Project:

Projects are not ongoing operations in a company.

Projects are not routine activities

Projects are

o Temporary

o Defined purpose

o Defined Beginning and End

o Human and other resources

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

The temporary nature of projects indicates that a project has a definite beginning and end. The end is

reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved or when the project is terminated because its

objectives will not or cannot be met, or when the need for the project no longer exists.

Project Management:

Planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of resources for a specific time period to meet a specific set of one-time objective.

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.

Application of skills and methods to deliver projects

1. On time

2. On budget

3. Up to specification

We manage projects on daily basis

For Example: Getting to University on time.

6:00 – alarm

6:05 – washroom

6:15 – prayer

6:25 – shave

6:35 – shower

6:50 – Dressing

7:00 – Breakfast

7:20 – Drive to work

8:00 – on time

So we all have inherent knowledge of skills and methods of project management. Difference is in the

magnitude

Project management versus Crisis management?

Criteria for a successful project:

Well defined scope: must be clearly defined

Sponsor: must have a sponsor with the need, authority and budget

Will: will to succeed. The sponsor must have some need which is being fulfilled by the project.

Approval: formal approval

Though following factors are important but not mandatory for a successful project

Technical skills

Special equipment

Detail team knowledge

PMI = Project management institute, it is an International, non-profit group of volunteers focused on

project management best practices

PMBoK = Project management body of knowledge

PMP = Project management professional

How does PMBoK define PM?

1. Scope

2. Time

3. Cost

4. Quality

5. Human resources

6. Communication

7. Risk

8. Procurement

9. Stakeholder

10. Integration of all above areas

Project, Program, Portfolio and Operational Management

Program: Collection of projects

Portfolio Management: deals with a Suite of programs which fulfills an organizational requirement. It is

about long term vision of an organization.

Operational Management: Day to day execution of business.

Portfolio Management:

Large focus

Could be several programs

Program Management:

Related projects having a common theme

May have a business unit focus

Co-ordinates resources and dependencies across Projects

Project Management Process Groups:

Initiating: Project validation

o Project/phase definition

o Preliminary budget approved

o Project charter is created (with initial scope)

o Stakeholders’ registry is started

o Project manager is assigned.

o Project validation and approval

Planning: covers all knowledge areas

o On-going activity.

o Project management plan is created which addresses all knowledge areas

o Separate management plans may be created for large complex projects

o Secret to success lies in good planning

o For example: good scope we have good WBS. Good WBS we have good schedule, good

scope – good budget,

Executing: actual work

o Actual work is done (least management activity)

o PM focuses on supporting the team i.e. removing the road blocks. Help the team to

work in an effective and efficient manner for example: provide training if required, etc.

Monitoring & Controlling: facilitate the team by removing road blocks, project tracking etc.

o Tracking progress: track actuals for example: amount of work done vs amount of work

expected to be done

o Updating plan: update plan with respect to the performance

o Reporting performance: report back to stake holders and actions taken to keep your

plan on track

Closing: returning resources back to the pool

o Ending a project

o Gaining final acceptance

o Lessons learned: what worked and what didn’t. Information should be shared across the

organization by publishing

o Reusable material

Project Management Process Groups Explained

Project Initiation:

1. Definition of project or phase

2. Initial scope defined (high level)

3. Assign a project manager.

4. Develop project charter

Includes business vision,

timeline,

budget and

cost benefit analysis

identification of possible risks

5. Identify stakeholders

Create stakeholder register

After getting approval to proceed PM will move on to planning phase

Project Planning:

Knowledge Area Planning Process Output

Project integration mgt Develop project mgt plan Project management plan

Project scope management Plan scope managementCollect requirementsDefine scopeCreate WBS

Scope management planRequirements Doc and RTMProject scope statementScope baseline

Project time management Plan schedule managementDefine activitiesSequence activitiesEstimate activity resourcesEstimate activity durationsDevelop schedule

Project cost management Plan for cost managementEstimate costDetermine budget

Project quality management Plan for quality managementPerform quality assurance (doing right things)Control quality (doing things right)

Project human resource mgt Plan for human resource managementAcquire project teamDevelop project teamManage project team

Project communications mgt Plan for communications

Manage communicationsControl communications

Project risk management Plan for risksIdentify risksPerform analysisPlan risk responsesControl risks

Project procurement mgt Plan for procurementConduct procurementsControl procurementsClose procurements

Project stakeholder mgt Identify stake holdersPlan for stakeholder mgtManage stakeholder mgtControl stakeholder engagement

PM Processes VS Project Life cycle:

Analysis: what are the expectations of stake holders and business?

Design

Execution / actual construction

Finalization

Project Management, stake holders and governance

Project Manager:

100% responsible for successful delivery of the project i.e. on time, on budget, up to the

specification and quality. PM achieves this target with the help of a team

Neither a business expert nor an IT expert of current technologies!

PM knowledge: PMBok guide

PM performance: Application of PM knowledge

Skills Required by a PM:

1. Leadership

2. Team building

3. Motivation

4. Communication (introvert versus extrovert)

5. Influencing

6. Decision maker

7. Political awareness

8. Negotiation (with team, business, etc.)

9. Trust building

10. Conflict management

11. Coach

Stakeholders:

Anyone with an interest in the project

Senior management, middle management, operational staff.

Affected department

Interested department

Others (pros or cons)

Internal and External (suppliers, customers etc.)

Key stakeholders: sponsor, acceptor, Subject matter expert (SME) and users

Stake holder Analysis includes a chart having following data items

1. Name

2. Department

3. Position

4. Representation

5. Objectives

6. Objective priority

7. Role in project

Governance:

From senior management view point

Project oversight: Is it achieving business plan expectations?

Project acceptance: initial approval after initiation.

Project guidance: ongoing support i.e. framework for making project decisions

PMI Code of Ethics

Responsibility

Respect

Fairness

Honesty

Project Organizational Structures

Organizational Environmental Factors:

Culture. Is it a risk-taking or risk-adverse organization?

Government regulations

Geographic distribution.

Infrastructure. Access to tools/resources?

Human resources?

Market conditions. Sellers’ market or buyers’ market

Political climate with-in an organization, our ability to make decisions etc.

Organizational structures:

Functional Organization

o Big Boss

Functional Managers (HR, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance, IT)

Functional manager designates someone i.e. unskilled + part-time PM

Project team is built from a functional area

Part-time team members

Little PM control on team members

Low subject matter expertise (in some areas)

Matrix (weak, balance and strong)

o Weak Matrix:

Project team is built from multiple functions

Part time team members

Un skilled + Part-time PM

Low PM control on team members

High subject matter expertise

o Balanced Matrix:

Project team is built from multiple functions

Part-time team members

Skilled + Full-time PM

Low PM control on team members

High subject matter expertise

o Strong Matrix:

Project team is built from multiple functions

Part-time team members

Dedicated project management group (PMO) having skilled full time PMs

Better PM control on team members

High subject matter expertise

Project

o Dedicated skilled PMs

o Dedicated skilled staff

o Full control on team members

o High subject matter expertise by hiring part-time subject matter experts (cannot affect

more than 25% of the total project)

Project Integration Management1. Develop project charter

2. Develop project management plan

3. Direct and manage project work

4. Monitor and control project work

5. Perform integrated change control

6. Close project or phase

Project Scope Management1. Plan scope management (new process introduced in scope management in PMBoK Guide 5)

2. Collect Requirements: what and why the business wants?

3. Define scope: define what project will do.

4. Create WBS: decomposition of scope into work packages.

5. Validate Scope

6. Control Scope

Plan Scope Management:

Input:

1. Project management plan

2. Project charter: high level scope.

Tools & Techniques:

1. Meetings

Output:

Scope management plan (change control, process of approval etc)

Requirements management plan (how will we track and manage changes. RTM

required)

Collect Requirements:

o Input:

Project Charter

Scope Management Plan

o Tools and Techniques:

Interviews, focus groups, surveys, etc (PMI mentions many more)

o Output:

Requirements documentation

Requirements traceability matrix

Define scope:

o Input:

Project charter

Requirements document

o Tools & Techniques:

Product analysis: mentions all deliverables, alternative evaluation

o Output:

Project scope statement: includes what is in scope and what is not in scope as

well as acceptance criteria i.e. everything we need to do and provide as a result

of this project. It must be comprehensive and unambiguous.

Create WBS:

o Input:

Project scope statement

o Tools & Techniques:

Decomposition

o Output:

Scope baseline: this is the document through which we can measure the change

and progress of our project

WBS: manageable work packages

WBS dictionary: document that provides more details about work package. E.g.

accounting info, assumptions, constraints, schedule requirement etc.

Validate Scope: gaining acceptance from the business about the deliverables. Bear in mind that

Inspection and validation of deliverables occurs in quality management not in scope validation.

You have to define timeline, turn around process (one set of comments required from multiple

reviewers), interim acceptance process for scope validation.

o Input:

Requirement Document and RTM

Verified deliverables, work performance data

o Tools and Techniques:

Inspection, group decision making i.e. working with the acceptor

o Output:

Accepted deliverables, reworked deliverables, change requests and defect

reports

Try to get personal acceptance document from the acceptor.

Control Scope: Manage change and integrate change. Impact on schedule, cost, risk, team etc.

o Input:

Requirements document, RTM, work performance data / team status reports

and time sheets

o Tools and Techniques:

Variance analysis (e.g. why team members work on unauthorized work etc.)

o Output:

Work performance information (Tracking the scope/time/budget)

Change requests (check change request form. All changes must be formally

approved)/ Corrective actions

Report on change which includes updated plan, schedule, budget, etc. Update

the baseline.

Project Time Management:

1. Schedule management plan: plan how we are going to manage our schedule. How we

are going to track our progress weekly and report our progress weekly

2. Define activities: (WBS, Activities, Work packages)

3. Sequence activities

4. Estimate activity resources

5. Estimate activity durations

6. Develop schedule

7. Control schedule

a) Plan schedule management:

Input:

1. Project charter

2. Project management plan

3. Project assets

Tools & Techniques:

1. Analytical techniques

2. Meetings

Output:

1. Schedule management plan (process for planning).

a. Upfront planning

b. Rolling wave planning

b) Define activities:

Input:

1. Scope base line

2. WBS

3. WBS dictionary

Tools & Techniques:

Decomposition: eg WBS: scope -> deliverable -> activities/work package (assignable

level. Must not be given to more than one person for 2 weeks)

Outputs:

1. Activity list

2. Activity attributes

3. Mile stones (combination of activities for reporting)

c) Sequence Activities:

Input:

Activity list, milestone list, activity attributes

Tools & Techniques:

Precedence diagramming method e.g.

o Finish-to-finish, finish-to-start, start to start, start to finish.

o Mandatory, discretionary, external, internal

Output:

Project schedule network diagrams

d) Estimate activity resources:

Input: Activity list, resource calendar (human, supplies, equipment) e.g. who is available?

Tools & Techniques: Bottom up estimating e.g. each task is broken down into smaller steps

and estimate about each step

Output: Activity resource requirement, resource break-down structure.

e) Estimate activity duration:

Input: Activity list

Tools and Techniques: Estimating techniques e.g. analogous, parametric, three point

(optimistic, pessimistic and most likely)

Output: Activity duration estimation.

f) Develop schedule:

Input: Activity list, resources, estimates, dependencies

Tools & Techniques: Critical path method, resource optimization techniques, schedule

compression

Output: project schedule

g) Control Schedule:

Input:

Project/schedule management plan

Work performance data: time sheets (accurate and timely), status reports

Tools and techniques:

Performance reviews :

o detailed and accurate time sheets

o Trend analysis (for all team members)

o Critical path analysis (a sequence of tasks that impact the end-date)

o Crashing / fast tracking

Resource optimization: Adjusting resources/Estimates/Assignments. Initial planning and

resource leveling= adjust over and under allocation. might need rescheduling

Out puts:

Schedule forecast: on schedule, ahead or behind etc. corrective actions

Project Cost Management:

Plan Cost Management: develop plan for Cost management

Input: Project management plan, project charter and organizational process assets

Tools & Techniques: Analytical methods, meetings

Outputs: Cost management plan.

Estimate Costs:

Input: Project schedule, scope baseline, risk register

Tools & Techniques: Estimating Techniques, Risk analysis (learning costs, delays, I don’t know!

etc.), Cost of quality

Outputs: Activity cost estimates

Determine Budget: project cost spread over time

Input: Activity cost management, cost management plan

Tools & Techniques: cost aggregation

Output: cost baseline, project funding requirement.

Control Costs:

Input: cost management plan, work performance data

Tools & Techniques: performance reviews, forecasting, earned value management

Output: cost forecasts, change requests.

Performance Reviews:

On time, on budget

Ahead of time, below budget

Ahead of time, over budget

On time, above budget

On time, below budget

Late, over budget

Late below budget

Earned value management:

Combines scope, schedule and budget

Provides a true project health indicator

Uses past to predict the future

As reliable as the FACTS

EV Basics:

Planned value: base line

Actual cost: cost incurred

Earned value: cost of value delivered

Project Human Resource Management

1. Plan human resource managementInput:

Project management plan Activity resource requirements

Tools & Techniques: Project organization charts (who reports to whom), RACI chart (responsible,

accountable, consulted and informed), 7 to 10 members would make an optimal team

Networking (the ability to deal with human resources and with other managers)Output:

Human resource management plan2. Acquire project team

Input: HR Plan Organizational process assets

Tools & Techniques: Pre assignment Negotiation (re-planning required) Acquisitions Virtual teams (required more efforts from PM side)

Output: Project staff assignment Resource calendars (availability and vacations )

3. Develop project teamInput:

HR plan Staff assignments

Tools & Techniques: Interpersonal skills Training Ground rules Team building

Tuckman Model: Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

Recognition & rewards

AssessmentsOutput:

Team performance assessments 4. Manage project team

Input: HR plan Staff assignments Assessments Performance Reports

Tools & Techniques: Observation and conversation Interpersonal skills Performance appraisals Conflict management

o Withdraw / avoido Smooth / accommodate : find a way that makes everyone happyo Compromise / reconcile: mediate at greater level of detail to get a common

approacho Force / direct:o Collaborate / solve problem

Output: Change request and other planning document updates

Project Quality Management Plan quality management

Perform quality assurance (inspections, reviews, doing the right thing)

Control quality (doing things right)

Plan Quality Management:

Input: Project Management Plan, Stakeholders, Risks, Requirements documentation

Tools & Techniques: 7 quality tools, benchmarking, experiments, sampling, cost benefit

analysis.

7 Quality Tools:

cause and effect diagrams

flow charts

check sheets (whatever has done or left with comments, documents review

check sheets)

pareto diagrams (x: cause, y: occurrence)

histograms

control charts (upper and lower limits of weekly timesheets)

scatter diagrams

Output: quality management plan (stake holders’ quality expectations?)

Perform Quality Assurance: (following standards)

Inputs: Quality Plan, Quality Metrics, Quality Control Measurement

Tools & Techniques: Quality Audits, Process Analysis (Right Things)

Outputs: Change requests, Project deliverable updates

Control Quality:

Inputs: Quality management plan, quality metrics, deliverables

Tools & Techniques: Sampling, inspections, walk-throughs, peer reviews

Outputs: deliverables updates, verified deliverables

Quality?

Quality versus grade

Customer satisfaction

Prevention over inspection

Continuous improvement

Management responsibility

Cost of quality

Project Communications Management:

Plan communications management: planning upfront

o Inputs: PM plan and stake holder register (who, what and when)

o Tools and techniques (How): Communications requirements analysis,

communication technology, Models and methods.

o Outputs: communication management plan i.e. this kind of information would

be produced on daily/weekly/monthly bases and who is getting what kind of

information among stakeholders. Communication channels if everyone can

communicated to everyone else in the team: n (n-1)/2. Decision about

communications technology i.e. urgency, availability, ease of use and

security/privacy issues. Style for personal, formal, informal communications etc.

Manage communications: actual delivery (sharing project details with stakeholders)

o Inputs: communications management plan, work performance reports

o Tools and techniques: communications, performance reporting – status reports

on weekly bases etc.

o Outputs: project communications.

Control communications (ensure it happens in an organized fashion)

o Inputs: Project and communications management plan, Project

communications, issue logs

o Tools & Techniques: Information Management system/Project communications

tool

o Outputs: Work performance information.

Project Monthly status reports:Project Name:

Reporting period:

Prepared by:

Major accomplishment this month:

Accomplishment 01

Accomplishment 02

Financial status: (graph representation would be great)

Total Budget:

Spending to date:

Estimate to complete:

Variance

Project schedule:

Efforts invested to date

Remaining efforts

%age completion

Snap shot of Gant Chart with only milestones visible would be great.

Major Issues:

Issue one

Issue two

Meetings:

Critical

Managed

Scheduled

Managed attendees

Managed agenda

minutes

Issue Management Log

Project Name:

Issue Name Date Opened Due Date Current Status

Warning Signs:

1. un skilled project manager

2. key stake holders disagree with project priorities and don’t engage in appropriate

debate to solve their issues

3. senior leaders don’t make decisions in time or stop showing their presence in meeting

when required

4. customer representatives starts changing their minds / retract statements made during

earlier discussions

5. key members working on critical path tasks start missing deadlines in order to juggle

with priorities

6. Team members regularly use extra time defined in the project without any apparent

reason

7. Inadequate time and resources have been placed in order to understand current

business processes completely

8. Project manager is unaware of the project goals / senior leadership has not shared its

vision with the lower staff. No one is willing to take the ownership of the product being

produced.

9. Lack of enthusiasm of senior management

10. Placing too heavy a focus on project management

11. Sponsor doesn’t give appropriate time to the project

Project Integration Management

1. Develop project charter

2. Develop project management plan

3. Direct and manage project work

4. Monitor and control project work

5. Perform integrated change control

6. Close project or phase

Integrate all knowledge areas.