Men have been planning and managing projects since the beginning of
civilization. Our ancestors have left behind great monuments ( the
Pyramids, the Great Wall of china, the Taj Mahal, etc.) which are all the results of well planned & well executed. All this projects were implemented without the help of modern management, tools and technique Gradually , people recognized that techniques like cost control. scheduling of activities . Resource procurement and risk management are relevant for the succcess of a variety of projects, whether building dams, laying roads,, or organizing events. This led to the evolution of a set of unique management tools, techniques and methodologies, which constitute the present day Project management DEFINITION OF PROJECT; A project is a group of unique, inter-related activities that are planned and executed in a certain sequence to create a unique product and/or service, within a specific time frame, budget and ckients specifications. According to the Project Management Institutes PMI publication Body of knowledge (PMBOK) a project is defined as , a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service Some examples of the product initiatives include; redesigning or relocating a production facility implementing a management information system developing a new alloy required for a space vehicle constructing national highways Organizing the Olympics constructing a dam for better irrigation facilities PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS: Organization structures and processes are custom made to produce a specific product and/or service. Sometimes organizations have to take up new tasks that they are not equipped to handle. These tasks are new to the organizations as they are not performed earlier or they may not be repeated in the future again. To perform such unique tasks, organizations adopt the project approach. The project approach is adopted when the existing system in the parent organization are not equipped to handle the new task. Some of the characteristics of the tasks that qualify to be project are: unique activities attainment of aspecific goal sequence of activities specified time interrelated activities Unique Activities; Every project has a set of activities that are unique, which means it is the first time that an organization handles that type of activity. These activities do not repeat in the project under similar circumstancesi.e., there will be something different in every activity or even if the activity is repeated , the variables influencing it change every time. For example, consider a ship building yard that builds ships for international clients. Even though the organization builds many ships , each time there will be a difference in some variable such as the vessels design, time allowed for construction etc. Attainment of a Specific Goal; organizations take up projects to perform a particular task or attain a specific goal. These tasks differ from project to project. The project in an organization could be constructing a new facility, compiterizing the accounts department or studying the demand for a new project that the organization plans to launch in the market. These projects have a specific goal or result to attain and hence we can say that every project is goal oriented. Sequence of Activities; A project consists of various activities that are to be performed in a particular sequence to deliver the end-product. This sequence depends on the technical requirements and interdependency of each of each of the activities. Specified Time; Every pro ject has a specified start date and completion date. This time limit is either self-imposed or it is specified by the client. The life-span of a project can run from a few hours to few years. A project comes to a close when it delivers a product and/or service as per the clients requirements or when it is confirmed that it is no longer possible for the project to deliver the final product and/or service or required by the client Interrelated Activities; projects consist of various technically related activities . These activities are cosidered interrelated as the deliverable ( output) of one activity becomes the input for another activity of the project. Consider a project of building a multistoried luxury hotel. The project consists of various activities such as making a building plan, landscaping, costructing the building, designing the interiors, furnishing the rooms etc.. All these activities are interrelated and are equally important for the completion of the project I PROJECT PARAMETERS; The primary aim of a project is to deliver a product and/ or service to a client within a specified time-frame and a budget ( resources & cost), and according to the quality and performance specifications. The success of a project depends on the project managers ability to strike a balance between these interrelated variables or constraints. Some common constraints that influence a project are: scope quality time cost resources Scope ; is the brief and accurate decription of the end products or deliverables to be expected from the project that meet the requirements. Scope describes all the activities that are to be performed , resources that will be consumed, and the end-products from the successful completion of the project., including the quality standards. The scope also includes the target outcomes. Prospective customers , outputs, work,financial, and human resources required to complete the project the various issues related to scope of the project will be discussed later. Quality; every project has to satisfy the quality requirements at two- levels --- product quality and process quality. The first quality requirement relates to products resulting from the project and the second relates to the management processes that have to be in place to implement the project . A comprehensive quality management system ensures effective utilization of scace resources to achieve the project deliverables products and/or services to the clients satisfaction. The various tools and techniques that are needed to ensure quality will be discussed later
Time; is one of the important resources available to a project manager. at the same time , it is one of the major constraints within which a project has to be completed, the client or the sposor of the project specifies the time limit for the completion of the project. Therefore cost of the project increases as time available for its completion decreases. Since time can not be stored as inventory, it is the duty of the project manager to manage time by carefully scheduling the various activities on time Cost; plays a major role in the various stages of a project life cycle. Project costs include the monetsry resources required to complete the activities mentioned in the scope of the project. Project costs are costs associated with all the activities in the planning and implementation phases. The client or sponsor of the project prepares a budget based on the estimated costs of various project activities within which the project manager has to deliver the product Resources; include the people, finances, and the physical and information resources required to perform the project activities CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTS; Projects can be classified based on their characteristics such as business value, risk level, time span, complexity Of tasks, and the monetary value of the project. Projects can be classified after studying them carefully. Once the project is classified , it becomes easy for the management to select the project management style that best suits the class of the project Characteristics of the Various Classes of the Project;
Project cost Project characteristi cs Class I Class II Class III Class IV
Time span 18 months or more Between 9-- -18 months Between 3 9 months 3 months or less Level of Risk High Medium Low Very Low Level of Complexity High Medium Low Very Low Technology Breakthroug h Contempora ry Best Practical Probability of problems 100% ( certain) 50% ( likely) 10% ( low) No Risk Project management Project management is a system of procedures, practices, technologies, and know-how that enables the planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling necessary to successfully manage a project According to PMI , Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed the stakeholder needs and expectations Project management is a carefully planned and organised effort to accomplish a specific ( and usually) one-time effort, for example, constructing a residential complex or implementing a new computerized banking system. Project management includes developing a project plan that includes defining project goals, specifying how the goals will be accomplished, what resources are needed , and relating budgets and time for completion. It also includes implementing the project plan , along with careful controls to ensure that the project is managed according to the plan.project management usually follows five major phases --- feasibility, study, project planning, implementation, evalu ation , and closing