revision for project management

8/10/2019 Revision for Project Management

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CHAPTER 1: Modern project management

Project Complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources and performancespecifications designed to meet customer needs

Characteristic Established objective

Defined life span with beginning and an end

Involvement of several departments and professionals

Typically doing something that has never been done before

Specific time, cost and performance requirement

Program Series of coordinated, related, multiple projects that continue over extended time intended to

achieve a goal

Project life

cycle Defining stagespecification are defined; objectives are established; teams are formed

Planning stagelevel of effort increases and plans are developed to determine the details ofthe project

Executing stage Major portion of project work takes place both physically and mentallyTime, cost and specification measures are used for control.

Delivering stage delivering project to customer and redeploying project resources which

may include customer training and transferring documents.Importance

Compression of project life cyclespeed is a competitive advantage

Global competition market demands cheaper and better services or products. Besidesemergence of quality movement across the world with ISO9000 certification.

Knowledge explosionincreased complexity of project to include latest advances

Corporate downsizingflatter and leaner organizations with outsourcing

Increased customer focusincreased competition on customer satisfaction

Rapid development of third world and closed economies explosion of demand for al

manner of consumer goods and infrastructure development

Small projects with big problems velocity of change required organizational climate in

which hundreds of projects are implemented concurrently

Integrationwith strategic

plan

Development of mission, objectives and organization strategies depend on external andinternal environmental factors. The outcome of analysis of all these environmental factors is

a set of strategies designed to best meet the needs of customers.

External environmental factorspolitical, social, economic and technological

Internal environmental factors strengths / weakness of management, facilities, corecompetencies and financial condition

Integrationwithin

process of

managing

actual project

Good project manager balance attention to both the technical and socio cultural dimension of

project management.

Technical side formal, disciplined, pure logic part of the process that relies on formalinformation system available and effect of project changes are documented / traceable.

Socio cultural side centres on creating a temporary social system within a largerorganizational environment that combines the talents of divergent set of professionalsworking to complete the project. It also involves managing the interface between the project

and external environment.


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CHAPTER 2: Organization strategy and project selection

Strategic

management Provides theme and focus of future direction of the organization

Supports consistency of action at every level of the organization

Position the organization to meet the needs and requirements of its customers for long term

Decide the survival of an organization

Activities ofstrategic

management

process

Review and define organization mission identify the scope of organization in terms of its

product or service and provides focus for decision making when shared by organizationalmanagers or employees

Long range goals and objective translate mission into specific, measurable, assignablerealistic, time related terms. Objectives answer in detail where a firm is headed and when it

is going to get there

Analyze and formulate strategies to reach objectives determine and evaluate alternative

that support the organizations objectives and select the best alternative. SWOT (strength,

weakness, opportunities and threat) analysis is used to evaluate past and current position.

Implement strategies through project answers how strategies will be realized (requireallocation of resources, formal organization that complement / supports strategy / project,planning / control system and motivation to project contributors)

Problem

Implementation gapobjective and strategies are made independently at different levels byfunctional groups within the organization hierarchy causes manifold problems

Organization politics criteria and process for selecting project are ill-defined and notaligned with the mission of the firm. Sacred crow is a project that a powerful, high-ranking

official is advocating.

Resource conflicts and multitasking competition among project managers can becontentious and seek to have the best for their projects. Multitasking adds to delays and costs

and changing priorities exacerbate the multitasking problems.

Portfolio

management

system

Classification of project compliance (must do), operational (needed to support currentoperations to improve efficiency of delivery system) and strategic (directly support

organizations long run mission)

Senior management must provide guidance in establishing selection criteria that stronglyalign with the current organization strategies and annually decide how they wish to balance

the available organizational resources among different types of projects

Assessing project portfoliobread & butter (evolutionary improvements to current productsand services), pearls (revolutionary commercial advances using proven technical advances)oysters (technological breakthrough with high commercial payoff) and white elephant

(project that at one time showed promise but are no longer viable)


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CHAPTER 3: Organization structure and culture

Problems Projects are unique, one-time efforts with distinct beginning and endingProjects are multi-disciplinary in nature because they require variety of specialist

Weak

matrix

Similar to functional organization with formally designated project manager who acts as staff assistant. The

project manager has indirect authority but functional manger decide most of them.

Balanced

matrix

Classic matrix where project manager define what needs to be done while functional manger decide how it

will be accomplished.

Strongmatrix

Project manger controls most aspects of the project including scope trade off and assignment of functionalpersonnel. The functional manager is only consulted on a need basis.

Structure

factor (7)

Size of project, strategic importance, novelty / need for innovation, need for integration, environmental

complexity, budget / time constraints and stability of resource requirement

Culture System of shared norms, beliefs, values and assumptions which binds people together to create shared

meanings. It provides sense of identity, helps legitimize the management system, reinforces standards ofbehaviour and create social order.

Cultureessence

(10)

Member identity (identify with organization), team emphasis, management focus (effect of outcomes), unitintegration (interdependent), control (obedience), risk tolerance (aggressive, innovative), reward criteria

conflict tolerance (open), means vs end orientation and open system focus (responds to changes in theexternal environment)

Identify

culture

Study the physical characteristic of an organization

Read about the organization from annual reports, mission statement and press releasesObserve how people interact within the organization

Interpret stories and folklore surrounding the organization

Pros and cons of different structureStructure Pros Cons

Functionalorganization

No change in basic functional structure

Flexibility in the use of staff

In-depth expertise can be brought

Easy post-project transition

Lack of focus because of own core routine

Poor integration across functional units

Slow to complete

Lack of ownership and motivation

Project team Simple and operate independently

Fast to complete because no other obligationsCohesive and high level of motivation

Cross functional integration and specialist fromdifferent areas work closely together

Expensive and duplication of efforts

Internal strife and divisiveness of project teamand parent organization

Limited technological expertise, self-containeteam and we-they syndrome

Difficult post-project transition because o

prolonged absence

Matrix Efficient because resources can be shared acrossmultiple projects to reduce duplication

Strong project focus by having formally

designated project manager

Easier post-project transition because they have

homeport to return once completed

Flexible utilization of resources and expertisewithin the firm

Dysfunctional conflict because tension betweefunctional and project managers. Worth

discussion can degenerate into heated argumenthat engender animosity

Infighting because competition for scarc

resources

Stressful because each participant have at leatwo bosses

Slow because decision making can get bogge

down as agreements

Networkorganization

Cost reductions because firm can secure

competitive prices for contracted services

High level of expertise and technology

Flexible because firm is no longer bounded by

their own resources with talents of others

Small company can go global with foreign

partners

Coordination breakdowns because mutu

adjustment is required

Loss of control because there is no dire

authority over

Conflict because they do not share the sam

values, priorities and culture. Trust is essential tproject success.


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CHAPTER 4: Defining the project

Defining project

scopeProject objectivedefine overall objective to meet customers need

Deliverablesexpected outputs over the life of project

Milestonessignificant event in a project that occurs at a point in time

Technical requirementsensure proper performance

Limits and exclusionsprevent false expectations

Reviews with customercompletion of scope checklists for consensusProjectpriorities

Constrainfixed original parameter

Enhancetaking opportunities to reduce costs, shorten schedule or improve performance

Accepttolerable not to meet original parameter

Deliverable Expected output over the life of the project

WBS All the elements of the project in a hierarchical framework and establishes their

relationship to the project end item

Create work

breakdown

structure (WBS)

Successively subdivided work of project into smaller work elements

Work package are short-duration tasks that have a definite start and stop point, consumeresources and represent cost

Define work (what), identifies time to complete (how long), time-phased budget (cost)

resources needed (how much), identifies person responsible (who) and monitoring pointsfor measuring progress

Organizationbreakdown

structure (OBS)

Provide a framework to summarize organization unit work performance, identifyorganization units responsible for work packages and cost control accounts

Control can be checked from outcomes (vertically on deliverables) and responsibility(horizontally by organization responsibility)

Coding WBS

for systemAllow reports to be consolidated at any level in the structure

Creative combination of letters and numbers to minimize the length of WBS codes

Processbreakdown

structure (PBS)

Process oriented projects in which final outcome is a product of a series of steps / phases

Deliverable needed to exit a phase and begin a new one

Quality checkpoints to ensure that deliverables are complete and accurateSign offs by those responsible to indicate that the project can move to the next phase

Responsibilitymatrix (RM)

Summarize the tasks to be accomplished and who is responsible for what on a project

Provide means for all participants in a project to view their responsibility and agreement


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CHAPTER 5: Estimating project times and costs

Importance Support good decisions

Schedule work and determine how long or how much

Determine if it is worth doing and how well the project is progressing

Develop cash flow needs and time phased budges (establish project baseline)

Factors Planning horizonmore accurate for nearer events

Project durationlonger duration has higher uncertaintySkills and experience of people

Project structurededicated project team has better speed and concentrated focus

Padding estimates

Organization culture

Other factors such as equipment downtime, national holidays and legal limits

Guidelines Responsibility should be assigned to the person most familiar with the task

Use several people to estimate to eliminate extreme estimate errors

Based on normal conditions, efficient methods and normal level of resources

Specific time units should be selected and consistent

Each task is independent of other task

No contingencies allowance in work package estimates

Add risk assessment to estimate to avoid surprises to stake holders

Macro

approachesFor strategic decision making, high uncertainty, small project and unstable scope

Consensus methodUses a pooled experience of senior managers for meeting

Ratio methodEstimate total cost by scaling factor from a single cost

Apportion methodUsed when projects are almost similar to past projects

Function point methoduse major parameters such as number of inputs, outputs

Learning curvepattern of improvement phenomenon used to predict reduction in time toperform repeated task

Micro

approaches

For fixed-price contract, important cost / time, and customer want details

Template methodCosts from similar past projects with adjustment in differencesParametric procedures for specific tasksdetailed ratio method for each item

Detailed estimates for work packageHave 3 estimates (low, average and high) as a basisfor assessing risk and determining contingency fund

Types of cost Direct costchargeable to a specific work package that represent real cash outflows

Direct overhead costresources that are being used in project such as salary and rental

General and administrative overhead costIndirect cost that carried throughout

Importance ofcontingency

Hidden interaction costs in estimates such as coordination and adjustment

Normal conditions do not apply and things may go wrong such as design flaws

Changes in project scope and plans as one gets further into the project

Contingency funds and time buffer to offset uncertainty

Changing baseline schedule and budget due to events such as labour strike, politicalupheaval, insurmountable technical barriers and skyrocketing material costs

Phase estimating over project life cycle

Phase Need Specification Design Produce Deliver

1 Macro

2 Detailed Macro

3 Detailed Macro

4 Detailed Macro

5 Detailed


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CHAPTER 6: Developing a project plan

Project network Tool for planning, scheduling and monitoring project progress

Failure to integrate with WBS due to different groups of people involved or WBS is poorlyconstructed and not output oriented

Approaches Activity-on-node (AON) or Activity-on-arrow (AOA)

Basic rules: Network flows from left to right, activity cannot begin until all precedingconnected activities have been completed, arrows on networks indicate precedence / flow,

each activity with unique identification number, activity identification number be larger

than precedence activity, no looping, no conditional statements and using common start /

end nodes

Computationprocess

Forward passearliest times

Backward passlatest times

Total slackamount of time an activity can be delayed and yet not delay the project

Critical pathnetwork path that has the least slack in common. It is important because itimpacts the completion time.

Extendednetwork

techniques

Laddering segmenting a larger activity to gives the appearance of steps on a ladder onnetwork. It is too restrictive that all immediate preceding activities must be 100%

complete.Lag minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to begin or end. It

avoid delays, reduce network detail, and can be used to constrain start or finish of an

activity

Finish to start relationship typical generic network style but there can be delayed even

when the preceding activity is complete

Start to start relationship alternative segmenting activities in which a project can beginwithout the 100% completion of precedence activity

Activity Element of the project that requires time

Critical path Longest path through the network and the project will be delayed by the same amount oftime if an activity on this path is delayed. Critical path has the least slack.

Slack

Amount of time an activity can be delayed and yet not delay the projectLag Minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to begin or end

Hammock

activityTo identify the use of fixed resources or costs over a segment of the project

Pros and cons of different method

Method Pros Cons

AON No dummy activities are used

Events are not used

Easy to draw if dependencies are not intense

Easily understood by first-level managerCPM approaches uses deterministic times to

construct networks

Path tracing by activity is difficult

Network drawing and understanding aredifficult when dependencies are numerous

AOA Path tracing is simplified by activitynumbering scheme

Easier to draw for intense dependencies

Key events can be easily flagged

Use of dummy activities increases datrequirements

Emphasis on events can detract fromactivities


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CHAPTER 10: Leadership; being an effective project manager

Law of

reciprocityOne good deed deserves another and likewise, one bad deed deserves another. Similarly maxim

Quid pro quo.

Network ofstakeholder

Project team manage and complete project work. They may want to do a good job, but are

concerned with other obligations and how their involvement on project will contribute to theirpersonal goals and aspirations

Project managercompete with each other for resources and support of top

Administrative support provide valuable support services. They impose constraints andrequirements on project such as documentation of expenditure

Functional managerresponsible for assigning project personnel, resolving technical dilemmas andoverseeing the completion of significant segment of project work.

Top managementapprove funding of project and establishes priorities within organization. Theydefine success and adjudicate rewards for accomplishments.

Project sponsorchampion the project and use their influence to gain approval of project

Subcontractorsmay do all the actual work and schedule slips can affect the work of core project

team.

Government agenciesplace constraints on project work such as permit and codes

Other organizationmay directly or indirectly affect the project such as supply

Customerdefine the scope of project and ultimate project success rests in their satisfaction. They

concerned with getting a good deal and naturally breeds tension with the project team.

Tradedorganizationalcurrencies

Task related currenciesresources, assistance, cooperation and information

Position related currenciesadvancement, recognition, visibility and network

Inspiration related currenciesvision, excellence and ethical correctness

Relationship related currenciesacceptance, personal support and understanding

Personal related currencieschallenges, ownership and gratitude

Managing bywandering

around (MBWA)

`Mangers spend the majority of their time outside the offices. Through face-to-face interactionsproject manager is able to stay in touch with what is really going on in the project and buildcooperative relationships essential to project success. They are able to intervene to resolve conflicts

and prevent stalemates from occurring.

Leading by

example

Highly visible, interactive management style is not only essential to building and sustaining

cooperative relationships but also their own behaviour. It symbolizes how other people should workon the project. These aspects are priorities, urgency, problem solving, cooperation, standards of

performance and ethics.

Contradictorynature of work

See the big picture while getting your hands dirty

Encourage individuals but stress the team

Hands-off and hands-on

Flexible but firm

Team versus organizational loyalties

Core traits ofsuccessful project

manager

System thinkertake a holistic rather than reductionist approach by managing interactions

Personal integrityestablish a firm sense of who you are, what you stand for and how you should

behave to provide the buoyancy to endure ups and downs of project life cycle

Proactive Take action before it is needed to prevent small concern from escalating into major

problems

High tolerance of stress require physical exercise, healthy diet and supportive home front toendure the rigors

General business perspective have general grasp of business fundamentals and how different

functional disciplines interact to contribute to a successful business

Good communicatorable to communicate with a wide variety of individuals

Effective time managementbudget time wisely and adjust their priorities quickly

Skilful politiciandeal effectively with people and win their support and endorsement

Optimistdisplay a can-do attitude. Greatest strength lies in sense of humour and playful.

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