Chapter 1

Modern Project Management

Chapter Outline

1. What is a Project?

A project is a complex, non-routine, one-time effort; that is limited by time, has a specific budget, requires specific resources, and includes performance specifications designed to meet customer needs.

Characteristics of a Project:

  1. An established objective.
  2. A defined life span with a beginning and an end.
  3. Usually, the involvement of several departments and professionals.
  4. Typically, doing something that has never been done before.
  5. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
  1. What a Project is not

Projects should not be confused with everyday work. It is not routine, everyday work. A project is done only once.

  1. Project Life Cycle

The Project Life Cycle recognizes that projects have a limited life span and that there are predictable changes in the life of the project. The project life cycle typically passes sequentially through four stages: defining, planning, executing, and delivering. Start point begins the moment the project is given the go-ahead.

  1. Defining stage: Goals, Specifications, Tasks, Responsibilities
  2. Planning stage: Schedules, Budgets, Resources, Risks, Staffing
  3. Executing stage: Status reports, Changes, Quality, Forecasts
  4. Delivering stage: Train customer, Transfer documents, Release resources, Release staff, Lessons learned.

C. The Project Manager

Project managers plan, schedule, motivate, and control. However, what sets them apart from regular managers is that they manage temporary, non-repetitive activities, to complete a fixed life project.

  1. They create a project team and organization where none existed.
  2. They must decide on what and how things should be done instead of just simply managing the process.
  3. They are the direct link to the customer.
  4. They must manage the tension between the customer’s expectations and what is feasible and reasonable.
  5. They provide direction, coordination, and integration to the project team.
  6. They must work with vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.
  7. They must ensure that appropriate trade-offs are made between time, cost, and performance requirements.
  8. In a nutshell, a Project Manager is the person responsible for orchestrating the completion of a project by introducing the right people, at the right time, to address the right issues and make the right decisions. Basically, the person who can get the project done right and on time.

2. The Importance of Project Management

  1. Compression of Product Life Cycle

The most significant driving force behind the demand for project management is the shortening of the product life cycle. Because delays can result in the loss of possible revenue, speed becomes the competitive advantage to get the product or service out to market as quickly as possible.

  1. Knowledge Explosion

The growth in new knowledge has increased the complexity of projects because projects today encompass the latest advances. Building a roadway today is far more complex then roads built 30 years ago. Specifications, codes, materials, equipment, etc. are far more advanced today. Therefore, requiring a more specialized plan then what was used in previous years.

  1. Triple Bottom Line (planet, people, profit)

Because of “Global Warming”, sustainable business practices have been brought to the forefront. Businesses can no longer simply focus on maximizing profits to the detriment of the environment and society. Efforts to reduce carbon imprint and utilize renewable resources are realized through effective project management. See “Snapshot from practice”

  1. Corporate Downsizing

Because of corporate downsizing, Project Management is replacing middle management as a way of ensuring that things get done. Companies are now having to outsource significant segments of the project because it is not feasible to keep it in house. Therefore, project managers have to not only manage their own people, but must also manage their counterparts from different organizations.

  1. Increased Customer Focus

Customers do not simply settle for generic products or services. They want something that caters to their specific wants and needs. The project manager’s role is to satisfy the unique needs and request of the clients.

  1. Small Projects Represent Big Problems

It is perceived that small projects have little impact on the bottom line because they do not demand large amounts of scarce resources and/or money. Unfortunately, small projects typically add up to represent large sums of hidden costs not measured in the accounting system.

3. Project Management Today—An Integrative Approach

Operationally, integration is the combining all of the major dimensions of project management under one centralized umbrella.

Centralization requires the integration of project management processes and practices in order to improve project management over the long haul. The rationale for integration is to provide senior management with:

  1. An overview of all project management activities.
  2. A big picture of how organizational resources are being used.
  3. An assessment of the risk their projects represent.
  4. A rough metric for measuring the improvement for managing projects.
  1. Integration of Projects with Organizational Strategy
  2. Integration of Projects through Portfolio Management
  3. Integration of the Processes of ImplementingActual Projects

Technical and Sociocultural:

There are two dimensions of the Project Management Process.

The first is the Technical side, which consists of planning, scheduling, and controlling projects…from creation of Deliverables, to Work Breakdown Structures, to monitoring the progress of the project.

The second is Sociocultural side, which centers on creating a temporary social system of different talents that is assembled to focus on that particular project. This is where the Project Manager must be able to stimulate teamwork, as well as resolve any conflicts amongst team members that may threaten the project.

To be successful, a Project Manager must be a master of both.

4.Summary

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