Project-Management

Project Management

Introducing Project Management

• Projects are activities organized to deliver something of value to a customer or organization. They help drive the execution of an organization’s strategy.
• Project Management is Used to accomplish non-routine work … or to plan and organize project work. Comprised of individuals and teams
• Every project has four objectives (or constraints). Time, Cost, Quality, Scope. They are interdependent.
• [C= f(S,T,Q)] Commonly referred to as the Iron Triangle

Definition of a Project

• A project creates a “one-time” outcome within a specified time frame. or as PMI says: A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.
• PMI 5 Process Groups: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, Closing
• PMI 10 Knowledge Areas: Integration management, Scope management, Schedule management, Cost management, Quality management, Project Resource management, Communications management, Risk management, Procurement management, Stakeholder management.
• PMBOK Guide: 5 Process Groups, 10 Knowledge areas, 47 Sub-processes. Use common Sense, Complete the project not the process.

Project Manager

• A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have  the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined finish; regardless of industry
• The project manager is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives; Responsible (and accountable) for solving the problem -- that is, achieving the requirements; loaded with responsibility and (most of the time) lacking full authority; responsible for delivering the project within project constraints through the efforts of people
• Project Manager Talent Triangle: technical project management, strategic business management, and leadership

Project Portfolio Analysis and Management

• Portfolio Analysis: Align projects to strategy by examining criteria
  • Do the Projects “Fit”: Align with the overall strategy?
  • Do the Projects have “Utility”: Have value (value can vary by organization)?
  • Does the Portfolio have “Balance”: Is the mix of projects optimal?
• Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. – D. Eisenhower
• Portfolio's must be continually managed and improved
• Project Portfolio Management: Determine and deliver the mix of potential projects that will result in the best utilization of human and cash resources and maximize long-range growth and return on investment for the organization.
• Portfolio Management = Do the right things; Project Management = Do things right

Project Charter

• Project Initiation: Define the Problem; Articulate the Purpose; Develop the Charter; Define the Scope
• Articulate the Purpose: A purpose statement helps define the project. A shared purpose unites the project team. A purpose statement outlines what we are trying to accomplish. A well-articulated purpose illuminates the completed project long before project completion.
• Purpose/High Level Requirements:
  • What will it look like when the problem is solved?
  • What does your project create?
  • What does “done” look like?
  • What are the essential “must-haves”?
  • Are there secondary important “wants”?
  • Are there wishful thinking items that would be “nice-to-have”?
• State the Purpose: The purpose of the project is to accomplish the stated high level requirements on behalf of our client or major stakeholder.
• Project Charter (why?)
  • Authorizes and formally initiates the project.
  • Provides the PM the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
  • Documents project purpose and requirements.
  • Best when created by the project sponsor.
  • If sponsor fails to do it, Charter is  created by project manager/project team and approved by sponsor.
  • Helps ensure a common understanding.

Project Kick-off Meeting

• All kickoff meetings should cover some basics: a project charter that defines the project; how it ties to organizational goals; a project plan and key deliverables

Stakeholder Management

• Communications vs Stakeholder Management:

  • Stakeholders management helps you decide who are the people you need to communicate with.
  • Communications management lays out how you will communicate
  • Very intertwined. You can not have one without the other.

• A Stakeholder is anyone who has a “stake” or “interest” in the project. Their “interest” might be positive or negative!

• Salience Model: a method for classifying stakeholders and to decide who does matter

  • Salience model brings clarity in prominence and importance of the different stakeholders.
  • The stakeholder salience is decided by the assessment of their power, legitimacy and urgency in the organization.

• Salience Model: Green (Latent Stakeholders), Amber (Expectant Stakeholders), Red (Definitive Stakeholders)

• Stakeholder Types: Dormant (P), Discretionary (L), Demanding (U), Dominant (PL), Dangerous (PU), Dependent (LU), Definitive (LPU).

• Stakeholder Classification:

  • Core Team: meet very frequently
  • Subject Matter Experts: weekly/bi-weekly
  • Sponsors/Approvers: monthly/quarterly
  • Internal Dept.:They may gather their information from newsletters, intranet, org. communication tools or web pages. May want to involve Marketing, Communications or Public Relations.
  • Outside Parties: Best to involve Marketing, Communications or Public Relations

• Stakeholder Register & Engagement Assessment Matrix

  • name, title, role, contact, need/requirements, expectations, level of org. influence, salience, classification, unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, leading

Scope Management

• Scope can refer to:
  • Product Scope: The features and functions that characterize a product, service or result.
  • Project Scope: The work performed to deliver a product, service or results with the specified features and functions.
  • It is common for project scope to include product scope.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) & Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

• how do you start a project schedule? The building blocks of a schedule start with…
  • Work Breakdown Structure: a hierarchical reflection of all the work in the project in terms of deliverables.
  • Responsibility Assignment Matrix: Identifies the ownership of each work package
• The project schedule is…the tool that communicates it consists of
  • (What) work needs to be performed
  • (When) the timeframes in which that work needs to be performed.
  • (Who) which resources will perform the work
• Without a full and complete schedule, the project manager will be unable to communicate the complete effort, in terms of cost and resources, necessary to deliver the project.
• WBS: The most useful tool in PM
  • Ideally brainstormed by project team
  • A schematic representation of the project as deliverables and work packages
  • Does not show sequencing of work
  • Shows time estimates and people assigned
  • Breaks down assignments to no longer than two weeks or shorter than one day
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix
  • Identifies the ownership of each work package
  • Can be used to start the effort estimation process
  • Starts to show where resources may be over-allocated
• RACI Chart: Responsible, Accountable, Consult, Inform
• This still is not the project schedule but for now this gives you a good baseline from which to estimate cost and effort from. Most of the time you will now begin to use scheduling software. More to come on that in later lessons.

Project Cost and Budget

• Project Costs (Estimating: prepare, develop, validate)
  • 2 types of Cost for projects: Direct Costs, Indirect Costs
  • Which can each behave in 2 ways: Fixed, Variable
• Direct Costs: Costs that can be traced to a unique project element or cost object. These could be costs for materials or human resources.
• Indirect Costs: Costs not specifically assigned to a project but are accumulated and allocated over multiple projects.
• Fixed Costs: Costs that are planned to remain constant.
• Variable Costs: Costs that will vary overtime or over the life of the project.
• Duration Estimation Techniques: Analogous estimating, Parametric estimating, Three-point estimating, Bottom-up estimating
• Analogous Estimation: (PM can perform alone) A quick and relatively easy method of estimating, although not always highly accurate.
• Parametric Estimation: (PM can perform alone) A relatively simple method, but not every activity or cost can be estimated quantitatively.
• Three-point Estimation: (PM should involve team) PMBoK Estimate = (O+M+P)/3. Old School Estimate = (O + 4M + P) / 6
• Bottom-up Estimation: (PM should involve team) the most accurate method but also the most time-consuming and expensive form of estimating. Requires a very transparent and open culture.

Schedule Development

• When developing the schedule: sequence the activities; we assign resources; estimate duration. our focus is generally to sequence activities based on the dependencies.

• Resource Leveling and Smoothing:

  • Step 1: Leveling: Apply constraints to resources who are over allocated.
  • Step 2: Smoothing: Trying to reach the desired level of allocation in your project plan. Helps with resource productivity/morale

• Resource leveling is when start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing resources based on the available supply. The critical path and/or duration may change

• Resource Smoothing: Adjusts the activities of a schedule such that the requirements of project do not exceed predefined resource limits. The critical path is not changed.

• Resource leveling and smoothing can be accomplished through various software programs. Where constraints or limits are applied systematically. Guidelines:

  • Most direct labor positions (trades, developers, etc.) should be about 75 to 80% dedicated/chargeable to a project
  • Knowledge workers (analyst, managers, etc.) are approximately 50% dedicated/chargeable to a project.

Communications Management

• Communications vs Stakeholder Management:
  • Stakeholders are the people you need to communicate the most with.
  • Not all stakeholders are treated equally with respect to communication.
  • Very intertwined. You can not have one without the other.
• Key Communication Management Tool: Project Meeting Matrix, Project Reporting Matrix (Internal), Project External Communication Matrix

Team Leadership

• Manager or Leader:
  • Management is an authority relationship whereas leadership is an influence relationship.
  • Management is a set of processes that keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly.
  • Managers keep these systems running smoothly through planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, and controlling and problem-solving.
  • Management produces predictability and order.
  • Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes.
  • Leaders possess the ability to influence a group of people to move in another direction.
• Project Manager is both manager and leader, plus a facilitator/coach.
• Styles: Laissez-faire (hands-off, Detached), Transformational (empowering, Participative/Coaching), Transactional (managerial, Delegating), Dictatorial (direct, Directive), Charismatic (motivational, Participative/Coaching), Servant leader (serves the team, Participative/Coaching).
• Project Manager is to drive: A common identity, Common performance objectives, Mutual accountability, Shared purpose. By leveraging complementary resources with complementary skills.

Risk Management

• A risk is an uncertain event that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on one or more project objectives.
• Responses to Negative Risks (threats):
  • Escalate: Involve the project sponsor
  • Avoid: take action to avoid the risk or its trigger
  • Transfer: buy insurance, bond, or contract out
  • Mitigate: lessen the risk by taking positive action such as modifying/fortifying the most vulnerable threshold
  • Accept: evaluate it and decide to live with it
• Responses to Positive Risk (opportunities):
  • Escalate: involve project sponsor
  • Exploit: remove uncertainty to make sure it happens
  • Share: improve chances by teaming with another party
  • Enhance: increase the likelihood by influencing the risk triggers
  • Accept: let it happen
• The Project manager is responsible for identifying, assessing, and managing the individual risks that are recorded in the risk register. The Project manager is also required to account to the project sponsor, the project owner, and other stakeholders for the overall risk exposure of the project.
• Project Risk Management follows this sequence:
  • Plan
  • Identify Risks
  • Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
  • Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
  • Plan Risk Responses
  • Implement Risk Responses
  • Monitoring and Control Risks
• Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
  • Similar structure as the WBS
  • Identify risks into common groups and levels
  • Will be used to create a risk register
• A common way to compare analyze risk is the Risk Matrix which helps generate a risk priority number or RPN
• Risk Score is the value determined by multiplying the Impact Rating with Risk Probability as shown below.
• The trigger identifies the risk symptoms or warning signs. It indicates that a risk has occurred or is about to occur. The risk trigger also gives an indication of when a certain risk is expected to occur.
• Risk management continually happens. Poor Risk management is a leading cause of failed projects. Good risk management gives you the best chance for success. Almost always overlooked by the stakeholders. Never to late to begin.

Project Schedule Baseline

• Steps: WBS,Network Diagram,Assign Resources,Estimate Durations,Determine Critical Path,Optimize Resources,Schedule Compression,Establish Schedule Baseline.
• Schedule Compression: Techniques a PM can use to shorten or accelerate the schedule duration without reducing the scope in order to meet the schedule constraints. Crashing (high cost); Fast Tracking (high risk).
• Fast Tracking: A technique used to shorten the schedule duration by…
  • Performing tasks normally done sequentially in parallel
  • Starting predecessor tasks earlier than planned
  • Only effective if it is applied to the critical path items. Can increase coordination efforts, risks and cost. Can lower quality.
• Crashing: A technique used to shorten the schedule duration by…
  • Approving overtime
  • Adding additional resources
  • Paying for expedited deliveries
  • Adding incentives for finishing early
  • Only effective if it is applied to the critical path items. Can increase risk and cost.
• Fast tracking often results in rework and increased risk.
• Crashing works only for critical path tasks.
  • Doesn’t know the critical path items.
  • Simply throws resources at the project.
  • Efforts will be ineffective.
• A schedule baseline is the approved version of the schedule
  • Changed only through a formal change control procedures
  • Used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
• Schedule Baseline is an "approved" snapshot of the Project Schedule. Project Schedule changes daily.
• At the beginning of project execution: Project Schedule is the same as the Schedule Baseline. Actual progress is then updated on the Project Schedule. Schedule Baseline doesn’t change until formally decided.
  • Project Schedule is a "living" document, whereas Schedule Baseline is "frozen".
  • Project Schedule is the "actual", whereas Schedule Baseline is the "plan".
  • Project Schedule is updated as the project is being executed
  • Schedule Baseline is revised only as a result of an approved change request.
  • Schedule performance is measured by comparing the actual (Project Schedule) vs the baseline (Schedule Baseline).

Project Closure

• Project Closing Process Group is as impactful and significant as the Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling.

  • Failure to conduct project close out could potentially…
  • Put the organization at a considerable amount of risk
  • Prevent the organization from realizing the anticipated benefits from the project
  • Result in significant losses to the organization
  • Undermine the project manager and project management team's credibility

• Project Closing is the combination of the following when applied to a project:

  • Assurance that all the work has been completed
  • Assurance that all agreed upon project management processes have been executed
  • Formal recognition of the completion of a project—everyone agrees that it is completed.

• Should include:

  • Making sure all the work that needed to be has been done.
  • Obtaining approval by the project's sponsor and customer (whether internal or external).
  • Reviewing whether all organizational governance processes have been executed.
  • Assessing whether the necessary project management processes have been applied.
  • Administrative closing of all procurements, reviewing that both parties have completed their contractual obligations.
  • Formally recognizing the completion of a project and its transition to operations.
  • Validating that the project achieved benefits identified in the business case.
  • Capturing of lessons learned.
  • Disbanding project resources.
  • Transitioning project deliverables to the customer organization in a manner that warrants seamless operations and support.

• Project Closing serves an important purpose for the organization and helps it avoid unfavorable and adverse scenarios that are all to common. The never ending project; The orphan project

• As mentioned above, a project that is not properly closed can leave the organization liable to external parties for…

  • Liable for incomplete payments on contracts.
  • Liable to customers for incomplete scope.
  • Liable to regulators for incompliant practices and/or products.

Critical Path Analysis

• Early Start (ES) analysis first and always work left to right.
  • Where 2 or more activities meet, ES is always the highest calculated figure.
• Latest Finish (LF) calculated after ES and always work from right to left.
  • Where 2 or more activities meet, LF is always the lowest calculated figure.

Sequencing

• The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.
• Best Practices:
  • Every activity except the first and last should be connected to at least one predecessor and at least one successor.
  • Logical relationships should be identified between each.
• Precedence Diagramming Method (Network Diagram): Used for constructing a visual model showing the order (sequence) of events.
• Logical Relationships: An established and existing reliance or dependency between elements of the project.
• Lead: The amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to the predecessor activity
• Lag: The amount of time a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity.
• Float: The amount of time an activity, network path, or project can be delayed from the early start without changing the completion date of the project.
• Total float: The difference between the finish date of the last activity on the critical path and the project completion date. Any delay in an activity on the critical path would reduce the amount of total float available on the project. TF=LF-EF.
• Free Float is the delay that exists between an activity and its successor. Free Float= EF of the successor - EF of the predecessor