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SPP Careers 501:Project Management

Clark Bonilla, DirectorAlumni and Career Services

School of Public Policy

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Table of Contents

1. Project Management (PM) Defined

2. Why PM for SPP Students?

3. Benefits of PM

4. Special Knowledge Areas of PM

5. PM Professional Development

6. References

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1. Project Management Defined

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PM Defined

PM is “the allocation, tracking, and utilization of

resources to achieve a particular objective

within a specified period of time.”

Managing Projects Large and Small (Harvard Business Essentials, 2004): xi.

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PM Defined by Techniques

PM involves “new methods of restructuring

management and adapting special management

techniques, with the purpose of obtaining better

control and use of existing resources.”

Harold Kerzner, Project Management (2001): 2-3.

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PM IllustratedCEO

VPOperations

VPFinances

VPR&D

VPM&A

VPHR

StandardizedProduction

CustomizedProduction

Board ofDirectors

SpecialAssistant

Project #1

Project #2

Facilities Logistics

IT Support Inventory

OSHA Compliance

Sales

MarketingProduct 1

Production

Product 2Production

ProjectPlanning

Project #1

Project #2

ProjectEvaluation

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PM Comparisons

Table 1: Organizational Criteria

General Management

Project

Management

Production Cycle Continuous Limited Time

Production Process Standardized Customized

Management Hierarchical

(Pyramid)

Vertical

Organizational Integration

Fully Minimal

(Streamlined)

Communications Diffused Limited

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Competitive Advantages of PM

“project management offers organizations the

means to be efficient, effective, and competitive

in a shifting, complex, and unpredictable

environment.” Ika, Lavagnon A. (2009) Project Success as a

Topic in Project Management Journals. Project Management Journal, 40(4): 6-19.

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5 PM Functions

Initiation

Planning

Execution

Monitoring and Controlling

Closing

James P. Lewis, Fundamentals of Project Management

(2007): 18-20.

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Approaches to Projects

Systems Engineering

Project Management

RequirementsManagement

Process of planning, applying, and

controlling the use of resources to

achieve a specific objective within a

specified time.

Process of managing requirements to

Include user and stakeholder requirements,

concept selection, architecture development,

requirements flowdown and traceability,

opportunity and risk management, system

integration, verification, validation and

lessons learned.

Management of project business, budget, and technical baselines, including baseline change

management and authorization, requirements flowdown, traceability, and accountability.

(Source: Forsberg, et al, 2005)

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2. Why PM for SPP Students?

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PMBOK for SPP Students

Sustainability research requires interdisciplinary teams.

Green technologies requires interdisciplinary project teams.

Increasingly S&T, environmental, and energy fields are utilizing

interdisciplinary project teams.

PMBOK aids SPP students in analyzing these teams.

PMBOK prepares SPP students to participate in these teams.

More employers seek SPP graduates with PMBOK.

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Special Skills for SPP Students

Proposal Development

Contract Development

Organizational Process

Analysis

Defining Project Scope

Scheduling

Cost Estimating

(“Costing”)

Budgeting

Procurement

Quality Control and

Management

Project Evaluation

Communications

Management

Risk Analysis and

Management

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Examples of Special Analytic Tools

Planning: SWOT Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Trade-Off Analysis

Scheduling: Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

Risk: Sensitivity Analysis Costing: Life-Cycle Costing (LCC) Controlling: Earned Value Analysis (EVA) Quality: Pareto Analysis, Trend Analysis, Six Sigma Evaluation: Logical Framework Analysis

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3. PM Benefits for Institutions

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General Benefits of PM

Accomplishing projects on time and budget with

minimal disruption to normal operations

Minimizing development time for unique

projects, reducing costs and risks

Effective use of resources, i.e., pulling in

specific personnel to create ideal project teams

Managing Projects Large and Small (2007): xii.

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Special Benefits of PM

Identification of functional responsibilities to

ensure all activities are accounted for,

regardless of personnel turnover

Minimizing the need for continuous reporting

Identification of time limits for scheduling

Identification of a methodology for trade-off

analysis

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Special Benefits of PM

Measurement of accomplishment against plans

Early identification of problems so that

corrective action may follow

Improved estimating capability for future

planning

Knowing when objectives cannot be met or will

be exceeded Herzner, Project Management (2001): 3.

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4. Special Knowledge Areas of PM

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Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management: “ensures

the project is properly planned, executed, and

controlled, including the exercise of formal

project control. … every activity must be

coordinated or integrated with every other one

in order to achieve the desired project

outcomes.” (Lewis, 2007, p. 20)

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Project Scope Management

Project Scope Management: “includes

authorizing the job, developing a scope

statement that will define the boundaries of the

project, subdividing the work into manageable

components with deliverables, verifying that the

amount of work planned has been achieved,

and specifying scope change control

procedures.” (Lewis, 2007, p. 20)

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Project Time Management

Project Time Management: “developing a

schedule that can be met, then controlling

work to ensure that this happens!” (Lewis,

2007, p. 20)

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Project Cost Management

Project Cost Management: “involves

estimating the cost of resources, including

people, equipment, materials, and such

things…” (Lewis, 2007, pp. 20-21)

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Project Quality Management

Project Quality Management: includes

“quality assurance (planning to meet quality

requirements) and quality control (steps taken

to monitor results to see if they conform to

requirements).” (Lewis, 2007, p. 21)

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Project HR Management

Project Human Resource Management:

“involves identifying the people needed to do

the job, defining their roles, responsibilities, and

reporting relationships, acquiring those people,

and then managing them as the project is

executed.” (Lewis, 2007, p. 21)

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Project Communications Management

Project Communications Management:

“involves planning, executing, and controlling

the acquisition and dissemination of all

information relevant to the needs of all project

stakeholders.” (Lewis, 2007, p. 21)

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Project Risk Management

Project Risk Management: “is the systematic

process of identifying, quantifying, analyzing,

and responding to project risk.” (Lewis, 2007,

p. 21)

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Project Procurement Management

Project Procurement Management: “involves

deciding what must be procured, issuing

requests for bids or quotations, selecting

vendors, administering contracts, and closing

them when the job is finished.” (Lewis, 2007, p.

22)

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5. PM Professional Development

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Careers Using PM

Engineers Architects and planners Economic and real estate developers IT personnel Marketing personnel (product development) Construction personnel Many scientists involved in R&D Manufacturing personnel, etc.

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For SPP Graduates

PM as integration of policy outcome analysis

and organizational process analysis

PM as entry into interdisciplinary project teams

PM as transferable skill sets (sectors, horizontal

and vertical career pathways)

PM as advancement into management (PMP

certification for project management-readiness)

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PM Scenarios for SPP Graduates

Examining regulatory compliance of new hybrid car production

Analyzing incentives for adopting of new residential energy efficiency technologies

Performing environmental impact analysis for proposed new real estate development

Analyzing organizational processes to improve knowledge management from special projects

Monitoring quality of green technologies to reduce carbon emissions.

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PM Career Pathways

Career

Matrix

StateEnvironmental

Services

CorporateEnvironmental

Services

ConsultingEnvironmental

Services

Executive Senior Partner

Directorial Environmental

Serv. Director

Management Special Projects Manager

Professional Compliance

Officer

Classified Intern

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International Certification

Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org)

Project Management Professional (PMP) credential

Training opportunities (annual conferences,

seminars, journals)

Networking opportunities, exposure to different

industries

More systems and process-oriented thinking

(Blomquist et. al, 2010)

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References

Blomquist, Tomas; Hallgren, Markus; Nilsson, Andreas; and Soderholm, Anders. (2010) Project-as-Practice: In Search of Project Management Research That Matters. Project Management Journal, 41(1): 5-16.

Bower, Douglas C. and Walker, Derek H. T. (2007) Planning Knowledge for Phased Rollout Projects. Project Management Journal, 38(3): 45-60.

Couillard, Jean; Garon, Serge; and Riznic, Jovica. The Logical Framework Approach—Millennium. Project Management Journal, 40(4): 31-44.

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References - 2

Forsberg, Kevin; Mooz, Hal; and Cotterman, Howard. (2005) Visualizing Project Management: Models and Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ika, Lavagnon A. (2009) Project Success as a Topic in Project Management Journals. Project Management Journal, 40(4): 6-19.

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References - 3

Jackson, Karen Luke and Keener, Barbara J. (2002) Introduction to Community College Resource Development: Creating Preferred Futures. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 26: 1-6.

Jedd, Marcia. (2007) The Evolution Begins: A New Breed of Project Managers Can Talk Projects and Business Strategy. PM Network, 21(6): 60-64.

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References - 4

Kerzner, Harold. (2001) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lakika, Susan. (2008) By Focusing on Lessons Learned, Project Managers Can Avoid Repeating the Same Old Mistakes.” PM Network, 22(2): 74-77.

Lewis, James P. (1995) The Project Manager’s Desk Reference. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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References - 5

PMI. (2007) The Benefits of a Credentialed Workforce: Why Organizations Gain from Promoting Credentials. PMI Today, Supplement to PM Network, 9:2.

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For More Information:

Clark Bonilla, Director

Office: 404-385-7220

clark.bonilla@pubpolicy.gatech.edu