Strategic Project Management Framework

Strategic Project Management Framework & Strategic Management

• For week 1, resources include reviewing a video, slides, and recommended readings.
• Assessment for this week includes Quiz-1 and a Mid-term Examination.

Session Learning Goals

• Projects should contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives
• Projects and ongoing operations should be distinguishable in various scenarios
• Organizational leadership plays a key role in finding project opportunities and handling related challenges
• Best practices contribute to a project's level of success

Key Topics

• Project management processes are a key topic
• Project management knowledge areas are a key topic
• Strategic vision is a key topic
• Strategic management model is a key topic

Project Characteristics

• Each project is unique, with its own specific requirements
• Projects are temporary and have defined start and end dates
• Projects have specific objectives and deliverables
• Projects often involve interdependent tasks and activities
• Projects involve uncertainty and unpredictability

Project Classification

• Projects are classified by size as small, medium, or large.
• Projects are classified by complexity as simple, moderate, or complex
• Projects are classified by priority as low, medium, or high
• Projects are classified by impact as low, medium, or high
• Projects are classified by their type - examples of project type are construction, IT, and manufacturing

Project Management Constraints

• Time is a constraint
• Cost is a constraint
• Scope is a constraint
• Quality is a constraint
• Risk is a constraint
• Video indicates that the triple constraint of scope, schedule, and budget influence project success.

Strategic Objectives

• Organizations define strategic objectives to stay focused and achieve overall goals.
• Strategic objectives apply to the organization, portfolios, programs, project teams and individuals
• Goals are categorized into organizational goals, portfolio goals, program goals, project goals, team goals and individual goals

Strategic Management

• Strategic management involves ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis, and assessment of resources and processes.

Strategic Project Management Benefits

• Early error correction is more cost-effective: Remer's rule of 10 states that fixing an error costs approximately 10 times more at each later project stage.
• If it costs $10,000 to fix during planning, it will cost $100,000 at the design stage and $1,000,000 during construction.
• Helps align projects with strategic goals
• Ensures organizational growth and sustainability
• Facilitates identifying and responding to external and competitive forces
• Helps deploy resources and capabilities for a competitive advantage

Management of Strategic Projects

• Focuses on managing individual projects aligned with the organization's strategy and goals.
• Emphasizes project management processes, tools, and techniques while ensuring alignment with organizational strategy.
• Typically focuses on a single project or program of related projects.
• Key activities involve developing project charters, plans, resource allocation, risk management, and monitoring/control.

Strategic Management of Projects

• Focuses on managing projects as a strategic portfolio aligned with organizational objectives.
• Emphasizes the strategic aspects of project management which includes selection, prioritization, and resource allocation.
• Encompasses the entire project portfolio.
• Key activities involve strategic planning, portfolio management, project selection,prioritization, resource allocations, and benefits realisation

Project Management Expertise

• Application of knowledge, standards, and regulations
• Understanding the project environment of social, cultural, international, political and physical elements
• Management knowledge and skills
• Interpersonal skills like communication, influence, leadership, motivation, negotiation, and problem-solving

Competitive Advantage

• A firm's strategy defines its path to long-term success, requiring significant resource commitment.
• Customers are a company's friends
• Competitors are the its enemies
• Competitors provide similar products or services to attract the same customers.
• To succeed, firms must improve their offerings and surpass competitors' alternatives.

Value Proposition

• Companies aim for unique products/services to gain a marketplace advantage
• A value proposition convinces customers that a product/service offers more value than competitors.
• The value proposition communicates why a product/service best suits customer needs.
• Value propositions are communicated through websites, social media and advertising.
• Apple's MacBook value proposition is: "Light. Years ahead"

Strategic Project Management

• Strategic management is best suited for the planning stage of projects
• Determine how the company creates a competitive advantage
• Business strategy is key, and all activities should align with it which helps set direction of project
• Ensure people and projects support the overall strategy by ensuring resources and willingness to perform
• Organizations can instill a culture of excellence, provide training, create supportive systems that that reward strategy and implement supervisory systems

Industry Analysis

• Strategic management aims to create a competitive advantage
• Competitive advantage leads to greater overall profitability
• An industry analysis helps companies review the market position relative to competitors
• Important marketplace factors should be understood and used to gain a competitive advantage
• Industry analyses need to be done periodically to keep up with developments
• Inaccurate analysis can lead to bad strategic decisions.

Goals 1: Achieving Strategic Objectives

• Organizations define strategic objectives to stay focused on what is important
• Projects align with strategic objectives to stay focused on important concerns
• Organizations focus on both tangible and intangible benefits.
• Projects create competitive advantage through improved processes, public opinion, or lower costs

Goals 2: Distinguishing Projects and Operations

• Projects have different characteristics from ongoing operations and are unique for creating a new product, good, or service
• Projects may improve a process and have specific beginning and ending dates.
• Ongoing operations are normal/repeatable organizational work which lead to improvements in day to day activities

Goals 3: Leadership Roles

• Project sponsors are key leaders focused on strategic objectives and initiate/fund projects.
• Leadership is important in providing motivation and vision.
• Leaders help overcome objections from stakeholders inside/outside, align projects to business goals.
• Organizational support clears obstacles during project planning and execution.

Goals 4: Best Practices for Success

• Corporations spend billions on projects with most failing to deliver against the objectives on time and within budget
• Projects fail due to inadequate planning/management, insufficient control, missing skills, and ignored elements/people.
• Schedule problems include a lack of resources, human resources unavailable and or vendors failing to deliver materials
• Vendor selection should include verification of references and backup vendors need to be available
• Follow-up and follow-through along with risk management and change control procedures are critical

Free Agent Learning

• Understanding of key concepts like strategic PM, traditional PM, org strategy, and strategic thinking
• A lecture video available

Vocabulary

• Key vocabulary includes: agile project management, best practices, framework, integration, interpersonal skills, knowledge areas, net present value, operations, process groups, project characteristics, project lifecycle, project management framework, project management office, strategy & triple constraint

Explore strategic project management frameworks. Differentiate projects from operations. Understand the role of leadership. Discover how best practices drive project success through key processes, knowledge areas, and a strategic management model.