. It is
critical to have open lines of communication within the team. When working with a tight
schedule, it's critical that the tea stays well-informed. When a problem occurs in one element
of a project, it might have a detrimental impact on the rest of the project. As a result, the
greatest method to avoid conflicts is to communicate. Internal communication should also be
prioritized within the organization. Keeping a record of key initiatives in the organization will
make it easier to find new policies and business procedures. If this isn't done, a team may
make the same mistakes they've already made. Listening and paying attention to stakeholders
is a critical component of success. Lastly, good communication also includes knowing when
to say no. A project team should never promise anything they know they cannot deliver.
Saying no in the beginning could save an overabundance of unnecessary problems later.
Often times, persons and businesses tend to oversell their capabilities and this may lead to
bad project results; hence by stating at the very beginning that they can or cannot do
something, the client knows which course of action to take thereafter.

Adherence to planned budget, timeline and performance criteria - Westerveld (2003)

articulates that project usually have set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that need to be
attained as a means to determine project success. Any project, be it a profit making or non-
profit making, has to work within the confines of a predetermined budget. It should be noted
that, working far below the pre-determined budget, whilst it may seem desirable at a
particular point in time, this may be an indication of a reduction in quality of output.

Careful Risk Management – According to seasoned project managers, activities of projects

rarely go off exactly as planned. During the planning process, it is vital to produce a risk log
with an action plan for the risks that the project could face (Rao; 2010). Make sure all key
stakeholders are aware of the risk log and know where exactly they can find it. This should be
done so that, in the event that something happens, the project team can quicky resolve the
issue with the management plan that has already been set in place. This will in turn give the
team confidence when facing project risks and help the clients feel comfortable with the
projects’ progression.

Strong Project Closure – If a project does not have strong closure, then it had the potential
to continue to consume resources more than it should. Also, the project team should be firm
and agree with the customer that all critical success factors have been met. Confirmation of
the project delivery, testing ad release must be agreed upon and signed off. Satisfaction are
good forms of documentation to log and file for future reference and valuable information for
use in the future. It is therefore the project manager’s job to ensure that everything runs
smoothly o a project; however, having a great project manager does not guarantee a
successful project outcome. The entire team should be paying attention to key factors and this
will likely lead the project to true success. This will in turn lead to proactive, organized
project plans and an increase in quality of all future projects.
The beneficial outcomes of implementing initiatives are determined by success factors. They
must be identified before to the implementation of initiatives, beginning with the concept
phase. However, because project surroundings are dynamic, the level of influence of success
factors may alter over time. As a result, constant monitoring of these parameters is required,
and the project manager should intervene when necessary to improve the odds of meeting
success criteria. Therefore, in conclusion, implementing the above-mentioned factors will
lead to a successful project and develops a good rapport with customers and stakeholders. 
These factors also help you to avoid intricacies faced by the project managers during the
project development process.
REFERENCES

Beleiu, I., Crisan, E. and Nistor, R., (2015). Main factors influencing project
success. Interdisciplinary Management Research, 11(2), pp.59-72.

Cleland, D., Gareis, R. (2006). Global Project Management Handbook, 2nd Edition,
McGraw-Hill Print

Davis, K. (2014). Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project success.
International Journal of Project Management 32, 18

Görög, M. and PMI-RMP, P.S., (2013). August. Strategic-Oriented Implementation of

Projects. Project Management Institute.

Meskendahl, S. (2010). The influence of business strategy on project portfolio management

and its success — A conceptual framework. International Journal of Project Management 28,
807–817

Westerveld, E. (2003). The Project Excellence Model: linking success criteria and critical
success factors. International Journal of Project Management

Rao, C.K. (2010). Project Management and Control.