STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT

LECTURE TWO

Strategic Context
 Definitions

• “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and

techniques to a broad range of activities in order to
meet the requirements of a particular project.”
(Project Management Institute, 2000)
• “ the planning, organizing, directing and controlling
of company resources for a relatively short-term
objective that has been established to complete
specific goals and objectives” (Kerzner, 1998, p. 5)
 Project Management Phases

• Initiation:
– process of formally authorising a new project or that an existing
project should continue into its next phase
• Planning:
– The planning phase is arguably the most important phase
because it is during this phase that the project plan is created
– The project plan is the document used throughout the lifecycle of
the project
• Execution:
– This phase is concerned with implementing the project plan and
‘getting the work done’
– The majority of time spent within the project management
framework is spent in this phase
 Project Management Phases

• Monitoring and Controlling:

– This phase deals with the aspect of ensuring the project is
being executed according to the project plan
– And is remaining within budget, on time and remains
within the scope of the plan
• Closing:
– This phase shows a project plan formally closed
– All loose ends (hopefully few) are wrapped up and the
project is closed
 Strategic Project Management
(Callahan & Brooks, 2004)
• “the use of the appropriate project management
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in the context
of the companies goals and objectives so that the
project deliverables will contribute to company value
in a way that can be measured”
• “process that takes into account a company’s way of
doing business, allowing for the possibility of a
significant payoff with fewer risks”
 Strategic Project Management

• Strategic Project Management consists of Selecting,

managing and measuring project outcomes to ensure
optimal value for an organisation
• All projects undertaken by an organisation must meet
a set of criteria setup by the organisations’ leadership
to ensure alignment with the strategic vision of the
organisation
 Change in Organisations

• Organisations change at breakneck speed to:

– satisfy customers
– maintain competitive
• To thrive in this environment, project managers
must:
– meet the needs of the organisation
– assist businesses in delivering value to customers
 Understanding Business Value

• Who are our customers?

• What value do we provide to them?
• Who will be our customers in the future?
• How will we satisfy their needs?
 Delivering Business Value

• Strategic planning leads to the creation of an

organisation that:
– satisfies customer needs
– provides an acceptable benefit to stakeholders
– provides a framework that stimulates projects to introduce
new products and improve processes
 Strategies Beget Projects

• Projects are implemented to advance organisational

goals
• Potential projects must be aligned with a company's
mission and strategic direction
• Project must be a strategic fit
 What Makes a Project Successful?

 Plan-Do-Check-Act [PDCA]
- Limited knowledge, improving as we go
- Velocity of change through iterations
 Use processes, tools, and techniques
 Soft skills
- Working within the organization
 Hard Skills
- Five Process Groups
- Nine Knowledge Areas
 Tools, Processes, and Techniques

• What is required by the process:

– Inputs
• What occurs during the process
– Transformation
• What are the deliverables of the process:
– Outputs
 The Appropriate Application of Soft Skills

• A clear understanding and effective application of

soft skills enhance the success of a project
exponentially
• A project manager must:
– communicate effectively
– work within the organisation’s culture
– motivate the team
– manage stakeholder expectations
– understand business objectives
– solve problems effectively
– make clear and knowledgeable decisions
 Soft Skills: Communication

• The most important skill:

- Convey complex ideas easily
- Clearly articulate what must be accomplished
- Keep team moving toward a common goal
- Foster an environment that allows team members to
communicate openly and honestly
- Admit own mistakes without losing respect
- Negotiate, listen, and facilitate
 Five PM Process Groups

1. Initiating
- Defines and authorises the project or a project phase
2. Planning
- Defines and refines objectives
- Plans course of action
3. Executing
- Integrates people and/or other resources
4. Monitoring and Controlling
- Measure and monitors progress
- Identifies variances
- Takes corrective actions
 Five PM Process Groups

5. Closing
- Formalises acceptance of deliverables
- Brings project or phase to an orderly end
 Nine PM Knowledge Areas

1. Project Management Integration

- Identify processes and activities within the groups
2. Project Scope Management
- Insure all the work required
- Only the work required
3. Project Time Management
- Accomplish timely completion
4. Project Cost Management
- Planning
- Estimating
- Budgeting
- Controlling
 Nine PM Knowledge Areas

5. Project Quality Management

- Satisfy needs of stakeholders
6. Project Human Resources Management
- Organise and manage team
7. Project Communications Management
- Ensure timely and appropriate:
• Generation
• Collection
• Distribution
• Storage
• Retrieval
• ultimate disposition of project information
 Nine PM Knowledge Areas

8. Project Risk Management

- Planning, identification, analysis, and appropriate
responses for positive project outcome
9. Project Procurement Management
- Purchase external products, services, or results
 Ensuring Strategic Fit

• The four key strategies are:

– Ensure that all projects are strategically aligned
– Create a Project Management focused culture
– Implement Strategic Project Management best practices
– Create a strategic project measurement system
 Strategic Alignment of Projects

• An organisation should ensure that any project

undertaken is aligned with the goals and objectives of
the organisation
• The executive leadership team needs to be intimately
involved in the prioritisation and selection of projects
as well as the definition of the project outcome
 Cultivate a Project Management Culture

• An organisation should initiate training sessions to

train personnel about:
• the importance of project management
• the tools and methodologies used to manage projects
• This project management culture helps to create:
– a sense of teamwork, responsibility, understanding and
accountability within the organisation
 Create Best Practices

• Each organisation needs to create a project

management ‘best practices’ document
• To outline the methodologies used in selecting and
managing projects
• This document should not only:
– outline the procedures to be used to manage projects
– also the information to be gathered during
– and after the project to ensure that knowledge gained
during the project is passed along
 Track and Measure Projects and Outcomes

• There are areas that need to be improved

• Such as measuring ROI, ROC and other value based
measurements
• Helps the organisation to measure and report on the
value that the project has brought
 Create Open Channels of Communication

• This is the key to successful implementation and

practice of SPM and project management
• Without open and honest communication throughout
the organisation, projects are doomed to not be as
successful as they could be
• And could quite possibly fail completely