Project Management Fundamentals

Project Management

• A project is a collection of milestones or phases, activities, or tasks supporting an effort to accomplish something.
• Management involves planning, organizing, controlling, and measuring.
• Project management is the planning, scheduling, and controlling of project activities to meet objectives.
• Major objectives in project management include performance, cost, and time goals, while managing the project's scope.
• It's applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet project requirements.
• Project management is a dynamic process using resources in a controlled, structured manner to achieve defined objectives identified as needs.
• It operates within a defined set of constraints.

Project Categories

• Projects can be categorized as national or international.
• National projects can be industrial or non-industrial.
• Industrial projects include non-conventional/R&D, High technology, conventional technology, and low technology.
• Project scale examples, from largest to smallest, include Mega, Major, Medium, and Mini.
• Major projects may be further classified as grass root, expansion, normal, crash or disaster.

Improving Project Management

• Find a project plan that fits project management style needs.
• Project plans can be templates, forms, or spreadsheets for tracking tasks.
• It is helpful to form a project Management committee.
• List all tasks and sub-tasks needed to achieve a goal.
• Note the time period and responsible person for each task/sub-task.
• Sequence activities based on time period.
• Finalize by reaching an agreement and commence work.

Advantages of Project Management

• Project management includes built-in monitoring/sequencing.
• It facilitates easy and early identification of bottlenecks.
• Includes activity-based costing.
• There is identification and addition of missing + new activities.
• Helps anticipation of unnecessary activity/expenditure.
• Facilitates timely completion.
• Aids in task assignment.
• Includes reporting features.

Project Variables

• Scope defines the work to produce deliverables or outcomes.
• Time defines the duration required to complete the project work.
• Cost is the funds required to complete the project.
• Resources are the people, equipment, material, supplies, and facilities needed.
• Change refers to modifications from a baseline, affecting scope, time, cost, or resources.
• Risk refers to uncertainty that can threaten the completion of any aspect or creates opportunities to accelerate the schedule, or come in under budget.
• Stakeholders are people who can affect or be affected by the project, either positively or negatively.
• The environment is the location, culture, or organization in which a project occurs.

Project Management Process

• The process begins with initiating and aligning the project. The vision & mission are finalized.
• Project goals are defined along with the value delivered to the business.
• List of stakeholders is prepared
• Finalized project deliverables
• Explore project scope and budget
• Explore anticipated risks
• Work is then planned, including work breakdown structure (WBS), task planning & scheduling, and budgeting.
• Risk and communication plans are developed.
• A change management plan and quality plan are put in place.
• An acceptance plan is designed.
• Then, Work is executed by identifying team members and supplying resources.
• Project progress is tracked, deliverables are reviewed, and changes are managed.
• Project is closed by analyzing project and team performance.
• Project closure is documented ensure all tasks are completed.
• Post-implementation review conducted.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Engineering and systems engineering project management involves a work-breakdown structure, providing a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into manageable sections.
• A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections.

Managing Triple Constraints

• Manage triple constraints by being proactive and knowing constraints during planning.
• Risk management should be performed.
• It is impractical to say "no" or "can't do" so there is a need to work with the team to find alternative options without destroying expectations.
• Always expect changes in a project
• Communication is key.

Risk Management Steps

• The first step in risk management is to identify all foreseeable risks through documentation reviews, brainstorming, interviewing, root cause analysis, assumption analysis, process flow charts, FMEA, SWOT analysis, and expert judgment.
• The second step in risk management is to evaluate risks by determining risk size, prioritizing risks by consequence and likelihood

Risk Responses

• Risk responses can be managed four ways.
• Avoid: Eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact
• Mitigate: Reduce the probability of occurrence or impact of a risk
• Transfer: Shift the impact of the threat to a 3rd party.
• Accept: Acknowledge the risk & not take any action unless the risk occurs establishing contingency.
• The last step in risk management is to implement responses and monitor, allocate appropriate tasks, ensure actions being progressed and review risks periodically

Project Indicators

• Four major project indicators are performance, scope, cost, and time.
• Performance pertains to the quality of work.
• Scope pertains to the magnitude of the work that must be performed.
• Cost are project work costs, directly related to the human and physical resources applied.
• Time is the schedule that must be met.
• Cost is a function of performance, time, and scope.
• Cost generally increases together with performance and scope.
• The relationship between time and cost is not linear
• Cost increases as the time to do the project decreases below the optimum time.

Human Side of Project Management

• Factors, or components, impacting a project's success are the right people, and the right type of management.
• One of the key ingredients is having the right people on the job and their management.

Steps in Managing a Project

• Define the problem.
• Develop solution options.
• Plan the project.
• Execute the plan.
• Monitor and control progress.
• Close the project.

Project Management Details

• Strategy is the approach used to do the project.
• Tactics are the steps taken to implement the chosen strategy or approach.
• Active project management involves regularly comparing "Planned" activities, accomplishments, costs, etc. with "Actuals."

Project Management System Components

• A full project management system consists of seven important components.
• All of these seven components need to be in place and functioning.
• The seven components are Human Factors, Method, Culture, Organization, Planning, Information, and Control.
• A project manager must lead, negotiate, focus on team building and motivation, communication, and decision making.
• Organization needs to deal with the allocation of authority, responsibility, and accountability.
• Good historical data are needed for planning projects.
• The control subsystem is supported by the planning and information subsystems.

Program vs Project Management

• Program management is strategic, while project management is tactical.
• Program management is cross-functional, while project management focuses on a single function.
• Program management integrates individual project elements to achieve a common objective.
• Program management includes a broad range of management and business skills.
• Project management requires technical skills.
• Project managers plan projects, while program managers plan strategies.
• Project managers track project progress; program managers give advice to stakeholders.
• Project managers allocates resources, and program managers review and advise on projects.
• Project managers manage risks, and program managers performs audits and QA.
• Project managers communicate, and program managers mentor project teams.