Organizational Structures and Staffing
Human Resource Management
Project Management
Product/Service Procurement
Capacity Building

Key Project Management processes

  • Define the problem or change
  • Set the scope and objectives
  • Establish a team with clear roles and responsibilities
  • Identify stakeholders and their needs
  • Develop a detailed project plan
  • Identify risks and ways to mitigate them
  • Assign tasks and activities
  • Coordinate activities and manage resources
  • Track progress against the project plan
  • Adjust budgets, resources, activities, and timelines
  • Finalize deliverables and review the project
  • Close the project once objectives are met and prepare final reports

Project management refers to the planning, implementation, controlling, and monitoring of projects. As unique initiatives within an organization, projects are designed to achieve one or more specific goals. They have a clear beginning and end and do not usually form part of normal operations. Many projects are designed and carried out to solve specific problems or to introduce a change.

Understanding project management

Project management includes the activities required to achieve the goal/s and the coordination of elements such as human resources, skills, tools, budgets, and timelines. Each project has defined deliverables that serve as benchmarks for measuring and monitoring progress and activities that are carried out to achieve these deliverables using available resources.

Example: An education-related project might involve installing Internet infrastructure in schools to support digital learning and teaching, and real-time data submission to an EMIS.

Who are Project managers?

Project managers oversee projects and ensure they are completed successfully. Their role includes balancing and adjusting elements like materials and services costs, budget allocations, human resources, deadlines, and quality of work.

Why is project management important?

Project management is necessary in the EMIS ecosystem because various projects are required to support its implementation.

Examples:

  • Procurement of hardware for data collection in schools is a project that supports EMIS implementation.
  • Change management for introducing a new curriculum requires project management to ensure teachers and principals receive training and the EMIS can collect and process data related to the new curriculum.

For those seeking an overview of Project Management for EMIS implementation, explore these essential resources:

  1. Project Management Fundamentals – This guide explains how project management tools, techniques, and processes can help organizations navigate disruption, implement change effectively, and improve outcomes. It also offers advice on maximizing resources and minimizing waste.
  2. Project Management (2nd Edition) – This book offers a comprehensive overview of the project management lifecycle, including initiation, planning, execution, control, and closeout processes, all of which are common to most projects.
  3. Lessons Learned template - Use this template to document insights gained throughout a project’s life cycle. It helps identify root causes of problems, implement improvements, and avoid recurring issues in current and future

Steps for effective Project Management

  • Define the problem or change for which a project is required.
  • Define the project scope and objectives.
  • Establish a project team with specific roles and responsibilities.
  • Identify stakeholders and their needs impacted/affected by the project result.
  • Develop a project plan that includes deliverables, specific actions, timelines, budgets, resource allocations, communication strategies and processes, reporting processes, and feedback mechanisms.
  • Identify risks to the project and ways to mitigate them.
  • Assign tasks and activities to project team members.
  • Coordinate activities and manage resources.
  • Track progress against the project plan.
  • Adjust budgets, resources, activities and timelines where necessary.
  • Finalize deliverables.
  • Review the project.
  • Close the project when the objectives have been met and ensure final reporting documentation is prepared.

    • Enable project management success with tools and training

    Modern project management often uses software application tools to enable successful project implementation. These include tools for project planning, communication and collaboration, task management, time tracking, resource management, and document management.

    Project management methodologies and tools vary in complexity. Their effectiveness depends on the skills of the people working on the project, the available resources, and how well the tools or methods align with the project’s needs. Building users’ capacity to understand project processes and tools is critical to project management success. Proper training and support ensure tools are used effectively, ultimately contributing to the success of the initiative.