SEPT 21, 2017

BY: THOMAS MARTINEZ

The reason why nonprofits  need an appraisal system is that they need a way to gauge what are the overall goals of the society, compensation for the workers, and accountability for the managers. Organizations can become stagnant and produce a higher turn around if not looked at. Having an appraisal system for any business or nonprofit can be seen as maximizing the overall work production and moral. Companies care about their employees and want the best atmosphere for their workers. Having a system that sets goals and incentives will increase production while amplifying the overall morale of the organization's employees.

PROS & CONS

There are a few pros and cons of using a web-based appraisal system. The pros consist of having a better management system in place, maximizing efficiency in the working environment, and it keeps track and reminds supervisors of appraisals that need to be completed. Some of the cons of a web-based appraisal system would be the learning curve of the system, breach of the security of the system, and software issues and updates that are required for the system.

DESCRIPTION

In the past year, I took the lead on coordinating projects inside my tech department. I work closely with the manager and our clients to deliver projects in a timely manner. I used a project management system called JIRA and did my SEO using Google Analytics and Crazy Egg.

TOOLS:

Jira, SEO, Google Analytics, Crazy Egg

JUN 16, 2017

BY: THOMAS MARTINEZ

Project management process groups are in place to increase the chance of project success. These process groups consist of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Using these processing groups helps you progress from initiating activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities. (Schwalbe) Project management process groups are defined by the very word process. Which in form is a sequence of actions directed towards a precise result.

Starting with the initiating process group you can see the actions being defined and authorized for new projects and project phases. A project charter and a kick-off meeting are often used during initiation. (Schwalbe) With this process, you can establish an objective. Objectives are essentially the outcomes business wish to obtain from completing projects. (Suttle) After this is done you must determine the approach, schedule, budget, and delegate work.

After the initiating process is completed then the planning process takes place. This process includes the devising and maintaining a workable scheme to ensure that the project meets its scope, time, and cost goals as well as organizational needs. (Schwalbe) Often, you are met with various amounts of plans to address for multiple projects that are associated to each knowledge area. In the planning process, you must keep time as your asset along with planning the work that will be done from start to finish.

Executing the process after planning will help coordinate people and other resources to carry out project plans plus produce the deliverables of the project or phase. The deliverables consist of products and services produced or provided as part of a project.  (Schwalbe) The group executing the process integrates and coordinates people and other resources to carry out the project management plan. This inline effect direction, performance, management, and procurement. (Gilhooley)

Once we are done with execution of the process we start the monitoring and controlling process. This process consists of measuring the progress towards achieving project goals, monitoring deviations from plans, and taking corrective action to match progress with plans and customer expectations. (Schwalbe) With this process you can correct and make improvements to projects that are not meeting expectations. This will end up securing and developing a more cohesive process so you can make deadlines more often than not.

Lastly, after monitoring and controlling the process you will close the process. Closing the process includes formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bring it to an orderly end.  (Schwalbe) Usually administrative activities play a vital role into closing a process. When closing the process it's best to have a smooth transition from the results of the process. Gather those resources and complete the process of that project with the data collected.

When using the five project management process groups it’s imperative that you spend the most time in the executing process. If it were up to me, I would rather spend most of my time in the planning phase. Collecting information and planning how complete a project takes a good amount of time to do. Having a successful plan in order will give you the best shot at making the deadlines for projects, which will end up helping on cost and time in executing the process. Following the project management process will help not only with time and money but managers who are in need of a successful process. This methodology is standard and describes the best of what should be done for projects.

WORK CITED

Gilhooley, D. (2015, 02 19). Project Management and Group #3: The Executing Process Group. Retrieved from Ultra Consultants: http://www.ultraconsultants.com/project-management-executing-process-group/

Schwalbe, K. (2015). An Introduction To Project Management, Fith Edition. Minneapolis: Schwalbe.

Suttle, R. (2011, 12 11). What Is the Initiating Process in Project Management? Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/initiating-process-project-management-36001.html

DEC 01, 2015

BY: THOMAS MARTINEZ

In my opinion the reason most control systems fail in an effective control system has to be timeliness. Management have little control over time. They can only assume that deadlines will be met and that’s if there aren't any hiccups along the way. You can only try and do your best to motivate your employees to meet deadline. Time waits for no one and while other characteristics are important time is the characteristic that is the hardest to determine.

Let's give an example: say an employee has a deadline in a few days and that person ends up in the hospital. There lies a huge project that potentially has to be done by this particular employee and now you are stuck trying to coup with fallout. There are just too many variables for timeliness to be 100% perfect. A supervisor can lessen employee resistance to control by giving them the benefit of the doubt once they know their goals and have them participate in setting the standards. The problem is often not the controls themselves that create resistance but the lack of understanding of how information will be gathered and how it will be used.