PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1.1 Meaning and Definition

Project in general refers to a new endeavour with specific objective and varies so
widely that it is very difficult to precisely define it. Project is a temporary endeavour
undertaken to create a unique product or service or result. Project is a unique
process, consist of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish
dates, undertaken to achieve an objective confirming to specific requirements,
including the constraints of time cost and resource.
Examples of project include Developing a watershed, creating irrigation facility,
developing new variety of a crop, developing new breed of an animal, developing
agro-processing centre, construction of farm building, sting of a concentrated feed
plant etc. It may be noted that each of these projects differ in composition, type,
scope, size and time.

1.2Characteristics of Project Management

1Project Charter: The project charter is one of the special project management
documents that translate the project sponsor’s business case into project objectives.
2 Tools and Techniques: The management of projects uses several special tools
and techniques, combined with subject-related knowledge and skills that have
been developed over the years to manage different aspects of the project and
facilitate the processing of large amounts of data. These include the CPM
analysis, the Gantt chart, the resource histogram, the earned value graph and
tables, activity crashing, and matrix organization structures.
3 Project Plan: The project plan is a special project management document
integrating the knowledge areas with individual plans to form one combined
baseline plan.
4 Project Management Processes: The project management process is a special
management technique for managing a linear sequence of steps or interrelated
actions performed to achieve a specified set of projects, results, or services. The
project management process is subdivided into the following sub-processes
(initiation, planning, execution, and closing).
5 Project Organization Structure: The project organization structure is a special
management technique that enables the project manager to form temporary
organization structures and project teams that can be designed to suit the needs
of the project and the project participants. This enables the project leader to build
and motivate the team and coordinate their work.
6 Project Methodology: The project lifecycle format is a special management
 technique subdividing the project into several identifiable phases that each
produce a distinct deliverable. This sequence of phases forms the backbone of
the project methodology, interlinking all the topics within a phase and between
phases.

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1.3 Objectives of Project management there are four major objectives of project
management
Scope: Scope means what are the expectations from you as a project manager and
your team. A civil contractor always has well-defined scope, like all civil works
including excavation, foundation, concreting, brickwork, plastering of all walls as per
the attached drawings.
Performance: A project is always expected to have a well defined performance level.
If a project is unable to adhere to the desired performance of a customer, it is
certainly an unsuccessful project.
Time: A successful project is the one which is completed within the time limits
perceived during the planning. As the cost is dependent on time, time management
becomes a crucial activity of project management.
Cost: It is dependent on all the above objectives. Mathematically it can be written
as: Cost = f (P, T, S). Therefore, cost is a function of performance, time and scope. If
any of the above increases, it is surely going to increase the cost of the project.
Another approach in defining the objectives is the SMART approach. Specific:
Project should target a specific goal Measurable: It should be quantifiable
Attainable: It should be attainable with resources available Realistic: It should be
realistic in nature Time Limit: There should be fixed time limits

Importance of Project Management What has led to increased usage of the concept
of project management in recent times?
Rapidly changing technologies: Technologies are changing very fast, so all
manufacturing as well as service organizations have to cope up with technological
changes, which provide a big scope for project management.
High entropy of the system: Changes are very fast. So, energy levels are high. To
adapt to the fast changing world, no organization can stick to old things or systems.
Any modification or modernization leads to the need of project.
Squeezed life cycle of products: Product life cycle is squeezed to a great extent
with innovations taking place at a very rapid rate. Projects are needed for the
upgradation of products.
Globalization impact: All producers and service providers in the present world are
exposed globally. They need to modify their system of operations to match the
global practices, thus creating opportunity for projects.
Large organizations: They face problems of management of huge workforce and
work division, so they divide their work in projects and create a team to accomplish
the objectives in the form of projects. This has also helped the organization to
develop a method for performance appraisal.
Customer focus: Increased customer focus has been a market trend in recent times.
A few years back, cost reduction was a major formula of success for an enterprise.
Thus, there was more emphasis on standardization. In recent years, customer focus
has redirected market towards customization. Though it is not purely customization,
it is more of a combination of standardization and customization. All this has led to
the application of project management.

Project Life Cycle and its Classification

2.1. Project life cycle and its phases Project life cycle divides the sequence of
operations of project in to different phases. Regardless of scope or complexity, any
project goes through a series of stages during its life. Project activities must be
grouped into phases to facilitate project manager and his team to plan and organize
various inputs effectively. It also helps in identifying deviations and thus helps in
decision making with regard to continuation or termination of the project.
Generally, there are four stages of project life cycle which are
2.1.1. Idea Generation (Concept Phase)
Anyone who is planning to invest starts searching everywhere for new ideas. One
can start a new project by defining its objectives, scope, purpose and deliverables to
be produced. He will also hire his project team, set up the project office and review
the project, to gain approval to begin the next phase. The basic processes of this
initiation phase are
Project document: This is a statement describing the characteristics of the project
undertaken.
Project feasibility document:
This contains constraints and alternative solutions. The four steps in the project
feasibility study are: Problem description Approach to be used Alternate
generations for solving the problem Preliminary recommendations
Project concept document: It will answer the following questions
What is to be done?
How will it be done?
Why is it to be done?
 Project charter: Project charter formally communicates the initiation of the project.
It consists of project scope, project authority and KSF (Key Success Factors). During
this phase, project team is responsible for the following activities:
• Conducting interviews with customers and stakeholders
• Conducting research for generating more necessary information.
• Preparing project feasibility document, project concept statement and project
charter
2.1.2. Project Planning Phase
Project planning phase follows the project initiation phase. Countless hours during
the succeeding phases can be saved with proper planning.
The purpose of the project planning phase is to: Determine project requirements
Decide project cost and schedules
Search for sources of all resources The basic processes of the project planning
phase are: Defining the scope: Define the scope of the project and its limitations.
Preparing the work breakdown structure: Divide the whole project into smaller
activities Role assignment: Assign jobs to individuals or group of individuals as
predefined activities or tasks
. Project scheduling: Determine optimum schedule of the project and show it on a
Gantt Chart.
Fund allocation: Allocation of funds for individual activities Other subsidiary
processes in the planning stage are: Risk management planning: It includes
identification of possible causes and effect of the risks and trying to reduce the
impact of risk.
Procurement planning: Decisions regarding all products, services or resources
needed to accomplish the project. In the planning stage, various steps are taken
which includes:
Final techno-economic feasibility of the project: This is the last chance for changing
the decision, as after this stage, it proves too closely to shut down the project or
change the project.
Basic engineering and process design: The process is selected and basic
engineering is done. The documents with respect to equipment specification are
prepared.
Division of work/responsibilities: Different activities are allocated to individuals or
groups.
Identify potential vendors and subcontractors: No project is complete without the
help of outside expert agencies called subcontractors. The potential suppliers of
various equipment, civil construction agencies and similar agencies are identified
and negotiated.
Detailed engineering design: based on the designs of equipment supplier, detailed
engineering is performed. The final layout is prepared and the work schedule
prepared.
Final estimation of the cost of the project: The above steps leads to finalizing quite
accurate cost of the project. This is essential as the next step would involve
arrangement of funds.
Decision of capital structure and means of finance: The final decision with respect
to financing the project is needed during the planning phase. It is a crucial decision
generally taken by core strategic group with the advice of finance managers.
Final schedule of implementation (next phase): The next phase will be
implementation. A proper schedule of implementation is essential to avoid
confusions. The schedule of implementation tells all the members of the team when
a particular activity should start and end. It will provide the milestones of every
activity. The techniques used are PERT, CPM, Gantt chart, crashing resource
allocation and resource leveling.

2.1.3. Implementation or Execution Phase

Project execution is characterized by the actual work on the tasks planned and
project control involves the comparison of the actual performance with the planned
performance and taking appropriate corrective action to get the desired output.
During this phase, project team is responsible for the following activities:
The team members perform the tasks allocated in the earlier phase under the
supervision of the project manager and report to him.
Project manager is responsible for performance measurement, which includes
finding variances with respect to cost, schedule and scope.
Project manager is responsible for providing project status report to all key
stakeholders. He should specifically inform the deviation from the plan to the
stakeholders. He should also determine the root cause for the deviations and
suggest the alternate actions to encounter the deviation caused or expected. This
helps stakeholders to decide the corrective action to be taken.
All project key stakeholders are responsible for the review of the variances.
All project key stakeholders are responsible for taking necessary action of the
variances thus determined so as to complete the project within time and cost. The
basic process of the project execution can be:
Execution of the project plan Handle the changes
Project control The subsidiary processes during project execution can be:
Quality control
Performance monitoring
 Project administration
Risk monitoring and control
Scope and control
Schedule and cost control
Management of outside agencies (subcontractors)
The key activities during this phase of execution include:
Award contracts to contractors, vendors, subcontractors: Final selection of
suppliers of various supplies of services (generally termed contractors) and physical
equipment (generally termed vendors).
Procure equipment and services: After continuously monitoring the suppliers, the
project team has to procure the goods and services.
Erection of equipment: The procured equipment needs to be placed on the designed
place after preparing the required foundation.
Control and monitor project cost, schedule and scope: As majority of efforts, time
and cost are incurred during this phase, it is critical to monitor the project schedule
and cost during this phase. This is generally done using various tools like Gantt chart
and Earned Value Analysis.
Motivation of project team: As this phase consumes maximum energy of the team
members, motivating them during this phase is critical to the success of the project.
2.1.4. Termination Phase (Clean-up Phase)
The last step performed to say good bye to a project is the termination phase. The
termination of a project is inevitable, but how it is terminated and when may have a
profound and long lasting impact on the organization and its employees. In the end,
all projects, both successful and unsuccessful, will have to be terminated.
During the termination phase, the project’s resources are redistributed, financial
records are closed, and project personnel are reassigned. The organization’s
sensitivity to the concerns of the project team can have a lasting impact on their
commitment and productivity. Lastly, a final report, which discusses the project’s
successes and shortcomings, is prepared for senior management.
This report can significantly influence how the organization manages projects in the
future. According to Meredith and Mantel (1995), there are three ways to terminate a
project: extinction, inclusion, or integration. Termination by extinction means the
project is completed. For example, the new project has been developed and given to
the client, the building has been completed and accepted by the purchaser, or the
software has been installed and is running. By contrast, termination by inclusion is a
very different process.
The complete project team and its equipment are transferred to a new division. As
one might expect, this type of change places significant additional stress on the day-
to-day operations of the organization. Project managers and team members must be
sensitive to these stresses until the organization is able to settle into a new and
more stable routine. The most common, but also the most complex, method of
termination is by integration.
The project’s resources, personnel, and functions are absorbed as a part of the
original organization. The major problem associated with this termination process is
the ability of the organization to blend technological differences between the project
and the organization. Past experience appears to play a key role in successfully
integrating terminated projects.