Project ManagementChapter No 1

Chapter Objectives

Define a Project List a project’s characteristics Distinguish a project from a program,

activity and task. Understand the three parameters that

constrains a project Know the importance of defining and using

a project classification rule. Understand the issues around scope creep,

hope creep, effort creep and feature creep.

Define a Project

“A Project is a sequence of unique, complex and connected activities having one goal or purpose and that must be completed by a specific time, within budget and according to specification”.( Taken from Robert K. Wysocki).

Now lets take each part of the Definition separately.

CharactertisticsSequence of Activities

A project comprises a number of activities that must be completed in some specified order, or sequence.(An activity is a defined as chunk of Work).

In order to get the desired objective we have to think in terms of inputs and outputs.

What is needed as input in order to begin working on this activity.

What activities produce those as outputs.

Unique Activities

The activities in a project must be unique.

For each and every project the outputs can be different.

Like in doing of one activity we can have different result and when we repeat the same activity the result can be totally changed.

Now this thing becomes a challenge for the project manager.

Complex Activities

The activities that make up the project are not simple, repetitive acts, such as mowing the lawn, painting the house, washing the car, or loading the delivery truck.

They are complex. For example, designing an intuitive

use interface to an application system is a complex activity.

Connected Activities

Connectedness implies that there is a logical or technical relationship between pairs of activities.

There is an order to the sequence in which the activities that makeup the project must be completed.

They are considered connected because the output from one activity is the input to another.

Connected Activities

For example, we must design the computer program before we can program it.

One Goal

Projects must have a single goal, for example, to design an inner city play ground for families.

However, very large or complex projects may be divided into several subprojects, each of which is a project in its own right.

This division for better management control.

For example, subprojects can be defined at the department , division or geographic level.

Specified Time

Projects have a specified completion date.

This date can be self imposed by management or externally specified by a customer or government agency.

The deadline is beyond the control of anyone working on the project.

The project is over on the specified completion date whether or not the project work has been completed.

Within Budget

Projects also have resources limits, such as a limited amount of people, money or machines that are dedicated to the project.

While these resources can be adjusted up or down by management, they are considered fixed resources to the project manager.

For example, suppose a company has only one web designer at the moment.

That is the fixed resources that is available to project managers.

Project And Program

A Program is a collection of projects. A Project is a to be completed within

specific time and in specific order to make it complete.

Cause program comprises of multiple projects, they are larger in scope than a single project.

For example a space program can that includes several projects.

Project And Program

Unlike projects, program can have many goals.

The NASA space program is such that every launch of a new mission includes several dozen projects in form of scientific experiments.

Project Parameters

Five constraints operate on every project.1) Scope2) Quality3) Cost4) Time 5) Resources These constraints are an interdependent

set. A change in one can cause a change in

another constraint to restore the equilibrium of the project.

Project Parameters

These all constraints or five parameters form a system that must remain in balance for the project to be in balance.

They are so important to success or failure of the project.

1) Scope

Scope is a statement that defines the boundaries of the project.

It tells not only what will be done but also what will not be done.

Scope may also be referred to as a document of understanding , a scoping statement, a project initiation document and a project request form.

Beginning a project on the right is important and so staying on the right foot.

1) Scope

It is no secret that scope can change at any time.

Detecting that change and deciding how to accommodate it in the project plan are major challenges for the project manager.

2) Quality

Two types of quality are part of every product.

The first is product quality. This refers to the quality of the

deliverable form the project. The traditional tools of quality

control are used to ensure product quality.

2) Quality

The second type of quality is the process quality, which is the quality of the project management process itself.

The focus is on how well the project management process works and how can it be improved.

Continuous quality improvement and process quality management are the tools used to measure process quality.

2) Quality

When we are going to make a sound management process plan so just one job gets left over there and that is to monitor the project.

Because if you have a sound plan so everything automatically get adjusted and running smoothly.

3) Cost

The Dollar cost of the project is another variable that defines the project.

The second name can be budget that has been established for the project.

It works like an input when we do project to deliver.

It is the major consideration throughout the project management life cycle.

3) Cost

The customer can simply offer a figure about equal to what customer he or she had in mind for the project.

The figure should be close to the estimate that is already made for the project.

In more formal situations the project managers prepares a proposal for the projected work.

3) Cost

That proposal includes an estimate (perhaps even a quote) of the total cost of the project.

It makes it easy for the customer to decide whether to work on the project with proposed budget or not.

4) Time

The customer specifies a timeframe or deadline date within which the project must be completed.

Basically the time and cost are inversely proportion with each other.

The time a project takes to be completed can be reduced but cost increases as a result.

Time is an interesting resource, it is consumed whether we use it or not.

4) Time

The objective for the project manager is to use the future time allotted to the project in the most effective and productive ways possible.

Future time (time that has not occurred) can be resource to be traded within a project or across projects.

Once a project has begun, the prime resource available to the project manager to keep the project on schedule or get it back on schedule is time.

5) Resources

Resources are assets, such as people, equipment, physical facilities, or inventory, that have limited availabilities, can be scheduled, or can be leased from an outside party.

Some are fixed others are variable only in the long term.

In any case they are central to the scheduling of project activities and the orderly completion of the project.

5) Resources

For system development projects, people are the major resource.

Another valuable resource for systems project is the availability of the computer processing time (mostly for testing purposes), which can present significant problems to the project manager with regard to project scheduling.

Classification By Project Characteristics

Many organizations have chosen to define a classification of projects based on such project characteristics as these:

Risk Establish levels of risk (high, medium ,low)

Business Value Establish levels (High, Medium ,low)

Length Establish several categories (i.e , 3 Months, 3 to 6 Months, 6 to 12 Months , etc.)

Classification By Project Characteristics

Complexity Establish categories (High, Medium, Low)

Technology Used Establish several categories (well Established, Used Somewhat, Basic familiarity, unknown, etc)

Number of Departments Affected Establish some categories (One, Few, Several, all).

Cost

Classification By Project Characteristics

The project profile determines the classification of the project.

The classification defines the extent to which the project management methodology is to be used.

Types of Projects

Types A Project: Project of Type A are the high business value, high complexity project.

They are the most challenging projects the organization undertakes.

Type A projects use the latest technology, which, when coupled with high complexity, causes risk to be high also.

To maximize the probability of success, the organization requires that these projects utilize all the methods and tools available in their project management methodology.

Types of Projects

Types A Project: An example of a Type A project is the

introduction of a new technology into an existing product that has been very profitable for the company.

Types of Projects

Type B Projects: Projects of Type B are shorter in

length, yet they still are significant projects for the organization.

All of the methods and tools in the project management process are probably required.

The projects generally have good business value and are technologically challenging.

Types of Projects

Type B Projects: Many product development projects

fall in this category.

Types of Projects

Type C Projects: Projects of Type C are the projects occurring

most frequently in an organization. They are short by comparison and use

establish technology. Many are projects that deal with the

infrastructure of the organization. A typical project team consists of five

people, the project lasts six month, and the project is based on a less than adequate scope statement.

Types of Projects

Type C Projects: Many of the methods and tools are

not required for these projects. The project manager uses those

tools, which are optional, if he or she sees value in their use.

Types of Project

Type D Project: Projects of type D just meet the

definition of a project and may require only a scope statement and a few scheduling pieces of information.

A typical type D project involves making a minor change in an exclusive process or procedure or revising a course in the trianing curriculum.

Table Supporting Types of Project

The figure lists the methods and tools that are required and optional given the the type of project

Table Supporting Types of Project

Project Management Process

Project Classification

A B C D

Define

Conditions of Satisfaction R R O O

Project Overview Statement R R R R

Approval for Request R R R R

Plan

Conduct Planning Session R R O O

Prepare Project Proposal R R R R

Approval of Proposal R R R R

Table Supporting Types of Project

Project Management Process

Project Classification

A B C D

Launch

Kick Off Meeting R R O O

Activity Schedule R R R R

Resource Assignment R R R O

Statement of Working R O O O

Monitor/Control

Status Reporting R R R R

Project Team Meeting R R O O

Approval of Deliverables R R R R

Table Supporting Types of Project

Project Management Process

Project Classification

A B C D

Closure

Post Implementation Audit R R R R

Project Notebook R R O O

R=REQUIRED O=OPTIONAL

Examples Project Classes And Definitions

CLASS

DURATION

RISK COMPLEXITY

TECHNOLOGY

LIKELIHOOD OF PROBLEMS

Type A

>18 months

High High Breakthrough

Certain

Type B

9-18 Months

Medium

Medium Current Likely

Type C

3-9 Months

Low Low Best of Breed

Some

Type D

<3 Months

Very low

Very Low Practical None

Creeps

Scope Creep: Scope creep is the term that has

come to mean any change in the project that was not in the original plan.

Change is constant. Changes occur for several reasons

that have nothing to do with the ability or foresight of the customer or the project manager.

Creeps

Scope Creep: Market conditions are dynamic. The competition can introduce or

announce an upcoming new version of its product.

Your management might decide that getting to the market before the competition is necessary.

Your job as project manager is to figure out how these changes can be accommodated.

Creeps

Scope Creep: Tough job, but somebody has to do

it. Regardless of how these changes

occur, it is your job as project manager to figure out how, if at all, you can accommodate the change.

Creeps

Hope Creep: Hope creep is the result of a project team

member’s getting behind schedule, reporting that he or she is on schedule, but hoping to get on schedule by the next report date.

Hope creep is a real problem for the present manager.

There will be several activity managers within your project, team members who manage a chunk of work.

Creeps

Hope Creep: They don’t want to give you bad

news, so they are prone to tell you that their work is proceeding according to schedule when, in fact, it is not.

It is their hope that they will catch up by the next report period, so they mislead you into thinking that they are on schedule.

Creeps

Hope Creep: The activity managers hope that

they will catch up by completing some work ahead of schedule to make up the slippage.

The project manager must verify the accuracy of the status reports received from the team members.

This does not mean that the project manager has to check into the details of every report.

Creeps

Random checks can be used effectively.

Creeps

Effort Creep: Effort creep is the result of the team

member’s working but not making progress proportionate to the expended.

Everyone of us has worked on a project that always seems to be 95 percent complete no matter how much effort is expended to complete it.

Creeps

Effort Creep: Each week the status report records

progress, but the amount of work remaining doesn’t seem to decrease proportionately.

Other than random checks, the only effective thing that the project manager can do is to increase the frequency of status reporting by those team members who seem to suffer from effort creep.

Creeps

Features Creep: Closely related to scope creep is

feature creep. Feature creep results when the team

members arbitrarily add features and functions to the deliverable that they think the customer would want to have.

The problem is that the customer didn’t specify the feature, probably for good reason.

Creeps

Features Creep: If the team members has strong

feelings about the need for this new feature, formal change management procedures can be employed.