Project Mang. Report

Project The term “Project” has a wider meaning. A project is accomplished by performing a set of activities. For example, construction of a house is a project. The construction of a house consists of many activities like digging of foundation pits, construction of foundations, construction of walls, construction of roof, fixing of doors and windows, fixing of sanitary fittings, wiring etc. The construction of a house is accomplished by performing the set of activities. Another aspect of “project” is the non-routine nature of activities. Each project is unique in the sense that the activities of a project are unique and non-routine.

A project consumes resources.

The resources required for completing a project are men, material, money and time. The nature of resources is that they are limited and scarce. If a person wants to construct a house, the first thing that comes to his mind is the financial budget within which the work should be completed. Thus, resource constraint is a feature of all projects. If one wants to construct a house at an estimated cost of Rs. 10 lakhs and within a period of 6 months, the project should be completed subject to these constraints. Thus, we can define a project as an organized programme of pre determined group of activities that are non-routine in nature and that must be completed using the available resources within the given time limit.

According to Harison, a project can be defined as a non-routine, non- repetitive, one-off undertaking, normally with discrete time, financial and technical performance goals. Project Management institute, USA defines project as ‘a system involving the co-ordination of a number of separate department entities through out the organization and which must be completed within prescribed schedules and time constraints.

According to the Encyclopedia of Management, project is ‘an organized unit dedicated to the attainment of goal—the successful completion of a development project on time, within budget, in conformance with pre-determined programme specifications’. According to Little & Mirrless, a project is any scheme or part of a scheme for investing resources which can be reasonably analyzed and evaluated as an independent unit.Though Project Management is in the process of getting evolved as a separate branch of study, projects are not new to the earth. One of the seven wonders of the world, the Pyramids date back to 2650 BC, which stand as the hall mark of Egyptian civilization. The period of construction of the Taj Mahal, another wonder of the world is reported to be during 1626-1648 A.D. It is reported that about 20,000 persons worked for nearly 22 years to complete this spectacular structure, which stands today as mankind’s proudest creation. One can imagine the extent of resources and expertise that would have been put forth for the completion of such magnificent projects.Project management is an organized venture for managing projects. It involves scientific application of modern tools and techniques in planning, financing, implementing, monitoring, controlling and coordinating unique activities or tasks to produce desirable outputs in accordance with the pre-determined objectives within the constraints of time and cost.Project management consists of the following stages._ Project planning_ Project scheduling_ Project implementation, controlling and monitoring

Every person, every organization and every nation is concerned with project management. An individual builds a house. It is his project. He performs marriages for his children. These are also projects that he undertakes in his life time.

An organization sets up a new factory. It is a project for the organization. The Government of a country builds highways, dams, thermal power plants, hydro power plants, airports etc. These are all projects that the country undertakes.Project management as a technique is assuming greater importance since it aims at optimum utilization of resources. Every person is practicing project management in his day to day life. When a person uses the shortest route to reach his office, it involves all the stages of project management, viz., planning, scheduling, implementing, controlling and monitoring. He plans for the shortest route; he schedules his starting time; he controls the speed of his vehicle to reach his destination in time. By choosing the shortest route, he tries to optimize the usage of fuel for his car and he also tries to reach the office at the shortest possible time. When a Government plans to build an express highway connecting two important cities covering a distance of several kilometers, it is a project of a greater magnitude than the project of house construction. As a project becomes larger in magnitude, its complexities with regard to planning, scheduling, implementing, controlling and monitoringIncreases. For effective management of larger and complex projects, systematically devised Techniques are followed.

Project management characteristics:Objectives

A project has a set of objectives or a mission. Once the objectives are achieved, the project is treated as completed. For example the objective of a project may be construction of a highway connecting two cities ‘A’ & ‘B’, covering a distance of 20 kilometers. Once the construction of the highway is completed the project comes to an end. Life cycleA project has a life cycle. The life cycle consists of the following stages:

Conception stage : Where project ideas are conceived.

Design stage : Where detailed design of different project areas are worked out. Implementation stage : Where the project is implemented as per the DesignCommissioning stage : Where the project is commissioned after implementation.

Commissioning of a project indicates the end of its life cycle.

Definite Time Limit

A project has a definite time limit. It can not continue forever. Construction of a highway connecting two cities is a project which is to be completed within a given time limit. Maintenance of the highwayis an ongoing process and it will continue forever. Hence highway maintenance will not come under the purview of project.

Uniqueness

Every project is unique and no two projects are similar. Setting up a Cement plant and construction of a highway are no doubt two different projects having unique characteristics. Constructing a highway between cities A&B and constructing another highway between cities C&D are also unique in themselves, in view of the differences existing in the organization, infrastructure, location, technical specifications and the people behind the projects.

Team workA project normal consists of diverse areas. There will be personnel specialized in their respective areas. Any project calls for the services of experts from a host of disciplines. Co-ordination among the diverse areas calls for teamwork. Hence a project can be implemented only with teamwork.

Complexity

A project is a complex set of activities relating to diversed areas. Technology survey, choosing the appropriate technology, procuring the appropriate machinery and equipment, hiring the right kind of people, arranging for financial resources, execution of the project in time by proper scheduling of the different activities etc. contribute to the complexity of the project.

Sub-contracting

This characteristic stems forth in view of the complexity of functions and activities of a project. Some of the activities are entrusted to sub-contractors to reduce the complexity of the project. Subcontractingwill be advantageous if it reduces the complexity of the project so that the project manager can coordinate the remaining activities of the project more effectively. In general, the greater the complexity of the project, the larger will be the extent to which sub-contracting will beresorted to. Sub-contracting is also helpful if the sub-contractors are specialized in their field of activity since this will improve the quality of the project.

Risk and Uncertainty

Risk and uncertainty go hand in hand with project. A risk free project cannot be thought of. Even if a project appears to be risk free, it only means that the risk element is not apparently visible on the surface and it will be hidden underneath. The risk factor will come to surface when conditions become conducive to it. Some of the risk elements can be foreseen and the project can be strengthened to encounter the risk as and when it emerges. Some other risk elements can not be foreseen. For example, assume that putting up a cotton yarn-spinning mill is the project on hand. If during the project feasibility study it is learnt that there has been a gradual shift

among consumers from the usage of cotton yarn to the usage of synthetic yarn, and if it is apprehended that at one stage synthetic yarn will rule over, the machinery can be so chosen that they can be used for both types of yarns. If this is not entirely possible, the choice of machinery can be so done as to avoid major conversion cost while switching over from the manufacture of cotton yarn to the manufacture of synthetic yarn in case the need arises. Such eventualities can be foreseen and planned for. On the other hand the sudden entry of a strong competitor who can upset all our forecasts and projections can not be anticipated. Sudden fall of Government in a country, which is not anticipated may turn the calculations wrong and make the forecasts/projections meaningless.

Customer Specific Nature

A project is always customer specific. This is because the products produced or services offered by the project are necessarily to be customer oriented. It is the customer who decides upon the productto be produced or services to be offered and hence it is the responsibility of any organization to go for projects/services that are suited to customer needs.

Change

A project is not rigid in its life span. Changes occur throughout the life span of a project as a natural outcome of many environmental factors. The changes may vary from minor changes which may have very little impact on the project to major changes which may have a big impact or even may change the very nature of the project.During the course of implementation, the technology would have improved further and equipments with the latest technology would have already started arriving. In such a case, if the equipment originally planned had not yet been procured, it would be wise to switch over to the equipment with the latest technology. There could also be latest technological innovations in the manufacturing process which may

deserve a switch over. All such changes are necessitated in order to keep the project update.

Response to Environments

Projects take shape in response to environments. Indian Government soon after independence set up major projects in the public sector, in the sectors of iron and steel, coal, power generation, heavy equipments manufacture etc. This was in tune with the then need for the development of infrastructure and heavy industries.

Forecasting

Forecasting the demand for any product/service that the project is going to produce is an important aspect. Only if the forecast gives positive indications, the project is taken up for further study. Thus, all projects involve forecasts and in view of the importance attached to forecasts, they must be accurate and based on sound fundamentals.

Rational Choice

Since a project is a scheme for investing resources, the choice of a project is done after making a study of all the available avenues for investing resources and a rational choice among the availableavenues is made.

Optimality

A project is always aimed at optimum utilization of resources for the overall development of the organization/economy. Resources are scarce and resources have a cost. Hence, optimum utilization of resources is a must for any project. Many project management concepts have evolved with the aim of achieving optimum utilization of available resources.

Control Mechanism

All projects will have pre-designed control mechanisms in order to ensure completion of projects within the time schedule, within the estimated cost and at the same time achieving the desired level ofquality and reliability.

project dimensions – scope, quality, time, cost, risk

There are five fundamental concepts of project management that are useful to understand. Imagine you have decided to paint the old picture theatre in the main street. You decide that you will only paint the facade; you will use two colours and three coats of paint. It will cost $560 for paint, brushes and rollers and $40 for lunches for the volunteers. There is no labour cost as it is a community working bee with 6 volunteers and will be completed over one weekend. A local painter can lend you his spray machine, but it is slightly faulty and could make a bigger mess than you can handle, so you decide not to borrow the machine. This simple plan demonstrates the dimensions of your project:

1. Scope – this defines what the project encompasses, ie to paint the facade of the building;

2. Quality – you have decided on two colours and three coats of paint as you want a good quality finish that will last at least 15 years;

3. Time – it will take two days to organise volunteers, their meals and purchase materials and two days to complete the painting. It will be finished at the end of a set weekend;

4. Cost – your budget is $600; and

5. Risk – you are choosing the low risk option of painting by hand as you know you can complete the task in two days. Even though the

machine may be faster it may also take longer if it breaks down or causes mess or damage to the main street.

These five dimensions of a project are inter-dependent variables. Change any one of them and you may impact on the others. For example, change the scope and add the interior entry to be painted as well as the facade and you will increase the time and cost.

Alternatively, you could reduce the quality and only use two coats of paint or you may decide to use the spray machine – you could complete the project in time, but you’ve changed the budget or the risk. There are many ways you can juggle the dimensions of your project.

Project Life Cycle

The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the project’s goals or objectives. Regardless of scope or complexity, any project goes through a series of stages during its life. There is first an Initiation or Birth phase, in which the outputs and critical success factors are defined, followed by a Planning phase, characterized by breaking down the project into smaller parts/tasks, an Execution phase, in which the project plan is executed, and lastly a Closure or Exit phase, that marks the completion of the project.

Project activities must be grouped into phases because by doing so, the project manager and the core team can efficiently plan and organize resources for each activity, and also objectively measure achievement of goals and justify their decisions to move ahead, correct, or terminate. It is of great importance to organize project phases into industry-specific project cycles. Why? Not only because each industry sector involves specific requirements, tasks, and procedures when it comes to projects, but also because different have industry sectors had different needs for life cycle management methodology. And paying close attention to such

details is the difference between doing things well and excelling as project managers.

Diverse project management tools and methodologies prevail in the different project cycle phases. Let’s take a closer look at what’s important in each one of these stages:

The Project Initiation Phase The project imitation phase is the first Project Phase and is usually represented by the conceptualization of the project. The purpose of this phase is to specify what the project should accomplish. The basic processes of the Project Initiation Phase are: Creation of a Product /Project Description Document. This is an informal, high-level statement describing the characteristics of the product / project / process to be created.

A Project Feasibility Document

This identifies project constraints, alternatives and related assumptions applied to the end product to be developed. Project feasibility is characterized by four basic components:

• Business Problem Description. • Approach Overview to be used to develop. • Potential Solutions of the problem. • Preliminary Recommendations.

B Development of Project Concept Document It determines what is to be done? How will it be done? & why is it to be done? Thus determining the business value achieved after project completion.

The Project Planning Phase The Project Planning Phase follows the Project Initiation Phase and is the most important phase in project management. The effort spent in

planning can save countless hours of confusion and rework in the subsequent phases.

A purpose of the Project Planning Phase

• Establish Business Requirements. • Establish Cost, Schedule, List of Deliverables and Delivery Dates. • Establish Resource Plan. • Get Management Approval and proceed to next phases.

B The basic processes of the Project Planning Phase are:

Scope Planning: This specifies the in-scope requirements for the project. Preparing the Work Breakdown Structure: This specifies the breakdown of the project into tasks and sub-tasks. Organizational Breakdown Structure: This specifies who all in the organization need to be involved and referred for Project Completion. Resource Planning: This specifies who will do what work at which time of the project. Project Schedule Development: This specifies the entire schedule of the activities detailing their sequence of execution. Budget Planning: This specifies the budgeted cost to be incurred in the completion of the Project.

Project Initiation Phase defines a few facilitating processes as well that are required for successful Project Completion. These can be:

• Procurement Planning: Planning for procurement of all resources (staff and non-staff).

• Communication Planning: Planning on the communication strategy with all project stakeholders.

• Quality Planning: Planning for Quality Assurance to be applied to the Project.

• Risk Management Planning: Charting the risks, contingency plan and mitigation strategies.

• Configuration Management Planning: Defines how the various project artifacts will get stored.

Both the basic processes and facilitating processes produces a Project Plan.

Execution and Controlling

The most important issue in this phase is to ensure project activities are properly executed and controlled. During the execution phase, the planned solution is implemented to solve the problem specified in the project's requirements. In product and system development, a design resulting in a specific set of product requirements is created. This convergence is measured by prototypes, testing, and reviews. As the execution phase progresses, groups across the organization become more deeply involved in planning for the final testing, production, and support. The most common tools or methodologies used in the execution phase are an update of Risk Analysis and Score Cards, in addition to Business Plan and Milestones Reviews.

Closure

In this last stage, the project manager must ensure that the project is brought to its proper completion. The closure phase is characterized by a written formal project review report containing the following components: a formal acceptance of the final product by the client, Weighted Critical Measurements (matching the initial requirements specified by the client with the final delivered product), rewarding the team, a list of lessons learned, releasing project resources, and a formal project closure notification to higher management. No special tool or methodology is needed during the closure phase.

Project Planning and Scheduling

Scheduling is a process which tries to organize activities in logical sequence. While it is not possible to know with certainty how long a project will take, there are techniques that can increase your likelihood of being close. If you are close in your planning and estimating, you can

manage the project to achieve the schedule by accelerating some efforts or modifying approaches to meet required deadlines.

One key ingredient in the scheduling process is experience in the project area; another is experience with scheduling in general. In every government organization area there will be a body of knowledge that associates the accomplishment of known work efforts with time duration. In some industries, there are books recording industry standards for use by cost and schedule estimators. Interviewing those who have had experience with similar projects is the best way to determine how long things will really take.

When preparing a schedule estimate, consider that transition between activities often takes time. Organizations or resources outside your direct control may not share your sense of schedule urgency, and their work may take longer to complete. Beware of all external dependency relationships. Uncertain resources of talent, equipment, or data will likely result in extending the project schedule. Following activities shows the lifecycle of the project development

Activities involved in the DPR

1. Project idea / kickoff meeting 2. Pre feasibility study of the project 3. Administrative approval of the project 4. Preparation of the DPR 5. Technical Sectioning the DPR 6. Implementation of the project 7. Overview of the project progress 8. Sending the Completion report of the project

Dimension of project:

Some other dimension of project are – 1- Ethical dimension2- Cultural dimension

Ethical dimension - “Ethical risk analysis does not remove the ambiguity, it simply describes the uncertainties in a way that provides the decision maker with a useful insight into their nature”

The objectives of the project, The stakeholders, � The project team� The effect of the project on people, organizations, environment, �politics, power, warfare, equality, freedom and prosperity.

Scope

Scope refers to all the work involved in creating the products of the project and the processes used to create them.scope management includes the processes involved in defining and controlling what is or is not included in the project.The project team and stakeholders must have the same understanding of what products will be produces as a result of a project and what processes will be used in producing them

Cost Cost of constructionGeneral condition of constructionLaborMaterialContractor’s overheadContractor’s profitContractor’s Insurance and bondsContingenciesProject’s unknowns or risks contingencyCost estimating contingencyDesign contingencyBid contingencyConstruction contingencyCost Escalation to mid point of constructionCost of landCost of furniture, equipment, move, IT, telecommunication, etcCost of project managementIn a free market economy, you can not dictate costs Owner will ultimately pay at least the true cost of the project at market pricesHowever, it is possible to manage risks and anticipate market trends and fluctuations to reduce the magnitude of cost overrun impact.

Cultural dimension

With the advent of the global economy comes an increasedinteraction between people of different countries and an increase in

the need to deal with cultural differences. Every organization has a culture unique to itself, and this is true of

divisions within large corporations. The important thing to understand about culture is that in most cases there in nothing absolutely right or wrong about cultures – they just are. It is only in a relative sense that you can say something is wrong in another culture. Differences in national culture influence not only the surface behavior but there are also essential conditions for understanding the values adopted by business people. Each person comes to the negotiation table with skills and habits that are often not aware and that there are only subconsciously. For example there are two extreme types of behavior between Latin and Anglo

Saxon, the first are followers of speech, and others are likely to listen, Latinos tend to generalize, while Anglo Saxons are very analytical, Latinos have a great spontaneity while Anglo Saxons show a remarkable self-control. But this does not mean we can not find an analytical Latin or Anglo Saxon with spontaneity. But cultures, values, beliefs and social usages cause a special style of

Communication for an individual or group of individuals

There are four steps framework for effective cross-cultural project management:

• Learn the definition and different types of culture – the cultural differences exist across countries but are also influenced by a diversity of age, gender, regions, religions and many other types of social groups.

• Understanding the cultural differences – use the cultural dimensions to know what differences to expect between people from different cultures. Employ a team building exercise to identify how your team and colleagues view these differences.

• Respect the cultural differences – keep the differences in mind when confronted with opposite views of the world. You must accept them and show respect for the different standpoints.

• Enjoy the richness of a multi-cultural team. Remember that you can build on the differences to identify and mitigate risks, to find alternative approaches and achieve the project objectives in better ways, and to increase the level of innovation and quality of your project deliverables.

Quality

Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied

needs.In projects, it is difficult to measure Quality of results during the

project, but far easier once it is too late. Then, one of the most common measurements is Defect Counts. This is a classic case of measuring something not with clear, positive measures, but by unit counts of discovered occurrences of its flaws. While better than nothing at all, positive measures or indicators are needed.

However, even projects that can be proven to deliver zero defects can be perceived, by customers, team members and your management team, to lack quality. Thus, any method that purports to measure Project Quality must consider at least two aspects:

1. Technical Quality, as measured by Defect Counts and positive counts or indicators.

2. Perception of Quality, a subjective factor that can be measured by such indicators as Customer Involvement and Stakeholder Satisfaction.

Type of project :-

Construction Projects

The project produces an artefact. The value generated by the project is embedded in the artefact. The artefact may be a complex system with human and mechanical components.

Examples:

Warship Jubilee line extension Millennium dome Customer call centre Method guidebook IT system

Research Projects

The project produces knowledge. The knowledge may be formally represented as models, patterns or patents. Or the knowledge may be embedded in a working process or artefact.

Examples:

Business modelling Developing a model of the UK economy Developing a new species of wheat Developing novel approaches to project management. Military intelligence/ codebreaking. The analysis, testing, QA or evaluation portions of a larger project.

Reengineering Projects

The project produces a desired change in some system or process.

Examples:

Taking sterling into the Euro Renumbering the UK telephone system

Implementing PRINCE project management practices into a large organization.

Designing and installing an Intranet.

Procurement Projects

The project produces a business relationship contractually based with a selected supplier for a defined product or service based on a fixed specification and/or a defined specification process

Examples:

Outsourcing a specific construction or research project Outsourcing a complete business function (such as IT). Imposing new rules and measures on a regulated industry.

Business Implementation Projects

The project produces an operationally effective process. The value generated by the project is embedded in the process.

Examples:

Developing a new business process to repackage and exploit existing assets.

Installing e-commerce

Some projects are difficult to classify under this scheme.

National symbolic programmes :

Putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Mitterrand’s Grandes Projects. New Labor

Large medical programmers:

Creating an artificial heart.

Mass inoculation programmers.

Other hybrid or interdisciplinary projects

Pilot projects Moving offices

In most cases, this difficulty arises from an ambiguity about the primary purpose of the project. Are we doing this pilot for its own sake, or merely as an experiment? Are we doing this drug trial to benefit current patients, or to create knowledge that will benefit future patients? What’s the real political agenda? Of course, we must be able to handle hybrid projects - but we may need to surface the underlying ambiguity.

Subsystem of project management system

Functional subsystem

1- Personnel 2- Marketing 3- Production 4- Finance 5- Research and development

Production susbsystem

Scheduling Manufacturing Inventory Environmental subsystem

The global system The project system