2.1.1.1 What is a Project?
Why projects?
Organizations use projects to help meet their strategic goals
e.g.
- Market demands
- Customer requests
- Organizational requirements
- Technological advances
- Legal requirements
Differs from their “normal” operational (=ongoing and repetitive) work
Definition: Project
- Produces a unique result (product, service, …)
- Defined, temporary duration (beginning and end),
is finished when specific objectives have been met,
are not ongoing and repetitive
- Involves progressive elaboration
Typical steps
- Requirements Analysis
- Design
- Implementation
Definition: Progressive Elaboration
“an incremental process that allows changes to be incorporated into a project without significantly affecting scope”
- Involves clarifying and refining a project over time
- Project teams continuously improve and adjust project plans as more information becomes available
- Must not turn into scope creep
- Project managers must be on the look-out for issues and new information that must result in updates to plans
- Changes will affect budget and timeline
Examples of changes that can trigger progressive elaboration:
- Legislation
- Organizational structure
- Technology
- Context, in which the project occurs
Changes will affect:
- Deliverables
- Objectives
- Scope
- Project timelines
- Life cycles
- budget
2.1.1.2 Managing Projects
Project Success is achieved through applying:
- Knowledge
- Tools
- Skills
- Techniques
Project Manager’s Responsibilities
- Accomplish project’s objectives
(to produce unique product, service, … within budget and schedule)
- Balance stakeholders’ expectations
(keep expectations realistic and in line with project’s objectives)
- Update project plans
(gather more accurate information, estimates, details, … as part of progressive elaboration)
- Balance competing demands
(budget, schedule, quality, scope)
Project Manager’s Competencies
- Knowledge (what you know)
- Project management techniques
- Processes
- Standards
- Performance (what you can do)
- Qualifications
- Experience
- Skills
- Personal (what kind of person you are)
- Motives
- Attitudes
- Values
- Self-concept
Knowledge:
PMBOK provides information on 9 knowledge areas for project management:
- Integration
- is about
- Identifying
- Defining
- Combining
- Unifying and
- Coordinating all the processes and activities that support a project
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Developing the Project charter
- Developing the Project plan
- Directing and managing project execution
- Monitoring and controlling the project
- Performing integrated change control
- Closing the project or phase
- Scope
- is about
- Ensuring that the project only includes the work required to complete it
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Collecting project requirements
- Defining project scope
- Creating a work breakdown structure (WBS)
- Verifying and controlling the project’s scope
- Time
- is about
- Ensuring that a project is completed on time
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Defining and sequencing activities
- Estimating needed resources
- Estimating durations of activities
- Developing and controlling a project schedule
- Cost
- is about
- Planning project costs
- Controlling and managing project costs
- Ensures that the project is completed within budget
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Estimating costs
- Determining a budget
- Controlling costs
- Quality
- is about
- Ensuring that a project satisfies its quality objectives
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Quality planning
- Performing quality assurance reviews
- Performing quality control
- Human Resources
- is about
- Ensuring that people are deployed effectively
- Ensuring that their skills and experience are used to optimum effect
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Human Resources Planning
- Acquiring and Developing a project team
- Managing the project team
- Communications
- is about
- Ensuring a timely and appropriate communication of key project information
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Identifying stakeholders
- Planning communication
- Distributing information
- Managing stakeholders’ expectations
- Reporting on performance
- Risk
- is about
- Managing all factors that place a project’s success at risk
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Planning Risk Management
- Identifying risks
- Performing project risk analyses
- Planning risk responses
- Monitoring and controlling risk as the project evolves
- Procurement
- is about
- Managing the acquisition of materials, products, goods and services for the project
- it requires knowledge of the processes for
- Planning procurements
- Conducting procurements
- Administering procurements
- Performing the relevant closure process
Aspects of project management knowledge competencies:
- Knowing how to use project management tools
- Understanding each of the 9 PMBOK Guide knowledge areas
- Understanding project management processes
Performance:
how the project manager is able to put knowledge into practice. E.g.
- Develop a project budget
- Schedule project resources properly
- Perform a risk assessment
- Effectively mitigate risk
Personal:
successful project managers
- Can manage change
- Are innovative
- Take calculated risks
- Get things done
- Can put plans in motion
- Keep people motivated
- Need to be able to move between focusing on details to focusing on the big picture
- Have appropriate people skills
- Leadership ability
- Good communication skills
- Ability to negotiate and persuade
2.1.1.3 Portfolios, Programs and Sub-projects
Organizations group work into projects, programs and portfolios depending on their needs and preferences - groupings to increase efficiency, and will derive from products and services, functional area, geographic area, client or customer type, … - but no fixed rules. Project’s context is within what program, portfolio and organization it is running in – affects all aspects of the project.
Definition: Portfolio
Collection of programs, projects and ongoing work. Grouped to facilitate centralized and effective management, which helps an organization meet its strategic business objectives. However, the parts may not be directly related. Portfolio managers are expected to identify, authorize, manage, prioritize, decide on budget and control projects and programs within their portfolios. Feedback loops also from projects up to the portfolio.
Definition: Program
Group of related projects and maybe ongoing work. Centrally managed (=in a coordinated way) to achieve benefits and a level of control not available through managing the projects individually. Schedules, priorities and shared resources are better managed by ensuring that related work is controlled more consolidated. Allows increase management control as projects also feed back information to programs. Change in one project might influence other projects or ongoing work. So, projects can contribute to consolidated program benefits.
Definition: Sub-project
Smaller portion of an overall project; more manageable components of a project – smaller part of the whole. Can be managed by different people, even outsourced. No “correct” way to split projects, usually depending on organization, or project phases, or as seen necessary by project manager.
