essentials of project management

Basic Project Management Skills for Women

What Is Project Management?

Project Management is the process and activity of

planning, organizing and controlling resources,

procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

A Project Is…

• …a temporary endeavor, designed to produce a unique product, service or result; within a specific time, and undertaken to meet unique goals.

All projects are constrained by time and funding.

The major challenge of Project Management is to meet it’s unique goals, while honoring the preconceived constraints.

• Project Management started before the great pyramids of Egypt where built.

• The Gantt Chart was introduced as a Modern Project Management Tool at about 1902 (Nineteen Zero Two).

• The Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) were introduced in Nineteen Fifty.

The History of Project Management

Characteristics of a Project

UNIQUENESS

Every project is unique in certain aspects. No two projects are exactly alike.

SPECIFIC

Every project must have a specific objective to be fulfilled. It is the achievement of this objective that determines the success of the project.

RESOURCES

Every project requires the use of certain resources. Ranging from human, through financial to material, the effective allocation and use of limited resources plays a huge role in the success of the project.

Before venturing into any project, the Project Manager must consider the resources (human and material) needed,

compared with the goals to be achieved.That is called risk and where the risk is above the reward,

that project is deemed non-viable.

BUDGET

Since resources are finite my nature, every project must start with a definite budget for the amount to spent at each stage .

SCHEDULE

Every project has a time factor and this is determined by a schedule. A schedule requires a start date and an end date and it gives the project a life-span.

QUALITY

A project is constraint to a certain budget, every project is characterized by quality. The projects pre-determined quality must be meet within the set budget.

• If the project’s objectives are not achieved, within the set time frame, it results in the waste of

human and material resources.

HUMAN EFFORT

Every project is characterized by the use of human effort. However mechanized or digitalized a project may be, it can not be successfully implemented without the use of human effort.

Why Project Management?

Project Management tools are of utmost importance, when large undertakings are to be executed effectively.

Project Management is also used in organizations; to ensure that organizational goals and objectives are met,

and to enhance the coordination of people and processes.

To achieve the objectives of a project within the set time frame and for effective management, every project is broken

down into a set of activities.The Project Manager is responsible for the coordination of

the various activities in the project.

THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE.

• Every project has a life cycle. • This is because by definition, a project is a unique

endeavor which has a start date and a finish date.• The life cycle of a project is therefore the sequence of

events that take place between the start and finish of the project.

• It is the order in which these activities are carried out.

PROJECT PHASES

• A phase is the term used to describe a set of inter-related activities.

• The project life-cycle is made up of phases which are used to evaluate and review these similar activities.

Some writers use four (4) phases when considering the life cycle of a project but five (5) is the standard number of phases required.

• These phases transit quietly from one to the next.• However in certain projects, you may have an overlapping

of the phases.• This requires starting one phase while the previous

phases has not yet closed. • Such a project is said to exhibit concurrency.

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

Phase 1: Investigation.

• Every project starts as an idea. • It is this phase that determines whether or not the idea

becomes a project.• This phase is undertaken by top management.• It involves analyzing the aims and objectives of the

project.• All the ways of executing the project are analyzed during

this phase.

• Without proper investigation, the project might not achieve it’s objectives.

• At the end of this phase, management determines whether or not to embark on the project.

PROJECT CHARTER

A PROJECT CHARTER is presented at the end of the investigation phase.

Phase 2: Planning

After due investigation, the project is advanced into the planning phase.

During this phase, the objectives of the project are defined.

The various constraints to achieving these objectives are determined.

Depending on the constraints that are discovered, a feasibility study is conducted.

• The project is then broken down into smaller tasks and activities.

• The sequence of these activities are set and simultaneous activities determined.

• It is in this phase the you determine the human and material resources needed for the overall project success.

Project planning includes developing: The scope statement The Gantt chart The team The budget The work breakdown Risk planning and Communication planning.

• Once a project is planned and put out to tender, it is necessary for the relevant parties to agree on what, when, and at what cost the project will be executed.

Phase 3: Production

• During this phase material and human resources are deployed.

• Progress made is recorded in a Gantt Chart, and compared with planned schedules and budgets.

• Where necessary, schedules are adjusted to make up for wasted time.

• The bulk of the work is done in this phase.

The production phase involves cordinating people, and managing resources.

Phase 4: Evaluation

• At this point, the project is evaluated to know if the objectives of the project have been met.

• The project is checked for Cost, Quality, Time, Accuracy, Relevance and Completeness.

Time: Are the various activities carried out on time?

Cost: Are market prizes the same as budgeted? Has a delay affect the cost of activities?

Quality: What is the quality of this project? Is it the same as anticipated?

Accuracy: How accurate are the details? Are they the same as expected?

Completeness: To what level is this project completed. Can it be said to meet the set standard?

Phase 5: Closing

• Although largely overlooked, this phase is a very important phase in any project.

• Closing a project means finishing all activities, dissolving the project team, and signing off the project.

• A project closure report at the end of each project is a best practice for project management practitioners.

• As a project manager you are encouraged to also submit a lessons learnt report at the end of every project.