University of Jahangir Nagar

Institute of Business Administration

WMBA Programme, Spring 2019
FIN 512/ QBA 507: Project Management
Lecture Handout-1

Course Instructor:
Shish HaiderChowdhury
[email protected]
Cell: 018 19225594

19 January 2019
What is a Project?

The word Project comes from the Latin word Projectum, which means "something that comes before
anything else happens“. A project is a planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a
fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. It means A Project is a unique endeavor to
produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints. Trying to manage
a Project without Project management is like trying to play a football game without a game plan.

Features of Project

 Unique in nature;
 Limited resources;
 Element of Risk;
 Approved Budget;
 Beneficial change;
 Defined time scale.

Project Success Factors

 Stakeholder involvement
 Executive management support
 Clear statement of requirements
 Proper planning
 Realistic expectations
 Smaller Project milestones
 Competent staff
 Ownership
 Clear vision and objectives

What is Project Management?

Project management is the process and activity of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling
resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals in scientific or daily problems. The primary
challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals  and objectives while honoring the
preconceived constraints. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary —
and more ambitious — challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to
meet pre-defined objectives.

Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects
effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency for organizations, enabling them to tie project
results to business goals — and thus, better compete in their markets.
Project Management Benefits

• Goals clarity and measurement

• Resource coordination
• Risks will be identified and managed
• Increases the possibilities of time savings
• Increases the possibilities of cost savings
• Increases the possibilities of achieving the agreed outcome
• Increases the possibilities to deliver Projects successfully

Project Management Process

The project management process means planning the work and then working the plan, 7 steps of
planning:

1. Clearly define the project objective.

2. Divide and subdivide the project scope into major “pieces”
3. Define the specific activities for each piece (work package)
4. Graphically portray the activities that need to be performed from each work package in order to
accomplish the project objective – in the form of network diagram.
5. Make a time estimate for how long it will take to complete each activity – resources needed.
6. Make a cost estimate for each activity.
7. Calculate a project schedule and budget to determine whether the project can be completed
within the required time, with the allotted founds, and with the available resources.

Project Management Cycle

It helps to ensure that:

 projects are supportive of overarching policy objectives of the EC and of development partners;
 projects are relevant to an agreed strategy and to the real problems of target groups/
beneficiaries;
 projects are feasible, meaning that objectives can be realistically achieved within the constraints
of the operating environment and capabilities of the implementing agencies; and
 benefits generated by projects are likely to be sustainable.

Phases of project management

Dividing a project into phases makes it possible to lead it in the best possible direction. Through this
organisation into phases, the total work load of a project is divided into smaller components, thus
making it easier to monitor. The following paragraphs describe a phasing model that has been useful in
practice. It includes six phases:

1. Initiation phase
2. Definition phase
3. Design phase
4. Development phase
5. Implementation phase
6. Follow-up phase

Initiation phase

The initiation phase is the beginning of the project. In this phase, the idea for the project is explored and
elaborated. The goal of this phase is to examine the feasibility of the project. In addition, decisions are made
concerning who is to carryout the project, which party (or parties) will be involved and whether the projecthas an
adequate base of support among those who are involved.
In this phase, the current or prospective project leader writes a proposal, which contains a description of the
above-mentioned matters. Examples of this type of project proposal include business plans and grant applications.
Theprospective sponsors of the project evaluate the proposal and, upon approval,provide the necessary financing.
The project officially begins at the time ofapproval. Questions to be answered in the initiation phase include the
following:

• Why this project?

• Is it feasible?
• Who are possible partners in this project?
• What should the results be?
• What are the boundaries of this project (what is outside the scope of theproject)?

Definition phase

After the project plan (which was developed in the initiation phase) has been approved, the project
enters the second phase: the definition phase. In this phase, the requirements that are associated with a
project result are specified as clearly as possible. This involves identifying the expectations that all of the
involved parties have with regard to the project result. Questions to be answered in this phase:
 • How many files are to be archived?
• Should the metadata conform to the Data Documentation Initiative format, or will the Dublin
Core (DC) format suffice?
• May files be deposited in their original format, or will only those that conform to the ‘Preferred
Standards’ be accepted?
• Must the depositor of a dataset ensure that it has been processed adequately in the archive, or
is this the responsibility of the archivist? Which guarantees will be made on the results of the
project?

Design phase

The list of requirements that is developed in the definition phase can be used to make design choices. In
the design phase, one or more designs are developed, with which the project result can apparently be
achieved. Depending on the subject of the project, the products of the design phase can include
dioramas, sketches, flow charts, site trees, HTML screen designs, prototypes, photo impressions etc. The
project supervisors use these designs to choose the definitive design that will be produced in the
project. This is followed by the development phase. As in the definition phase, once the design has been
chosen, it cannot be changed in a later stage of the project.

Development phase

During the development phase, everything that will be needed to implement the project is arranged.
Potential suppliers or subcontractors are brought in, a schedule is made, materials and tools are
ordered, instructions are given to the personnel and so forth. The development phase is complete when
implementation is ready to start. All matters must be clear for the parties that will carry out the
implementation. In some projects, particularly smaller ones, a formal development phase is probably
not necessary. The important point is that it must be clear what must be done in the implementation
phase, by whom and when.

Implementation phase

The project takes shape during the implementation phase. This phase involves the construction of the
actual project result. Programmers are occupied with encoding, designers are involved in developing
graphic material, contractors are building, the actual reorganisation takes place. It is during this phase
that the project becomes visible to outsiders, to whom it may appear that the project has just begun.

Follow-up phase

Although it is extremely important, the follow-up phase is often neglected. During this phase, everything
is arranged that is necessary to bring the project to a successful completion. Examples of activities in the
follow-up phase include writing handbooks, providing instruction and training for users, setting up a help
desk, maintaining the result, evaluating the project itself, writing the project report, holding a party to
celebrate the result that has been achieved, transferring to the directors and dismantling the project
team.