PROJECT MANAGEMENT

An OVERVIEW
 What is a Project?
 A project is “a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result.”

Or

 A project is an endeavor to accomplish a

specific objective through a unique set of
interrelated tasks and effective utilization
of resources within given time.
Example
 What do all these have in Common?

 Create a specific and unique product/service

 Temporary:
 Specific start and finish
 Temporary organization
 Require multi-disciplinary coordination
 Constrained by time, cost or resources
 Project Vs Production

Idea Concrete entity

Design Factory
Plan Building
Bridge
Product
Service
*Projects are done once only whereas operations are repetitive
in nature.
 Project Features

• A project:
– Has a unique purpose.
– Is temporary.
– Generally non-repetitive, one time effort
– Jobs are interrelated through precedence
relationship
– Time and resource consuming
 The Triple Constraint
• Every project is constrained in different ways by
its:

– Scope goals: What work will be done?

– Time goals: How long should it take to complete?

– Cost goals: How much should it cost?

• It is the project manager’s duty to balance these

three often-competing goals.
The Triple Constraint of Project

Successful project
management
means meeting all
three goals (scope,
time, and cost) –
and satisfying the
project’s sponsor!
 Project Organization and Stakeholders -
key questions

1. Who will be doing the work?

 Will it be our own employees or are we relying on external
contractors?
 And if we are relying on external contractors, when exactly
do they get involved?
 How much is under our control, and how much are we
waiting on others?
2. Who is the Project Manager?
 Is he familiar with our company, is he familiar with the
employees? Is he new to the setting?

3. Who is paying for the project and when will those

funds be available?
4. Who will use the product or service? Who is our
final customer?
5. Who are those effected by the project?
 The general public, the government. How might they

dictate outcomes related to our project?

 Project Life Cycle
• A project life cycle is a collection of project
phases/stages.
• Project phases vary by project or industry,
but some general phases include
– Initiation phase (Definition)
– Planning phase
– Execution phase
– Closure phase (Delivery)
 Project life cycle
 Definition stage – specifications of the project are defined, project
objectives are established, project teams are formed and major
responsibilities are assigned.

 Planning stage – plans are developed to determine the project

steps, beneficiaries, timeframes, quality standards and budget.

 Execution stage – the major portion of the project work takes place
– both physical and mental. Time, cost and specification measures
are used for control. The project managers have to ensure that the
project is on schedule within the budget and meeting specifications.
They have to also check if any changes are required.

 Delivery stage – delivering the project product to the customer, may

involve customer training and transferring documents.
 Project Management
 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 to obtain benefits and control not
available from managing them individually.”

 Examples of common programs in the IT field include

infrastructure, applications development, and user
support.
 Project Stakeholders
• Stakeholders are the people involved in or
affected by project activities
• Stakeholders include
– the project sponsor and project team
– support staff
– customers
– users
– suppliers
– opponents to the project
 9 Project Management Knowledge
Areas
• Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that
project managers must develop
– 4 core knowledge areas lead to specific project
objectives (scope, time, cost, and quality)
– 4 facilitating knowledge areas are the means through
which the project objectives are achieved (human
resources, communication, risk, and procurement
management)
– 1 knowledge area (project integration management)
affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge
areas
Project Management Framework
 Advantages of using 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
 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 (work
breakdown structure) (scope)
– Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis,
critical chain scheduling (time)
– Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
 Work Breakdown Structure
1. Estimate and schedule the work (durations, precedences
on WBS)
2. Organize and schedule resources (resource allocated
WBS)
3. Assign responsibilities – (resource ramp-up, resource
allocated WBS)
4. Estimate and allocate costs and budgets (costed WBS)
5. Schedule start <--> end dates
6. Track expenditures, schedules and performance
WBS - Typical Tasks

Detailed WBS Example

for procuring an
Equipment System
 Sample Gantt Chart

The WBS is on the left, and each task’s start and finish date
are shown on the right using a calendar timescale. Early Gantt
Charts, first used in 1917, were drawn by hand.
 Sample Network Diagram

Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies
between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any tasks on the
critical path take longer than planned, the whole project will slip unless
something is done. Network diagrams were first used in 1958 on the Navy
Polaris project, before project management software was available.
Sample Enterprise Project Management Tool

In recent years, organizations have been taking advantage of software

to help manage their projects throughout the enterprise.
PROJECT ORGANISATION

Program
manager
 PROJECT ORGANISATION
Advantages:
1. The participating specialists of the project team get opportunity
for prompt, expeditious and effective accomplishment of the
goals of the project. This motivates them to make maximum
contribution to the execution of the project.
2. It facilitates speedy communication between the project manager
and the team members.
3. It provides flexibility in handling various tasks.

Disadvantages:
1. The entire project becomes meaningless, if the project manager
fails to coordinate the activities of the project properly.
2. The job of the project manager becomes very difficult because he
has to deal with specialists from a number of diverse fields.
MATRIX ORGANISATION
 MARTIX DEPARTMENTATION
Advantages
 Effectively carry out large, complex tasks.
 Carry out several projects simultaneously easily.

Disadvantages
 Requires high levels of coordination
 Conflict between bosses
 Requires high levels of management skills
 Project team
 Project engineer: In charge of product design and development and is
responsible for functional analysis, specifications, drawings, cost estimates, quality,
engineering changes, and documentation.

 Manufacturing engineer: Efficient production using proper scheduling.

 Field manager: Installation, testing and support of the product/process
once it is delivered to customer.

 Contract administrator: All official paperwork, keeping track of

customer changes, billings, complaints, legal aspects, costs, and contracting.

 Project controller: Keeps daily account of budgets, cost variances,

labor charges, project supplies, capital equipment status etc.

 Support service manager: In charge of product support,

subcontractors, data processing, and general management support
functions.
 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