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Project Management

Prof. dr. ir. Jan Devos Universiteit Gent, Campus Kortrijk

Graaf Karel De Goedelaan 5

BE-8500 KORTRIJK - BELGIUM

T: +32 56 24 12 72

e-mail: jang.devos@ugent.be

linkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jangdevos

Blog: jangdevos.wordpress.org

Twitter: @jangdevos

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There are only 3 simple rules for conducting a project.

Unfortunately,

nobody knows

what they are…

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What is a project?

The tunnel boring machines were

specially designed for

excavating the chalk marl rock which

geological surveys had shown to lie

beneath the seabed along the

proposed tunnel route. However,

several factors combined to make

this a unique challenge for

the machines:

•The length of the tunnel to be

excavated undersea ( in

excess of 20 km ).

•The high rate of advance

required to meet the

construction programme

requirements.

•The possibility of unexpected

ground conditions - such as

an unsurveyed borehole.

At completion, it was estimated that the whole project

cost around £10 billion.

Work stated on both sides in 1987, and the fixed link was

opened in 1994 - nearly 2 years late, and way over

budget.

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What is a project? Program Apollo was a series of human spaceflight

missions undertaken by the United States of America

using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle,

conducted during the years 1961–1972.

It was devoted to the goal of landing a man

on the Moon and returning him safely to

Earth within the decade of the 1960s.

This goal was achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in

July 1969. The program continued into the early 1970s

to carry out the initial hands-on scientific exploration of

the Moon, with a total of six successful landings Apollo Program insigne

The cost of the entire Apollo program: USD $25.4 billion -1969 Dollars ($135-

billion in 2005 Dollars).

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Apollo vs Space Shuttle ?

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• Temporary organization

• Limited in time

• Goal centric

• Impact on the existing organization

What is a project?

a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique

product, service or result. (Project Management Institute)

a temporary organization that is created for the purpose of

delivering one or more business products according to a

specified Business Case (Prince2)

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• Examples of projects

• Building a house • Building / installing a machine • Developing a new product • Launching a new product, concept, … • Bachelor thesis • Masterthesis – PhD thesis • …

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A project team: temporary organization

(Hackman, 2009, Harvard University)

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A project team: temporary organization

Project Management Team Project Board (Steering Committee) Project Manager: day-to-day basis Different ‘roles’: Team Members Project Assurance Project Quality Reviewers / Testers Designers Secretary Architectures PR Sales & Marketing

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A project is limited in time

• Milestones and milestone products (deliverables)

• Wanted, Planned and Realized (Earned Value Analysis)

• Baseline, Stages, Critical path

Clear starting point

• Clear finishing point

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A project is goal centric

• Business Case (Why are we doing this?)

• Feasibility Study

• Requirements (user needs)

• Deliverables

• Acceptance Criteria

• Outcome

Beware of:

• Scope (creep)

• Runaway projects

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Improvising

Task centric

Project centric

Assurance of the outcome

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Improvising Project Centric Task Centric

Flexibility

No procedures

Creative/ Innovative

No structure

Goal oriented

Processes

Planning / Analyzing

Change management

Efficient

Procedures

Control

Hierarchy

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Which model is the best ?

Depends on the situation

• What results do we need ?

• Control in time and budget

• Bringing disciplines together

• Type of organization

• Type of product/service

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What is project management?

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The planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of

a project and the motivation of all those involved in it

to achieve the project objectives on time and to the

specified cost, quality and performance. (Prince2)

PM-triangle

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(Tom Cross, HBR)

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Project Management Failures

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Project Management Failures

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Project Management Failures

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Small projects have more chance to succeed

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Project Management

• Clear roles and responsibilities

• Management capabilities and

techniques

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What is succes in project management?

Answer: do not fail !

But failure is the outcome of a human process

All failures are “expectation failures” = the

failure to meet the expectations of the

stakeholders

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High Reliability Organizations

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Organizing for High Reliability: Processes of

Collective Mindfulness (Weick, 1999)

• Preoccupation with failure (“Failure is not an option”)

• Reluctance to simplify interpretation

(beware of ‘frameworks’, ‘models’, ‘mindsets’, …)

• Sensitivity to operations (“situational awareness”)

• Commitment to resilience (“continuous management

of fluctuations”)

• Under specification of structures (“no bureaucracy”)

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Lessons from HROs

• The expectation of surprise is an organizational resource because it promotes attentiveness and discovery

• Anomalous events should be treated as outcomes rather than as accidents, to encourage search for sources and causes

• Errors should be made as conspicuous as possible to undermine self-deception and concealment

• Reliability requires diversity, duplication, overlap, and a varied response repertoire, whereas efficiency requires homogeneity, specialization, non-redundancy and standardization

• Interpersonal skills are just as important in HROs as are technical skills

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Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Break your assignment down in manageable tasks

• Assign a deliverable to each task

• Define each task with clear objectives

• Assign a execution time to each task

• Assign a cost to each task

• Assign resources to each task

• Tasks who are not in the WBS are out-of-scope

Do a stepwise refinement of some tasks in the WBS

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Define the goals according to the SMART principle

S Specific / Significant / Simple

M Measurable / Manageable

A Achievable / Appropriate / Attainable

R Realistic / Relevant

T Timely / Trackable

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GANTT chart (H.L. Gantt (1861-1919) – assistant of F. Taylor)

• WBS = set of all tasks

• Presentation of all tasks on a time line

• Beginning and Ending time

• Linking of tasks (concurrent tasks are possible)

PERT planning (Program Evaluation and Review Technique)

• Origin: US DoD (1958)

• Extra: TOTAL time needed to finished the project

• Critical path = the longest path of planned tasks to the

end of the project, and the earliest and latest that each task

can start and finish without making the project longer

Project Management Practices

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GANTT chart

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PERT planning

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Scope

Poor scope definition is the

major contributing factor to

cost overruns in the

engineering and construction

industry.

The effect of “creeping scope” is

a major cause of cost overruns

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PRINCE2, Projects IN Controlled Environments,

Project management method covering the organisation, management and

control of projects.

Process Based & Product Based

Improved responsibility, authority and accountability reducing confusion

Divide the project into manageable stages for more accurate planning

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 1 - Don’t define a clear goal

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 2 – Time is of no

importance

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 3 – Scope is of no importance, try

to do everything, and keep adding

specs, while you are busy and in the

mood !

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 4 – Budget is

of no importance

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 5 – Organize

meetings but only to

look at each other or

to sleep.

Important decisions

are made in the

restrooms

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some practical hints to kill a project

Hint 6 – Avoid using

tools to support your

project. Don’t use

your computer.

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• PM does not guaranteed success nor eliminates failures

• PM too much focused on ‘how-to-do’

• Management of meaning iso management of control ?

• Critical perspective on projects: focus on values (technology is not neutral), ethics and morality equally important than efficiency & effectiveness ?

• Research on SMEs: Trust vs Control ? (Devos, 2009)

• “Political” PLC

2003, The chimpanzees’ tea party: a new metaphor for project manager (Drummond & Hodgson)

2006, New Possibilities for Project Management Theory: A Critical Engagement (Cicmil & Hodgson)

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Inception

Design & Dev.

PLC Wild enthusiasm

Search for the

guilty

“P”PLC

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