Project manageme nt IS for Management 1 Project Management What is Project Management like? It is like conducting an orchestra where each musician belongs to a different labor union.
Project management IS for Management 1
Project Management
What is Project Management like?
It is like conducting an orchestra where each musician belongs to a different labor union.
Project management IS for Management2
Why study project management? Look @ achievements in the past few months
– Getting elected, Eaton's reopens, renaming to Asper School, New U of M logo, Olympics down under, Defending Napster….
Your career edge over the competition– demonstrate ability to contribute/deliver projects
Trend over the past 30 years– fill the void of diminished middle management
– transition from a technically oriented project manager to one skilled in all aspects of the business
Confidence to get involved in projects– allows you access/exposure to senior management
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Project Management What is a project?
– A sequence of unique, complex, and connected activities having one goal or purpose and that must be completed for a customer by a specific time, within budget, and according to specification.
– Is pursuing a university degree a project?• Yes, but no need to lead a “team” of people - the
challenge in project management
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Project Management
What is Project management?– A method and a set of techniques based on
accepted principles of management used for planning, estimating, and controlling work activities to reach a desired end result on time, within budget and according to specification.
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Project ManagementDistinct attributes
there is beginning and an end– while it is intended to have an end, it is sometimes difficult to
determine when that really happens because of our increasingly complex world Examples? Inadequate systems, elections
encompass multiple functional areas of an organization (e.g. ERP deployment)
usually not anything the “team” has done before well-defined time constraint well-defined cost constraint well-defined performance constraint/goal
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Project ManagementTrends in project management multiple release strategies project schedule compression management of team line changes increasing complexity
– global competition AND customer focus– knowledge explosion
increasing risk, “temporary” with inadequate support compared to formal areas of organization
increasing business value by integration with strategic plan of organization vs adhoc projects
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Project Management Project manager skills (two areas)
– pure technical knowledge of project specifications
– people/organization management
• leadership, teamwork, politics, managing (ensuring realistic versus excessive) customer expectations
• negotiation, motivation skills, communication skills
• ability to understand financial/strategic implication of decisions, understand relationships between tasks
• innovative, problem solving, risk assessment aptitude
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Project Management
Project manager job functions and tasks– Project planning - planning reduces uncertainty
– Managing the project - schedule and deploy resources
– Lead the project team, motivating, evaluating
– Building client partnerships, work jointly with client to define project goals and results
– Targeting solutions to the business priorities and direction
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Projects, programs, parameters
Program versus Projects– program could be a collection of projects
– e.g., NASA Space Program
Project Parameters– cost– time– scope– resources– Who controls the resources? (next slide)
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Project ManagementFive phases - the project management life cycle Scoping the Project - Identify problems, opportunities,
goals, resources, success criteria, risks, and obstacles Develop a Detailed Plan - identify, estimate duration, and
resource the activities, prepare proposal Launch the Plan - recruit and organize team, schedule and
document work Monitor/Control Progress - establish progress reporting,
change control tools, monitor progress, amend plan Closing - obtain client acceptance, install deliverables,
complete documentation, post-implementation report, issue final project report.
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Project managementStep 1 - Scope the Project
Five components in a project statement– Problem and opportunity - a statement of fact– Project goal - what the project will address– Project objectives - what the project includes– Success criteria - business value; quantitative
business outcome– Assumptions, risks, objectives - what will
hinder the project in achieving its goals
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Project managementJoint Project Planning (JPP) sessions
Essential in generating project statement and developing a suitable detailed plan
Attendees include representation from anyone who may be affected by the project
Agenda includes establishing deliverables success criteria, project activity/tasks, task duration estimates, identification of critical path, resource scheduling, consensus on the project plan.
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Project management lifecycleObtaining senior management approval Project team must be able to answer questions on:
– importance of the problem/opportunity to the organization
– project’s impact on organizationcritical success factors
– acceptability of return on investment– level of risk versus the business value– demonstrating clear relationships between goal statement
to problem/opportunity to objectives to success criteria– ability of senior management to mitigate identified risk
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Project management lifecycle Step 2 - Develop a detailed plan Identify project activities (work breakdown structures)
– break-down tasks by: “design-build-test-implement”, functional, or geographic area
– should have clearly defined start and end Estimate activity duration (focus on early activities)
– consider comparability to similar, historical projects or expert advice
– use Delphi technique where expert is not available (group polls each member for estimates, with gradual consensus over several iterations)
– 3 point techniques identifies optimistic, pessimistic and likely estimates
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Project management lifecycle Step 2 - Develop a detailed plan (continued)
Determine resource requirements– be sure to schedule activities based on available
resources– consider leveling resources (see Slide 15)– at some point, adding more resources provides
no incremental benefit– more to coordinate
– more to communicate
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Dependencies of activity B and Activity A:– Finish to start: complete A before starting B
• e.g., finish creating table structure before final query/form
– Start to start: begin B only after A begins• e.g., begin issuing reports after data entry starts
– Start to finish: end B only after A has started• e.g., shut off old system once new system is working
– Finish to finish: end B only once A has also ended• e.g., testing can be finished only after development work
is completed.
Project management lifecycle Step 2 - Develop a detailed plan (continued)
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Project management lifecycle Step 2 - Develop a detailed plan (continued) Scheduling concepts:
– ES: earliest start date for an activity
– LF: latest finish date for an activity
– Critical path: the longest (time) path in the project
– Slack (aka Float) in an activity:
• free float: can delay start-date w/o impact on project
• total float: can delay end-date w/o impact on project Once detailed plan done, you may find you need more
resources or time; consider reorganizing activities. Prepare detailed project proposal for senior mgmt approval
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Project management lifecycle Step 3 - Implement the plan Recruit and organize the project team
– Project manager: leader of the project
– Core team: will be there from beginning to end
– Contracted team: only there for selected activities/tasks Leveling project resources utilization
– necessary to prevent wild fluctuation in staff levels
– can be done by adjusting any of: activity start/end dates, sequencing activities schedules, using float
Scheduling and documenting work
– describes/reports work done / to do (e.g., Gantt chart)
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Project management lifecycle Step 4 - Monitoring and controlling progress
Control versus risk in project management– seek a balance that minimizes overall costs
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Control Risk Total cost
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Project management lifecycle Step 4 - Monitoring and controlling progress Purpose, contents and frequency of reports
– current period, cumulative and/or exception reports Graphical tools
– Gantt charts, milestone charts, cost/budget Reporting detail
– team members and project manager need detail– senior managers prefer graphical exception reports
Conduct regular status review meetings– weekly for team, bi-weekly for other stakeholders
Change control - formalize it.– measure and report impact of changes on project
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Project management lifecycle Step 5 - Closing the project
Ensure all deliverables are installed• avoid penalties
Obtain client acceptance of deliverables
Ensure documentation is complete– includes project overview, RFP, detailed
plan, meeting minutes, change control, testing, client acceptance, post implementation review, etc.
Conduct post-implementation review Party!Party!
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Project management lifecycle Objectives for the post-implementation review Was project goal achieved? Was the project done on time, on budget, in
accordance with specifications? Was client satisfied with the project results? Was the business value realized? And most importantly:
What were the lessons learned for the benefit of future projects?
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Who really controls the project resources? The project manager controls
– resource utilization– work schedules
The client management controls– cost / funding– resource level availability
The client users controls– scope– quality– delivery date
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Project management creepsChanges are inevitable
Scope creep (initiated by customer)
– increase in scope may be due to competitive demands.
– the project manager must respond by documenting the alternatives and consequences of each that will result from the change of scope.
Hope creep (please... no bad news!)
– project manager say everything is OK and “hopes” that the work catches up to schedule by the next reporting period.
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Project management creepsChanges are inevitable Effort creep - Are we (almost) there yet?
– Project is always 90% complete despite of more work done
Feature creep (initiated by provider, NOT customer)
– to add “sizzle” to steak
– consequence is a feature that is not called for
• therefore no support for customer
• therefore not documented
• therefore probably not tested
• therefore FORGET IT.
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Project management progressProper planning and documentation
Norm al
S-curve w ith proper
planning anddocum entation
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Norm al project progress
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Project management progressToo much time spent on analysis
S-Curve show s
analysis paralysis then rush to finish
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Project stuck in analysis
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Project management progressRushing into the build stage leads to errors
S-curve
indicates rushingpast planning and making
m istakes later0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Project rushes to build stage
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Project managementCauses of project failure.
Customer’s objectives not clarified project no longer a priority; no one seems to be in charge schedule is too optimistic project plan is not used to manage the project sufficient resources have not been committed project statistics are not monitored against plan no formal communications plan is in place the project has lost sight of its original goals there is no change management process in place
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Project managementReading materials from the Web An Enhanced Framework for the Management of Information
Technology Projects - public sector view from our federal government CIO incorporating the Capability Maturity Model from the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University (also used in Department of Defence, US).
http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/emf/Publications/Publication1/emf_technology_projects_e.html
Fast, Cheap and Under control - a successful international/global migration of … email.
http://www.cio.com/archive/080100_fast_content.html
Chapters 1, 2 and 3 from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” from the Project Management Institute. (Requires registration, it is free)
http://www.pmi.org/
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Assigned Reading: An Enhanced Framework for the Management of
Information Technology Projects Enhanced framework is designed to ensure government IT
projects– meet the needs of government– deliver all expected benefits– completed on time, within budget, full functionality
Industry statistics from the US show– 28% of IT projects are cancelled– 53% end up costing 189% of budget, delivering only
42% functionality– 26% completed on time (up from only 9% 10 yrs ago)– these stats predict cost overruns in govt > $1 billion
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Assigned Reading: An Enhanced Framework for the Management of
Information Technology Projects The framework Governance - management oversight to be established Review - monitor status of projects Facilitation - development of best practice knowledge Professional development - skills transfer of framework
to government IT project managers Pathfinder projects - monitor current project practices to
leverage lessons learned to subsequent projects Communications - collaborative linking of knowledge Management of Change - assist the shift in attitudes and
culture required in addressing needs of public service
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Risk and major management principles Full business case analysis performed (4.2.1)
– should demonstrate net benefits of the investment Clear accountabilities are established (4.2.2)
– multiple stakeholders and key officials must understand roles
Development of project management discipline (4.2.3)– avail professional project managers to smaller
departments Risk management approach (4.2.4)
– adopt proven methods; divide projects in chewable chunks
– contracted gating or off-ramps to abandon poor performing projects, without significant penalty
Assigned Reading: An Enhanced Framework for the Management of
Information Technology Projects
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Assigned Reading: Fast, Cheap and Under control
Case study: R.R. Donnelley 34,000 employees 18,000 email users, 200 facilities, 4
continents, multiple platforms Sought and achieved: executive sponsorship and funding,
mandated to execute quick decisions
Frequent, detailed and strict adherence to “script”
Building a temporary “project email infrastructure” Politics of training: value to let them make mistakes Prioritization, logistics, amnesty = Success
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Assigned Reading: Chapters 1, 2 and 3 from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)”
The concepts described are “generally accepted” PMBOK definition of project
– a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service
PMBOK definition of project management– the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations
Project management knowledge areas include– integration, scope, time, cost, and quality, HR,
communications, risk, and procurement
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Assigned Reading: Chapters 1, 2 and 3 from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)”Organization structure impact on projects Functional organization
– traditional hierarchy; one superior– some staff are involved in projects
Project organization– all staff are assigned to projects– project managers enjoy independence and authority
Matrix organization– represents a hybrid of both functional and project
organizations– strong matrix organizations empower project managers
Project management processes see project management lifecycle slides #7
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Assigned Reading: Chapters 1, 2 and 3 from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)”
Project life cycle characteristics
– cost and staffing are low at the start, higher towards the end, and drop rapidly as it draws to a close.
– Probability of successful conclusion best at later stages
– Cost of changes to a project become higher as it progresses
– in software development: prototyping is the trend due to demands for shorter development cycle time