Project ManagementMOT 8221

Karl A. SmithUniversity of Minnesota

ksmith@umn.eduwww.ce.umn.edu/~smith

Spring, 2002

Organization and Themes

Organization1. Technical aspects2. Human aspects3. Systems aspects4. Emerging trends

Themes1. Innovation/Creativity2. Synthesis/Design3. Learning

Objectives

•To enhance the understanding of critical technical competencies in project management.•To understand the critical dimensions of project scope, time and cost management.•To enhance understanding of project management, important project manager roles and responsibilities, and keys to project success.•To build skills in working with the project management process.•To increase understanding of modern tools and techniques.•To apply the concepts and techniques.

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RESOURCES

Textbooks Lewis, James P. 2000. Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, 3rd ed. McGraw‑Hill; ISBN: 0071360506

Peters, Tom. 1999. The project 50: Fifty ways to transform every “task” into a project that matters! New York: Knopf. Also available in eBook format (Palm, Windows CE, Pocket PC) at www.peanutpress.com. Smith, Karl A. 2000. Project Management & Teamwork (B.E.S.T. Series). McGraw‑Hill Higher Education; ISBN: 0070122962 PMI Standards Committee. 1996. A guide to the project management body of knowledge. Upper Darby, PA: Project Management Institute (http://www.pmi.org) (Available in PDF format from PMI web site or from www.ce.umn.edu/~smith)

Reprints

Computer Software

CritPath for Windows. Available from Karl Smith or download from www.ce.umn.edu/~smith.

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www.pmi.org

PMBOK

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Why project management?

• “Those organizations that take project management seriously as a discipline, as a way of life, are likely to make it into the 21st century. Those that do not are likely to find themselves in good company with dinosaurs.”– Tom Peters

. . . Tomorrow’s corporation is a >collection of projects’

. . . Everyone needs to learn to work in teams with multiple independent experts--each will be dependent upon all the others voluntarily giving their best.

. . .The new lead actor/boss--the Project Manager--must learn to command and coach; that is, to deal with paradox.From C Eight Commandments for Project Managers C Tom Peters

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In the new economy, all work is project work. And you are your projects! Here’s how to make them all go Wow!

Tom Peters – The Wow Project (Fast Company, 24, 116)

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The Emerging Role of Project Management – William M. Hayden

• Deming– Appreciation for a system– Knowledge about variation– Theory of knowledge– Psychology of individuals and groups

• PMBOK• PMOS – Project Management

Operating System

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The Age of Project Management(Pinto and Kharbanda, 1995)

1. Shortened market windows and product life cycles.

2. Rapid development of third world and closed economies.

3. Increasingly complex and technical products.

4. Heightened international competition.

5. The environment of organizational resource scarcity.

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Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities

(Burton, Parker & LeBold, 1998)

Engineering Total• Design – 36%• Computer

applications – 31%• Management –

29%

Civil/Architectural1. Management –

45%2. Design – 39%3. Computer

applications – 20%

Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W. 1998. U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9), 18-21.

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Management(Drucker, 1989)

The fundamental task of management remains the same: to make people capable of joint performance through common goals, common values, the right structure, and the training and development they need to perform and to respond to change.

Peter F. Drucker – The New Realities, 1989

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Constructive ControversyExercise

Peter F. Drucker’s definition of management

Sufficient – Pro

Insufficient – Con

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Project Management(Haynes, 1989)

Project management focuses on a project. A project is an undertaking, that has a beginning and an end, and is carried out to meet established goals within cost, schedule and quality objectives. Project management brings together and optimizes the resources necessary to successfully complete the project. These resources include the skills, talents, and cooperative efforts of a team of people; facilities, tools and equipment; information, systems and techniques; and money.

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What is a project?(Cleland and Kerzner, 1985; Nicholas, 1990)

• … a combination of human and nonhuman sources pulled together in a temporary organization to achieve a specified purpose.

• Features– Definable purpose with established goals– Cost, time and performance requirements– Multiple resources across organizational lines– One-time activity– Element of risk– Temporary activity– Process with phases/ project life cycle

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A project is a one-time, multitask job with a definite starting point, definite ending point, a clearly defined scope of work, a budget, and usually a temporary team.

Project management is facilitation of the planning, scheduling, and controlling of all activities that must be done to meet project objectives.

The four project constraints: P, C, T & S

Lewis (2000).

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Project Management is not just scheduling (Lewis, p. 8)

It’s the intersection of:

ToolsPeopleSystems

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Fundamental tools for the new generation of engineers and

project managers….

• Systems/ systems thinking/ systems engineering

• Models

• Team work

• Quality

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What is a system?A system is a network of interdependent components

that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system (W. Edwards Deming. 1993. The new economics for industry, government, education. Cambridge, MA: MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study)

A system is a perceived whole whose elements "hang together" because they continually affect each other over time and operate toward a common purpose. The word descends from the Greek verb sunistánai, which originally meant “to cause to stand together.” As this origin suggests, the structure of a system includes the quality of perception with which you, the observer, cause it to stand together.

Examples of systems include biological organisms (including human bodies), the atmosphere, diseases, ecological niches, factories, chemical reactions, political entities, communities. industries, families, teams -- and all organizations. You and your work are probably elements of dozens of different systems. (Art Kleiner)

Excerpted from The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. Copyright 1994 by Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard B. Ross, and Bryan J. Smith. http://www.solonline.org/solonline/About_SoL/structure.html (Accessed 9/6/00)

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Systems Approach (Churchman, C. West. 1968. The systems approach.

New York: Laurel)

Systems are made up of sets of components that work together for the overall objective of the whole. The systems approach is simply a way of thinking about these total systems and their components. Five basic considerations must be kept in mind when thinking about the meaning of a system:

(1) the total systems objectives and the performance measures of the whole system,

(2) the system’s environment; the fixed constraints,(3) the resources of the system;(4) the components of the system, their activities, goals and

measures of performance; and (5) the management of the system.

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Art & Practice of the Learning Organization1. Building Shared Vision. The idea of building shared vision stresses that

you never quite finish it--it's an ongoing process.

2. Personal Mastery. Learning organizations must be fully committed to the development of each individual's personal mastery--each individual's capacity to create their life the way they truly want.

3. Mental Models. Our vision of current reality has everything to do with the third discipline--mental models--because what we really have in our lives is constructions, internal pictures that we continually use of interpret and make sense out of the world.

4. Team Learning. Individual learning, no matter how wonderful it is or how great it makes us feel, if fundamentally irrelevant to organizations, because virtually all important decisions occur in groups. The learning unit of organizations are "teams," groups of people who need one another to act.

5. Systems Thinking. The last discipline, the one that ties them all together, is systems thinking.

Senge (In Ray & Rinzler, 1993)

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Systems ThinkingSystems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static "snapshots." It is a set of principles and a set of specific tools and techniques. (Senge, 1990)

Senge, Peter. 1990. The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

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EngineeringBusiness, government, academic, or individual efforts in which knowledge of mathematics and/or natural science is employed in research, development, design, manufacturing, systems engineering, or technical operations with the objective of creating and/or delivering systems, products, processes, and/or services of a technical nature and content intended for use – National Research Council

A scientist discovers that which exists. An engineer creates that which never was -- Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963)

Design in a major sense is the essence of engineering; it begins with the identification of a need and ends with a product or system in the hands of a user. It is primarily concerned with synthesis rather than the analysis which is central to engineering science. Design, above all else, distinguishes engineering from science (Hancock, 1986, National Science Foundation Workshop)

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Engineering Approach - Exercise

Evolution of Models of Project Management

CentralConcept

Era ofModel

Dominant ProjectCharacteristics

Main Thrust Metaphor Means

Scheduling(Control)

1960s Simple,Certain

Coordinatingactivities

Scheduling regionalflights in an airline

Informationtechnology,Planningspecialists

Teamwork(Integration)

1970s Complex,Certain

Cooperationbetween

participants

Conducting asymphony orchestra

Processfacilitation,

Definition orroles

ReducingUncertainty(Flexibility)

1980s Complex,Uncertain

Making stabledecisions

Exploring anunknown country

Search forinformation,

Selectiveredundancy

Simultaneity(Dynamism)

1990s Complex,Uncertain,

Quick

Orchestratingcontendingdemands

Directing a three-ringcircus with continuousprogram modificationbased on live audience

feedback

Experience,responsiveness

andadaptability

Era of Model 2000s

Central Concept?Dominant Project Characteristics?Main Thrust?Metaphor?Means?

Discuss in your group.

Era of Model 2000s

MOT 8221 S01 - Group 6Central Concept? Virtual, non-linear, Dominant Project Characteristics? Leverage chaosMain Thrust? Melding innovationMetaphor? AdhocracyMeans? Open-ended management

Era of Model 2000s

MOT 8221 S01 - Group 4 + Central Concept? Global projectsDominant Project Characteristics? Cross-time, cross-geographyMain Thrust? ParallelismMetaphor? Concurrent engineering on steroidsMeans? Electronic Sharing

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Successful Projects

1.Take a moment to recall one of your most successful projects

2. Describe it briefly3. Listen as others describe

their successful projects4. List common characteristics

A recent survey of technology projects in the United States by the Project Management Institute reveals some startling percentages. Close to half of the projects started were never finished, 30% were completed but took at least twice as long as expected, some took 5 times as long. Only 10% of the projects were finished on time.

Standish Group Survey of Software Project – 1994 (Lewis, 2000, p. 109)

17% Succeeded50% Revised33% Failed

Critical Success Factors and Their Importance for System Implementation (Listed in decreasing order of correlation)[Pinto (1986), See Smith (2000), p. 60]

1.Project mission. Initial clearly defined goals and general directions.2.Top management support. Willingness of top management to provide the

necessary resources and authority/power for implementation success.3.Schedule plans. A detailed specification of the individual action steps for system

implementation.4.Client consultation. Communication, consultation, and active listening to all

parties impacted by the proposed project. 5.Personnel. Recruitment, selection, and training of the necessary personnel for

the implantation project team. 6.Technical tasks. Availability of the required technology and expertise to

accomplish the specific technical action steps to bring the project on-line. 7.Client acceptance. The act of "selling" final product to its ultimate intended

users. 8.Monitoring and feedback. Timely provision of comprehensive control

information at each stage in the implementation process. 9.Communication. The provision of an appropriate network and necessary data to

all key actors in the project implementation process. 10.Troubleshooting. Ability to handle unexpected crises and deviations from plan.

Predictors of Lowered Project SuccessWilliam M. Hayden

• Unrealistic project work plans• Inability to deal early with suspected problem

issues• Technical complexities not well

communicated to team members• Conflict between client expectations and the

state of deliverables• Insufficient involvement on the part of senior

management early in the life cycle

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What is a project?(Cleland and Kerzner, 1985; Nicholas, 1990)

• … a combination of human and nonhuman sources pulled together in a temporary organization to achieve a specified purpose.

• Features– Definable purpose with established goals– Cost, time and performance requirements– Multiple resources across organizational lines– One-time activity– Element of risk– Temporary activity– Process with phases/ project life cycle

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A project is a one-time, multitask job with a definite starting point, definite ending point, a clearly defined scope of work, a budget, and usually a temporary team.

Project management is facilitation of the planning, scheduling, and controlling of all activities that must be done to meet project objectives.

The four project constraints: P, C, T & S

Lewis (2000).

Project Success: Quadruple Constraint

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Types of Projects – Exploitation vs Exploration (March, 1991)

Exploiting Old Ways: Organizing for Routine Work

Exploring New Ways: Organizing for Innovative Work

Drive out variance Enhance variance

See old things in new ways

See old things in new ways

Replicate the past Break from the past

Goal: Make money now Goal: Make money later

March, J.G. 1991. Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organizational Science, 2, 71-87

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Minute Paper – Reflection

1. Most interesting, valuable, useful thing you learned.

2. Question/Topic/Issue you would like to have addressed.

3. Comments, suggestions, etc.

Project Planning

Projects typically start with at Statement of Work (SOW) provided by the client. The statement of work is a narrative description of the work required for the project. A Project Charter is often developed. Planning starts with the development of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A WBS is ‘a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and defines the total scope of a project’ (PMBOK, 1996). There are typically three to six levels in WBSs -- program, project, task, subtask, etc. Developing a work breakdown structure is important for scoping a project, i.e., determining the specific tasks that have to be completed, choosing appropriate groupings for these activities, and setting precedence and interdependence (what has to follow what and what can be going on at the same time).

www.lewisinstitute.com

Creating a Project Charter1. Write an Overview of the Project Scope2. Determine the Team’s Boundaries for Creating the

Deliverables3. Define the Customer’s Criteria for Acceptance4. Determine the Required Reviews and Approvals5. Establish Risk Limits6. Select the Project Leader and Team Members7. Set Deadlines for Delivery of the Final Deliverables8. Set Limits on Staffing & Spending9. Create a List of Required Reports10.Identify Organizational Constraints & Project Priorities.11.Assemble a Project Charter Martin, P. & Tate, K. 1997. Project Management Memory Jogger. GOAL/QPC.

42charterform.pdf

Office Remodeling Project

The following activities must be accomplished to complete an office remodeling project:

Activity Estimated Duration (Days)

Procure Paint 2

Procure New Carpet 5

Procure New Furniture 7

Remove Old Furniture 1

Remove Old Carpet 1

Scrub Walls 1

Paint Walls 2

Install New Carpet 1

Move in New Furniture 1

Office Remodeling Project - WBS

ProcureProcure PaintProcure New CarpetProcure New Furniture

PrepareRemove Old FurnitureRemove Old CarpetScrub Walls

InstallPaint WallsInstall New CarpetMove in New Furniture

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Post-It Note Project Planning

Statement of Work (SOW) – Office Remodeling

Activities Needed to Complete Office Remodeling

1. One activity per Post-It note, include name, description andestimated duration (Initial each Post-It).

2. Arrange Post-Its on chart paper

3. Work together to rearrange Post-Its

4. Draw arrows to indicate precedence

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Bus Shelter Construction Example

Job Name Duration Resources Predecessor(s)

1 Shelter Slab 2 2 5

2 Shelter Walls 1 1 1

3 Shelter Roof 2 2 2,4

4 Roof Beam 3 2 2

5 Excavation 2 3

6 Curb and Gutter 2 3 5

7 Shelter Seat 1 2 4,6

8 Paint 1 1 7

9 Signwork 1 2 2,6

Scheduling Problem - CPM

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Bus Shelter ConstructionCritical Path Method Results

ACT NAME DUR RES EARLY LATE FLOAT CURstart

CRITPATH

ST FN ST FN TOT FREE

1 Shelter Slab 2 2 2 4 2 4 0 0 2 YES

2 Shelter Walls 1 1 4 5 4 5 0 0 4 YES

3 Shelter Roof 2 2 8 10 8 10 0 0 8 YES

4 Roof Beam 3 2 5 8 5 8 0 0 5 YES

5 Excavation 2 3 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 YES

6 Curb andGutter

2 3 2 4 6 8 4 1 2 NO

7 Shelter Seat 1 2 8 9 8 9 0 0 8 YES

8 Paint 1 1 9 10 9 10 0 0 9 YES

9 Signwork 1 2 5 6 9 10 4 4 5 NO

Estimating Activity Duration

1. Activity length between 0.5% and 2% of project duration. If an activity takes a year, each activity should be between a day and a week.

2. Critical activities that fall below this range should be included.

3. If the number of activities is very large (say, above 250), the project should be divided into subprojects, and individual schedules developed for each.

Homework Assignment 1 Develop a Statement of Work (SOW), a Project Charter, and Complete a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and a Critical Path Schedule for a project (or sub- project) from your workplace or experience

Characteristics of ‘Effective’ Project Managers?

1.Formulate your response to the question individually

2.Share your answer with a neighbor3.Listen carefully to your neighbor's answer4.Work together to Create a new answer

through discussion

What is takes to be a good project manager--Barry Posner (1987)

Communications (84% of the respondents listed it)

ListeningPersuading

Organizational skills (75%)PlanningGoal-settingAnalyzing

Team Building Skills (72%)EmpathyMotivationEsprit de Corps

Leadership Skills (68%)Sets ExampleEnergeticVision (big picture)DelegatesPositive

Coping Skills (59%)FlexibilityCreativityPatiencePersistence

Technological Skills (46%)ExperienceProject Knowledge

Skills necessary for effective project managers -Pinto and Kharbanda (1995):Planning• Work breakdown• Project scheduling• Knowledge of PM software• Budgeting and costingOrganizing• Team building• Establishing team structure and reporting assignments• Define team policies, rules and protocolsLeading• Motivation• Conflict management• Interpersonal skills• Appreciation of team members' strengths and weaknesses• Reward systemsControlling• Project review techniques• Meeting skills

Keys to success as a project manager--Lientz and Rea (1996):

•Communicate regularly in person with key team members•Keep management informed•Keep informed on all aspects of the project•Delegate tasks to team members•Listen to input from team members•Be able to take criticism•Respond to and/or act on suggestions for improvement•Develop contingency plans•Address problems•Make decisions•Learn from past experience•Run an effective meeting•Set up and manage the project file•Use project management tools to generate reports•Understand trade-offs involving schedule and budget•Have a sense of humor