Project Leadership Notes - Finals PDF

Project Leadership Notes – Finals Project Scope  End result or vision of your project.  Clearly defines deliverables of the project.  Describes what is expected to be delivered to the customers when the project is complete.  Must be controlled for...

Project Leadership Notes – Finals Project Scope  End result or vision of your project.  Clearly defines deliverables of the project.  Describes what is expected to be delivered to the customers when the project is complete.  Must be controlled for changes or variations.  Should be developed under the direction of the project manager.  It should be achievable and measurable. Important Concepts  Project background: the story behind the project.  Project approach: how the project will be undertaken.  Project benefits: should be measurable; mix of tangible and intangible.  Strategic alignment: includes key performance indicators (KPIs).  Dependencies: project manager will determine whether the project is dependent upon the completion of any other projects or activities in the company.  Project organizational structure: structure and reporting lines of all personal involved in the project.  Deliverables: there are 2 types, outputs (physical) like training manuals and outcomes (intangible) like change in behaviours.  Constrains: documented conditions that are known to have a constraining e ect.  Assumptions: circumstances and/or activities that need to occur for the project to be successful, but that are outside of the control of the project team. Functional Organization A hierarchical organizational structure in which departments represent individual disciplines such as engineering, marketing, purchasing. Advantages  No exchange to the existing functional organizational structure: project completed within the basic functional structure.  Flexibility: maximum flexibility in the use of sta.  In depth expertise: can be brought to bear on the most crucial aspects of the project.  Easy post-project transition: normal career paths within a functional division are maintained. Disadvantages:  Lack of focus: sometimes project responsibilities get pushed aside to meet primary operational obligations.  Poor integration: functional specialists tend to be concerned only with their segment of the project and not with what is best for the total project.  Slow: lack of horizontal direct communication among functional groups contributes to rework.  Lack of ownership: the motivation of people assigned to the project can be weak. Dedicated Team  Operate as separate units from the rest of the parent organization.  A full-time project manager is dedicated to pull together a core group of specialist to work full-time on the project.  The parent organization maintains a tight rein through financial controls. Dedicated Team Advantages  Simple: resources are fully assigned to the project.  Fast: projects get done more quickly since participants are devoted to the project.  Cohesive: participants share a common goal and personal responsibility toward the project and the team.  Cross-functional integration: specialists from di erent areas work together and, with proper guidance, become committed to optimizing the project. Dedicated Team Disadvantages  Expensive: duplication of e orts across projects and a loss of economies of scale.  Internal strife: strong ‘we-they” divisiveness emerges between the project team and the parent organization.  Limited technological expertise: limited somewhat to the talents and experience of the specialists assigned to the project.  Di icult post project transition: dilemma of what to do with the personnel after the project is completed. Project Considerations Factors that should influence the choice of project management structure:  Size of project  Strategic importance   Novelty and need for innovation  Need for integration  Environment complexity  Budget and time constrains  Stability of resources requirements Quality Management  Quality is a critical aspect of project management.  Critical element in management of the triple constrains (scope, time, and cost).  Should start with discussion from the outset of a project. Key Aspect of Quality  Project quality management: setting the expectations. How would they be measured and how improvements will be made during the lifecycle.  Product/service (or result) quality management: focus on what is produced for the end-user of customer of the project. Cost of Quality (COQ)  The cost of preventing a defect or rework.  The cost of poor quality (ex, recalls). Cost of Quality (COQ) Implications  Estimation of the project costs: higher quality means higher costs.  The need to consider the impact on the time taken to complete activities: may take longer and required additional steps.  The design of comprehensive quality control processes and general continuous improvement activities. Cost of Achieving Good Quality  Prevention costs  Additional processes developed in order to achieve the quality outcomes.  Training costs  Cost of components to increase quality.  Tools and equipment.  Time and resources to conduct audits.   Testing Continuous Improvement  Plan: define the problem.  Do: develop and implement a solution.  Check: confirm the results “before” and “after”.  Act: embed the change, inform others about the process changes and recommendations. Total Quality Management  Focuses on achieving customer satisfaction and zero defects.  Getting things right the first time.  Quality involves everyone.