Project Management

Today the competition in the business world has

grown to an extent where you need to deliver the
best products and services in order to sustain your
business.
To meet the demands of modern businesses you
need
to prioritize the projects in hand,
ensure smooth project execution and,
develop quality products in the stipulated time and
within the allocated budget.
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Project Management
To achieve these goals you must use
the latest project management techniques that enable
you to control a project from start to finish
And, motivate project teams to deliver best results.

For smooth project execution it is important that

the student understand the basic concepts
related to a project such as
the different phases in project development
and,the factors affecting a project

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What is a Project?
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken
to create a unique product or service
A project is considered temporary since once
the projects objectives are met, the project
team will break-up and go onto other projects.
The goal of a project is to create something
new, or unique.
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What is a Project Life Cycle?

a project lifecycle models how a project is planned,
controlled and monitored from its inception to its
completion
The level of formality and complexity of the lifecycle
for each project is constrained by number of factors,
including

budgetary constraints,
project team experience,
project size, and
project complexity.
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The Project Life Cycle: Four Basic Phases

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What is Project Management?

Project management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a
broad range of activities in order to meet the
requirements of the particular project
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken
to achieve a particular aim
Project management knowledge and practices
are best described in terms of their
component processes.
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Elements of Project Management

All projects have three basic
elements:
tasks,
resources and,
time.

These are interrelated and any

change in one has an effect on
the other two.
Whenever you make any
changes, the affect of those
changes will become instantly
visible
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Elements of Project Management-Tasks

Think of tasks as individual pieces of work which
need to be done. Some typical tasks may include:
Reports to management
Pieces of code for an application
Project definition documents
Any small (or large) item that contributes to
reaching the state goal of the project
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Elements of Project ManagementResources

Resources are anything used to meet the stated
goals of the project:
People
Machinery
Money

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Elements of Project Management-Time

For time you originally start with an estimate
(also know as a guess) on how long it may take
to reach the stated goal of the project.
As the project progresses, the time estimate
becomes more solid as each piece of the
project is examined and a more firm estimate
as to how long it'll take to produce the
individual pieces
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Elements of Project Management

These three pieces are
interrelated.
If you think of the three as a
triangle, in order for the
triangle to remain balanced,
any change on one side
required changes on the other
two.
For example, if a new task is
added to the project, you'll
need a resource to work on
this new task, and the new task
may (or may not) affect the
time side of the triangle
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Project Management Process Groups

The PM processes can
be placed into five
Process Groups:

Initiating,
Planning,
Executing,
Controlling and
Closing

Initiating Planning

Executing

Controlling

Closing
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Project Management Knowledge Areas

PM could be categorized into nine Knowledge
Areas
Project Integration Management,
Project Scope Management,
Project Time Management,
Project Cost Management,
Project Quality Management,
Project Human Resource Management,
Project Communications Management,
Project Risk Management, and
Project Procurement Management
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Initiating a Project
Project should be selected on:
Feasibility
Knowledge availability
Risk

Merit
Impact to organization

Cost
ROI
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Initiating a Project
The objectives of Initiating a Project are to:
Agree whether or not there is sufficient
justification to proceed with the project
Establish a stable management basis on which
to proceed
Document and confirm that an acceptable
Business Case exists for the project
Ensure a firm and accepted foundation to the
project prior to commencement of the work
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Initiating a Project
Agree to the commitment of resources for the
first stage of the project
Enable and encourage the Project Board to
take ownership of the project
Provide the baseline for the decision-making
processes required during the project's life
Ensure that the investment of time and effort
required by the project is made wisely, taking
account of the risks to the project
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Planning a Project
Writing the project plan provides a structured
framework for thinking about how the project will be
conducted, and for considering the project risks.
Ultimately you cannot write a plan until you have a
plan.
Having a comprehensive plan may require the
involvement of a range of functional experts, and it
often requires the involvement of decision-makers.
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Planning a Project
A significant value of writing a project plan is
the process rather than the outcome.
It forces the players to think through their
approach and make decisions about how to
proceed.
A project plan may require making
commitments, and so it can be both a difficult
and important part of establishing the project
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Planning a Project
The project plan provides a vehicle to facilitate
executive and customer review.
It should make major assumptions explicit and
provide a forum for communicating the
planned approach and for obtaining
appropriate approvals

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Planning a Project
If the project team includes diverse
organizations or ambiguous lines of authority
and communication, it may be useful to write
a Project Management Plan to describe the
roles and responsibilities of the various
organizational entities.
It can also be used to communicate
management systems and procedures to be
used throughout the project
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Planning a Project
The requirements definition and
specifications tell us what the project
needs to accomplish.
The Project Plan should tell us how,
when, by whom, and for how much.

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Planning a Project
If the project will be challenging, it is
important to define and control the
scope, schedule and cost so they can be
used as baselines for tracking progress
and managing change.
Defining the project management
triangle is the essence of a useful project
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plan

The Project Management Triangle

Project management
control can only be
achieved when cost,
schedule, and technical
objectives are clearly
documented,
realistically derived, and
managed deliberately

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The Project Management Triangle

The planning process should result in major parties to the
project having a clear sense of the cost, schedule, and
technical objectives.
The establishment of these three should attempt to define
the possible.
The projects technical objectives should be derived from a
clear understanding of the business requirements.
Project costs should be realistic and affordable.
The schedule should be achievable and appropriate for the
business needs
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different Project Plans

A large complex project may have many separate plans such
as:
Business Plan, Project Plan, Test Plan, Acquisition Plan,
Quality Assurance Plan, Integrated Logistics Support Plan,
Public Relations Plan, Training Plan, Software Development
Plan,
Project Management Plan, Marketing Plan, Risk
Management Plan,
Process Development Plan, Systems Engineering
Management Plan,
Staffing Plan, Communications Plan,
Configuration Management Plan, Data Management Plan,
Implementation Plan, Customer Service Plan, and so on.
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Planning and Establishing the Project

Baseline

When cost, schedule, and requirements definition are acceptable

to the organization, a project planning baseline must be
established !
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What happens during Project Execution?

Once the baseline plan has been developed,
approved, and the necessary resources put in
place, the project moves into the execution
phase
The project managers focus now shifts from
planning to executing and controlling
according to the commitments made in the
project plan
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What happens during Project Execution?

During project execution, the project manager
is responsible for coordinating data collection,
monitoring, and reporting project activities.
Information should be made available to
accurately identify issues and problems early
so that project risks can be minimized.

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Project Control
The control of the project involves processes
that need to be in place to ensure that the
project progresses according to the plan.
During tracking, monitoring, and reviewing,
the project team assesses the current state of
the project

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Project Control Processes

Review the completed activities
Identify milestones reached
Identify problems or issues such as a change
request
Update project schedule and progress
information
Update budget and calculate variances
Take corrective actions, if necessary and,
decide if the plan needs to be adjusted or
changed
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Plan Adjustment
A plan adjustment is a change to the internals of a plan, such
as adding resources or changing the sequences of activities,
that does not change the overall project scope, schedule or
cost.
A plan adjustment does not require the approval of all the
stakeholders, only those directly affected.
A plan change involves a change in scope, quality, schedule or
cost that must be approved by all the stake holders.
Finally, project status and any action taken or recommended
need to be communicated regularly to the stakeholders
including team members, management and the users.
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Project Control
Too many times the project team is busy getting on
with completing the project and not spending the
time and energy to understand the status of the
project and to identify problems
Then once a problem emerges, the team acts too
slowly to resolve the root of the problem.
The purpose of the project management control
process is to identify potential problems early and
present them from happening, or if that is not
possible, minimizing their impact.
Preventing problems is far easier and less costly than
solving them.
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P.M.-Potential Problems
Lack of good data on activity progress.
Inadequate definition of requirements.
Frequent and uncontrolled changes to the
baseline requirements.
Poor time and cost estimates
Difficulties in concluding tasks and projects,
because of lack of completion criteria
Frequent replacement of personnel.
Inadequate tracking and directing of project
activities
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P.M.-Potential Problems
One of the most common problems is that the
project manager and possibly the full project
team, is unaware of the existence of a major
problem at a stage when it could be contained
and eliminated.
This can be resolved by the consistent sharing
of information and taking action based on that
information.
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Closing and Maintenance

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the
project and the ending thereof.
Administrative activities include the archiving
of the files and documenting lessons learned.
Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it
includes:
Continuing support of end users
Correction of errors
Updates of the software / product over time
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Project Evaluation
Evaluation is an iterative process that focuses
on the product's use rather than its features
and functions.
Done early enough it can discover design
faults and reduce the costs of having to
rebuild everything.
It can reduce the need for a technical help
desk and training costs, and can increase user
satisfaction.
Evaluation can also reduce over design by
making you aware of what the user really
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needs

Project Evaluation
There is a range of different types of
evaluation that can be applied to a product.
This range includes but is not limited to the
following:
usability
expert review
design evaluation
prototype evaluation.
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 Project management is chiefly associated with

planning and managing change in an
organization,
but a project can also be something unrelated to
business - even a domestic situation, such as
moving house, or planning a wedding!

Projects can be various shapes and sizes, from

the small and straightforward to extremely
large and highly complex.
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 In organizations and businesses, project management can be

concerned with anything, particularly introducing or changing
things, in any area or function, for example:

people, staffing and management

products and services
materials, manufacturing and production
IT and communications
plant, vehicles, equipment
storage, distribution, logistics
buildings and premises
finance, administration, acquisition and divestment
purchasing
sales, selling, marketing
human resources development and training
customer service and relations
quality, health and safety,
legal and professional
technical, scientific, research and development
new business development
and anything else which needs planning and managing within
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organizations.
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What is not a Project?

Emergency response to operations
problems
Callouts
Repairs and troubleshooting

Routine operations support

Maintenance of equipment
Minor modifications and tuning of
equipment
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Project Management responsibilities

Manage the work involved in a
project in terms of:
Competing demands for scope, time,
cost, risk, and quality
Stakeholders with different needs and
expectations
Identified requirements
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Template for PM specification

(Initiation)

Describe purpose, aims and deliverables.

State parameters (timescales, budgets, range, scope,

territory, authority).

State people involved and the way the team will work
(frequency of meetings, decision-making process).

Establish 'break-points' at which to review and check

progress, and how progress and results will be measured.

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Classical Management Vs Project

Management
Classical management usually has
Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Controlling
Directing

Project management is the planning, organizing, directing,

and controlling of company resources for a relatively shortterm objective that has been established to complete specific
goals and objectives
We may notice that the staffing function has been missing as
the project manager does not staff the project
Staffing is a line responsibiity
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Assoc.Professor

Project duration
Not all industries have the same definition for
a short-term project
In engineering, the project might be for six
months or two years
In construction, three to five years

Long-term projects, which consume resources

full-time are usually set up as a separate
division
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 Now we know the project manager must control company

resources within time, cost and performance
Most companies have 6 resources,

Man
Manpower
Equipment
Facilities
Materials
Information / technology

The project manager does not control any of these resources

except money project budget
Resources are controlled by the line managers, functional
managers or resource managers
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 Successful project management strongly depends on

A good daily working relationship between the project manger and those line
managers who directly assign resources to projects
The ability of functional employees to report vertically to their line manager at
the same time that they report horizontally to one or more project managers

We see that functional employees who are assigned to a project manager

still take technical direction from their line mangers
Employees who report to multiple managers will always favour the
manager who controls the money
Thus most project managers appear to always be at the mercy of the line
managers!

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 In classical management, the manager does not necessarily

perform things for himself, but accomplishes objectives
through others in a group situation
In project management, the project manager actually works
for the line managers, not vice versa.
Many executives have a tendency to put a halo around the head of the
project manager and give him a bonus at project termination, when, in
fact, the credit should really go to the line managers, who are
continually pressured to make better use of their resources.

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 Project managers depend on line managers.

When the project manager gets in trouble, the only
place he can go is to the line manager because
additional resources are almost always required to
alleviate the problems
When a line manager gets in trouble, he usually goes
first to the project manager and requests either
additional funding or some type of authorization

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 who contributes to profits the line or project manager?

Project managers feel that they control all project profits because they
control the budget
Line managers argue that they must staff with appropriately
budgeted-for-personnel, supply the resources at the desired time, and
supervise the actual performance
Actually, both the vertical and horizontal lines contribute to profits

These type of conflicts can destroy the project management

structure

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 Project management is more behavioral than quantitative

Effective project management requires an understanding of
Quantitative tools and techniques
Organizational structures
Organizational behavior

OB is important because the functional employees at the

interface position find themselves reporting to more than one
boss a line manager and a project manager, for each project
they are assigned to

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PMs role
PM is responsible for coordinating and
integrating activities across multiple,
functional lines
Thus,
he needs strong communicative and interpersonal
skills
Must become familiar with the operations of each
line organization
Should have a general knowledge of the
technology
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 Although the project organization is a specialized, task-oriented entity, it

cannot exist apart from the traditional structure of the organization
To be an effective PM, an individual must have management as technical
skills
It is found that it is usually easier to train engineers rather than
businessmen to fill project management positions
Because the engineers often consider their careers limited in the functional
discipllines, sometimes look PM and PE as careers.
But becoming a manager entails learning about psychology, human behavior,
OB, interpersonal relations and communications.

The average age of PM in industry is between 30 & 40.

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 Because an individual often makes his most profitable contribution to

society between 30 & 40.
If they dont they may be severely limited in career growth.

When is an individual most concerned about money?

It is not between 20 & 30 because coming out of college, any money looks
good!
It is not between 40 & 50 because individuals are fairly set in their ways and
living styles
But between 30 & 40, individuals is thinking about financial security, the
future, a new home, travel and educating his children

The younger individual is willing to take more risks than the older
individual in order to meet the project objectives

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 The age of the PM varies from industry to

industry
Data processing PMs are usually younger
R & D PMs may span the entire range because of
the technology requirements
Manufacturing & Construction PMs are often
older because their experience is essential

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 The lowest turnover rates of any profession in the world are in

PM and PE!
In a project environment, the PM and PE get to see their
project from birth to death
Work challenge and other non-monetary rewards are
becoming increasingly important today
The PM is a general manager & gets to know the total
operation of the company
Thats why PM is often used as a training ground to prepare
future general managers!
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PM Risks
PM is often recognized only as a high-salaried, highly challenging
position!
Some project management positions may require not only a 60 hour
week, but also extensive time away from home
When a PM falls in love with his job than his family, the result is lack
of friends, a poor home life and possibly a divorce!
Example : during the birth of the missile and space programs,
companies estimated that the divorce rate among PM and PE
was twice the national average!

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 It is found from some workaholic PMs:

Every Friday he thinks that there are only two
more working days until Monday
At 5.00pm. he considers the working day only half
over
He has no time to rest or relax
He always takes home work from the office
He takes work with him on vacations.

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Do we need PM?
The following questions give some insight to
whether we need PM or not?
Are the jobs complex?
Are there dynamic environmental considerations?
Are the considerations tight?
Are there several activities to be integrated?
Are there several functional boundaries to be
crossed?

If any of these is answered YES, the PM is

necessary!
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Timothy

 Not all industries need PM

Several industries with simple tasks, whether
in a static or a dynamic environment, do not
need PM
Manufacturing industries with slowly changing
technology do not need PM, unless theres a
requirement for special projects

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 On the micro level, virtually all organizations are either

Marketing
Engineering, or
Manufacturing driven

But on the macro level, the organizations are either project or non-project
driven
In a project-driven organization, such as construction or aerospace, all
work is characterized through projects, with each project as a separate
cost center having its own profit & loss statement
The total profit to the corporation is simply the summation of the profits on all
profits.
Everything centers around the projects

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 In the non-project-driven organization, such as low-technology

manufacturing (for ex.weaving with non-automated looms), profit and loss
are measured on vertical or functional lines
In this, projects exist merely to support the product lines or functional
lines
Priority resources are assigned to the revenue-producing functional line
activities rather than the projects
It may have a steady stream of projects all of which are usually designed
to enhance the manufacturing operations
Some of the projects may be customer-requested such as,
Introduction of process changes to enhance the final product
Introduction of process change concepts to enhance product reliability

But this has the tip-of-the-iceberg syndrome

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Timothy

Tip-of-the-iceberg!
On the surface, all we see is a lack of authority for
the project manager.
But beneath the surface we see the causes;
There is excessive executive meddling due to lack of
understanding of project management, which, in turn,
resulted from an inability to recognize the need for proper
training.

Many of these problems surface much later in the

project and result in a much higher cost to correct as
well as increasing project risk
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