Project Management Fundamentals

• Project management presents many civil engineers with the opportunity to see their work realized.
• Project management is not only used in infrastructure projects
• These skills are required even when there is no infrastructure to build

What is a Project?

• A short-term effort that produces a distinctive good, service, or outcome with a clear start and finish.

What is Project Management?

• It is a methodical approach to starting, planning, carrying out, managing, and finishing a team's work in order to accomplish particular goals and satisfy predetermined success criteria.
• To effectively manage a project, knowledge, skills, tools, and procedures must be used to fulfill project specifications.
• Resources are managed and organized so that the project is finished within the parameters of scope, quality, time, and cost.
• Controlling scope, time, and cost are some of the first lessons in project management.
• Project management requires leadership.

Importance of Project Management

• Project management is crucial in civil engineering because failure is not an option.
• Failure to manage construction projects can have the following effects:
• Loss of capital
• Cost overruns
• Lost opportunities
• Loss of confidence

Why Projects Fail

• Common project pitfalls:
• Unclear project objectives
• Vague or missing assumptions
• Key commitments not written down
• Important audiences missed
• Lack of commitment from the team
• Failure to hold people accountable
• Rushing into project schedules
• Not creating or maintaining a team identity
• Insufficient monitoring
• Absence of official risk assessment and management
• Ineffective communication
• No systematic method for assessing and implementing modifications that have been requested
• Inability to enhance performance on subsequent projects by making use of the knowledge gained from the most recent one

Keys to Project Success

• Success factors include:
• Clear project objectives and assumptions
• Complete commitment to project objectives
• Consideration of the concerns of various stakeholders
• An empowered project manager
• Commitment to project schedules
• Full monitoring and good communication procedures are in place
• Identification of potential threats
• Put a thorough feedback system in place
• A systematic approach is used to handle risk and make appropriate adjustments
• Money is available

Developing Meaningful Project Objectives

• Focus should be on results, not activities
• Language must be clear and devoid of technical jargon or acronyms.
• Each goal needs to have at least one measure
• Every measure has to have at least one performance target
• Every objective must have a deadline.
• It must be possible to accomplish each goal
• To ensure that you have taken their expectations into account, speak with all project stakeholders.

Creating Realistic Schedules

• Identify all the required activities
• Break down activities with enough detail
• Always consider both duration and interdependencies
• Consider resource availability
• Recognize and record all assumptions
• Reexamine your original schedule after your project is approved, but before you start work on it
• Keep in mind that a duration estimate is your best guess as to how long, as opposed to how long people want the activity to take.
• Consider the impact of other projects and work activities that are going on at the same time as your project
• Develop contingency plans for high-rick activities

Improving Your Personnel Estimates

• Differentiate between person effort and duration
• Clearly describe the work to be done on all activities
• Specify personnel requirements by needed skills and knowledge
• When you estimate the work effort needed, speak with the individuals who will be doing the work
• Consider your past experiences
• Consider output, accessibility, and effectiveness
• To support future estimates, record the work effort invested in activities
• Revise your estimates, if necessary, after people have actually been assigned to your team

Eliciting and Sustaining Commitment

• Make it clear how the organization and individual team members will gain from the project.
• Get team members involved in the planning
• Demonstrate that the strategy is workable
• Address questions, concerns, and issues quickly and honestly
• Provide frequent and meaningful feedback on project progress and people’s performance
• Acknowledge people's contributions
• Encourage team members to get to know each other
• Focus on people’s strengths rather than their limitations

Communicating Effectively

• Limit project meetings to one hour or less
• Always prepare and distribute minutes of meetings
• Highlight essential information on the first page of a report
• Do not assume
• Reinforce important messages by using different media
• Always verify, with people, that they have received your communication and understand the message
• Use meetings to brainstorm, explain important information, and reinforce relationships

Role of the Project Manager

• It’s very obvious that in any project, someone is always in charge
• It is personal leadership in project management
• In order to be effective, a project manager must possess the following skills:
• Program area knowledge, standards, and regulations
• Understand the project environment
• General management skills (budgeting, scheduling)
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• For projects to be successful remember to:
• Plan
• Lead
• Communicate
• Manage

Keys to Successful Project

• Plan

• Identify all stakeholders up front

• Develop the project plan before starting the project

• Establish communications protocols

• Define your requirements in detail

• Establish a speedy conflict resolution process

• Make contingency plans

• Plan a reasonable roll-out schedule

• Lead

• Ensure strong committed management support

• Connect the client’s goals to the project (design)

• Assign experienced personnel

• Establish clearly defined directions

• Be proactive

• Give the designer and client/consultant a seat at the table

• Set clear performance expectations

• Ask for technical assistance

• Do not commit a turn over date until all testing are completed

• Communicate

• Communicate objectives frequently

• Recognize different perspectives

• Check assumptions frequently

• Manage expectations

• Share success and broadcast achievements

• Invite feedback

• Manage

• Ensure the system design reflects sound planning

• Hold the reins on irrational exuberance!

• Ensure the project design reflects the things you or your client need

• Train all staff in a timely fashion

• Initiate a stringent quality control!

• Make the most of your MEAGER resources

Managing Subcontractors

• A typical construction project consists of several disciplines that may not be necessarily within the bounds of Civil Engineering
• Given the full knowledge of various project scopes the following professions will be encountered:
• Architects
• Civil Engineers
• Electrical Engineers
• Mechanical Engineers
• Sanitary Engineers / Master Plumber
• Electronics Engineers
• For higher level projects it would be inevitable that project managers will deal with consultants, who represent the interest of the project owners and often represents them in many meetings.
• Enforce the terms of the contract and meet the requirements of the project
• Tips for managing subcontractors:
• Don't marry the contractor
• Trust but question
• Their bottom line is the bottom line
• Your bottom line is a working system
• Nothing is ever free
• The end product is only as good as your requirements
• Provide Performance Feedback
• Build performance reviews into the contract
• Be clear and specific
• Be timely
• The PM is ultimately accountable for the project
• Successful project management is delivering a quality product that meets the customer's requirements within time, scope, and budget.

Project Management Triple Constraints

• Cost
• Time
• Scope
• Manage these or they will manage you!

Managing the Project

• Giving away the farm includes: Giving the sub contractor too much control, responsibility, or authority

Areas of Caution

• Being a Sugar Daddy
• Don't manage scope creep

Scope Creep

• Gradual, progressive increase in the project’s scope that is not noticed immediately
• Occurs when additional requirements result in scope change and can cause cost and schedule overruns

When Considering New Requirements

• What to ask:
• Is it a must?
• Can the owner/client do the job without it?
• Does it contribute to the viability of the project?
• Does it add value to the project?
• Is it worth the additional cost?
• Budget/Cost Management
• Monitor project spending
• When a variance occurs, determine the cause
• Change the execution of the project, reduce scope, or submit an APDU
• Prevent unapproved changes to the project

Project Management Reporting

• Establish reporting requirements upfront
• Include the good, the bad, and the ugly
• Be brief but accurate
• Management really does want to know
• Focus on the Entire Project
• Report?
• What report?
• What is a report?
• Not obtaining prior approval