PROJECT MANAGER LEARN PROVEN TOOLS FOR SUCCESS Why do 95% of our students pass the CAPM® exam? Because we give them the best materials, the best instructors and the benefit of our years of experience preparing people to pass the CAPM exam. Our instructor-led online training is the best available. You will work individually with your PMP-certified instructor at a schedule and pace you set. We guarantee you will pass the CAPM exam and we work with you until you do. Don’t fail the exam because you took a cheap class or a boot camp where you crammed with 20 other people. Learn with an expert coach. Our “learn by doing” approach is the best way to master the fundamental construction project management tools and techniques. In this instructor-led online course you’ll practice these skills in a construction project case study: Running a planning meeting with the customer Building a plan and schedule in project software Assigning work to crews and executing the plan Reporting status and presenting solutions to problems. Your instructor reviews every assignment you complete, sends you written feedback, meets with you in private video conferences and talks with you by phone. They also provide you with support and advice for 1 year after the course. Quick Links 102 CAPM Exam Prep Course 121 Construction Project Basics Course 102-121 Certification Web Page 102-121 CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE CONSTRUCTION 4PM.com 3547 S. Ivanhoe St Denver, CO 80237 303-596-0000 www.4pm.com
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PROJECT MANAGER
LEARN PROVEN TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
Why do 95% of our students pass the CAPM® exam? Because we give them the best materials, the best instructors and the benefit of our years of experience preparing people to pass the CAPM exam. Our instructor-led online training is the best available. You will work individually with your PMP-certified instructor at a schedule and pace you set. We guarantee you will pass the CAPM exam and we work with you until you do. Don’t fail the exam because you took a cheap class or a boot camp where you crammed with 20 other people. Learn with an expert coach.
Our “learn by doing” approach is the best way to master the fundamental construction project management tools and techniques. In this instructor-led online course you’ll practice these skills in a construction project case study:
Running a planning meeting with the customer
Building a plan and schedule in project software
Assigning work to crews and executing the plan
Reporting status and presenting solutions toproblems.
Your instructor reviews every assignment you complete, sends you written feedback, meets with you in private video conferences and talks with you by phone. They also provide you with support and advice for 1 year after the course.
Quick Links
102 CAPM Exam Prep Course
121 Construction Project Basics Course
102-121 Certification Web Page
Join the project
management
profession
Get that
promotion or a
higher paying
position
102-121 CERTIFIED
ASSOCIATE CONSTRUCTION
4PM.com3547 S. Ivanhoe St Denver, CO 80237 303-596-0000 www.4pm.com
You will be prepared to pass the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam with our online course. You will receive individual instruction from a PMP-certified project manager. You can earn your CAPM certification by studying from anywhere at a schedule you control. The CAPM certification exam is difficult, covering hundreds of concepts, tools and techniques. We will help you learn each and every one of them. You and your personal instructor will plan the course in a phone conversation when you begin the course. You’ll discuss your learning style and your instructor will tailor our materials to fit the way you learn. You’ll get coaching and individual feedback from your instructor on each of the 36 or more practice exams you will take.
How You Work With Your Instructor
You will have phone conversations and private video conferences with your instructor whenever you wish. There is no limit. Your instructor will review your practice exams, identify changes that may be needed in your study techniques and thoroughly explain all the concepts or techniques you need to master to pass the CAPM exam.
You will study with world-class materials by Dick Billows PMP. You’ll watch high definition videos, read our new CAPM textbook which describes all the PMBOK 5th edition tools and techniques and shows you real-life examples of how to use them. You can also access our database of hundreds of articles and samples that illustrate every technique you need to know to pass the exam.
CAPM Passing Guarantee We guarantee our work on our CAPM prep course. 95% of our students pass on their first try but if you don’t, your instructor will work with you until you pass. Examine the materials and see why our course has no equal; online or in a classroom.
4PM.com 3547 S. Ivanhoe St. Denver, CO 80237 303-596-0000 www.4pm.com
Content Delivery System for Individual CAPM Exam Training You and your instructor will work together in our content delivery system that will allow your
instructor to tailor the course to your needs, assignment by assignment. You’ll have video
conferences with your instructor on a regular basis plus phone calls and email exchanges
whenever you wish. There’s no limit to these contacts. You and your instructor will begin
with a private conference and use the results of your initial assessment to gauge where you
need more work and where your project management knowledge is complete. That custom
tailoring process will continue through the course. Your instructor will assess each of the
practice exams you submit, identify weaknesses and select specific materials from our
Learning Topics to address them.
Planning Your Personalized Course with Your Instructor During your initial call with your instructor, you'll plan the pace of your studies and identify
any deadlines you want to hit. Take a look at the “passing zone” in the graphic above. You'll
see that we recommend you study between 4 hours a week (18 weeks to finish) and 18
hours per week (4 weeks to finish). Each process group requires approximately 9 hours of
work. How intensely you study is, of course, your decision. But your odds of passing the
CAPM exam the first time are highest when you stay within the “passing zone." You will
determine a schedule that fits your unique situation and you can change it if things change.
Long gaps in your studies reduce your odds of passing the CAPM exam the first time. Over
97% of our students pass the exam on their first try. The students who do not pass typically
have a long gap in their studies. Try to schedule your studies so you can finish the course and sit for the exam within 7 days.
Once PMI has approved your application for the exam, you and your instructor will work on
a comprehensive final review during the 4 days immediately before you sit for the CAPM
exam. You must successfully complete all course assignments and take the CAPM exam
within 14 days of completing the course in order to meet the terms of our guarantee.
102 CAPM® Exam Prep Course 2013 2. Lecture: Watch the lecture videos “Who is Bound by the Code” through “Honesty” on
your course website under the “Lecture” section. Add the new information to your notes. 3. PM in Action Videos: Watch the videos that are linked below the lecture.
5. Practice Exams: Take the Professionalism and Ethics multiple-choice practice exam by
clicking the button below the lecture. Complete the exam and it will be sent directly to
your instructor. They will grade it, send you written explanations for the correct answers
and additional feedback within 24 hours. If you do not achieve 90% on the first try, your
instructor will suggest studying additional learning topics and ask you to re-take this
exam. If you achieved 90%, your instructor will send you the link to the second
Professionalism and Ethics multiple-choice exam.
6. Learning Topics: Your instructor will send you explanations for the multiple-choice
questions and, based on our test scores, they may send you links to additional learning
topics to strengthen your Professionalism and Ethics process group knowledge.
6. Submit Your CAPM Application: When you receive your instructor’s feedback that
you have successfully completed the Professionalism and Ethics process group, you may
submit your CAPM application to PMI. Do it online and you should receive a reply within
3 to 5 business days.
9. PMBOK, 5th edition Knowledge Areas
The PMBOK, 5th edition organizes the project management processes you have just
completed studying by knowledge areas. They are scope, schedule, cost, quality, human
resources, communication, procurement, risk and integration. While you wait for PMI to
approve your CAPM application, complete the reading and lectures for this knowledge area
section.
1. Reading: Read the Knowledge Areas on your course website. We recommend taking
written notes.
2. Lecture: Watch the lecture videos “Scope management” through “Integration
management” on your course website under the “Lecture” section. Add the new
information to your notes.
3. Approved Application: Let your instructor know when PMI has approved your
application and you have scheduled your CAPM exam date.
10. Comprehensive Review
When PMI has approved your application and you have scheduled your CAPM exam, you
and your instructor will lay out a 4-day plan for completing the comprehensive review and
exams immediately before you sit for the CAPM exam. Your instructor will coach you
through this final review and call you the day before your exam with test-taking tips, what
to expect at the test center, words of encouragement and answers to any last minute
The Hampton Group, Inc. is a Project Management Institute (PMI®) Global Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.). The
Hampton Group, Inc. is committed to enhancing the ongoing professional development of PMI® members, PMI®-certified
professionals and other project management
stakeholders through appropriate project management learning activities and products. As a PMI® R.E.P., The Hampton Group Inc., has agreed to abide by PMI®-established operational and educational guidelines and is subject to random audits for quality assurance purposes.
Microsoft is a registered trademark and Project ®and Windows® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Screen shots reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
All other product names and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this book in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies. No such uses, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with the book.
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.
This is the 11th edition of the Project Manager’s KnowledgeBase, which we have entirely rewritten to align with the PMBOK 5th Edition and the new PMI exams that are effective in July 2013. Over the years, this book has achieved its goal of helping our readers master the following:
The knowledge needed to pass the PMI® certification exams
The best practices in project management.
We do this by showing you these techniques from two perspectives.
Process Groups organize the tools and techniques chronologically:
Initiating Process Group
Planning Process Group
Executing Process Group
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
Closing Process Group
The Knowledge Areas are groups of tools and techniques with related purposes that flow throughout the lifecycle:
Integration Management
Scope Management
Schedule Management
Cost Management
Procurement Management
Human Resource Management
Communication Management
Risk Management
Stakeholder Management
Professionalism and Social Responsibility
I have organized this textbook to make passing the exam take
as little time as possible. So, I will present information in the sequence you will follow to do a project (process groups). However, we will also keep the Knowledge Areas together so you can learn the sequence of tasks in a Knowledge Area, like Risk management.
To avoid having a book that was over 1,000 pages, we have created a Digital Knowledgebase on our PMI® exam prep web site. There you can drill down for more information and study
the knowledge in different ways to suit your learning style.
1. Visual learners will find very large diagrams of the tasks with videos explaining them.
2. Flow chart learners will find charts of every process group,
Knowledge Area and task. 3. “Show me an example” learners will see hundreds of samples
of Gantt charts, human resource plans, scope statements, Monte Carlo simulations, Earned Value reports, etc.
I trust you will find the book of great value in passing the PMI certification exams and in your career as a professional project manager.
Project Manager’s KnowledgeBase Introduction & Organization Statement of Work
As always, I need to express my thanks to those who help make each edition of this book a success. “Mustang Sally” Mitsch, CAPM, has once again nit-picked my work to near perfection. Leslie, “the FIST” Schiefelbein, PMP, has edited the bejesus out my every word and thought. Together they have not missed a shingle one of my mistakes.
Project Manager’s KnowledgeBase Framework of Project Management
FRAMEWORK OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
In this first section of the book, we’ll move through the lifecycle of a project covering all the key ideas. We’ll begin by reviewing some of the key ideas that we’ll use in all the Process Groups that follow. We also want to accomplish three other things:
Get a big picture view of the processes we will study in much greater detail later
Understand some of the best practice ideas that permeate all the details
Begin to learn the PMI language of project management, which is most likely different from what you use in your organization.
This chapter is not an exhaustive explanation of the big picture, that’s why several hundred pages follow this chapter.
What is a Project?
Projects are very different from the other components of the modern organization. Projects are temporary endeavors regardless of their size or scope. All projects have a special purpose and a specific start and end point and that differentiates a project from operations that go on continuously. Projects reach their end in three ways:
The project’s planned outcome is met
The project’s outcome will never be met and the organization terminates it
The original need for the project no longer exists and the organization terminates the project.
A second characteristic of a project is that it creates a unique deliverable, which may be a product, service or some other result. No two projects are alike. For example, we might be constructing a chain of fast food hamburger restaurants that will serve identical food. But the fact that we will be working with different team members, in varying locations and for different owners makes each of these projects unique.
A third characteristic of a project is that the project management team plans it iteratively; they plan it allowing interaction between the components. For example, a project manager might produce a draft of a schedule and then go to work on the project budget. To optimize the budget, the PM may need to change the schedule and modify the risk management plan. PMI® calls this progressive elaboration of the plan. Project managers are constantly working, checking and revising their plans.
Project Management: The Cast, the Roles and the Script
Project management is not the efforts of one individual. There is a cast of people that can include one or more project managers and associate project managers, who, along with executives and professionals, make up the project management
team. As well, projects have sponsors whose role includes initiating the project, defining it and securing organizational approval to expend resources on it. The project management team works with the other members of the project team who do the project’s work. Both interact with project stakeholders who are people affected by the project including; executives, managers, employees, and even vendors.
Together these people write the script for the project, setting
objectives, identifying project requirements and then
converting those requirements into a verifiable scope and a project management plan that they then execute. Throughout the project’s life, the project management team works with the project team and stakeholders to deliver the project’s objective and its products.
Effective project management requires experience in managing projects as well as a wide range of learned skills and techniques. In addition to the PM’s skills and experience, an equally important determinant of project success is the
organization’s processes for project management and the availability of data and information from previous projects including lessons learned documentation about these previous projects.
Project managers know the best practices and design each project’s management plan with a suitable mix of techniques for that project. One set of techniques does not “fit” all projects. The PM designs the project management process using expert judgment as well as understanding of each project’s unique characteristics. Then the PM decides the extent to which he/she will apply the PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) processes to achieve the
desired project results. For example, all projects should have some degree of risk management. So the PM determines if risk management warrants a few hours or a month’s worth of work. As well, the PM needs to decide whether the assessment of risk should be strictly qualitative and fast or if he/she should use more sophisticated quantitative techniques to assess probabilities and the impact of a risk event. In making these judgments, the PM is obviously guided by the organization’s policies and the sponsor’s preferences.
Trade-offs
Project management also requires a PM to manage the tradeoffs between what’s called the triple constraint (even though there are six dimensions) of cost, time, scope, quality, resources and risk. The triple constraint is like a tug-of-war. If the sponsor changes any one of the dimensions, it will affect at least one of the other five constraints. For example, if we decrease the scope of the project we may also decrease the project’s cost, duration and resources. Increasing the quality dimension can increase duration and cost. On larger more sophisticated projects, the PM may analyze tradeoffs with sophisticated financial or mathematical tools. The PM conducts tradeoff analysis on smaller projects too but much more informally.
Professionalism and Social Responsibility
The PMBOK® includes one paragraph on professionalism; however, it is a major topic on the PMP® certification exam and to a lesser extent on the CAPM® exam. The project manager and project management team have an ethical responsibility to all stakeholders to conduct themselves according the tenets of the profession. There is a more detailed description of professionalism, social responsibility and ethics in the last chapter of this book. But the big picture view is that PMI® has developed a rigorous set of standards for project managers’
conduct with tough enforcement standards.
Portfolios, Programs, Phases & Sub- projects
There are many ways to combine or subdivide projects. As we think about the project landscape in an organization, the dividing line is more than a little blurry. Organizations use programs to combine the management of a number of projects that have a common purpose. For example, an organization may have a program to improve their quality of service. The program may involve individual quality improvement projects in the billing, customer service and sales departments to improve the customers’ experience.
Project portfolios are a bundle of programs and projects but they do not necessarily have a common purpose. Instead, an executive may take responsibility for a portfolio of information systems projects or construction projects that affect many different parts of the organization but which all use the same resources.
Finally, within these programs and portfolios, an organization may choose to subdivide a project into sub-projects. The sub- projects may be specific components of the larger effort that the organization contracts out to other organizations. For example, on a customer service project, the performing
organization may contract with an outside organization to survey their customers or complete test marketing.
Organizations that want greater control over a project may choose to divide it into phases or sub-phases. Each phase or sub-phase produces a deliverable that management examines and formally accepts before the next phase begins. This level of control over the project allows management to track the project and its progress to ensure it is delivering what it should.
Not all organizations follow this rigid step-by-step approach. If time is of the essence, some organizations will start work on the next phase of the project prior to formal acceptance of the prior phase’s deliverable. This approach creates a higher level of risk but it can save time. For instance, a software firm may start work on testing a piece of software before receiving final signoff on the coding. If the coding has any bugs that require re-work, the testing will need to start over, wasting time and money. However, if there are no bugs, the firm has actually saved time by fast tracking the testing and not waiting for
formal acceptance of the coding.
Best Practices & the Real World
To pass the PMI® certification exams you need to understand
the way of managing projects in a very idealistic world compared to the way most organizations do projects and the
way most PMs do their work. In fact, the most important thing to learn in preparing for the exam is PMI®’s definition of the right way to manage projects. That correct way includes not just using the techniques and tools but also adopting PMI®’s
attitudes about solving problems that may not be possible in your organization. Learning that PMI® attitude is the key to answering the Example questions where you must decide the right thing to do. You must answer each question according to how PMI® says we should do things, not how you do them in
your organization. You may disagree with PMI®’s way but if you want their certification, you must learn it.
Project Roles
Let’s expand on the brief descriptions of the project roles introduced earlier. PMI® defines a number of roles for people working on projects. The decision-making, range of action and participation in the project management process is different for
each role.
Stakeholders
The broadest role is that of project stakeholder and this category includes all the others. A stakeholder is any individual or organization that the project will affect, positively or
negatively. Stakeholders should be involved in the Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and Closing functions of the project. This is another area where the PMI®
world probably differs from yours. Many PMs try to minimize the number of people involved in project planning, thinking that will let them better control the project scope. Unfortunately,
the opposite happens. Stakeholders excluded from planning always seem to spring up and add features or new requirements right at the end of the project. Those late changes often cost hundreds of times what the same requirement would have cost if it had been added during the planning phase. Therefore, PMI® encourages project managers to actively search for stakeholders early in the
We also include employees not directly related to the project but who, due to their standing within the organization, have the ability to exert influence over the project.
The PMI® way of doing things requires project managers to reach out, identify and bring into the project decision-making processes a very broad cross section of stakeholders. The
stakeholders should be involved in the definition of the project scope, the major deliverables and many of the decisions made in later tasks.
As noted above, many project managers try to keep the number of people that are involved in the project planning as small as possible. They also try to insulate the project team and its planning process from outside influences and avoid conflicting opinions. However, the PMI® view is very different. It clearly identifies the need to engage stakeholders in project
initiation and planning because that is the only way we can uncover all the requirements of the project.
Project Sponsors
In the PMI® world, the project sponsor or initiator is responsible for providing funding for the project and issuing the project charter. On internal projects (those done within the
performing organization), the project sponsor also may create the statement of work (SOW) to begin initiation and guide the
project through the organization’s approval process. That approval requires that the sponsor detail the benefits the project will deliver and justify the costs of the project, often in a business case. When the sponsor secures organizational approval, that executive issues the project charter appointing the project manager and defining, among other things, the criteria for success. On consulting or client projects, the statement of work comes from the client or customer, possibly with an RFP (Request for Proposal) or contract.
The charter gives the PM organizational approval to use resources. This is another area where the PMBOK® process probably differs from your experience. You may see sponsors who just dump a problem or opportunity into a PM’s lap and then walk away after naming a completion date. PMI® is correct in stating that is the wrong way to do things.
Project Team Members
In the PMI® world, project team members do the work of the project and many project team members actively participate in detailing the project plan and completing their work packages. They may also be involved in risk management, procurement and quality, for example. Team members may also be a part of the project management team and become involved in activities ranging from integration to change control.
Project Manager
It is the project manager’s and project management team’s responsibility to integrate all of these roles and ensure that
they mesh, allowing successful completion of the project. The project manager’s role calls on a wide range of skills, including interpersonal, leadership and general management skills in addition to knowing project management techniques. Those project management skills are:
As you work through this book, you will notice many other ways in which the PMI® world varies from the way in which your organization manages projects. In order to pass the PMI® certification exams, you will need to remember to answer each question according to the PMI® world rather than your own experience.
Project Management Team
With all that work to do, the project manager often invites stakeholders, team members, functional managers and
executives to assist in the management of the project. Participation like this not only spreads the work but also increases buy-in and support. The project management team can work on scope, risk, scheduling, budgeting, procurement, quality, human resources and communications, to name a few.
Organizational Context
Projects occur within organizations and their structures, processes and cultures affect projects and their teams. The organizational form influences how projects begin, how decisions are made, how resources are shared, how line managers perceive project managers and the overall rate of project success. Both in practice and for the certification exams, you need to understand the different organization types. More than half your exam questions will be Example questions and the kind of organization the PM is “in” often
determines the correct course of action to take on an issue.
Functional Organizations
Functional organizations have their structures designed around technical specialties like marketing, sales, manufacturing, facilities, customer service, engineering and accounting. These organizations are the most frequently encountered type and the barriers between these functional “silos” make it tough on project managers. Getting a project done that crosses functional lines often requires begging and whining for resources. In functional organizations project managers have little or no authority and must “borrow” people from functional departments. That requires that the PM negotiate for resources with the functional managers.
These extra steps are necessary because functional organizations operate with a strong chain of command philosophy that each employee should report to one boss. This
means that an employee communicates with their boss, who
communicates with the boss’s boss, all the way up the chain of command. The lines of communication usually follow the chain of command and are simple, but also quite rigid. Functional managers want to retain all of the formal authority over their employees and must often be convinced to loan them to a project. People loaned to a project often feel that the project is
a distraction from their “real job” where they get raises and promotions.
In these organizations, turf wars and lack of cooperation between functional departments make communication difficult. In these organizations, decision makers often choose to perform projects within one functional unit because reaching out to borrow resources and communicate across functional lines is so difficult.
Functional organizations try to improve their project performance by adding two other roles to the structure. Project expediters may assist functional managers in coordinating
projects. However, these project expediters have no decision- making authority and focus mainly on communication, following up on tasks and deliveries of equipment. Functional organizations may also employ project coordinators, who usually are in staff positions reporting to senior managers who have many projects underway at the same time. They often have some decision-making authority but do not have the responsibilities of project managers in the areas of making assignments, analyzing change requests and reporting status.
Matrix Organizations
Another organizational form is the matrix organization, which comes in three varieties (weak, balanced, strong). There are still departments for functions like accounting and marketing but these departments share resources across department lines routinely. The difference between the three types is the amount of power and influence of project managers versus
functional managers. But in all three types, people are more accepting of sharing departmental resources with projects than in functional organizations. In all three matrix types,
employees work for more than one boss. However, the degree of sharing affects a project manager's level of authority, power and influence.
The weak matrix organization is quite similar to a functional
organization with the project manager having a bit more power and influence but still being weaker than the functional manager. Borrowing resources can be a bit easier than in a functional organization. However, a project manager's authority is very limited in comparison to the functional
managers. Therefore, the PM must still plead and beg for resources and hope that the project sponsor has enough clout to secure resources for the project.
In a balanced matrix organization, the project manager and functional managers have relatively equal power and authority and the negotiation for borrowing resources is on even terms. Because the power is even, the level of conflict is at a peak and communications are at their most difficult. That may seem odd until you remember that people are unlikely to have conflict
with a person who has more power than they do.
In a strong matrix, the project manager has more power than the functional managers and has a much easier time acquiring resources and managing the project budget. All three types of matrix organizations have more complex communication processes and more conflict than the functional organization.
Projectized Organizations
The projectized organization transforms the project manager
from a flunky begging for resources to a person managing a project that the organization treats as if it were a department. In the projectized organization, the project and its manager have their own dedicated employees and a budget. They have
the same status as all the functional departments. The project manager is the organizational superior of the people working on the project team and does their performance reviews, develops their professional skills and manages their daily work assignments.
The projectized organizational form is desirable from a project management point of view because the PM has almost full authority over the resources with full availability. However,
projectized organizations have certain disadvantages. First, projectized organizations may hinder employees’ development in their technical specialties because they don’t associate regularly with people possessing the same specialized skills. Second, when the project is completed, the project organization disappears and it is not unusual for team members to have
some uncertainty about their next assignment. This can adversely affect morale and performance.
Organizations carve out projectized sub-units for long-term projects that require considerable employee development such as learning a new technology. We see the projectized organizational form in professional firms (like accounting, consulting and engineering) and in technical departments that primarily do projects, such as information systems departments.
To summarize what we have covered, think of the project manager’s power and influence as a continuum. On the left hand extreme, there is the functional organization where the PM’s power and influence is zero. As we move across the continuum into matrix organizations, the PM’s power grows and grows until it peaks in the projectized organization.
Organizational Continuum
Composite Organization - A Mix of All Three
Few organizations are purely functional, matrix or projectized. The larger the organization, the greater the chance that the organization has sub-divisions that are organized by different
types; this is called a composite organization. For example, in a large organization the manufacturing division might follow
strict functional lines with production, engineering and inventory control departments staffed with specialists. On the other hand, for research and development the organization might use a more fluid matrix structure to facilitate the sharing of skills on projects and new products. To go even further, for an upcoming new product, the organization might assemble the project team as a separate department to ensure that needed
resources are available from several functional areas, with this
projectized organization disbanding when the project is done. This product department would have its own budget and dedicated team.
Project Management Office: PMO
Organizations, regardless of their form, may utilize a project management office (PMO) to facilitate the projects that are taking place. Different organizations use different names for the PMO; it may be called the project office, program office or
program management office. We can have PMOs in functional or matrix organizations but we see them regularly in projectized and strong matrix organizations. They are less likely in weak matrix and functional organizations. For example, a consulting firm has a real need to coordinate project activities because almost all employees work on multiple projects and new client projects may start each week. That combination creates the need to closely track projects and to set priorities for resource allocation.
The PMO serves other important functions and there are several
styles of PMOs. Some distribute project information and may provide software and training for project managers and team members. Other project offices integrate the project information, enforce a common project methodology and help executives make priority and resource allocation decisions. In still others, the organization’s project managers work in the PMO and are assigned to manage projects by the PMO. In organizations with even stronger PMOs, they may assist the management committee in approving or rejecting proposed projects.
Project & Product Lifecycles
The PMBOK® talks about a number of different lifecycles. Products like a new cell phone have a product lifecycle that may start with research and development, move to testing, manufacturing, marketing and then end with product
replacement. Each of those phases in the product lifecycle may
require a project. The organization may have a project lifecycle it uses to build manufacturing facilities as required by the third phase of the product lifecycle above. That project lifecycle may start with design, followed by land acquisition, construction, and assembly line start-up.
Some organizations may have one lifecycle that they apply to all projects.
Alternatively, an organization may have several lifecycles and it may allow the project manager and team to select the one that is most appropriate for each project.
While lifecycles can vary widely, all lifecycles cover:
The work that needs to be completed
Each phase’s deliverable and approval
criteria The people involved.
There are also several features common to most project lifecycles. Most lifecycles require the fewest team members and resources at the beginning and end of the lifecycle. Project costs also follow the same bell-curve because the project is most costly in the middle of the project lifecycle. Risk is highest at the beginning of the lifecycle and decreases throughout the project phases. Stakeholder influence over the project requirements is also greatest at the beginning of the lifecycle and decreases through the phases. However, the cost of adding requirements rises as we move through the lifecycle.
As we mentioned above, a project manager selects the appropriate project management tasks and techniques for each project from an inventory of best practices. Those best practices are organized into 5 Process Groups, 11 Knowledge Areas and 47 processes.
The project lifecycle is broken into 5 process groups:
Initiating
It has 2 processes and gets things started by the sponsor securing project authorization from the organization.
Monitoring and Controlling
It has 11 processes and here we ensure that execution is going according to plan and correct things if it is not.
When the deliverables have all been produced, we bring the project to an end.
Closing
It has 2 processes and it is where we put the data away for use on future projects and assess how we did in lessons learned.
Planning
It has 24 processes and is the busiest process group because we make all the decisions about how we’re going to do things on the project.
When the project management plan is approved, we launch the project and have two process groups that happen at the same time:
Executing
It has 8 processes and it is here that we do the work of the project, consume most of the resources and produce the deliverables.
Estimate Activity Durations (Planning Process Group)
Develop Schedule (Planning Process Group)
Control Schedule (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
Cost Management
It has 4 processes with the purpose of establishing a budget for delivering the project’s scope and then tracking actual costs and comparing them to the budget.
Plan Cost Management (Planning Process Group)
Estimate Costs (Planning Process Group)
Determine Budget (Planning Process Group)
Control Costs (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
Quality Management Knowledge Area
It has 3 processes that share the purpose of establishing the criteria and specifications that the project’s deliverables must meet and then tracking actual performance and improving the process of producing those deliverables.
Plan Quality Management (Planning Process Group)
Perform Quality Assurance (Executing Process Group)
Control Quality (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
Human Resources Management
It has 4 processes for identifying, managing and developing the members of the project team.
Plan Human Resource Management (Planning Process Group)
Acquire Project Team (Executing Process Group)
Develop Project Team (Executing Process Group)
Manage Project Team (Executing Process Group)
Communications Management
It has 3 processes for the planning of project related communications, managing the communications and monitoring communications to make sure they are sufficient.
Plan Communications Management (Planning Process Group)
Manage Communications (Executing Process Group)
Control Communications (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
It has 6 processes with purpose of identifying the uncertainties or risks the project faces (things that could hurt and, as importantly, things that might help) and managing these risks to the project’s betterment.
Plan Risk Management (Planning Process Group)
Identify Risks (Planning Process Group)
Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis (Planning Process Group)
Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis (Planning Process Group)
Plan Risk Responses (Planning Process Group)
Control Risks (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
Procurement Management
It has 4 processes with the purpose of securing the items the project needs to buy and making sure they are delivered as
promised in the contracts/agreements.
Plan Procurement Management (Planning Process Group)
Conduct Procurements (Executing Process Group)
Control Procurements (Monitoring and Controlling Process Group)
Close Procurements (Closing Process Group)
Stakeholder Management
It has 4 processes with the purpose of identifying the stakeholders, their expectations for the project as well as managing those expectations through the life of the project.
Identify Stakeholders (Initiating Process Group)
Plan Stakeholder Management (Planning Process Group)
Manage Stakeholder Engagement (Executing Process Group)
Control Stakeholder Engagement (Monitoring and
Controlling Process Group)
Professionalism & Social Responsibility
The PMBOK® does not cover this topic but we treat it as the 11th Knowledge Area because it is important on the exams (up to 14% of the PMP® exam questions). This area covers the
ethical standards that project managers must meet.
What the Heck are EEF and OPA?
Every project is impacted by the internal and external environment the organization faces and its culture, management processes, policies and ways of doing business. These are called enterprise environmental factors (EEF).
Projects can, and should, draw on the organization’s collective project wisdom, lessons learned from project successes and failures and the data from previous projects. Unfortunately, in most organizations this information, called organizational process assets (OPA), is not archived or available so project managers must reinvent the wheel for each project and make the same mistakes again and again. The idea of archiving data and reusing content from previous projects may well be the most important best practice. Let’s discuss EEF and OPA a bit more because we will not repeat these ideas in the future discussion of every task.
long a certain kind of task took on earlier projects. It can save a project team from having to decompose their whole work breakdown structure because they can use all or part of the WBS created by previous project teams or their lessons learned. OPA can save time and improve results on every process in the project lifecycle.
With that background, let’s dive into the Examples that will teach you all the tools and techniques that represent the best practices in project management.
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF)
As a short hand in the book, we refer to these Enterprise Environmental Factors as EEF and they are an input to many of
the PMI® tasks. The EEF includes the organization’s personnel systems for doing business like the compensation system, accounting system and its information systems. It also includes
all the organizational policies such as the rules for hiring and evaluating employee performance. The industry in which the performing organization operates may also impose regulations and rules on the organization and its projects. We draw on
these factors and operate within the limitations they impose. The EEF also include external factors like governmental regulations and marketplace conditions.
Organizational Process Assets (OPA)
The Organizational Process Assets include a wide range of things that let us avoid “reinventing the wheel” for each
project. We want to use templates, forms and data from previous projects because it saves time and lets us learn from the successes and mistakes made on previous projects. One of the traits of organizations that are consistently successful with projects is that they have consistent processes and save the data from every project they do. The OPA lets project managers who are estimating duration look up the data on how
Three Project Management Examples
The best way to pass the PMI® certification exams and to master skills that will make you a better project manager is to see the tasks, tools and techniques applied in context; that is, see the techniques used in real project situations. Let’s begin by meeting three PMP®s and learn about the three projects they will manage through the rest of this book.
Chris Pimbock slowed down as he spotted the long line of passengers waiting to have their baggage checked at Honolulu International Airport. It'd been a great vacation and now he was ready to head back to Royster Industries, a small manufacturing company, and take on his next project challenge for his boss. The boss named the project the Trouble Report
Improvement Project with the acronym, TRIP. A woman joined the line behind Chris and inadvertently slid her carry-on bag into the back of his heel. She smiled at Chris in apology and
flipped open her iPad.
Just then Chris's cell phone chimed and he flipped open the phone and answered.
It was his boss, Tom Stearns who said, "I hope you had a good vacation, Chris, because the Sales and Marketing people are making all kinds of noise about the trouble report problems and
I'm going to need you to hit the ground running on the TRIP project as soon as you get back."
Chris answered, "Yes sir, the TRIP project is number one on my priority list. I plan to get started first thing Monday morning."
Chris dug his clipboard from his carry-on to give Tom a couple of facts and then hung up. Chris was surprised to see the woman behind him looking at him with an odd expression.
She closed her iPad and said with a smile, "Pardon me but I couldn't help overhearing your phone conversation and it sounds like you're a project manager just like I am. In fact, it sounds like we're both managing a project called TRIP.”
“I'm Chris Pimbock and that is a little weird,” Chris said and smiled back. “It’s my first major project, I just got my PMP®, and frankly this TRIP project is the first one my company has ever done with a trained project manager. We're pretty small, only a couple hundred people, so this should be a real adventure.”
Terry Evans introduced herself and said, "I've been a PMP® for a few years now but I'll never forget my first project. Let's just say I learned a lot. But this is so strange, both of us managing a project with the acronym TRIP.”
The man behind Terry, dressed in an elegant pinstripe suit, bit
the cap on his Monte Blanc fountain pen and said, "Sorry to eavesdrop, but what's even more strange is that there are three project managers standing in line and all managing projects call TRIP.”
Terry laughed. She and Chris both introduced themselves to Preston McCarthy, PMP®, and owner of a consulting firm whose
clients were Fortune 100 multinational companies. Preston said, "We all have an ethical duty to preserve the confidentiality of
our clients and the organizations for which we work. My TRIP project is about trouble reports in a multinational company with tens of thousands of employees. It's the biggest project and client my firm has ever handled so I’ll have a lot on my plate
first thing Monday morning. The stakes for the project are huge so we'll be applying some very sophisticated techniques because the stakes justify that kind of sophistication. We also have some significant language and cultural barriers as well as the usual turf battles between functional units. I'm going to be one busy project manager for the next year.”
Terry said, "Well our company’s smaller than that, just a few thousand employees, but you haven't seen turf battles until you’ve seen the ones between our functional units. The VPs are like feudal lords and ladies; jealously guarding their people and decision-making prerogatives. I'm going to have my hands full because my organization has never done a project involving multiple functional units, at least not successfully. Success is
pretty important to our business so I'm going to be focusing on very accurate estimating of costs and budgets and the usual change control processes. But communications and managing
stakeholder expectations are getting most of my emphasis. Our project management plan is not going to include the kind of sophisticated project techniques I imagine you'll be using, Preston."
Preston laughed, "Don't get me wrong; communications requirements and stakeholder expectations are going to be
number one for me, like they always are. How about you, Chris; how have you tailored your project management plan?"
Chris laughed, "Well we're a lot less sophisticated and the project is pretty much taking place within our department. So I'm going to be focusing on getting the boss and our stakeholders used to doing any type of project management.
What I'm going to be hearing is ‘Why can’t you start today and finish in a month?’ I'm going to have to fight and claw and have very good arguments about why we should be doing any project management tasks rather than just getting to work quickly."
Preston chuckled and said, "Been there, done that. Frankly, not to minimize the challenges that Terry and I face, but
getting an organization started doing things the right way may be the most difficult of all.”
Project Manager’s KnowledgeBase Initiating Statement of Work
INITIATING
All projects need to be initiated, whether they are a small project for your boss affecting only the department in which you work or a major project involving many departments or outside customers. Initiation starts with a statement of work, an idea or a problem or an opportunity. Then, the sponsor and/or project manager drafts the business case, an assessment of the project and its feasibility. For small projects, that assessment might happen in a conversation with the sponsor over coffee.
On a bigger project, the business case might involve formal cost-benefit analysis, the preparation of a feasibility study and documentation to persuade the corporation that the
project is worth doing. Next, the project manager identifies the other stakeholders who will be affected by the project. Then, the project manager will work with the sponsor and stakeholders to define a high-level scope of the project, which is a measurable business outcome or acceptance criteria against which the project results will be measured. With the high-level scope defined, the project manager
moves on to analyze the risks the project faces, the
assumptions they are making about the outside world and the constraints within which the project has to operate.
With all that data gathered, the project manager then develops the project charter, which explains the value of the project as well as its costs and duration. Last, the project manager presents the charter and when it is approved, the PM gets the authorization to begin detailed planning and use organizational resources.
The project statement of work (SOW) is produced at the beginning of Initiation by the project sponsor. It describes what the sponsor wants the project to deliver in terms of business results, product of the project and other deliverables. The sponsor should also describe the business need that will justify the project. This may be in the areas of customer demands, technological changes, regulatory changes or organization growth.
The SOW should provide the project manager with descriptions and information on the product that the project
will deliver when it is successful. It should also explain how the project relates to the business needs of the organization.
As an example, the sponsor might write an email describing how the response time of the supply room needs to be improved. The sponsor might detail the performance he expects from the supply room at the end of the project with
acceptance criteria like “supply orders are filled within four hours.” The reason for this improvement is that operating
departments are losing valuable time waiting for supplies to arrive. This in turn is causing delays in production. The sponsor might conclude by saying this project is consistent with the organization’s goal for this year of improving turnaround time in service to customers.” That simple email meets the criteria for the initiation statement of work. Obviously, for larger efforts the extent of the statement of
work might be much larger but the points this email covered have to be in every statement of work.
The sponsor generates the SOW at the beginning of Initiation and the project manager uses it for the development of the business case and the charter, unless the sponsor does those as well.
It’s important to remember that there is also a procurement statement of work, which the project manager will issue to potential vendors being asked to bid. On the PMI exam, every time you see an SOW question, you need to be clear about which kind of SOW the question is focused on.
Project Manager’s KnowledgeBase Initiating Business Case
Business Case
The business case is prepared by the sponsor and/or project manager or a business analyst to justify the project to the organization. Many organizations have criteria they apply to proposed projects. Those criteria might include return on investment (ROI) or payback period, among other financial metrics. At a minimum, the business case includes narrative and a cost-benefit justification of the money and time that will be invested in the project. On larger projects, the business case can be very substantial documentation with extensive financial projections on the cost of the project as
well as on the benefits it will produce over time.
As an example, a project manager who receives an email
with statement of work information from the sponsor about a small project, might respond with an email providing estimates of the project costs and benefits. That email might document the complaints from department managers about supply room turnaround time and then estimate that improved controls over stocking levels could reduce stock
outs to less than two a month. That improvement would save approximately 100 hours a month in the operating departments. The project manager would do some calculations using people’s average hourly rates and quantify the benefits as a savings of $4,000 of employee time a month. The project manager might also estimate that the project to attain that reduced level of stock outs would require 20 hours of the project manager’s time and 40 hours of supply room personnel time. The project manager might estimate the total cost of the project as $6,500 and compare that to the $48,000 in annual cost savings which the project
could produce. That simple document meets all the criteria for the business case. Of course, a larger project would require much more substantial efforts.
As soon as the sponsor has produced the SOW, which
triggers the business case the organization requires, the project manager begins the process of identifying the stakeholders. Why does this happen so early? Because the project manager wants to hunt exhaustively for people who will be affected, positively or negatively, by the project. This will allow us to unearth their requirements and address
them by either including or excluding them from the project plan. Another reason is because the stakeholders are assets
of the project. They will include managers who lend us people and other resources, as well as people with expertise in many aspects of the project, like risk management or budgeting. The project manager will also use those
stakeholders to help define the scope more extensively and also identify the risks and assumptions. This focus on using the stakeholders is reflected in the entire PMI exam. Finally, the project manager needs to manage the stakeholders to ensure that the project benefits from their support. As part of that effort, the PM needs to manage their expectations so
that the project delivers what they expect it to deliver. They are assets to be identified early, then cultivated and engaged throughout the entire project. Stakeholders should not be viewed as people who interfere in the project work.
How To Do It
You sat down with two of the employees from the supply room to
talk about the project and to identify the stakeholders. You
asked a couple of questions about departments that were the
biggest users of the supply room as well as those people and
departments who complained about the file room the most. You
also asked about which supply room users were the happiest
with the service. As the supply room employees mentioned
people’s names, you added them to your stakeholder list. You
asked if there was anyone else familiar with the supply room
users and they mentioned another supply room employee who
include networking with employees. We use stakeholder analysis to gather information
about the identified stakeholders. We want to
gather information about each stakeholder’s
position, job title, rank, skills/knowledge the
project may utilize as well as their requirements and needs from the project. Last, we want to
assess their attitude about the project (positive or
negative) and the level of power or influence they
can exert. We may have meetings with the project sponsor,
executives, team members and other identified
stakeholders to help us identify all the
stakeholders.
Outputs from this Process
We produce the stakeholder register, which lists
the stakeholders by name, their project role, project requirements -achievements, perceived
expectations, their impact/influence on the project
and whether or not they support the project.
3 Project Examples of Identify Stakeholders
PMI® places great emphasis on identifying stakeholders so that we include all the important people affected by the project and gather their project requirements early on, rather than after the project has started. In the three Examples you’ll read about, you can see how we modify our stakeholder identification depending on the size and formality of the project.
Small Project Example: Identify Stakeholders
Chris Pimbock, the project manager, works for Royster Corporation in the Customer Service department managed by Tom Sterns, who directs 15 employees including Chris.
The salespeople triggered the project because
customers were complaining about service response
time. Tom Sterns responded by initiating the Trouble Report Improvement Project (TRIP). The statement of work and business case define success as responding more quickly to customer trouble reports.
Tom Sterns smiled and handed Chris Pimbock the signed business case saying, “Here you are, the Sales VP and I both approved it." Tom pointed to his PC where Outlook was open, "Who do we send it to?”
Chris stuck the signed business case onto his clipboard and said, “Well, we should send it to all the stakeholders.”
Tom responded, "Yes, I have all the employees in the department on the distribution list."
"I think we need to think of the stakeholders a bit more broadly," Chris said. "Stakeholders are the people who will be affected by the project and we identify them up front so we can get their requirements and manage their expectations. The company's customers are certainly affected by the project and I would imagine that the Sales department, who started this whole thing, is probably the most important stakeholder."
Tom said, "I don't want those people from Sales and
Marketing telling us how to run this project. They stick their noses into our business more than enough as it is. I’m going to send it to just the employees in our department."
Chris smiled and said, "You're the boss and the project sponsor so we'll do it your way. But ignoring other important stakeholders will really reduce our odds of being successful. It creates a situation where stakeholders and their
requirements can spring up just as we’re finishing the project. Then they’ll cost much more to address and make
us late in addition. Like it or not, Sales and Marketing started this project and their opinion of our work when the project is done will matter a lot. So why not involve them in the project now rather than letting them surprise us at the end with what they really wanted?"
Tom nodded slowly, "That makes good sense. And it would be just like those jerks to watch us do all this work to improve service and then tell us we didn't do what they wanted."
Chris smiled and said, "That's exactly why we identify the stakeholders early and then manage their expectations so we don't get those nasty surprises."
Tom said, "Okay I'm sold. How do we do this stakeholder identification?"
Chris thought for a moment, running through the stakeholder identification techniques in his mind. Then he thought about the scale of the project and the fact that Tom, the sponsor, was not familiar with the best practices in project management and had seen too many projects dragged down by unnecessary paperwork and meetings. Chris decided to move slowly; a little bit of stakeholder identification was appropriate for this small project and would pay big benefits. An elaborate stakeholder identification process would be overkill and might cause Tom to skip the whole process.
Chris said, "Well we always tailor our project management tasks to the size of the project and this is a small one. So why don't you and I do some stakeholder identification right now?”
Tom nodded agreement, "Clearly we have some stakeholders in Sales. I can make a call and get them to assign a representative; probably one of the salespeople."
Chris said, "That's a good idea but we also have other Sales stakeholders plus some in Marketing whose expectations we want to manage. And it's much better for us to manage those expectations than to hope that one salesperson assigned to the project will do the job for us. So let's go ahead and get somebody else involved but also identify the VP of Sales/Marketing and some of her directors as stakeholders. We'll get them engaged during our requirements gathering and also make them part of the
stakeholder and communications management plans."
Tom smiled, "That's exactly the way to play the game. I can't think of any other stakeholders besides the people here in the department and our customers who are clearly affected. But Sales and Marketing will never let us talk to the customers directly. That's their turf."
Chris nodded and said, "I'll make a note to add customers as a stakeholder group anyway. Maybe something will come up. We can always add additional stakeholders as they come to our attention but I think that's enough for the moment. I'll start the stakeholder register.”
McLaughlin Electronic Enterprises is experiencing a large volume of complaints from customers about their response time on customer trouble reports. 15 different functional units are engaged in handling these trouble reports for different types of customers and different product lines.
Terry Evans, the project manager for this multi-
department project, is from Engineering and just earned her PMP®. Terry is concerned about managing the Trouble Report Improvement Project
(TRIP) across all of these departmental boundaries. The VP of Sales, Gwendolyn Stiles, is the project
sponsor and she drove the project through the approval process based on the cost of lost customers.
The company has over 5,000 employees and this
project will include systems development, construction of new office facilities, training of
employees and procurement of computer hardware and other equipment.
The project will utilize resources from 15 different
departments and technical specialists from 4 support departments (Information Systems, Construction, Training and Development).
Terry didn’t mind working late and Gwendolyn Stiles, the VP of Sales/Marketing and project sponsor, requested the meeting. But it did seem odd to meet at 8:30 at night and for the sponsor to request that she bring a pepperoni pizza. Terry found the right room in the deserted conference center, knocked and went in juggling the pizza box and her iPad.
Gwendolyn Stiles looked up from the papers in front of her and said, "Welcome! I know this is a bit unusual but the way we do projects in Marketing is to keep a tight lid on things. That way the competition doesn't find out about what new products we’re offering or our other marketing initiatives. I want to do this project exactly the same way without any interfering outsiders. That's why we’ll meet later at night. I hope you don't mind….Oh and this,” she pointed to a young woman sitting at the table, “is Audrey, my assistant."
Terry set the pizza and paper plates down on the table and smiled at Audrey. "It's not my choice to work evenings but I
certainly can accommodate your schedule. I'm a little concerned, however, about keeping the project secret from other departments whose cooperation we need."
Gwendolyn replied with a wave of her hand, “Well it’s not secret from top management but I don’t want to have people from other departments involved in planning this thing. All they'll do is work their own agendas and slow us down. We need to move fast!"
Terry helped herself to a slice of pizza and said, "I know it sounds like it would slow things down to engage our stakeholders but it actually speeds things up. These stakeholders are the people we need to support the project across the organization and the managers and directors are
the people we need to make changes in their departments’ operations. They clearly have a stake in this project and we need their active and enthusiastic support. Getting people to make changes in their work habits is always difficult and it will be even harder if we don't let the stakeholders
participate in the planning and delivery of the project. In a very real sense we need to ‘sell’ the project to these stakeholders."
Audrey asked, "Exactly who are the stakeholders?"
Terry answered, "Anyone who is affected by the project or who can affect it. As I said, were going to be asking a very large number of departments to change their operations if
we're going to improve trouble-ticket turnaround time. The
managers and the employees in each of those departments who have to change their work procedures are all important
stakeholders because if they don't do things differently this project will fail. Other departments will have to lend us people to do the work of this project. If they don't
cooperate in making people from their departments available, this project is going to fail. So stakeholders are very influential and some of them are in very powerful positions. There are other departments and even outside firms who will supply resources this project needs and they’re stakeholders as well, with perhaps a little less influence and power over our success.”
Gwendolyn smiled and said, "You're basically looking at the stakeholders as if they were customers and segmenting the market."
Teri nodded agreement and said, "Good project managers tailor the procedures they use to fit the needs of each project. On this project, I think a fairly detailed segmentation of our stakeholders is warranted.
We’ll identify the stakeholders and also make an initial assessment of their interests in terms of what they want to get out of the project, their expectations for what it will do for the company and to their area of responsibility, their ability to influence the project and their requirements from the project.”
Gwendolyn slapped the conference table and said, "That makes sense. Let's do it!"
50 minutes later, Terry had the first two stakeholders entered into the initial stakeholder register and they stopped
to finish the pizza.
Between bites Terry said, "This is the way we’ll continue to identify stakeholders and you can see how we’re also laying
out the start of our stakeholder management strategy. I think the key to that strategy will be identifying people who have a lot of influence and engaging them in the project. Those people whose departments will be significantly affected by the project in terms of the changes, should have significant roles in the planning of the project. Less influential stakeholders may not be offered those decision- making roles but we certainly will communicate with them regularly so they're aware of what's going on in the project and how they can help.
Gwendolyn nodded and said, "I agree the people who have the most influence over the project’s success need to be engaged initially in the project. And we need to keep them informed and maybe even ‘take their temperature,’ you know, find out how they're feeling about the project on a regular basis. We don’t want to be taken by surprise by the people who have a problem or an issue. That's exactly how we deal with our important customers.”
Terry was typing into her iPad and when she finished, she looked up and said, "I'll lay out those elements of our stakeholder management strategy and we’ll reflect that strategy in both our requirements gathering and in our stakeholder and communications plans for the project."
Globetrotter International Enterprises is experiencing problems on its response time to customer trouble reports in all 15 countries in which they operate.
This company hired Preston McCarthy, an external
consultant, to manage the project. Preston’s firm, McCarthy and Associates, is providing both technical expertise and project management services for Globetrotter.
Mr. Fuller, the president of Globetrotter Enterprises,
waved Preston McCarthy to a seat across the desk, saying, “We made a big point about the stakeholders and about how our profit centers operate independently. In the business case, we stressed the difficulty in getting the various functional areas to cooperate. Now, I’d like to know how the hell
you’re going to get this cantankerous management team of mine to cooperate across functional lines. Oh they talk about how we’re a matrix organization but that’s usually when they want some other
division to do something for them. Truth be told, we are as functional as hell…they operate like feudal lords and ladies ruling their own little kingdoms. So how are you going to get them to cooperate?”
Preston uncapped his Mont Blanc fountain pen and thought for a moment. The question was not a surprise but he realized that Mr. Fuller was concerned about this issue and probably not comfortable going ahead with the contract until he got an answer about this organizational question. Preston said, "Without a doubt, stakeholder support and participation is the biggest risk in the project. What we’re going to do is a thorough job of stakeholder identification and management. It is already obvious that the functional managers are going to require special handling and a big investment in time.
Mr. Fuller scowled and retorted, "And then you’re gonna come running to me to make them do what you want?"
Preston laughed and shook his head, "No, for your functional managers, we will conduct a personal face-to-face interview to explain the project to each of them individually. We’ll get an initial reaction so that we can assess their interests,
requirements and level of support. I know there are almost 35 of them but I want to make that initial personal assessment and then plot them in terms of their power, influence and potential impact on the project. Later we're going to put together a strategy for each of them individually which is going to lead to a round of ‘horse
trading’ based on each individual's hot button issues or requirements. I want them to own the project. We'll do this early in project planning and tailor the project plan to fit the agreement we've made with each of them. They'll each get something they value in exchange for making the changes we need in their operations so we can improve the overall trouble report performance. Obviously, I’ll get your
approval on each of the written deals we make which will detail their accountability.”
`
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The Essentials of Construction Project Management course is designed for people who want to learn the basics to successfully manage small to medium-sized construction projects. You don’t need any prior project management experience. You’ll learn skills to launch your construction project manager career and increase your salary.
How the Course Works In this instructor-led online course, you will study with world-class materials and master practical skills, not academic theories. You’ll read your e-textbook that describes all the tools and techniques and shows you examples of how to use them. You’ll watch high definition lecture videos and then practice on a construction project case study so you become confident in using what you are learning. You will also master project management software tools and get templates you can use for your projects at work.
You begin the course whenever you wish and study from anywhere in the world. You set your own pace and schedule. You may take up to one year from enrollment to complete the course.
Work with Your Instructor Through the entire Essentials of Construction Project Management course, you will work individually with your PMP-certified instructor over the Internet, by telephone and in video conferences. You have the option of giving presentations in online video simulations. They are just you and your instructor so you can practice your communication and presentation skills. Your instructor will send you a video of your session with their comments and suggestions for improving your skills.
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Effective communication is a key skill for every successful construction project manager. If your presentations are not persuasive and professionally delivered, your credibility as a project manager suffers. Three assignments in the Essentials of Construction Project Management course include preparing a presentation that you may deliver in our live online conference center, if you wish. It’s a private session, just you and your instructor, and you get feedback and coaching on your presentation techniques and assignment content. These optional sessions are filmed and you’ll receive a video of your presentation so you can review your instructor’s comments about your body language, eye contact, gestures, use of visual aids, etc.
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OOvveerrvviieeww ooff tthhee 55 SStteepp 44PPMM MMeetthhooddoollooggyy I've titled this book "Essentials of Construction Project Management" and it's just that. We’re going
to take you through a five-step process for planning projects, developing a work breakdown structure, building a dynamic schedule, assigning people to tasks and tracking results.
There are things this book will not teach you. We won't deal with the statistics of risk or the
alternative ways to develop work estimates or the cost accounting required for project budgets. You'll
learn the essence of project management but not all of the detailed information in the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™). I wrote this book for people running smaller projects with
most of the project team coming from their own organization.
You’ll also learn to use project management software in a very straightforward, simple way. This
book has many illustrations of applying this simple methodology in Microsoft Project®. Using project
management software with this simple methodology is a big time saver so we recommend that approach. Our objective is not to spend a lot of time in the software. I designed the methodology so you spend only
an hour or two developing the plan & schedule and then 10 or 15 minutes a week using the software to update it. You'll spend the rest of your time managing the project.
In sum, Essentials of Construction Project Management teaches you basic-level project management
tools and techniques. It’s appropriate for smaller projects and teams with a few people from different functional units. Our more advanced publications like Managing Information Technology Projects,
Managing Healthcare Projects, Managing Construction Projects and Advanced Project Management Techniques address managing larger, more complex projects.
55--SStteepp 44PPMM PPrroocceessss I list the 5 steps in the process on the chart on the next page along with the 12 best practices
techniques you will learn. We’re going to take you through a five-step process for planning projects,
developing a work breakdown structure, building a dynamic schedule, assigning people to tasks and tracking results.
As you move through those five steps, you'll learn 12 best practice techniques for delivering projects on time. You'll go through the process of working with the Customer and other interested parties who will be affected by your project (we’ll call them project stakeholders).
The 12 best practice techniques you'll learn are:
1. Definng the Project Scope As a Measured Business Result
2. Decomposing the Scope into a Deliverable Network
3. Avoiding Problems with the Project Charter
4. Using Project Software in 10 Minutes a Week
5. Decomposing Deliverables into a Work Breakdown
Structure
The Essentials of Project Management
6. Sequencing Your Tasks to Finish As Early As Possible
7. Making Clear Assignments to Your Project Team
8. Using the Critical Path to Optimize Your Schedule
Work Breakdown Structure
Predecessor
Project Closing
9. Leading a High-Performance Team
10. Using the Baseline to Spot Problems Early
11. Solving Problems and Reporting to the Customer
Broadbrush Project Plan - 1½ page Document for Project Initiation
The Broadbrush Plan is a concise 1½-page plan that allows executives to make decisions and
exercise strategic control over projects and the business value they produce. It also provides them with hard-edged metrics for measuring performance and the quality of the deliverables.
Scope & High-Level Deliverable Network
This network of deliverables is the path from where we are now to where we want to be, which is
the scope of the project. Every entry in the network is a deliverable that you define with a metric. The metric tells everyone what you will produce and how you will define success.
Work Breakdown Structure Decomposition - Crystal-clear Accountability & Scope Control
Rather than creating mindless "to do" lists, project managers (PMs) craft work breakdown
structures by breaking down the scope into a high-level deliverable network of measurable results that become peoples' accountabilities. Every team member's assignment is in the form of a measurable
business outcome. The resulting WBS is compact so the PM can update it quickly. You will support each entry with a work package that makes the details clear so they miss nothing. The PM and the Customer
have unambiguous checkpoints to measure progress.
Dynamic Project Scheduling - Update Schedules in 10 Minutes a Week
PMs use dynamic project scheduling techniques that let them update plans in minutes each week
and quickly model alternatives to cut duration, lower budgets and adjust the business value a project
produces. These techniques give executives the hard data they need for decision-making and consideration of alternatives.
Status Reporting - Clear Checkpoints to Identify Problems Early
With weekly tracking, PMs and Customers have hard-edged checkpoints to measure progress. They
can anticipate problems and implement corrective action early, when it costs the least. PMs make concise status reports on projects and always offer alternatives for the Customer to consider.
SStteepp OOnnee:: BBrrooaaddbbrruusshh PPrroojjeecctt PPllaann You will start your project management work by defining the scope of the project with the
Customer. That is, you’ll define the business objective the Customer wants the project to deliver. When you set about defining the scope during
project planning there are a number of traps Project Plan: Scope/Requirements
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to avoid. One trap is thinking about what
you have to do rather than the project’s end results. Thinking about the activities you
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need to complete is much easier than thinking about the business outcome the
project should produce. This is the activity
trap where you focus on the details and ignore the project’s business purpose. In the
activity trap, a PM receives a project assignment, thinks about the first thing to do
and starts work, figuring to think about the next step when they come to it.
Sometimes, PMs cloak their descent
into the activity trap by writing a long and flowery mission statement for the project.
This does no harm unless it is a substitute for politely pushing the Customer to make the
hard “end result” decisions up front. You need to specify exactly what the project will deliver and what it
will not deliver. The Customer has to make this decision and tell you how he will judge the success of the project. Being that explicit at the beginning may cause some discussion and disagreement but it is far
better to work through those conflicts before you start work rather than discovering the success measures when you are almost done. Unfortunately, the activity trap snares so many PMs that it is one of the two
leading causes of project failure. The activity trap wastes resources and frustrates project team members with continuously changing assignments. The lure of the activity trap, that bottomless pit, has ruined
You’ll avoid the activity trap with a 1-2 page document, called the Broadbrush plan, which covers
the big-picture decisions that are required before you can start your project. When the project Customer and stakeholders approve the Broadbrush plan, the Initiation phase of the project is complete. The key to
this process is to avoid those delicious technical details that quickly drag you into the "activity trap." Your focus during a Broadbrush planning process is to provide the Customer with the opportunity to make
decisions about the end results the project will produce. Your focus is on the measured business-relevant
outcomes not the details of how you will achieve them. You also want to secure the project executive’s decisions on the authority you'll need to manage the project team. You keep the document short and
high-level so you engage the executive’s attention. You can develop long formal plans later when the Customer has approved the strategy.
A Broadbrush project plan is never long but requires thought, decisions and agreement on three things:
Project Scope - an unambiguous measurement of the project's outcome. For example,
“Answer 90% of our customers’ inquiries in 120 seconds or less with no more than 5% callbacks on the same problem.”
A High-level Deliverable Network (HLD) - a hierarchical network of measured deliverables that leads to the scope.
Project Charter – a short narrative covering risks, assumptions, constraints, resource requirements, change control, and PM authority.
Collectively, these elements define our project scope, requirements and charter. Your organization may
also require other narrative documents but the elements above are critical for controlling projects and achieving success. They are the strategic foundation for a project.
We need to drive projects from quantifiable scope definitions. Driving a project plan from the success measures keeps the focus where it should be; on achieving the end result. By working with the Customer
to define success before the project starts, the PM is in a much better position to control
the project.
Scope: M As an example, let's say the Director of
Human Resources for a medium sized
An objectively company, contacts you about doing a project. She says, “I know that this is not your
Clarity on what the sponsor wants specialty but you are the only project manager I know. I need your help. Our
Scope change control personnel records are so out-of-date that it
Clarifies what is included in the project takes me days to find out what department a person works in. On top of that, employees’
What is excluded because it’s not necessary
quarterly performance reviews are useless, if
Clear team performance expectations they get them at all. I want you to straighten out that whole mess so when a line manager
calls, we can find up-to-date employee
personnel records on the system and quickly give them the data they want. We may also
need some remodeling of our office to make all this work. And we want the employee reviews to give solid, detailed feedback on their performance.”
You finished writing some notes, wishing you could stick with your kind of project. Then the Customer
went on, “You can use anyone you want to get this done. This is a high priority. You'll probably have to
involve five or six people from our group, some line mangers and someone from Administration, IT, and Construction so you get a lot of good input. Decide on how to organize the files and what standards the
performance reviews should meet. A good place to start is probably by updating all the records. Then maybe you can draft a memo, for my signature, telling managers that they have to do performance
reviews on time and give their people useful feedback on their performance and developmental needs. You get the team put together and we will figure out the rest of the project from there."
The Customer has given you a lot of information about this project and what you’re supposed to do. It would be very easy to start work on the files and draft that memo. However, all of the information is in the form of activities. The Customer hasn't told you what end result she wants. To succeed with this
project, we have to know how the Customer is going to measure the success of the project when you're done. That definition will give you a tool to control the scope of the project and decide what should, and
what should not, be included in the project work.
So, you have to ask the Customer some questions to get at the business purpose of the “laundry list” of changes that she talked about. You might start by asking, “After the files are up to date and
managers are doing thorough performance reviews on time for all the employees, what will that do for us?”
The Customer answers, “We’ll be on top of things!”
You sense the Customer is getting just a little bit angry at the questions but you press on because if you don’t find out what problem the Customer wants to solve and how they will measures success, you
have almost no chance of delivering it. So you continue.
“If I know exactly what end result you want, I can do a good job and give you exactly what you want. So let me ask this, three months after we finish this project, what will be different; what will you expect to see?”
“Okay,” the Customer sighs and then pauses for a moment to think. “Three months after the project’s done, I won’t have managers complaining to me that we don’t know what’s going on and how it
takes forever to get employee information from us.”
The Customer is talking about end results instead of activities so you know you’re on the right track.
Now you have to change these end results into metrics.
You ask, “So if I understand what you want, the employee records have to be current. How
current? Would five days be good enough?”
The Customer thinks for a moment and says, "No, we can do better than that. Let’s say the
personnel system is never more than 3 days behind.”
You make a note and then ask, “With the records current to within 3 days, how fast do we have to
answer a line manager’s questions about our people?”
“That’s a hard one,” the Customer says, frowning in thought. “Some complex data requests will take time- a day or two, others just a few seconds.”
“Well, how about we set the goal at 80% of the requests are answered in 10 minutes or less?’’
The Customer grins and says, “How about 95%?”
You smile back and say, “It will take a lot longer to get that close to perfection. What percentage are we answering within 10 minutes now?”
The Customer frowns again and says, “About 1%. Let’s go with 80%; that’ll be a great
improvement.”
What you’ve done in this planning session is to get agreement on the scope of the project. You now
have an unambiguous scope defined with a metric. You have quantified the Customer’s expectations for the project and you will use it to drive the planning process. . You’ve also given yourself a tool for
controlling changes to the scope of the project. When the Customer was talking about objectives like “straightening up the records” and “being on
top of things” it’s very hard to decide what is,
and what is not, a change in the scope. With
Activity Tra
We focusing o not the outcomes we want at the end
Activities are so easy to list, that we think are making progress
A sound project plan is not a list of attractive features or good ideas
a measurable deliverable to quantify your
scope, controlling scope creep is much easier.
AAccttiivviittyy TTrraapp You avoided the activity trap in the
discussion with the Customer, but it is such an obstacle to project success that we should
delve into it in a bit more detail. The deadly lure of the activity trap defeats many efforts
to clarify the scope of projects during initial planning. This initial planning phase is the
point at which a Project Manager (PM) and the Customer can easily fall into the activity
trap. The Customer usually has a few ideas about features and the first several steps for
you to do and then says, “It’s time to get going on that project and start work immediately.” That “start fast and plan later” approach is a project killer.
Why? Everyone has a list of good ideas and activities that we can make in it a long "To Do" list. We can
hope that these activities improve performance and hope the result satisfies the Customer. But there's
entirely too much hoping going on here. In the activity trap, the project manager has no way to measure when the tasks are successfully completed. How does the PM decide what tasks to include or how much
time and resources to invest in each of them? Politics and power alone will determine what’s in the project and it will forever be a moving target.
The main problem is that none of the activities connects with a deliverable. Because the PM never asked the executive to define success, the PM is in a situation where the Customer will define success as
the project progresses or at its conclusion. Worse, the definition of success will be a moving target and people will change it to move the effort in directions they favor.
The project manager and the executives have fallen into the “activity trap.” They’ll add new
activities each week rather than driving the project plan toward the scope. They buried themselves in the minutia of tasks rather than focusing on the end result. They added tasks to the plan because they
sounded good or they had used them before. The project won't solve the business problem that triggered it.
TTeecchhnniiqquuee ##22 RReeqquuiirreemmeennttss && HHiigghh--lleevveell DDeelliivveerraabbllee NNeettwwoorrkk The scope is not the last measured deliverable we'll develop, but it is the most important and the
most difficult to conceive. With the Customer’s approval of the scope, the project manager can begin decomposing it into high-level deliverables that lead to the scope. The high-level deliverables are not
activities; they are also measured business results. You don't think about how you’re going to do the work, you simply identify the major measured results which will carry you from where you are now to
where you need to be; the project scope.
Let’s continue with our example and see how you need to handle the development of the high-level
deliverables for the personnel department project, using the scope the Customer has approved.
Sometimes, you’ll sit down and lay out the requirements for a project yourself. Other times, you’ll
involve the project team in the process. Let’s start by thinking it through, develop some requirements
Main Page
Top Down Project Planning
ideas and then show them to the team. To reach the project’s scope, “80% of the info requests answered in 10 minutes,” the Customer gave you a few ideas.
The records have to be current on personnel actions
Managers have to turn their quarterly performance reviews in on time
The performance reviews have to be thorough
HR staff has to know how to efficiently answer inquiries in the system.
With these ideas in mind, you might start talking to a number of other people, including line
managers, HR staff and the IT department, to flesh out the deliverables. Each of these discussions starts
with you acquainting everybody with the project scope. These discussions are another opportunity to dive headfirst into the activity trap and all those delicious ideas. You keep the conversations on track by
talking about end results. If people think the requirements make sense, then you work to convert them into measured deliverables.
Let’s take one of the requirements, “The performance reviews have to be thorough,” as an example. Now that is an activity and you’ll have to convert it into a measured deliverable. That’s your normal process.
You think through the activity and then convert it into a measured deliverable. You might talk to some managers and find that they don’t know what should be in a “thorough” performance review or how to do
it. This gives you some ideas. You talk to the Customer in Human Resources and get a list to 17 items that are required for a thorough employee performance review. Another requirement is to train the
managers on how to complete those 17 reviews. From this thinking, you might come up with an end
result like “95% of the quarterly reviews contain the 17 required items.” That’s your high-level deliverable, and to support it you’ll need sub-deliverables for developing and getting approval of the
standard. How do you measure that requirement? Maybe the management committee should approve the review standard. So you’ll assign a team member to develop the performance review standards and
that assignment will produce a measured business outcome of “Management committee approves 17 item performance review standard.”
You also need to train the managers in doing performance reviews that meet the standard. How do you measure training? You think through the purpose of the training, which is to increase the managers’
competency in doing employee performance reviews. Then you think about how you will assess the
training program you finish it. Last, you think about how you would measure if the training succeeded.
You might decide that a test at the end of training is the best way to measure its effectiveness. That might lead to a deliverable of “90% of the managers score 80% or higher on a test of the performance review
standards.”
The thinking you’ve gone through is to gather ideas on your requirements then transform them into
measured deliverables. You think about the activity and how you will assess the assignment when the
team member finishes it. The criteria you will use in assessing the completed assignment becomes your measured deliverable. Conceiving measured deliverables is difficult for everybody because we are all so
accustomed to activity lists. But the thinking investment leads to everyone knowing what you expect of them before they start work.
The completed high-level deliverable network, with the deliverables subdivided, is below. This is a
very simple looking document, reflecting a great deal of thought. When the Customer approves this network, you can proceed with the rest of the plan.
The graphic above shows the requirements for the project in deliverable network form. You’ll use this deliverable network as the backbone of your project plan after the Customer has approved it. There is
a blank copy in your homework template for your use.
With the scope and high-level deliverables defined, you can move on to the other components of
The risk section of the Charter is the place to identify potential issues concerning resources and politics. Uncovering the assumptions underlying a deliverable requires some thought. Below are a few
risks for your project. Note that we've stayed at the business results level and avoided those pointless assumptions like, "everyone will do their task on time." Instead, we have focused on what can cause the
project to fail:
1. Notifications of missed review
Assumptio
Risk assess
Assumptions about customer or
employee behavior and reactions
Politics, conflict and messy turf issues
Covers only the “show-stoppers” that threaten the MOS™
dates from HR do not cause managers to
turn their reviews in on time.
2. Managers and their bosses don’t
do reviews that meet the approved standards.
That’s it. You may add another one or
two but the point here is to keep the list short so the risks to the project’s success
get the attention they deserve.
With the scope, a high-level network of
deliverables and risks, you can complete the plan by proposing to the Customer the
It’s time to do a little thinking on the resources you need and your authority to manage them. You’ll use your deliverable network for this and it shows the deliverables you’ll need from many other people. When you subdivide the high-level deliverables, you involve people from other organizational units who
will produce some of the deliverables.
Now not all the people who’ll be on the team
work for you. Many may have the same boss but
you don’t have any formal authority to assign them work or evaluate their performance. They all have
other jobs besides working on the project.
So your project charter aims at getting the
Customer to help you secure the resource and the
authority to manage them. You’ll want to avoid going to the Customer every time a team member’s
assignment is late. So you establish your authority now to avoid problems later.
You ask for the resources you need and the
authority to manage them during the planning process because your chances of getting some level
of authority are far better now than if you wait until you have a problem with a team member. So in the
charter you’ll ask for resources and authority. For a
trainer named Jill, you might say, “I need approximately 50 hours of Jill’s time during the next 60 days to develop and deliver the performance
review training. Please adjust her workload to make these hours available and tell her that I will be
assigning her work within that 50-hour block of time. Also, my evaluation of her work will be considered in her quarterly performance review.” You may not always get that authority but it’s worthwhile to ask for it.
Another part of the charter is your recommended procedure for controlling changes to the scope of
the project. This process should include documentation of the requested change, analysis of the impact on scope, time, cost and resources, which the Customer accept or rejects.
CChhaarrtteerr PPllaann AApppprroovvaall With the preceding elements of the plan
complete, you are ready for the first of your project presentations. At this first meeting,
you’re looking for the Customer to approve
your charter & strategy for the project. Some Customers want a detailed schedule
and a final commitment on the completion date at this first session. But you are far
better off to get approval of the high-level plan and then develop the details. There are
several reasons for taking this two-step approach:
First, putting a schedule together is a
lot of work. You avoid redoing it by getting the Customer’s approval on the scope and
charter before you put the schedule together. Second, when you present a schedule people
tend to dive into the details and you want some attention paid to the big picture. This session need not be
a long meeting, particularly if you’ve been showing the Customer the pieces as you finish them. But the two-step approval process is the better way to do it.