project management chapter 1 notes

Effective of Project Management 2012

Chapter-1 notes

Effective of Project ManagementChapter-1 Notes

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Project Management

What is Project?

Projects have a purpose: projects have clearly-defined aims and set out to produce clearly defined results. Their purpose is to solve a “problem”, and this involves analysing needs beforehand. Suggesting one or more solutions, it aims at lasting social change.

Projects are realistic: their aims must be achievable, and this means taking account both of requirements and of the financial and human resources available.

Projects are limited in time and space: they have a beginning and an end, and are implemented in a specific place and context.

Projects are complex: projects call on various planning and implementation skills, and involve various partners and players.

Projects are collective: projects are the product of collective endeavour. They are run by teams, involve various partners and cater for the needs of others.

Projects are unique: all projects stem from new ideas. They provide a specific response to a need (problem) in a specific context. They are innovative.

Projects are an adventure: every project is different and ground-breaking; they always involve some uncertainty and risk.

Projects can be assessed: projects are planned and broken down into measurable aims, which must be open to evaluation.

Projects are made up of stages: projects have distinct, identifiable stages.

What is Project Management?

Project management is the science (and art) of organizing the components of a project, whether the project is development of a new product, the launch of a new service, a marketing campaign, or a wedding. A project isn't something that's part of normal business operations. It's typically created once, it's temporary, and it's specific. As one expert notes, "It has a beginning and an end." A project consumes resources (whether people, cash, materials, or time), and it has funding limits.

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Project Management Basics

No matter what the type of project, project management typically follows the same pattern:

1. Definition2. Planning

3. Execution

4. Control

5. Closure

Projects are singular, but non-routine, events with precise objectives which must be achieved within a set timeframe. Projects are broken into a set of activities designed to fulfil the stated objectives. Examples of projects include the building of a house, the holding of an event like a party or even something as simple as completing a school assignment.

Project Management requires the organisation of people, equipment and procedures in an appropriate way to get a project completed within a set timeframe and budget. A Project Manager is responsible for the coordination of all these resources in order to achieve the project objectives.

The following need to be considered when planning a project

Purpose and aim of the project

Resources available both human and material

Costing, human and time constraints

The tasks, procedures or activities required to complete the project

Project management techniques are used by organisations because they ensure that organisational objectives and system objectives are being met in a timely, accurate, relevant and complete manner. They provide a way of controlling people, resources and procedures, and clearly identify the tasks that must be completed and the desired completion time.

What is a program?

A program is a portfolio comprised of multiple projects that are managed and coordinated as one unit with the objective of achieving (often intangible) outcomes and benefits for the organization.

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Difference between a Project and a ProgramThe following table summarizes the main areas of difference between a project and a program.

Project Program

1. A project is a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.

A program on the other hand is the act of creating and managing multiple projects where in most cases the projects are related.

2. A project is usually short term with time constraints.

A program is an ongoing process in order to achieve major objectives.

3. Outputs – tangible; relatively easy to describe, define and measure; tending towards objective.

Outcomes – often intangible; difficult to quantify; benefits often based on changes to organizational culture and behaviors; introducing new capabilities into the organization; tending towards subjective.

4. Strictly limited; tightly defined; not likely to be subject to material change during the life of the project.

Not tightly defined or bounded; likely to change during the life cycle of the program.

5. Relatively short term; typically three to six months.

Relatively long term typically eighteen months to three years.

6. Project risk is relatively easy to identify and manage. The project failure would result in relatively limited impact on the organization relative to program risk.

Program risk is more complex and potentially the impact on the organization if a risk materializes will be greater relative to project risk. Programme failure could result in material financial, reputational or operational loss.

7. A relatively limited number of potential solutions.

Ill-defined; often disagreement between key stakeholders on the nature and definition of the problem.

8. A relatively limited number of stakeholders.

A significant number of potential solutions with often with disagreement between stakeholders as to the preferred solution.

9. Environment within which the project takes place is understood and relatively stable.

Environment is dynamic; and programme objectives need to be managed in the context of the changing environment within which the organization operates.

10. Environment within which the project Resources are constrained and

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takes place is understood. limited; there is competition for resources between projects.

Project Parameters

Five constraints operate on every project:

- Scope

- Quality

- Cost

- Time

- Recourses

Scope

Scope is the agreed scope of the work to be performed. Scope is rather subjective and needs to be carefully defined if it is to be clearly understood and agreed.

Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken. This consists of a list of deliverables which need to be addressed by the project team. A successful project manager will know to manage both the scope of the project and any change in scope which impacts time and cost.

Quality

Quality is the agreed quality of the project outcomes everything from the requirements and design documents to the project products or services e.g., a new computer system, a bridge, or whatever is being produced.

Quality is not a part of the project management triangle, but it is the ultimate objective of every delivery. Hence, the project management triangle represents implies quality.

Time

Time in this perspective represents the total time to deliver a project, based on the agreed Scope and Quality constraints. As such time is very easy to measure, once the Scope and Quality is agreed and understood.

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OR

Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable. On the other hand, failure to meet the deadlines in a project can create adverse effects. Most often, the main reason for organizations to fail in terms of time is due to lack of resources.

Cost

Cost is the total cost to deliver the project. Again, cost is very easy to define and measure and is a function of the project management effort required to deliver the Scope of work to the Quality required in the Time agreed.

OR

It's imperative for both the project manager and the organization to have an estimated cost when undertaking a project. Budgets will ensure that project is developed or implemented below a certain cost.

Sometimes, project managers have to allocate additional resources in order to meet the deadlines with a penalty of additional project costs.

Resource

Resources are required to carry out the project tasks. They can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, or anything else capable of definition (usually other than labour) required for the completion of a project activity. The lack of a resource will therefore be a constraint on the completion of the project activity. Resources may be storable or non storable. Storable resources remain available unless depleted by usage, and may be replenished by project tasks which produce them. Non-storable resources must be renewed for each time period, even if not utilised in previous time periods.

Resource scheduling, availability and optimisation are considered key to successful project management.

Allocation of limited resources is based on the priority given to each of the project activities. Their priority is calculated using the Critical path method and heuristic analysis. For a case with a constraint on the number of resources, the objective is to create the most efficient schedule possible - minimising project duration and maximising the use of the resources available.

What is Creep?

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Creep (as in functionality-creep, feature-creep, mission-creep and scope-creep) is a problem in project management where the initial objectives of the project are jeopardized by a gradual increase in overall objectives as the project progresses.

The need to achieve the new objectives can overwhelm the capacity of the resources allocated to the project resulting in the project missing deadlines, budgets or failing completely.

Write a note on following.

1. Scope creep

2. Hope creep

3. Effort creep

4. Future creep

1. Scope Creep

Scope creep is defined as adding features and functionality (project scope) without addressing the effects on time, costs, and resources, or without customer approval. (PMBOK)

Other definitions:

“Scope creep is the piling up of small changes that by themselves are manageable, but in aggregate are significant.”

“Scope creep refers to the change in a project's scope after the project work has started. Typically, the scope expands by the addition of new features to an already approved feature list.”

• Poor implementation of change control.

• Incomplete gathering of requirements before project execution begins.

• Insufficient involvement of critical stakeholders (including customer)

Lack of support from executive sponsor and enforcement power in project manager

• Scope Creep is one of the main reasons why projects fail.

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• A variety of reasons can be responsible for scope creep.

• Scope verification is key.

2. Hope creep

Yes hope creep is different from scope creep. In short, hope creep is lying about the status of the project/task until you're caught.For project managers, hope creep happens when the project manager starts lying about the status of the project (which is behind schedule and over-budget) to the stakeholders and the client, while hoping that he will be able to get the project on track before anyone discovers the truth. Since hope creep involves lying to important people either inside or outside the company, the project manager will always be in panic mode because he knows that he'll most likely be fired when the truth comes out, and it usually does.

Similarly to scope creep, nothing good comes out from hope creep. In fact, it is nearly impossible for the project manager to get the project on track (schedule and budget wise) once he starts lying.

3. Effort creep

It is not really related to scope creep with the exception that they're both creeps and they both negatively affect the project.

Effort creep is when one of your team members makes a huge effort on a task that is nearly done, but cannot finish it. For example, a task is 80% done in one week, and the team member is working on the remaining 20% for several weeks, with no end in sight. This is very common in software projects, and the perfect remedy for effort creep is to assign the remainder of the task to someone else who has more experience in the particular area of the task.Alternatively, the project manager can talk to the team member about the difficulties facing him while working on this task, although this is normally useless, as the reason is always related to the team member's inexperience and inadequacy for the task, and most team members are reluctant to admit it.

4. Future creep

Feature creep, also called scope creep, refers to the tendency of project requirements to exceed their original estimations. It is common with the development of major computer projects, in which engineers decide that additional features should be added to the product before release to make it more usable and enjoyable for the target market. It can also happen when the client contracting the project keeps adding to the wish list. Feature creep can affect

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the overall budget for a project, as well as delaying the release time considerably, causing frustration to company executives. It can also ultimately weaken a product by clogging it with interesting but unneeded features, so companies need to take care to avoid it.The problem can be mitigated by having a tightly organized project team which recognizes the exact requirements of the project and works together to meet them. A project manager who is aware of the risks of feature creep can help to head it off at the pass by refocusing the team or reminding the client of the original goals of the project. On occasion, feature creep is actually necessary, especially with large projects in which engineers are exploring new concepts. In these instances, several team members should meet together to evaluate the feature creep which is occurring and decide whether or not it is a valid result of the direction in which the project is moving.

Q: Write a note on the Scope of Triangle?

Answer:

Scope Triangle

Called the ‘Scope Triangle’ or the ‘Quality Triangle’ this shows the trade-offs inherent in any project.

The triangle illustrates the relationship between three primary forces in a project. Time is the available time to deliver the project, cost represents the amount of money or resources available and quality represents the “fit-topurpose” that the project must achieve to be a success.

In reality the normal situation is that one of these factors is fixed and the other two will vary in inverse proportion to each other. For example “Time” is often fixed in a project and the “Quality” of the end project will depend on the “Cost” or resources available. Similarly if you are working to a fixed level of “Quality” then the “Cost” of the project will largely be dependent upon the “Time” available (if you have longer you can do it with fewer people).

A phenomenon known in project management circles as “scope creep” can be linked to the triangle too. Scope creep is the almost unstoppable tendency a project has to accumulate new functionality. Some scope creep is inevitable since early on, your project will probably be poorly defined and will need to evolve. A large amount of scope creep however can be disastrous.

When the scope starts to creep new functionality must be added to cover the increased scope. This is represented by the quality arm of the triangle, representing the ability of the ‘product’ to fulfil users’ requirements. More requirements fulfilled = a better quality product.

In this situation you have three , and only three options:

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1. Add time – delay the project to give you more time to add the functionality

2. Add cost – recruit, hire or acquire more people to do the extra work

3. Cut quality – trade off some non-essential requirements for the new requirements

If the art of management lies in making decisions, then the art of project management lies in making decisions quickly! When faced with such a dilemma you should not hesitate to take one of the three options listed above. Delaying raises the risk of your project failing.

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project management chapter 1 notes

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