SAIT Environmental Project Management ENVS 238 PDF

Course Module Environmental Project Management - ENVS 238 Introduction ENVS 238 Module 1 MacPhail School of Energy Revised: July 2007 redefine yourself www.sait.ca Introduction Rationale Why is i...

Course Module Environmental Project Management - ENVS 238 Introduction ENVS 238 Module 1 MacPhail School of Energy Revised: July 2007 redefine yourself www.sait.ca Introduction Rationale Why is it important for you to learn this material? Project management is an important part of Environmental Technology. Whereas many programs at SAIT prepare students to join organizations in ongoing operations, the environment field involves a large amount of project work. Projects differ from operational work and as a result managers and staff have different tools to deal with the nature of projects. This module introduces the key differences between operational and project work and introduces the key concepts in managing environmental projects. Learning Outcome When you complete this module you will be able to …. Define a project, describe the responsibilities of the project manager, describe the tools project managers can use to effectively manage projects, describe the structure of environmental projects, describe the main responsibilities of the project manager and describe the skills and knowledge project managers use to effectively manage environmental projects. Learning Objectives Here is what you will be able to do when you complete each objective. 1. Define a project and explain the difference between a project and operational work using an example. 2. Define the term “Project Management” and list and describe the six (6) main functions involved in project management. 3. List and describe main responsibilities of the project manager and the tools that can be used to manage projects. 4. Describe the structure of a typical environmental project in Alberta. 5. List and describe the main responsibilities of the project manager using an example. 6. Describe the skills and knowledge a project manager should possess. To show you have mastered the material, here is what you will be asked to do. Do the Self-Test questions at the end of the Module. Check your answers with the Self-Test Answer Guide to test your understanding of the Module Material. Do the Assignment question(s) on the back of the module for submission and marking. 1 Introduction Project management is an important part of Environmental Technology. Whereas many programs at SAIT prepare students to join organizations in ongoing operations, the environment field involves a large amount of project work. Projects differ from operational work and as a result managers and staff use different tools to deal with the differing nature of projects. This course introduces project management as a discipline for managing environmental projects. The course is broken into ten (10) modules as follows: Module 1: Introduction to Environmental Project Management Module 2: Project Definition Module 3: Project Execution Planning Module 4: Financial Concepts in Project Management Module 5: Coordinating the Project Module 6: Leading the Project Module 7: Monitoring and Controlling the Project Module 8: Considerations in Environmental Project Management Module 9: Microsoft Project I Module 10: Microsoft Project II and Project Review This course introduces the project management discipline and also uses a variety of examples from the environmental technology field to explain the key concepts. At the completion of the course, the student will have a thorough understating of the key project management tools and will also understand how to apply these concepts to the environmental technology field. 2 OBJECTIVE ONE When you complete this objective you will be able to… Define a project and explain the difference between a project and operational work using an example. Learning Material Environmental projects are sometimes conducted in a very short time frame where there has been an accident or a spill and where work must begin almost immediately. In such cases, the different project management activities may need to be conducted “on the fly” while work is ongoing. Although these circumstances are not ideal, this is reality for environmental projects. In such cases, the project manager is likely to draw heavily on his or her previous project experiences to manage the project. In other cases, projects are conducted in a much more orderly fashion. Regardless of the time frame for the environmental project, the project management principles discussed in this course will aid project mangers in running effective environmental projects. A project can be defined as “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result” (PMI 2004). There are two (2) important parts to this definition. The first important characteristic of projects is that they are by definition temporary. That is, projects have a defined beginning and end date. Projects may be completed over a short period of a few days or weeks, or in some cases projects may extend over a period of several months or even years. Although some projects may continue over an extended period of time, all projects are characterized by having a definite beginning and end. The second important characteristic of a project is that projects result in the delivery of a unique product, service or result. Although projects may be repeated for similar services, products or results, each is unique in its completion. For example, an environmental project may be the cleanup of a contaminated site. Each site is unique its characteristics as well as the characteristics of the chemical contaminants and the properties of the materials underlying the site. As a result, the actions and activities undertaken to clean up the site will vary from other sites due to these unique properties and characteristics. As such, site clean ups are common projects in the environmental discipline. Similarly, Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) reports are completed over a pre-defined time period and each project has its own pre-defined start and end date. An environmental project can be contrasted with ongoing operational environmental work such as air quality monitoring. While a project has a defined 3 start and end date and provides unique deliverables, ongoing environmental work is ongoing and provides routine deliverables. For example, air quality monitoring in the City of Calgary continues indefinitely and reports the ambient concentrations of various air pollutants over an extended period of time. Example Duration Deliverable Project Risk Assessment Start and End Unique report Date Operational Air Quality Ongoing Routine report work Monitoring Table 1: Project vs. Operational Work It is important to differentiate between projects and operational work. While organizations exist to create products and services, the practices used to create these products and services are often routine and repetitive, while projects are temporary and unique. Organizations have developed managerial practices to create these products and services but these practices may be different from those that have been developed to create project deliverables. This module provides an introduction into the project management discipline and introduces some of the types of projects that may be undertaken in the environment field. 4 OBJECTIVE TWO When you complete this objective you will be able to… Define the term “Project Management” and list and describe the six (6) main functions involved in project management. Learning Material Traditionally, the ultimate goal of the project manager was to deliver the project’s unique product, service or results, on time and within budget. For environmental projects, this may be expanded to include both the satisfaction of the client and the creation of profits for the environmental firm doing the work. Project Management is a process that assists the project manager in meeting these ultimate goals The main parts of the project management process: defining, planning; coordinating; leading; monitoring and controlling as shown in Figure 1, below. These functions are illustrated as the project management circle because throughout the life of the project, each of the functions may be revisited over and over. Definition leads to planning which moves into coordinating, which moves to leading, which moves to monitoring and finally controlling. Based on the results of monitoring and controlling, the project manager begins the cycle again with the planning necessary to effectively address issues identified through monitoring and controlling. These functions and their relationship to each of the other functions will be the focus of modules two to seven of this course. Define Control Plan Monitor Coordinate Lead Figure 1: The PM Circle: Project Management is a combination of defining, planning, coordinating, leading, monitoring and controlling. The functions shown in the PM Circle are useful tools for the project manager in meeting the project manager’s ultimate goal as a project manager. As a project manager, the ultimate goal is to provide the deliverables of the project on time 5 and within the pre-defined budget while earning profits and satisfying the client. For example, assume you are working for an environmental consulting company and the company has been contracted by the City of Calgary to remove asbestos from a building owned by the city. As project manager, you would be responsible for completing all the necessary tasks to remove asbestos from the building by the date identified within the written contract. The project management functions of defining, planning, coordinating, leading, monitoring and controlling are group headings for a variety of tasks and tools that a project manager can use in reaching these goals. Assuming the goals of the project are achieved, it is more likely the City of Calgary will be satisfied with the outcome and that the company will earn profits. 6 OBJECTIVE THREE When you complete this objective you will be able to… List and describe the main responsibilities of the project manager and the tools that can be used to manage projects. Learning Material As discussed above, the project manager’s ultimate responsibility is to deliver the unique products, services or results, on time and on budget while satisfying the client and earning profits. Project management is a professional discipline that assists the project manager in meeting these goals. As described in the PM Circle, above, planning, coordinating, leading and monitoring and controlling represent the four main parts of project management but each of these four functions represents a group of project management activities that are all part of project management. Although other project team members are also involved in the completion of these tasks, the project manager takes responsibility for managing the overall project. Each of the stages of the PM Circle is introduced below, while subsequent modules address these topics more fully. Defining and Planning Planning often incorporates both defining and planning for execution and together these are a very important part of project management. This is the stage where expectations for the project are set and documented for all those people that have an interest in the project. The definition phase is where decisions are made about what the project is intended to do. The deliverables must be identified and documented during the planning phase. Deliverables are the unique products, services or results produced by the project. One of the first tasks in project definition is to identify those individuals and groups that have an interest in the project, ranging from the project proponent to project team members. Planning for project execution is the stage that identifies and organizes the tasks that need to be completed to produce the intended deliverables. Human and non- human resources that will complete the tasks are also identified and allocated during the planning phase. Finally, schedules and budgets are developed through the planning process. Planning cannot be done in isolation by the project manager. One of the fundamental practices of good project management is to involve the people that will complete the project tasks in the planning process. This results in better project plans and plans that are more likely to be accepted and promoted by team members. 7 Coordinating Although there may be some overlap, coordination generally follows the planning phase. Coordinating is the stage where roles and responsibilities are assigned to people, equipment and materials to complete the project tasks. For example, if a project task is to take samples at a contaminated site, sufficient staff equipment and materials must be available on the scheduled day to take the required samples. If any of these are unavailable, time and money may be wasted. These tasks are part of the coordination of environmental project. Although the project manager may have assistance in completing these tasks, the responsibility for their adequate completion rests with the project manager. Leading Leading the project deals with leading the project team and of course, one of the main tasks in leading is to direct team members to complete the necessary project tasks. Leading also involves a number of other tasks as well and may expand to include resolution of conflicts within the team and also between the team and outside stakeholders, motivation of project team members and managing priorities. These responsibilities will be the focus of module 4. Monitoring and Controlling Monitoring and controlling are often considered together and are important tasks to assist the project manager in completing the project on time and on budget. It is important to note that the project plan is just that, a plan. Although the plan is the best estimate when it is created, it is very likely (almost certain) that at least some details of the plan will be incorrect. Often, major sections of the plan are incorrect and as a result, throughout the life of the project, the project manager must be aware of the areas where the plan is incorrect. Differences between actual completion dates or costs are termed variances. If tasks are completed early or late or with higher or lower costs than planned, the project manager must be aware of these variances from the plan. As a result of identifying and understating the basis of variances, the project manager can re-plan the project to address the areas where the project plan was incorrect. Therefore, monitoring and controlling play an important role in ensuring that the overall project can be steered back on schedule or back on budget when the plan proves to be incorrect. There are a variety of tools that can assist the project manager in completing these tasks and monitoring and controlling are the focus of module seven. 8 OBJECTIVE FOUR When you complete this objective you will be able to… Describe the structure of a typical environmental project in Alberta. Learning Material There is a wide range of potential environmental projects in the province of Alberta due to the broadness of the environmental discipline. Environmental project could be related to the identification of potential impacts prior to developments are approved, the identification and characterization of contamination after a spill has occurred, the development or implementation of new technology to address public concern or new regulations, the clean up of a contaminated site, etc. The list of potential projects is long and varied but the types of organizations involved in environmental projects is often similar. In many cases, environmental projects are completed by environmental consulting firms which specialize in various aspects of the environment. These consulting firms may have expertise in more than one aspect of the environment and retain staff with skills necessary to complete environmental projects that relate to their own area of expertise. Environmental companies are regularly contracted by organizations that wish to or which already have caused an impact to the environment. These organizations may be new developers as is the case for oil and gas organizations developing in the oil sands. Otherwise the organization may hold a contaminate site that needs to be remediated, it may want to address public concerns about its practices, etc. For many environmental projects the organization contracting the environmental firm is the client and the staff, retained by the environmental firm, make up the project team as represented in figure 1. Client Environmental Firm Project Team Figure 1: Typical structure of environmental projects 9 In some cases, environmental firms may have project managers that manage more than one project at a time where projects are in various stages of completion. In addition, team members may be completing tasks for more than one project at a time. Figure 2 provides an illustration of this arrangement. Client Client Client Environmental Firm Project Manager Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Figure 2: Environmental Projects where the project manager has multiple projects to manager 10 OBJECTIVE FIVE When you complete this objective you will be able to… List and describe the main responsibilities of the project manager using an example. Learning Material Assume the following: Fuel-Co. is a chain of fuel stations that has been in business since 1965. The business was started by Robert and June and is has been taken over by their two children Ron and Jennifer. Since the business began it has grown to 20 fuel stations across the province of Alberta. Over the years Fuel-Co. has used underground storage tanks on its properties to store fuel for retail sales. However, Robert and June have learned that underground storage tanks often leak resulting in contamination of land and potentially groundwater around the site. Robert and June have hired your consulting firm to determine the extent of hydrocarbon contamination at each of the 20 fuel stations owned and operated by Fuel-Co. You have been designated by your consulting company as the project manager for this project. Assume you were asked to identify your ultimate responsibility as a project manager for this particular project and explain how you could meet this goal. Solution: As a project manager, the ultimate responsibility in this case is to determine the extent of hydrocarbon contamination at each of the 20 Fuel-Co. stations while satisfying the client and making profits. It is important to note here that satisfying the client in the case of environmental projects may require the project manager to report unpleasant information to the client. For example, assume the site is contaminated with hydrocarbons, it is the responsibility of the project manager to report the findings based on scientific, justifiable evidence, even though the contamination may cost the client several thousand dollars to remediate. It does the client and the environment no good to report less severe results as the public could be put at risk resulting in costly future litigation. In this case the deliverables are not well defined and as a project manager one of the first important steps would be to document exactly what is expected to be delivered, when it is to be delivered and the budget for completing the project. 11 The development and documentation of project deliverables will be discussed more fully in subsequent modules. Following the documentation of the deliverables, completion date and budget, the project manager may use the various tools provided in each of the PM Circle’s main groups to meet the ultimate goal. These functions are further discussed in subsequent modules. 12 OBJECTIVE SIX When you complete this objective you will be able to… Describe the skills and knowledge a project manager should possess. Learning Material Project managers require a variety of skills to successfully manage environmental projects. For very small projects the project manager may have expert knowledge of tasks completed by team members. However, as projects increase in size and scope it is unlikely that the project manager will possess expert knowledge in all of the project tasks. Project managers in many fields such as business and information systems need to learn to manage in a setting where individual team members possess more specific knowledge about specific project tasks than the project manger. However, in the environment field the issue may be even greater since the environment discipline is broad, incorporating a variety of science disciplines as well as social and economic issues. As the size and scope of projects increase, environmental project managers are likely to find that team members have greater knowledge about specific project related tasks and the environmental project manager must develop the skills necessary to manage in such a setting. For example, for a small project such as soil sampling at a contaminated site, the project manager may have expert knowledge about each specific task that is completed by each team member. On the other hand, for a large project such as an environmental impact assessment, the project team may include members with specialized scientific, social and economic knowledge. In such a case the project manager would not have specific expertise in all areas of the project and the project manager would need to rely on expertise within the project team to complete the overall project. For large and small projects, the project managers require a variety of human resource, managerial and conceptual skills to successfully steer projects to completion. Human resource, managerial and conceptual skills are identified here to group specific skills together. However, there may be overlap with some skills that appear to fit within more than one group. Conceptual Conceptual skills are very important to project managers as the project manager must have the ability to understand the project as a whole rather than its individual parts. Conceptual skills include problem solving, logical thinking, creativity, vision and the ability to make decisions that positively impact the overall project. 13 Managerial Among others, managerial skills include planning, time management, motivation, delegation and buffering skills. These skills are important to keep team members motivated, focussed and informed about their own role within the project and the project tasks that need to be completed to complete the project. In addition, project managers need to have the fortitude to present the findings of their work, even when the results may identify unpleasant circumstances. In some cases this may be the most difficult project management task but it is also one of the most important. Human Resource Human resource skills are those that help the project manager deal with the many issues that arise when people work together. These skills include communication, coaching, listening, recognition and even conflict resolution. These are very important to the project manager because adequate management of human resource issues can help team members work through the many challenges that are sure to arise throughout the project, while failure to address human resource issues may cause other serious issues and ultimately lead to project failure. 14 Module Self-Test Directions:  Answer the following questions.  Compare your answers to the enclosed answer key.  If you disagree with any of the answers, review learning activities and/or check with your instructor.  If no problems arise, continue on to the next objective or next examination. 1. What is the difference between a project and operational work? 2. What is the ultimate responsibility of the project manager? 3. Use an illustration to represent the relationship between the project manager, clients, project team members and environmental firm in the case where the project manager has many projects. 4. Illustrate the PM Circle. 5. Explain why reporting unpleasant results may be one of the most difficult jobs of a project manager. 15 Module Self-Test Answers 1. What is the difference between a project and operational work?  Projects result in a unique product service or result and are temporary.  Operational work on the other hand is routine and ongoing. 2. What is the ultimate responsibility of the project manager?  The ultimate responsibility of the project manager is to produce the project deliverables on time and on budget while simultaneously satisfying the client and earning profits for the environmental firm. 3. Use an illustration to represent the relationship between the project manager, clients, project team members and environmental firm in the case where the project manager has many projects. Client Client Client Environmental Firm Project Manager Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 4. Illustrate the PM Circle Define Control Plan Monitor Coordinate Lead Figure 1: The PM Circle: Project Management is a combination of defining, planning, coordinating, leading and controlling. 16 5. Explain why reporting unpleasant results may be one of the most difficult jobs of a project manager.  The reports released by project managers in environmental projects must be based on defensible scientific analysis. However, the findings may highlight the need to take further actions which could cost the client many thousands of dollars. It may be difficult to report such findings and unpleasant reports may be met with several detailed questions. Reporting these types of findings may be difficult for project managers and project managers should be aware that they may need to answer several questions regarding the process used to arrive at the results as well as the results themselves. 17 References 1. Project Management Institute (PMI), 2004. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd Edition, Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania, pg.1. 18 Glossary Controlling: Taking corrective action to steer the project toward successful completion when monitoring identifies that actual results do not reflect the plan. Coordinating: The second of the four main activity groupings within project management where human and non-human resources are coordinated and organized to complete project tasks. Deliverable: The unique product, service or result delivered by a project. Leading: The third of four main activity groupings within project management where the project manager leads project team members to successful completion of a project. Monitoring: The process of comparing actual project results against planned project results. Planning: The first of four main activity groupings within project management, where the project is defined and project schedules and budgets are developed. Variance: The difference between actual results and planned results. 19 Course Module SAIT’s vision is sharply focused – to be recognized as Canada’s premier polytechnic, one of the world’s finest, setting the standard in education, training and innovation. SAIT shall be an innovative organization equipping people to compete successfully in the changing world of work by providing relevant, skill-oriented education. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This material may not be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the Director, Centre for Instructional Technology and Development. Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, 1301 16 Ave. N.W. Calgary AB T2M 0L4 Printed in Canada on Recycled Paper