Project Management

1. Project Management: concepts & key terms, evolution of integrated project management system, aligning projects with organization
strategy, effective project portfolio management system, project life cycle, and feasibilities of projects-different forms of project contracting.

2. Project Scope Management: defining project scope, creating work break down structure (WBS), project roll up, process break down
structure, responsibility matrix.

3. Project Scheduling: network models, PERT & CPM using softwares, measuring risk.

4. Project Risk Management: contingency planning, scheduling resources, reducing project duration.

5. Project Team Management: building high-performance project teams, managing virtual project teams, project control process.
Performance measurement and evaluation, project quality, planning, quality assurance, quality audit, project closure, post completion audit.

1. Project Management: concepts & key terms, evolution of integrated project management system, aligning projects with organization
strategy, effective project portfolio management system, project life cycle, and feasibilities of projects-different forms of project contracting.

Project Management - Definition and Important Concepts

Project Management is the art of managing all the aspects of a project from inception to closure using a scientific and structured
methodology. The term project may be used to define any endeavor that is temporary in nature and with a beginning or an end. The project
must create something unique whether it is a product, service or result and must be progressively elaborated. As the definition implies, not
every task can be considered a project. It would be worthwhile to keep this definition in mind when categorizing projects and studying their
role in the success of the organization. With the above definition of the project, one gets a clear idea on what a project is.

Program Management is defined as a department that centralizes the management of projects. What this means is that the PMO or the
Project Management Office is a repository of all the projects that are being executed in an organization. Program Management serves the CIO
(Chief Information Officer) by providing him or her with regular status updates regarding the progress of all the projects in the company.

The PMOs role is to ensure that the projects are financially viable and to raise an alert whenever there is a possibility or occurrence of a cost
overrun. The PMO also keeps tab on the billing and other details that are concerned with the project. Thus, the PMOs function is to oversee
the projects coming under its domain and act as a kind of monitoring agency for them. In the current scenario, there is a need for visionary
leadership by the CIOs in addition to the technical leadership.
Technical leadership is the ability to spot trends in the technical space and leverage them for the success of the project. This involves
choosing the right technology and being able to stay ahead of the curve with respect to new technologies. On the other hand, program
visionary leadership is needed to control costs and effectively manage productivity increases and tighter integration of processes. This is
relevant in the context of the ongoing economic crisis where the accent is on cutting costs and improving the bottom line.

The role of a project manager is akin to that of a conductor in a symphony. Individually each of the artists knows what has to be done for his
or her role. But, there needs to be a person who has the overall big picture or the collective vision to make the performance a success.
Similarly, the project manager drives the entire project team in pursuit of common goals.

The Project Managers role is to ensure that the overall objectives of the project are achieved with the participation of each
individual member. The project manager is like the Prima Donna and his or her acumen depends on how well he or she can leverage the
strengths of the individual members while minimizing the impact of their weaknesses. Program managers take the same view but at a much
higher level. Their job is on the overall bottom line for the division or the company and they drive the individual project managers. This is
similar to that of a pyramid where the CIO or the program manager sits on the apex and the project manager at the next level, project leads
further down and so on.

What is a Project ?
According to the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) 3rd edition, A project is defined as a temporary endeavor with a
beginning and an end and it must be used to create a unique product, service or result. Further, it is progressively elaborated. What this
definition of a project means is that projects are those activities that cannot go on indefinitely and must have a defined purpose.

A project is an activity to meet the creation of a unique product or service and thus activities that are undertaken to accomplish
routine activities cannot be considered projects. For instance, if your project is less than three months old and has fewer than 20 people
working on it, you may not be working in what is called a project according to the definition of the term.

It has to be remembered that the term temporary does not apply to the result or service that is generated by the project. The project may be
finite but not the result. For instance, a project to build a monument would be of fixed duration whereas the result that is the monument may
be for an indefinite period in time.

A project is an activity to create something unique. Of course, many of the office buildings that are built are similar in many respects but each
individual facility is unique in its own way.

Finally, a project must be progressively elaborated. This means that the project progresses in steps and continues by increments. This also
means that the definition of the project is refined at each step and ultimately the purpose of the progress is enunciated. This means that a
project is first defined initially and then as the project progresses, the definition is revisited and more clarity is added to the scope of the
project as well as the underlying assumptions about the project.
What are the basic phases of a project and their purposes ?

The phases of a project make up the project life cycle. It is convenient for the project managers to divide the project into phases for control
and tracking purposes. Each milestone at each stage is then elaborated and tracked for completion. The basic phases of a project are
dependent on the kind of project that is being carried out. For instance, a software project may have requirement, design, build, test,
implementation phases whereas a project to build a metro or a building may have different names for each phase.

Thus, the naming of the phases of a project depends on the kind of deliverables that is sought at each phase. For the purpose of definition, the
phases may be divided into initial charter, scope statement, plan, baseline, progress, acceptance, approval and handover. This classification is
according to the PMBOK. Thus, the phases of a project are closely correlated with that of the project cycle.

What is Project Management ?

A project in any organization is collaboration across departments to achieve a single well defined objective. The process of planning,
organizing and managing resources to achieve the organizational objective is called project management.

Project management is very important in production of goods and services. Idea generation to final production of product or service, each step
can be categorized as individual projects. Any project requires a project manager, who leads the project to its logical conclusion. Project
manager is responsible for appointing team members with different background but essential in completion of the project.

Project Characteristics

A project is not normal day to day activity undertaken by organization rather it is specific, non-routine activity of varying time frame and
impact viability of the business in the long run. A typical project has following characteristics:

Timeline: A project has a definite timeline with measurable starting and end point.
Resources: A project has limited resource of capital and manpower.
Tools: Special type of tools and techniques are used for project management (Gantt Charts, etc.)
Team: Project management requires diverse team stretching across departments and functions.

Project Life Cycle

A typical project is divided into following phases. Each phase of the project has its own importance and impact on overall success of the
project.

Initiation Phase: In this phase of the project, feedback received from customers is analyzed and brainstorming is done as to develop
new product or modify existing product to meet the new demands.
Project Definition Phase: In this phase of the project efforts are made to define the solution for the problem posed by customers.
Feasibility Study: In this phase, planning of the project is made and definite milestones are established.
 Project Execution: In this phase all activities and milestones established in the earlier phase are executed in a timely and orderly
manner. This phase utilizes maximum of all resources.
Project Conclusion: This is the last phase of the project. In this phase, final product or service is handed over to the operations team
for commercial production.

Project Management Activities

Project management activities are mainly divided into three main categories Planning, Scheduling and Controlling.

1. Planning: Planning activities include defining project objective, resource planning, etc.
2. Scheduling: Scheduling activities include developing detailed milestones and guidelines for the project. These activities are
performed typically before actual initiation of the project.
3. Controlling: Controlling activities include developing budget and finance control points, measuring of scheduled tasks are performed.

Project Management Techniques

There are several techniques utilized for project management. Some of the techniques are as follows, and they are mainly used for project
scheduling.

Gantt Charts: These charts are used to depict the project tasks against time. It monitors progress of individual project tasks and also
highlights dependency if any between those project tasks.
Network Planning Techniques: These techniques show the relationship between project activities, project duration, critical path,
constraints of non-critical activities and resource utilization. There are two types of network planning techniques Critical Path Method
(CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT).

What is Integrated Project Management?

Integrated project management is the collection of processes that ensure various elements of projects are properly coordinated.1

It establishes and manages the involvement of all relevant stakeholders and resources, according to defined processes devised from your
organizations set of standard processes.

Finally, it involves making trade-offs among competing objectives and alternatives to meet or exceed needs and expectations.

Integrated project management aims to work at an organizational scale. Far too often, project management knowledge remains siloed in
individual departments at a business. How IT manages its projects is rarely shared with the Product teams approach.

As Maciej Bodych notes:

The lack of proper communication inside the company is the main cause of a situation in which everyone builds his or her own island of
knowledge about project management...an integrated approach and a general view of the organization enable effective development in
project, program, and project portfolio management.

Which is to say, integrated project management describes a way to understand, collect, share and implement project management knowledge
and best practices across the organization.

Sounds simple enough, right? Putting it into practice, however, presents a challenge.

In the next section, Ill share some more details on the integrated project management approach.

Key Components of Integrated Project Management

Although the implementation is subjective depending on the size and scale of your organization, theoretically speaking, integrated project
management has the following key components:

1. Project Charter

The project charter is usually the first step in integrative management. This is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project.

The project charter is "ground zero" for the project. It provides all stakeholders an initial delineation of the roles and responsibilities of
different resources. It also outlines the objectives of the project and identifies the key stakeholders.

Finally, the project charter defines the authority and responsibilities of the project manager.
2. Project Scope

Developing the project scope is usually the second step after outlining the project charter. This is where you specify the goals and objectives
of the project.

To recap, goals are long-term aims of the project (such as "increasing social shares"). Objectives are narrower and define exact milestones
(such as "implement social sharing buttons").

Think of the project scope as the document outlining the broad ambitions and specific targets you hope to achieve with the project.

3. Project Management Plan

The project management plan documents all other plans and processes associated with the project. Think of it as the "plan that defines all
plans". In this plan, you'll document all activities you need to define, prepare, integrate and coordinate subsidiary plans together.

For example, you might have separate plans for engineering and design teams. The communication protocols, knowledge-sharing processes,
risk management processes, etc. for each of the two teams will be defined and integrated into the project management plan.

4. Project Execution

The project management plan is just that - a plan. You also need to direct and manage the execution of the project.

'Project Execution' defines the processes for executing individual components in the project plan. This is activity-centric and aligns with the
project's key objectives and milestones. Measurement of activity velocity and performance becomes vital in project execution.
5. Project Monitoring

In the execution stage, you measure the performance of the project. However, this performance doesn't exist in isolation; you need to measure
it against an established baseline. The baseline is defined in the initial project plan.

This is the prime aim of Project Monitoring. In this phase, you compare the project performance against your baseline on an ongoing basis. If
there is a severe negative deviation from the baseline (the acceptable deviation is, again, defined in the project plan), you can modify the
project accordingly.

6. Change Control

Circumstances and requirements change as the project progresses. Some resources become unavailable, some teams hold up delivery, and
some stakeholders request additional changes. How you deal with these changes is defined by the Change Control document.

This document is critical for getting stakeholders to buy into project integration. In complex projects with multiple stakeholders, resistance
and conflicting interests are inevitable. When youre making tradeoffs, a central document that establishes norms for managing stakeholder
requests becomes extremely useful.

Beyond dealing with changes, this document also defines the criteria for evaluating change requests and measuring their impact on the project
performance. If a change request is deemed disadvantageous for the organization or the project, it can be rejected, delayed or deferred.

The above section describes the components that make up an integrated approach to project management.

To actually succeed with this approach, however, there are a few ideas and concepts you should know.
Tailor Your Organizational Processes

Tailoring your processes around each project is inarguably the first step in implementing IPM. The processes that are tailored around your
agencys established procedures are known as the projects defined process.

In real world terms, this means understanding the projects requirements and overall expectations. Then factor in the projects costs,
schedules, risks, staffing and other factors that determine the projects overall success. Usually, youll define all of these in the project charter.

Once you have a clear idea of what the project demands, you can consider your organizations established procedures. Pick out procedures
that align with the projects requirements. Use this to create your project management plan.

Outlining a defined process will help predict, assess, and manage all necessary factors that will inevitably affect your project.
Get Buy-in

An integrated approach to project management requires the approval and cooperation of multiple teams across several departments. Youll
have to deal with dozens of stakeholders - a key project management skill - and their objections and concerns.

One of your first tasks, therefore, is to get stakeholder buy-in.

Youll want to do this after developing the project charter and scope documents. This will help you (and stakeholders) to understand:

o Key stakeholders you need to get buy-in from.

o Scale of the project to get stakeholders excited about the project.
o Project objectives to give stakeholders an idea of the tangible results expected from the project.
o Constraints and concerns that might flare up during the project. Addressing these can help reassure stakeholders and get them
onboard.

Think of the project charter as a persuasive tool. Simply asking stakeholders to buy into the integrated approach is not enough; you need to
show them the tangible benefits of the project and why they should care about it.

Project vs. Process Differentiation

The integrative approach to project management depends on organizing all processes and knowledge spread across the organization. To do
this, however, you first need to delineate the differences between a process and a project.

A process, by definition, is an ongoing, changing activity. Processes are usually repeatable and thus, scalable.

A project, in the PM context, describes a multi-step activity with a definite end. Since a project is client-specific, it isnt repeatable or
scalable.

One of your core responsibilities is to figure out whether a task belongs to a process or a project. If it belongs to the former, it can be codified
and integrated across teams and departments. In case of the latter, it remains localized within the project or team.
Prepare a Plan and Integrate It Into Your Project

Once youve considered the requirements for your project, develop a clearly defined project plan. As I mentioned earlier, your project plan is
your roadmap to success. Quality Assurance, Risk Management, Resources, Documentation, Measurement Plan, and Issue Management are
all factors to consider.

Luckily for you, project management software can help with this step, as it allows project managers to plan and monitor projectsfrom
anywhere, at any time. The best software will create project timeline and tasks, monitor your resources, and provide you with the status
updates needed to manage your project.

Establish Project Teams

Your resources are your most important assetand optimizing your project teams can make or break a projects success. Be sure to have
specific organizational guidelines in place, including regular meetings and status reporting.

As you begin to implement a project plan, its crucial to consistently check that all resources are on the same page. Again, project
management software helps automate many communication processes.

However, its important to make sure that your team is utilizing the software correctly. Pick a PM tool that offers adequate training to support
your resources, such as Workamajigs training videos.

Manage the Involvement of Stakeholders

Sure, your project teams are crucial to the actual execution of a projectbut if stakeholders are not involved during every step, a project is for
naught. Its your responsibility as project manager to coordinate and communicate project updates to the various stakeholders.

Regular reviews and exchanges will help ensure that coordination occurs, and that everyone involved with the project is aware of its status.
By defining your projects defined process, you create formal interfaces with stakeholders that will help guide a project to success.
Use Project Portfolio Management Where Possible

No project exists in isolation. Even if it has separate teams, it is likely influenced by the rest of the organization.

Project portfolio management is the process of grouping similar projects and managing them as a portfolio of projects rather than in silos.
Think of it as a management process for project management itself.

Portfolio management is particularly useful for larger organizations which might have dozens, even hundreds of ongoing projects at any time.
Not all of these projects would align with the business long-term goals. With portfolio management, you can identify projects that can help
you achieve your long-term strategic goals and manage them as a cohort.

Conclusion

Integrated project management is the solution to haphazard management techniques and instinctive managerial actions. By understanding,
sharing and codifying processes and knowledge across the entire organization, integrated project management brings a much-needed
robustness to your project management approach.

With an integrated approach to project management, you build a project charter, sketch out the project scope and map the project plan. You
closely monitor the project and measure its performance against an established baseline. You also have a fixed process for dealing with
stakeholders and their requests.

Doing this gives you a broad understanding of each project and its requirements. It also helps you share knowledge and processes across
projects, making for a healthier organization.

Aligning Project Management with Organizational Strategy

In some traditional project management approaches, projects are seen as independent entities under the
watchful eye of the project manager. In general, while this can allow a great deal of flexibility of vision for
the project manager to take a project wherever he/she wishes it to go, it also risks diverging too far from
the overall goals and aims of the organization as a whole.
As an alternative, many project managers are now seeing the benefits of aligning projects with
organizational strategy. Here, what is lost in absolute flexibility is gained in a sense of purpose and clear
contribution to the welfare of the organization. For modern organizations, unaligned projects are seen as
excess weight that can hinder a companys overall performance. By aligning projects and greater strategic
goals, project managers help ensure that resources are well spent and clearly affect company welfare.

Benefits of Aligning Project Management and Strategies

Research suggests that aligning project management and organization strategy produces significant
benefits for the organization. Where previously project managers might lead expensive projects that may
or may not have been compatible with greater business aims, alignment casts spending in a new light.
Funds are spent to directly impact a companys overall performance, thereby increasing profitability and
reducing unnecessary expenses.
Alignment can also help improve project success rates and, therefore, the ability for the organization to
address customer needs and expectations. Research has shown a significant increase in organizational
financial performance and project success rates when projects were aligned with business strategies.
When each project directly contributes to the welfare of the company, the organization as a whole
improves, improving customer experiences and retention rates.

How to Align Projects with Strategies

For many organizations, alignment results from transitioning traditional project management offices
(PMOs) toenterprise project management offices (EPMOs). An EPMO, as a centralized, organization-level
entity, is designed to specifically plan new projects with greater organizational strategy in mind. EPMOs
participate in both executive-level planning sessions and overall strategic planning sessions to better
understand how individual projects can meet the needs of the organization and establish a unified
company vision. Here, it is crucial that both project managers and senior leaders recognize the value of full
EPMO integration and view the entity as having executive-level access to better align projects with overall
goals.
For each project, the EPMO is designed to serve as a liaison between team members, project managers
and senior executives. EPMO managers and executive leaders should work together throughout a
projects implementation to establish a continuing dialogue and ensure alignment.
When projects are completed, EPMOs have the added responsibility of reporting success in the context of
overall business aims. Managers must be prepared to report to senior executives and illustrate how the
project fit with strategic considerations. Unlike in traditional project management, EPMO projects are
generally not viewed as successes in and of themselves. Rather, a success is defined by the degree to
which it helps achieve business goals.

Conclusion
As businesses continue to compete with each other and define themselves in their industries, project
alignment can be used to ensure that everything a business does is for a specific purpose. Facing the
near-constant scrutiny enabled by digital technology, businesses wishing to be seen as having a clear
mission should analyze the extent to which their various departments are aligned with that strategy.
EPMOs are one way of pursuing alignment and, therefore, improving both financial performance and
company image.