8316-609 Leading Project Implementation

Unit Overview

8316-609 Leading Project Implementation is a critical unit within the ILM Level 6 module. This unit focuses on ensuring that the leaders can effectively handle the process of planning and implementing strategies that have been put up to effectively facilitate success within the organisation. Leaders must build the ability to effectively handle duties and responsibilities that involve being able to mobilise resources and coordinate people within teams to effectively handle a project. The senior managers and middle managers have a larger scope within which they must implement the strategies. It involves being able to effectively implement principles of teamwork as well as project management to facilitate the completion of complex projects that the organisation may face.

Leading successful projects requires the inclusion and combination of different strategies and approaches for the success of the teams and other organisations in general. This involves theories and models as well as principles of handling resources to effectively meet the goals and objectives of the team in relation to the specific complex project. 8316-609 Leading Project Implementation is a unit that focuses on approaches of planning a complex project, leading the project to a successful close and evaluating the project in general.

It is a critical unit in boosting the ability of leaders to complete specific goals and objectives within their areas of responsibility. The unit aims at building the understanding and ability to effectively manage a complex project to its completion, which is a requirement for both middle managers and senior leaders within the workplace. The unit is taught in 22 hours of guided learning, including supervised practice, and contributes 12 credit values towards the completion of the ILM Level 6 module.

Suitability of the Unit

Leaders must be able to oversee the completion of various projects in their areas of responsibility. Each leader is tasked with the duty of coordinating and managing activities within a specific unit and area of leadership. This involves being able to effectively plan the project, mobilise research and work the project to completion. As such, 8316-609 Leading Project Implementation is a critical unit that suits all leaders within the organisation responsible for completing projects in their areas of responsibility and practice.

The unit is designed for middle managers but covers all stakeholders within the workplace. It helps to improve the understanding of the principles and methods of impacting the contribution of leaders in leading successful projects. External consultants and employees can also pursue the unit to improve their ability to understand the process of handling projects to completion and making a positive contribution in their areas of responsibility.

Learning Outcomes

On completing the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Understand the feasibility and risks that could be associated with a project they are completing

• Set goals and success criteria for the project they are managing

• Plan for the project to effectively meet its goals by identifying financial, human and other resources that are required using specific standard methods and management tools

• Select an appropriate project team

• Led the project team to meet both the short-term milestones and long-term goals of the project

• Monitor and review the progress of implementing the strategies in the project, making adjustments to rectify challenges or recover from short-term failures

• Manage the resources including the budget identifying variances and ensuring these variance don’t affect the initial plan and feasibility of the project

• Develop and implement an evaluation tool for the project and make effective reports to the stakeholders on the performance of the project

• Reflect on the outcomes of the project and discuss the areas of improvement that the project team could have used to boost the performance of the project in general

Key Learning Areas

8316-609 Leading Project Implementation improves the understanding of the contribution of the leader to the process of managing projects within the organisation. Some of the main areas of learning that are covered within the unit include:

Project Planning

This is a critical area of learning that helps the learners to understand the approaches to consider when establishing the procedures and approaches that they can use to complete a project in their areas of responsibility. The learners are guided to build knowledge and skill of creating SMART goals that are designed to guide the completion of the project. The learners are also guided to develop an understanding of models that they can use to delegate duties within the project team and mobilise required resources to facilitate the management and completion of the project.

Leading Complex Projects

This area of learning provides the learners with the support that they need to understand the important approaches that they can use to handle and manage complex projects. Learners are introduced to the approaches that they can use to effectively handle the people within the team, including the principles of delegation and performance management to ensure that each team member within the project team is able to contribute effectively to meeting the goals of the project. The learners are also guided to understand budgetary control methods that they can use to evaluate the variances within the project process and approaches that they can use to ensure that these variances do not compromise the financial performance of the project.

Evaluation of the Project

This area of learning helps the learners to understand the practices and approaches that can be used to effectively understand the efficiency of the project. It helps them to effectively set meetings with different stakeholders, mainly the senior managers or shareholders, as well as the project team, to discuss the outcomes and efficiency of the procedure of the project. The learners are also introduced to different evaluation tools that they can use to evaluate the financial and overall performance of the project that they have implemented.

Evaluation

On completion of the unit, the learners are evaluated using different mechanisms. The theoretical understanding of the principles of leading complex projects is evaluated using a written assessment. Supervised practice and simulated exercise play a critical role in assessing the ability to implement various principles of project management. Assessors use these approaches to understand the ability to implement the learned principles in the organisational setting.