PROJECT MANAGEMENT

By:Dr. Abdalla Qudah

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Definitions and Issues Project Management (PM) could be defined as:

an endeavor in which human, material and financial resources are organized, in a novel way, to undertake a unique scope of work, of a given specification, within the constraints of cost and time, so as to achieve a beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives.

3Nature of projects There are several attributes of projects: they are non-repetitive and tend to have significant unique

features likely to be novel to the management; they carry risk and uncertainty; they should be approved in return for undertakings to deliver

specified quantified results within predetermined quality and safety/health parameters;

they need to be delivered with firm start and finishing dates, within clearly specified cost and resource constraints;

they are usually in the hands of a temporary team and may be subject to change as the work progresses;

events inside and outside the enterprise may affect the outcome.

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Definitions and Issues Project management deals with a one time effort to achieve a

focused objective. A well defined objective acts as the driving force of the

project, and objectives should be completely understood by all team

members involved, directly or indirectly, in the project.

Progress and outcomes are measured through: technology (specifications, performance, quality), time (due dates, milestones), cost (total investment, required cash flow), profits, and resource utilization.

5Project Objectives Most projects have

several goals covering such aspects as technical and operational requirements, delivery dates and cost.

Project objectives should be ranked according to their relative importance. 70.00%

20.00%

10.00%

Performance

Cost

Schedule

33.33%

33 33%

33.33%

Performance

Cost

Schedule

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The Management Process Based on a well-defined set of goals, it is possible:

to develop appropriate performance measures, and

to select the organizational structure, required resources, and people that will team up to achieve these goals.

7Summary of underlying Project Management Processes

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Risk and Uncertainty Principal sources of uncertainty include: random variations in component and subsystem

performance, inaccurate or inadequate data, and the inability to forecast satisfactorily due to lack of prior

experience.

Specifically, there may be: Uncertainty in scheduling Uncertainly in cost Technological uncertainty that may affect both schedule

and cost.

9Phases of a Project To begin, there is a conceptual design phase during which the

organization realizes that a project may be needed. Next there is an advanced development or preliminary design

phase where the project manager plans the project to a level of detail sufficient for initial scheduling and budgeting.

If the project is approved, it will enter a more detailed design phase, a production phase, and a termination phase.

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LIFE CYCLE OF A PROJECT: STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL ISSUES

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Project Cost: Project Cost: Commitment Vs. SpendingCommitment Vs. Spending

Management plays a vital role during the : conceptual design

phase, advanced

development phase, and

detailed design phase.

The importance of this involvement in: defining goals, selecting

performance measures, and

planning the project.

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Major Tasks of Project ManagementThe major tasks of a "typical" project management: Project initiation, selection, and definition Project organization Analysis of activities Project scheduling Resource management Technological management Project budgeting Project execution and control Project termination

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Project Components Project initiation, selection, and definition: Identification of needs Development of (technological) alternatives Evaluation of alternatives Selection of the "most promising" alternatives. Estimation of the life-cycle cost of the promising alternatives Assessment of risk Development of a configuration baseline "Selling" the configuration and getting approval

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Project Components Project organization: Selection or participating organizations Structuring the work content or the project into a work

breakdown structure (WBS) Development or the project organizational structure and

associated communication and reporting facilities Allocation of WBS elements to participating organizations

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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) In many cases a WBS is developed during the conceptual

design phase. The WBS is a hierarchy that divides the project into major

divisions, systems, and subsystem elements. These elements are further divided and a list is produced

identifying all tasks that must be accomplished to complete the project.

The WBS helps define the work to be performed and provides a framework for planning, budgeting, monitoring, and control.

As the project advances, schedule and cost performance can be compared to plans and budgets.

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WBS ExamplePARTIAL WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE FOR SPACE LABORATORY

Logistic support system7.0Training system6.0Habitat module5.0Guidance system4.0Fuel tank insulation3.1.1.2Fuel lank casing3.1.1.1Fuel lank assembly3.1.1Fuel supply system3.1Main propulsion system3.0Laboratory module2.0Command module1.0Work elementIndex

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Project Organization The WBS provides the set of tasks to be performed For each task define the work content through statement of

work (SOW) In the organizational breakdown structure (OBS): the lines of communication are defined, and the procedures for work authorization and report

preparation and distribution are established. Finally, the lower-level WBS elements and tasks are

assigned to lower-level OBS elements

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Relating WBS to OBS

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Project Components Analysis of activities: Definition of the project's major tasks Development of a list of activities required to complete the

project's tasks Development or precedence relations among activities Development of a network model Development or higher-level network elements (hammock

activities, sub-networks) Development of milestones Updating of the network and its elements

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Project Components Project scheduling: Development of a calendar Estimation of activity durations Estimation of activity performance dates Monitoring actual progress and milestones Updating the schedule

Resource management: Definition of resource requirements Acquisition of resources Allocation of resources among projects/activities Monitoring of actual resource use and cost

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Project Components Technological management: Development of a configuration management plan Identification of technological risks Configuration control Risk management and control Total quality management (TQM)

Project budgeting: Estimation of direct and indirect costs Development of a cash flow forecast Development of a budget Monitoring actual cost

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Project Components Project execution and control: Development of data collection systems Development of data analysis systems Execution of activities Data collection and analysis Detection of deviations in cost, configuration, schedule, and quality Development and implementation of corrective plans Forecasting of project cost at completion

Project termination: Evaluation of project success Recommendation for improvements in management practices Analysis and storage of information on actual cost, actual duration,

actual performances, and configuration

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Project Manager Basic functions of project manager:

1. Manage the projects scope by defining the goals and work to be done in sufficient detail to facilitate understanding and corrective action if needed.

2. Manage the human resources involved in the project.3. Manage communication to see that appropriate parties are

informed and have sufficient information to keep the project on track.

4. Manage time by planning and meeting a schedule.5. Manage quality so that the projects results are satisfactory.6. Manage costs so that the project is performed at the

minimum practical cost and within budget, if possible.

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Characteristics of Effective Project Manager The skills that a typical project manager needs are:

Technical skills (scope of project) Scheduling and time management skills Budgeting and cost skills Marketing, contracting, and customer relationship skills Negotiation skills Communication skills Resource management, human relationship skills Leadership (goals, performance measures)

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Factors affecting the success of a project Project mission and goals should be clearly defined and understood

for the successful planning and execution of any project. The mission and goals should be sufficiently detailed as early as at

the conceptual design phase of the project. Each project should enjoy the full support of top management.

Within the high levels of uncertainty that every project faces, securing required funds and resources proves to be invaluable. Continuous communication with top management is therefore a prerequisite to any desired success.

Project planning involves translating the project mission and goals into a feasible timetable. This constitutes the link between the conceptual phase and the production phase. In fact, project planning doesnt stop with the start of execution, but should be consulted whenever deviations from the initial planning are detected.

Keeping good relations between team members.

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Factors affecting the success of a project Besides understanding the technical aspects of the project, the project

manager should ensure that team members possess the necessary skills required for the completion of the project.

Mutual consultation with the client increases the probability ofproject acceptance.

The ongoing progress of a project should be closely monitored. Timely and accurate feedback will allow the project manager to make critical decisions to update the project schedule once a deviation from schedule becomes apparent.

Prompt exchange of accurate information between the project manager and the client, as well as with management and team member can play a vital role in enhancing the chances of a project to succeed.

Developing contingency plans is a necessary preventive step. These plans would help reduce the bad consequences of deviating from the original plan, and present alternative timely solutions.

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Laws of Project Management1. No major project is ever installed on time, within budget or

with the same staff that started it. 2. Projects progress quickly until they become 90% complete,

then they remain at 90% complete forever. 3. One advantage of fuzzy project objectives is that they let you

avoid the embarrassment of estimating the corresponding costs.

4. When things are going well, something will go wrong. When things just cannot get any worse, they will. When things appear to be going better, you have

overlooked something.

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Laws of Project Management5. If project content is allowed to change freely, the rate of

change will exceed the rate of progress. 6. No system is ever completely debugged. Attempts to debug

a system inevitably introduce new bugs that are even harder to find.

7. A carelessly planned project will take three times longer to complete than expected; a carefully planned project will take only twice as long.

8. Project teams dislike progress reporting because it vividly shows their lack of progress.