Project Management Fundamentals

Project Sponsor and Project Planning

• Project sponsor: The "why" of the project, focusing on the objective and reason behind the project.
• Project planning involves repetitive tasks, project risk management, stakeholder management, and team management.

Projects vs Day-to-Day Processes

• Projects lead to change, while day-to-day processes maintain the status quo.
• Projects have a definite beginning and end, with a clear objective.
• Day-to-day processes are ongoing, with no clear endpoint.

Level of Uniqueness

• First-timers: Unique projects, like Chandrayaan (India's first lunar mission).
• "As … but…": Projects with some similarities, but with variations.
• Paint by numbers: Projects with well-defined processes and no surprises.

Success Measures

• Operational success: Evaluating project success using the iron triangle (time, budget, scope) and quality.
• Strategic success: Evaluating project success based on whether it serves the project's "why" (long-term impact).

Project, Programme, and Portfolio

• Programme: A set of projects, like a polio eradication mission.
• Portfolio: A set of projects related to an entity, like a company's overall project portfolio.

Stakeholder Management

• Stakeholders have different interests, and it's essential to understand their WIIFM (What's in it for me?).
• Stakeholder matrix: Categorizing stakeholders based on their level of interest and power.

Project Communication

• Collaborative vs adversarial relations: Building positive relationships with stakeholders.

Types of Projects

• Internally focused projects: Strategic projects that benefit the organization.
• External client projects: Revenue-earning projects for clients.

Scope Statement and Project Lifecycle

• Scope statement: Outlining project objectives, timelines, budgets, deliverables, and exclusions.
• Project lifecycle: Business proposal, project selection, defining, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.
• Project lifecycle stages:
  • Defining: Scope statement, project priority matrix, and work breakdown structure (WBS).
  • Planning: Project network, project risk management, and communication matrix (RACI/RASCI).

Project Risk Management

• Risk identification: Identifying known and unknown risks through risk profiling and risk breakdown structure.
• Risk assessment: Evaluating risk probability, impact, and detection difficulty using a risk matrix.
• Risk response development: Developing strategies to avoid, mitigate, transfer, share, or accept risks.
• Risk monitoring: Continuously monitoring and reviewing risks.

Project Execution and Closure

• Project execution: Monitoring and controlling project progress.
• Project closure: Formalizing the project's end, documenting lessons learned, and evaluating project success.
• Post-project appraisal: Evaluating the project's long-term impact and strategic success.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

• Dr. E. Sreedharan, Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), was worried about completing Phase II of the Delhi Metro Project in time for the XIXth Commonwealth Games 2010.
• Only 1 year, 2 months, and 11 days were left to complete the remaining 76.65 kilometers of the 128.06 kilometers long metro tracks.

Construction Accidents

• A portion of the bridge under construction on the Central Secretariat–Badarpur line collapsed at Zamrudpur, South Delhi, on July 12, 2009, killing six people and injuring 15.
• The next day, a launcher along with cranes lifting it came crashing down during a clearance operation, although no serious injuries resulted.
• A similar accident had occurred eight months earlier, when a girder launcher collapsed at Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi, killing two people and injuring several others.

DMRC Background

• DMRC was incorporated in May 1995 to build a mass transit system for Delhi.
• The multi-billion dollar project started in 1998 and was the largest public infrastructure project undertaken by the Government of India (GoI) at that time.
• DMRC had a reputation for delivering projects on time and within cost, earning accolades from institutions like the Project Management Institute and the Indian Institute of Bridge Engineers.