Project coordination is the process by which the efforts of team members are synchronized so that the desired goals are achieved efficiently. Coordinating the activities of an agricultural project involves uniting all the activities.
The success of a project lies in proper coordination, which is highly complex in nature. Since several agencies or departments are responsible for different components of a project, unless the method of coordinating these agencies or departments is pre-planned and monitored, project implementation will suffer, leading to resource wastage and delays.
The first step for proper coordination of project activities is to appoint the project manager at the earliest, identify the project team early, and assign them clearly defined responsibilities. The project manager’s prime responsibility is to coordinate the efforts of all project participants, and it is for this reason that the project manager is granted the authority to cut across various organizational lines to get things done.
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Key Coordination Activities in Agricultural Projects
Some of the activities to be coordinated in managing agricultural projects include:
1. Mobilizing manpower and materials so that resources are available at the right time.
2. Coordinating the engagement of contractors.
3. Engaging consultants.
4. Managing the receipt, storage, and timely release of materials and equipment to the project sites.
Regular meetings between the project manager and the functional heads are essential to sort out problem areas and outstanding issues. Since the authority structure in project management can create confusion in the delegation of authority, identifying the person with the proper authority to address specific issues may be challenging; such issues can be resolved by informal discussions between the project manager and the functional heads.
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Effective Coordination Strategies for Agricultural Projects
The project manager must pay attention to the following areas to ensure effective coordination:
1. Carrying out adequate pre-contract appraisals and choosing the appropriate contract strategy.
2. Establishing an effective communication network among project team members, functional heads, external stakeholders, and other key participants before the commencement of the project.
3. Ensuring that all project activities are carried out in their logical sequence, in accordance with their importance, and without any conflict.
4. Continuously evaluating progress against the plans and making periodic adjustments as required.
The project manager must coordinate three types of participants: direct participants, indirect participants, and external participants. Direct participants include all those involved in project planning and implementation such as the project team members in charge of execution, contractors, experts or consultants, and material/equipment suppliers.
Indirect participants are those indirectly responsible for project execution, such as personnel from the project directorate and other functional departments like finance, marketing, sales, planning, and human resource development.
External participants include statutory and regulatory authorities, personnel from health or social insurance departments, and institutions like banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies. All three groups must be given equal importance, as ignoring any one group will jeopardize the project.
Since the project manager is required to work across organizational lines and authorities to achieve project objectives, establishing good rapport with the employees and heads of all functional departments is essential for smooth coordination of project activities.
In addition, since external experts, specialists, and consultants play a role in executing projects, the project manager should build strong relationships with them and act as a bridge between the external participants and the internal project team members.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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