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Introduction to Project Management

Chapter 11Managing Project Execution

Information Systems Project Management: A Process and Team Approach, 1e Fuller/Valacich/George

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Project Execution

• The phase of a project in which work towards direct achievement of the project’s objectives and the production of the project’s deliverables occurs – the execution of the project plan

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A Component of PMBOK’s Project Integration Management

1. Develop project charter

2. Develop preliminary project scope statement

3. Develop project management plan

4. Direct and manage project execution

5. Monitor and control project work

6. Integrated change control

7. Close project

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Project Execution Processes

• Direct and manage project execution

• Perform quality assurance

• Acquire project team

• Develop project team

• Information distribution

• Request seller responses

• Select sellers

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Execution Process Relationships

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Direct And Manage Project Execution

• Managing the technical and organizational processes and interfaces that are necessary for completing the project work specified in the project management plan

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Perform Quality Assurance

• Evaluating project progress on a regular basis in order to determine if the project will satisfy established quality standards

(Project Quality Management)

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Acquire and Develop Project Team

• Acquisition of team members

• Strategies/actions to improve individual and group competencies and interactions

(Human Resource Management)

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Information Distribution

• Providing stakeholders appropriate information on a timely basis

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Request Seller Responsesand Select Sellers

• Submission of proposals by vendors for specified project plan activities

• Evaluation and selection of vendor bids

(Project Procurement)

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PMBOK Required Inputs, Tools and Techniques Used, and Resulting Outputs

of Project Plan Execution

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Project Plan Execution – Inputs

• Project management plan

• Approved corrective actions

• Approved preventive actions

• Approved change requests

• Approved defect repair

• Validated defect repair

• Administrative closure procedure

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Project Plan Execution - Inputs (cont.)

• Approved corrective actions

– Authorized actions to bring the project performance back in line with the project plan

• Approved preventive actions

– Authorized actions to minimize the probability of negative consequences associated with project risks

• Approved change requests– Documented and authorized changes to project scope

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Project Plan Execution – Inputs (cont.)

• Approved defect repair

– Authorized actions to correct defects found during audits

• Validated defect repair

– Notification of either approved or denied repair actions

• Administrative closure procedure

– Procedures to officially close the project

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Project Plan Execution – Tools & Techniques

• Project management methodology

– Specific procedures and processes to be used in executing the project management plan

• Project management information system

– Any tools that assist the project team to perform the specified work in the project plan

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Project Plan Execution – Outputs

• Deliverables

• Requested changes

• Implemented change requests

• Implemented corrective actions

• Implemented preventive actions

• Implemented defect repair

• Work performance information

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Project Plan Execution – Outputs (cont.)

• Deliverables– Projects and/or services specified in the project plan

necessary to make or provide in order for the project to be completed

• Requested changes– Approved change requests that are implemented to

reflect modifications to the project plan

• Implemented change requests– Successfully implemented change requests

• Implemented corrective actions– Successfully implemented corrective actions

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Project Plan Execution – Outputs (cont.)

• Implemented preventive actions– Successfully implemented preventive actions

• Implemented defect repair– Successfully implemented defect repairs

• Work performance information– Information that reflects the current status of project

plan activities

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Project Manager’s SimultaneousMonitoring & Managing Actions

• Monitoring– Allocating and distributing work to team members at

the right time while also managing task dependencies– Updating progress of each task– Determining consequences and predicting their

effects on future tasks and milestones

• Managing– Managing changing team membership– Managing role of third parties, like vendors and

suppliers– Enforcing ownership of tasks

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Monitoring Progress & Managing Change

Project Schedule Calendar

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Original Project Network Diagram

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Revised Schedule

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Project Execution Activities

• Hold kickoff meeting

• Establish and manage channels of communication

• Manage procurement activities

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Potential Execution Problems• Lack of good data on activity progress

• Inadequate definition of requirements

• Frequent and uncontrolled changes to the baseline requirements

• Poor time and cost estimates

• Difficulties in concluding the project because of a lack of completion criteria

• Frequent replacement of developmental personnel

• Inadequate tracking and directing of project activities

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Common Systems Development Project Problems

People-Related Process-Related Product-Related Technology-

Related

Weak personnel Insufficient

planning

Feature creep Silver-bullet

syndrome

Adding people to a

project late

Overly optimistic

schedules

Requirements gold-

plating

Overestimated

savings from new

tools or methods

Unrealistic

expectations

Planning to catch up

later

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Managing Change

• Project changes– Change request processes must be in place– Not all accepted– Accepted changes can affect schedule/ budget and

deliverable

• Team changes– Project members will come and go– Plan for member turnover

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Communication for Project Management

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Communication and Documentation

• Meetings– Topics drift; lack of contribution by member; attitude of “let me get

back to my real work”; or are they organized, focused, well-executed?

• Written reports– Scheduled, accurate, up-to-date information

• Project management information systems– Provides current project status information

• Electronic communication– Flexible, virtual

• Web-based solutions– Increase accessibility and related information

• Documentation– Provides a record of event for review, audit or lessons learned

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Web-Based Project Management Tools

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Questions?