Chapter 4

Defining the Project

Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Defining the project scope

Establishing project priorities
Creating the Work Breakdown Structure
Integrating the WBS with the organization
Coding the WBS for the information system

Defining the Project scope (Step 1)

Project scope
-

A definition of the end result or mission of the project

What you expect to deliver to your customer when the project is
complete
- Should define results to be achieved in specific, tangible, and
measurable terms
Purpose of the Scope Statement
-

Clearly define the deliverables to the end user

Focus the project on successful completion of its goals
Used by the project owner and participants as a planning tool to
measure success

Project Scope checklist

1. Project Objective
o Define the overall objective to to meet your customers needs
o Answers question of what, when, and how much
o Eg. To design a waste system in 13 months at a cost no higher
than 13 million
2. Deliverables
o Define deliverables the expected, measurable outputs over the
projects life
o Eg. Book the venue for a conference, Book the band for a concert
3. Milestones
o A significant event in a project that occurs at a point in time
4. Technical Requirements

o Clarify either the deliverables or define performance

specifications
5. Limits and exclusions
o Limits of scope should be defined
o Eg. Client will be billed for additional training
o Exclusions define the boundary of the project by stating what is
not included
o Eg. House will be built; no landscaping or security added
6. Reviews with customer
o Completion of the scope checklist ends with a review with your
customer
o Important to understand and agree upon project expectations
Scope Statements
- Also called statements of work (SOW)
Project Charter
- A document authorizing the project manager to initiate and lead the
project
- Expanded version of scope statement
Scope Creep
- The tendency for the project scope to expand over time, usually by
changing requirements, specifications, and priorities
Establishing Project Priorities (Step 2)
Causes of project trade-offs
-

Project manager must manage trade-offs among time, cost, and

performance
Shifts in the relative importance of criterions related to cost, time, and
performance parameters
o Budget Cost
o Schedule Time
o Performance Scope

Managing the Priorities of Project Trade-offs

-

Project Priority Matrix: Assists in identifying which criterion is

constrained, which should be enhanced, and which can be accepted

Constrain
o Original Parameter is fixed and cannot be changed
Enhance
o Optimizing certain criterion over others
Accept
o Criterion for which it is acceptable not to meet original
parameters
Project Priority Matrix

Creating the Work breakdown structure (Step 3)

Work Breakdown structure (WBS)
-

An hierarchical outline (map) that identifies the products and work

elements involved in a project
Defines the relationship of the final deliverable (the project) to its sub
deliverables, and in turn, their relationships to work packages
Best suited for design and build projects that have tangible outcomes
rather than process-oriented projects

How a WBS helps the project manager

-

Facilitates evaluation of cost, time, and technical performance of the

organization on a project

Provides management with information appropriate to each

organizational level
Helps in the development of the organization breakdown structure
(OBS) which assigns project responsibilities to organizational units and
individuals
Helps manage plan, schedule, and budget
Defines communication channels and assists in coordinating the
various project elements

Work Packages
-

Lowest level of the WBS

Short- duration tasks that have a definite start and stop point,
consume resources, and represent cost
Each work package:
o Defines work (what)
o Identifies time to complete a work package (how long)
o Identifies a time-phased budget to complete a work package
(cost)
o Identifies resources needed to complete a work package (how
much)
o Identifies a person responsible for units of work (who)
o Identifies monitoring points for measuring success (milestones)

Integrating the WBS with the organization (Step 4)

Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
-

Depicts how the firm is organized to discharge its work responsibility

for a project
o Provides a framework to summarize organization work unit
performance
o Identifies organization units responsible for work packages
o Ties organizational units to cost control accounts

Coding the WBS for the information system (Step 5)

WBS Coding system
-

Defines:
o Levels and elements of the WBS
o Organization elements
o Work packages
o Budget and cost information

Allows reports to be consolidated at any level in the organization

structure

Process breakdown structure (PBS)

-

A phase-oriented grouping of project activities that defines the total

scope of the project
Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed description
of project work

Responsibility matrices
Responsibility Matrix (RM)
-

Also called linear responsibility chart

Summarizes the tasks to be accomplished and who is responsible for
what on the project
o Lists project activities and participants
o Clarifies critical interfaces between units and individuals that
need coordination
o Provide a means for all participants to view their responsibilities
and agree on assignments
o Clarifies the extent or type of authority that can be exercised be
each participant

R = Responsible S = Support
Task
Dave
Identify target
R
consumer
Develop Survey
R
Pilot survey
Final report
R

Dan
S

John

S
R

S
S

Project Communication Plan

-

The purpose of a Project Communication Plan is to express what, who,

how, and when information will be transmitted to project stakeholders
so schedules, issues, and action items can be tracked
Project Communication plans address the following questions:

What information needs to be collected ad when?

Who will receive the information?
What methods will be used to gather and store information?
What are the limits, if any, on who has access to certain kinds of
information?
o When will the information be communicated?
o How will it ne communicated?
o
o
o
o

Developing a Communication Plan

1. Stakeholder analysis
- Identify target groups
- Groups could be the customer, sponsor, project team, project office, or
anyone who needs project information
2.
-

Information Needs
Project status reports
Deliverable issues
Changes in scope
Team status meetings
Gating decisions
Accepted request changes
Action items
Milestone reports

3. Sources of information
- When information needs are identified, the next step is to determine
the sources of information
o Where does the information reside?
o How will it be collected?
4. Dissemination reports
5. Responsibility and Timing
- Determine who will send out the information

Advantage of communication plan

-

The advantage of establishing a communication plan is that instead of

responding to information requests, you are controlling the flow of
information
Reduces confusion and unnecessary interruptions

Senior management feels more comfortable when there is consistent

reporting on how things are going and what is happening