Introduction to Project Management

What is a Project?
 A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken
to produce a unique product or service

Temporary Characteristics of Unique

Projects

 Temporary – Definitive beginning and end

 Unique – New undertaking, unfamiliar ground
Project Success
Customer
Completed within
Requirements
allocated time frame
satisfied/exceeded

Completed within Accepted by the

allocated budget customer
Project Failure

Poor Requirements
Scope Creep
Gathering

Unrealistic planning Lack of resources

and scheduling
What is Project
Management
Project Management is the application of
skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to
meet the needs and expectations of
stakeholders for a project.
The purpose of project management is
prediction and prevention, NOT
recognition and reaction
 A set of techniques used for
 - Planning
 - Organising and
 - Controlling
 work activities
 to reach a desired result
 - on-time
 - within budget and
 - according to specification
Triple Constraint
Time

Quality
Cost Scope
Triple Constraint
Increased Scope = increased time +
increased cost

Tight Time = increased costs + reduced

scope

Tight Budget = increased time + reduced

scope.
Key Areas of Project
Management
Scope Management
Issue Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Communications Management
Risk Management
Change Control Management
Scope Management
 Primarily it is the definition and control of what IS
and
IS NOT included in the project.
Issue Management
 Issues are restraints to accomplishing the
deliverables of the project.
 Typically identified throughout the project and
logged and tracked through resolution.

Issue… already impacting the cost, time or quality

Rope not thick

Cost Management
 This process is required to ensure the project
is completed within the approved budget and
includes:

Resources Budget
people
equipment
materials
Quantities
Quality Management
 Quality Management is the process that
insure the project will meet the needs

“conformance to requirements” - Crosby

“fitness for use” - Juran

“the totality of characteristics of an

entity that bear on its ability to
satisfy stated and implied need’ - ISO 8402:1994
Communications
Management
 This process is necessary to ensure timely and
appropriate generation, collection, dissemination,
and storage of project information
Risk Management
 Risk identification and mitigation strategy
 Risk update and tracking

Risk… POTENTIAL negative impact to project

Tree – location, accessibility, Weather

ownership
Change Control
Management
Define how changes to the project
scope will be executed
Scope Change Technical Specification Changes

Schedule changes

All changes require collaboration and buy in via the project sponsor’s signature
prior to implementation of the changes
Project Management: Unofficial
Definition
Project management is about
organization
Project management is about
decision making
Project management is about
changing people’s behavior

Project management is about

creating an environment conducive to
getting critical projects done!
 Characteristics of
Project
 Objectives
 Life span
 Single entity
 Teamwork
 Life cycle
 Uniqueness
 Change
 Successive principle
 Made to order
 Unity in diversity
 High level of sub-contracting
 Risk and uncertainty
Project Manager’s Role
Lead

Communicate

Define Plan Monitor Complete

Communicate

Re-Plan
Project Manager’s Role
 Leadership
 Organization
 Communication
 Finance
 Technical savvy
 Politicking
 Team building
 Praising
 Punishing
Planning
process
 1. Develop Project
Work
Scope
 All the work, and only the work required
 Scope Statement - agreement of what is
and is not. Includes:
 primary objectives (products/deliverables)
 major deliverable milestones
 assumptions
 constraints
 completion criteria

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 Management of changes to the
primary objectives and major
deliverables milestones.
The plan should
include agreements
of:
1. Change
acceptance/expectations
2. How changes will be
evaluated
3. How change will be
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 Develop a Work Breakdown
Structure(WBS)
•define work packages
to manage, create and
deliver the solution

Determine Dependencies
(Sequencing)
•determine the order
of work activities or
dependencies
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 Obtain initial estimate of likely
duration for activity

For each activity

 determine skills
and resources
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 How will quality assurance and control be
conducted?
Wha
t?
•Identify Quality Standards
How
?
•Quality Assurance
Chec
k •Quality Control

Sometimes performed
by a 3rd Party

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 The plan should determine:
•who needs what information
•when will they need it
•how will it be given to them
•by whom

And determine how to:

•store, update, and disseminate information
•close, file and archive information
•update the comm. plan

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 7. Develop Schedule
Determining start and finish dates for
tasks and assigning resources

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

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 Develop cost estimates for:
•internal & external labor (hrs,rates)
•materials

•supplies

•contracts

•special costs

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 Identifying, documenting, and assigning
project roles and responsibilities as
they relate to the work defined,
acquiring the staff

Staff acquisition - negotiations, position

announcement, procurement, or
assignment.

How the project will manage project

documentation should be determined.

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 Procurement planning determines:
•whether, what, and how much, Actual solicitation
•how and when, is part of execution
•how to manage solicitations, selection,
contract administration, and closeout

Procurement documents:
•SOW - Statement of Work
•RFP - Request for Proposal
•Evaluation Criteria

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 Budgeting involves assigning the cost estimates to all the tasks
creating a cost baseline.

Budget/Spending Plan
Jan Feb Mar June So on
Internal Labor 5,000 5,000 5,000 6,000 10,000
External Labor 7,000 15,000 15,000
HW/SW 3,000 20,000 20,000
Contracts 9000 30,000
Training 5,000 5,000 5,000
Total 10,000 10,000 15,000 50,000 80,000

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 Risk planning involves:
•identifying risks w/high effect and impact
•planning for risk mitigation or contingency

Common sources of risk:

•Changes in requirements
•Design errors and omissions

•Roles and responsibilities misunderstood

•Poor estimates or unsupported

estimates
•Insufficiently skilled staff

•Impossible timeframes

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 Previous steps are
reiterated to create a
coherent plan.

for example:
•initial draft - reflects generic skills
and duration

•final plan - reflects specific

resources and dates

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