MISG 621

Project Management
Lecture 1
Introduction to Project Management
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Understand the growing need for better project management, especially for
information technology (IT) projects
• Explain what a project is, provide examples of IT projects, list various
attributes of projects, and describe the triple constraint of project management
• Describe project management and discuss key elements of the project
management framework, including project stakeholders, the project
management knowledge areas, common tools and techniques, and project
success
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Discuss the relationship between project, program, and portfolio management
and the contributions each makes to enterprise success
• Understand the role of project managers by describing what they do, what skills
they need, and career opportunities for IT project managers
• Describe the project management profession, including its history, the role of
professional organizations like the Project Management Institute (PMI), the
importance of certification and ethics, and the advancement of project
management software
INTRODUCTION

• Many organizations today have a new or renewed interest in project

management
• Worldwide IT spending was $3.5 trillion in 2017, a 2.4 percent increase from
2016 spending
• The Project Management Institute reported that the number of project-related
jobs reached almost 66 million in 2017, and demand continues to increase. “By
2027, employers will need 87.7 million individuals working in project
management–oriented roles.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT STATISTICS
• In 2013 (the most recent year of PMI’s salary survey), the average salary in
U.S. dollars for someone in the project management profession was $108,000
per year in the United States; $134,658 in Australia, (the highest-paid country);
and $24,201 in Egypt (the lowest-paid country)
• The top skills employers look for in new college graduates are all related to
project management: team-work, decision-making, problem-solving, and verbal
communications
• Organizations waste $97 million for every $1 billion spent on projects,
according to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® report
MOTIVATION FOR STUDYING INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY (IT) PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• IT Projects have a terrible track record, as described in the What Went Wrong?
• A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only 16.2% of IT projects
were successful in meeting scope, time, and cost goals; over 31% of IT projects
were canceled before completion
• A PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that overall half of all projects fail and
only 2.5% of corporations consistently meet their targets for scope, time, and
cost goals for all types of project.
ADVANTAGES OF USING FORMAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Better control of financial, physical, and human resources

• Improved customer relations
• Shorter development times
• Lower costs
• Higher quality and increased reliability
• Higher profit margins
• Improved productivity
• Better internal coordination
• Higher worker morale
• Positive impact on meeting strategic goals
WHAT IS A PROJECT?
• A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result” (PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition, 2013)

• Operations is work done to sustain the business

• Projects end when their objectives have been reached or the project has been
terminated

• Projects can be large or small and take a short or long time to complete
EXAMPLES OF IT PROJECTS
• A team of students creates a smartphone application and sells it online
• A company develops a driverless car
• A government group develops a system to track child immunizations
• A global bank acquires other financial institutions and needs to consolidate
systems and procedures
TOP STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR 2012 (GARTNER)

• Computing everywhere
• The Internet of things
• 3D printing
• Advanced, pervasive, and invisible analytics
 MEDIA SNAPSHOT: UNPRODUCTIVE
APPS
• Gartner predicted that by 2014, there would be more than 70
billion mobile application downloads every year, but it was almost
double
• Facebook is by far the most downloaded app, and the most popular
category of all apps continues to be games
• The challenge is to develop useful apps and get workers to focus on
them instead of the many distracting options available
PROJECT ATTRIBUTES
• A project
• has a unique purpose
• is temporary
• is developed using progressive elaboration
• requires resources, often from various areas
• should have a primary customer or sponsor
• The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project
• involves uncertainty
PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGERS
• Project managers work with project sponsors, project team, and other
people involved in a project to meet project goals
• Program: group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain
benefits and control not available from managing them individually.
• Program managers oversee programs; often act as bosses for project
managers
FIGURE 1-1 THE TRIPLE CONSTRAINT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

• Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills,

tools and techniques to project activities to meet project
requirements” (PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition, 2013)
• Project managers strive to meet the triple constraint (project
scope, time, and cost goals) and also facilitate the entire
process to meet the needs and expectations of project
stakeholders
FIGURE 1-2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
• Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities
• Stakeholders include
• the project sponsor
• the project manager
• the project team
• support staff
• customers
• users
• suppliers
• opponents to the project
10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE
AREAS
• Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop
• Project managers must have knowledge and skills in all 10 knowledge areas
(project integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resource,
communications, risk, procurement, and stakeholder management)
• This course will address each of knowledge areas
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
• Project management tools and techniques assist project managers and their
teams in various aspects of project management
• Some specific ones include
• Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
• Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical chain scheduling (time)
• Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
• See Table 1-1 for many more
SUPER TOOLS
• “Super tools” are those tools that have high use and high potential for
improving project success, such as:
• Software for task scheduling (such as project management software)
• Scope statements
• Requirements analyses
• Lessons-learned reports
• Tools already extensively used that have been found to improve project importance include:
• Progress reports
• Kick-off meetings
• Gantt charts
• Change requests
What Went Right? Improved Project
Performance
• The Standish Group’s CHAOS studies show improvements in IT
projects in the past decade:
o The number of successful IT projects has more than doubled, from 16
percent in 1994 to 39 percent in 2012
o The number of failed projects decreased from 31 percent in 1994 to 18
percent in 2012
o Success rates were much higher for small projects than large ones – 76
percent versus 10 percent
PROJECT SUCCESS
• There are several ways to define project success:
• The project met scope, time, and cost goals
• The project satisfied the customer/sponsor
• The results of the project met its main objective, such as making or saving a certain
amount of money, providing a good return on investment, or simply making the
sponsors happy
TABLE 1-2: WHAT HELPS PROJECTS
SUCCEED?*
1. Executive support
2. User involvement
3. Clear business objectives
4. Emotional maturity
5. Optimizing scope
6. Agile process
7. Project management expertise
8. Skilled resources
9. Execution
10. Tools and infrastructure

*The Standish Group, “CHAOS Manifesto 2013: Think Big,

Act Small” (2013).
TOP THREE REASONS WHY FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
SUCCEED

• Adequate funding
• Staff expertise
• Engagement from all stakeholders
WHAT THE WINNERS DO…
• Recent research findings show that companies that excel in project
delivery capability:
• Use an integrated project management toolbox (use standard/advanced
PM tools, lots of templates)
• Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and soft skills
• Develop a streamlined project delivery process
• Measure project health using metrics, like customer satisfaction or
return on investment
PROGRAM AND PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

• A program is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to

obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually”
(PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition, 2013)

• A program manager provides leadership and direction for the project

managers heading the projects within the program

• Examples of common programs in the IT field include infrastructure,

applications development, and user support
PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
• As part of project portfolio management, organizations group and manage
projects and programs as a portfolio of investments that contribute to the
entire enterprise’s success
• Portfolio managers help their organizations make wise investment decisions
by helping to select and analyze projects from a strategic perspective
FIGURE 1-3. PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPARED TO PROJECT
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
BEST PRACTICE
• A best practice is “an optimal way recognized by industry to
achieve a stated goal or objective”*
• Robert Butrick suggests that organizations need to follow basic
principles of project management, including these two mentioned
earlier in this chapter:
• Make sure your projects are driven by your strategy. Be able to demonstrate
how each project you undertake fits your business strategy, and screen out
unwanted projects as soon as possible
• Engage your stakeholders. Ignoring stakeholders often leads to project failure.
Be sure to engage stakeholders at all stages of a project, and encourage
teamwork
*Project and commitment
Management at all times Project Management Maturity Model
Institute, Organizational
(OPM3) Knowledge Foundation (2003), p. 13.
FIGURE 1-4. SAMPLE PROJECT PORTFOLIO APPROACH
FIGURE 1-5. MICROSOFT PROJECT
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES
THE ROLE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER
• Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities like planning,
scheduling, coordinating, and working with people to achieve project goals

• Remember that 97% of successful projects were led by experienced project

managers, who can often help influence success factors
SUGGESTED SKILLS FOR PROJECT
MANAGERS
• The Project Management Body of Knowledge
• Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations
• Project environment knowledge
• General management knowledge and skills
• Soft skills or human relations skills
TABLE 1-3 TEN MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities
DIFFERENT SKILLS NEEDED IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

• Large projects: Leadership, relevant prior experience, planning, people skills,

verbal communication, and team-building skills were most important
• High uncertainty projects: Risk management, expectation management,
leadership, people skills, and planning skills were most important
• Very novel projects: Leadership, people skills, having vision and goals, self
confidence, expectations management, and listening skills were most
important
IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS
• Effective project managers provide leadership by example
• A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives while
inspiring people to reach those goals

• A manager deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals

• Project managers often take on the role of both leader and manager
CAREERS FOR IT PROJECT MANAGERS
• In a 2014 survey, IT executives listed the “ten hottest skills” they planned to
hire for in 2015
• Project management was second only to programming and application
development
• Even if you choose to stay in a technical role, you still need project
management knowledge and skills to help your team and organization
TABLE 1-4. TEN HOTTEST IT SKILLS
THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION

• The profession of project management is growing at a very rapid pace

• It is helpful to understand the history of the field, the role of professional
societies like the Project Management Institute, and the growth in project
management software
HISTORY OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Some people argue that building the Egyptian pyramids was a

project, as was building the Great Wall of China

• Most people consider the Manhattan Project to be the first

project to use “modern” project management

• This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars) project had a

separate project manager and a technical manager
FIGURE 1-6. SAMPLE GANTT CHART
CREATED WITH PROJECT 2013
FIGURE 1-7. SAMPLE NETWORK
DIAGRAM CREATED WITH PROJECT 2013
PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICES
• In the 100s, many companies began creating PMOs to help them handle the
increasing number and complexity of projects
• A Project Management Office (PMO) is an organizational group
responsible for coordinating the project management function throughout an
organization
FIGURE 1-8. GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF PROJECT
MANAGEMENT OFFICES
 GLOBAL ISSUES
• Several global dynamics are forcing organizations to rethink their
practices:
• Talent development for project and program managers is a top concern
• Good project portfolio management is crucial in tight economic conditions
• Basic project management techniques are core competencies
• Organizations want to use more agile approaches to project management
• Benefits realization of projects is a key metric
THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

• The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international

professional society for project managers founded in 1969
• PMI has continued to attract and retain members, reporting more
than 449,000 members worldwide by late 2014
• There are communities of practices in many areas, like information
systems, financial services, and health care
• Project management research and certification programs continue
to grow
• Students can join PMI at a reduced fee and earn the Certified
Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification(see
www.pmi.org for details)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION
• PMI provides certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP)
• A PMP has documented sufficient project experience, agreed to follow a
code of ethics, and passed the PMP exam
• The number of people earning PMP certification is increasing quickly
FIGURE 1-9 GROWTH IN PMP
CERTIFICATION, 1993-2014
ETHICS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Ethics, loosely defined, is a set of principles that guide our

decision making based on personal values of what is “right”
and “wrong”

• Project managers often face ethical dilemmas

• In order to earn PMP certification, applicants must agree to
PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

• Several questions on the PMP exam are related to professional

responsibility, including ethics
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
• There are hundreds of different products to assist in performing project
management
• Three main categories of tools:
• Low-end tools: Handle single or smaller projects well, cost under $200 per user
• Midrange tools: Handle multiple projects and users, cost $200-$1,000 per user, Project
2013 most popular
• High-end tools: Also called enterprise project management software, often licensed on a
per-user basis
• Several free or open-source tools are also available
CHAPTER SUMMARY
• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result
• Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
• A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way
• Project portfolio management involves organizing and managing projects and
programs as a portfolio of investments
• Project managers play a key role in helping projects and organizations succeed
• The project management profession continues to grow and mature