Project management by Voluntary Sector-K.Govindaraju

K.Govindaraju

In an orientation workshop on Project Management by Voluntary Sector for SEVAI NGO project team, SEVAI-NGO Director K.Govindaraju enlightened “The development sector has widely expanded in its scope and content. It has become increasingly technical, focused and professionalized. There are various types of NGO (non-governmental organizations) and NPO (non-profit organization) which shall be classified by orientation, Co-operation and Structure. The NGO and NPO organizational setup have alternative names like independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grassroots organizations, transnational social movement organizations, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations and non-state actors. NGOs play a crucial role in uplifting the society. Rural and backward areas in particular benefit from NGOs’ activities. Education, healthcare, human rights etc are some fronts where NGOs are doing commendable work. Participatory NGO Non-Government Organization) is characterized by self-help projects where local people are involved particularly in the implementation of a project by contributing cash, tools, land, materials, labour etc. In the classical community development project, participation begins with the need definition and continues into the planning and implementation stages.  Empowering NGO is where the aim is to help poor people develop a clearer understanding of the social and economic factors affecting their lives, and to strengthen their awareness of their own potential power to control their lives. In any case, there is maximum involvement of the people with NGOs acting as facilitators.  NGOs work to address various concerns and issues prevailing within the society. Ever since independence, NGOs have played a crucial role in helping the needy in India, providing support to the distressed and elevating the socio-economic status of poor in the country.NGOs handle people oriented projects in rural .urban and different sectors of Development. The project describes in general terms how the development NGO sector has evolved in size and activity and to identify areas in which government policies have affected that evolution with objectives to describe in general terms how the development NGO sector has evolved in size and activity and to identify areas in which outside influences have affected that evolution. Operational NGOs seek to "achieve small-scale change directly through projects". They mobilize financial resources, materials, and volunteers to create localized programs. They hold large-scale fundraising events and may apply to governments and organizations for grants or contracts to raise money for projects. A common NGO mission is to support a region’s social and economic growth priorities. These efforts are said to be in the development sector. Non-Government Organization (NGO) or development sector practitioners all agree that Project Management skills are crucial to successful project delivery. Effective project management will play a key role in delivering the benefits successfully, particularly in the domains of planning and monitoring and evaluation. NGOs need to have individuals on their teams who are able to direct projects through inception, implementation and closure successfully. These individuals not only have to have project management knowledge but must have development sector or NGO-specific knowledge on how to run these particular projects successfully. A project is a unique venture with a beginning and an end, conducted by people to meet established goals within parameters of cost, schedule and quality. A project always has certain goals, a clear time frame and budget. It is unique and separate from normal organization work, "it takes place outside the process world”. A project is a unique venture with a beginning and an end, conducted by people to meet established goals within parameters of cost, schedule and quality. A project always has certain goals, a clear time frame and budget. It is unique and separate from normal organization work, ‘it takes place outside the process world’. It is limited by budget, schedule and resources; Developed to resolve a clear goal or set of goals; Focused on affected group of people. Return on investment (ROI) is to “gain maximum value from out of its input. Project management for NGOs need to focus on strategic planning for NGOs in which flexibility and constant learning is the most important thing. The main emphasis is strategic and project planning using current real-world examples.  Step-by-step processes and techniques will be introduced for the various phases of a project life cycle. Project success is mainly determined by four factors: Budget, schedule, performance and acceptance. Acceptance is the long-run goal in order to make the project’s effects sustainable. Goals most likely to be conflicting are budget and schedule as well as budget and performance.The General Project Characteristics are endeavors with a clear life cycle; Building blocks in the design and execution of organizational strategies; Responsible for the new and improved products, services and organizational processes; Provide a philosophy and strategy for the management of change; Entail crossing functional and organization boundaries; Traditional management functions of planning, organizing, motivating, directing and controlling apply; Principal outcomes are the satisfaction of stakeholder requirements within technical, cost and schedule constraints; Project ends when its objectives are successfully reached. Project success is mainly determined by four factors: Budget, schedule, performance and acceptance. Acceptance is the long-run goal in order to make the project’s effects sustainable. Goals most likely to be conflicting are budget and schedule as well as budget and performance. Project manager is not automatically a leader. Managers have official titles in an organization but real leaders focus on interpersonal relationships rather than administration. Important differences exist between the two on: Creation of purpose, network development, and execution of tasks, outcomes, focus and time frame. Effective project leaders have to communicate well, be flexible, be good team players and should be skilled at various influence tactics. Useful skills for relationship building and maintenance in a team are: Self-awareness; Self-regulation); Motivation, to measure progress and set challenging goals; Empathy; Social skills. Risk management encompasses four Stages: Risk identification. Analysis of probability and consequences. Risk mitigation strategies (accept, minimize, share, transfer, reserves, mentoring, training) that shall minimize the potential impact of an adverse event. Control and documentation helps to classify and codify risks, responses to them and outcomes. Like this, a knowledge base for future can be created”. -KRIS