Project management

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources

to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is
sometimes conflated with program management, however technically a program is
actually a higher level construct: a group of related and somehow interdependent
projects. A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end (usually
constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique
goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The
temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual (or operations),
which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products
or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite
different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the
adoption of separate management.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and
objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are
scope, time, and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize
the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.

History
Project management has been practiced since early civilization. Until 1900 civil
engineering projects were generally managed by creative architects and engineers
themselves, among those for example Vitruvius (1st century BC), Christopher Wren
(1632–1723) , Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859)
It was in the 1950s that organizations started to systematically apply project
management tools and techniques to complex projects.

As a discipline, Project Management developed from several fields of application

including construction, engineering, and defense activity. Two forefathers of project
management are Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who
is famous for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool; and Henri Fayol
for his creation of the 5 management functions which form the foundation of the body of
knowledge associated with project and program management. Both Gantt and Fayol
were students of Frederick Winslow Taylor's theories of scientific management. His work
is the forerunner to modern project management tools including work breakdown
structure (WBS) and resource allocation.

The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern Project Management era. Project
management became recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the management
discipline. In the United States, prior to the 1950s, projects were managed on an ad hoc
basis using mostly Gantt Charts, and informal techniques and tools. At that time, two
mathematical project-scheduling models were developed. The "Critical Path Method"
(CPM) was developed as a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington
Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. And the "Program
Evaluation and Review Technique" or PERT, was developed by Booz-Allen & Hamilton
as part of the United States Navy's (in conjunction with the Lockheed Corporation)
Polaris missile submarine program; These mathematical techniques quickly spread into
many private enterprises.
PERT network chart for a seven-month project with five milestones

At the same time, as project-scheduling models were being developed, technology for
project cost estimating, cost management, and engineering economics was evolving,
with pioneering work by Hans Lang and others. In 1956, the American Association of
Cost Engineers (now AACE International; the Association for the Advancement of Cost
Engineering) was formed by early practitioners of project management and the
associated specialties of planning and scheduling, cost estimating, and cost/schedule
control (project control). AACE continued its pioneering work and in 2006 released the
first integrated process for portfolio, program and project management (Total Cost
Management Framework).

The International Project Management Association (IPMA) was founded in Europe in

1967, as a federation of several national project management associations. IPMA
maintains its federal structure today and now includes member associations on every
continent except Antarctica. IPMA offers a Four Level Certification program based on the
IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB). The ICB covers technical competences, contextual
competences, and behavioral competences.

In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in the USA. PMI publishes
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), which
describes project management practices that are common to "most projects, most of the
time." PMI also offers multiple certifications.

The AAPM American Academy of Project Management International Board of Standards

1996 was the first to institute post-graduate certifications such as the MPM Master
Project Manager, PME Project Management E-Business, CEC Certified-Ecommerce
Consultant, and CIPM Certified International project Manager. The AAPM also issues the
post-graduate standards body of knowledge for executives.

Approaches
There are a number of approaches to managing project activities including agile,
interactive, incremental, and phased approaches.

Regardless of the methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the

overall project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of
all participants and stakeholders.

The traditional approach

A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. In the

"traditional approach", we can distinguish 5 components of a project (4 stages plus
control) in the development of a project:
Typical development phases of a project

• Project initiation stage;

• Project planning or design stage;
• Project execution or production stage;
• Project monitoring and controlling systems;
• Project completion.

Not all the projects will visit every stage as projects can be terminated before they reach
completion. Some projects do not follow a structured planning and/or monitoring stages.
Some projects will go through steps 2, 3 and 4 multiple times.

Many industries use variations on these project stages. For example, when working on a
brick and mortar design and construction, projects will typically progress through stages
like Pre-Planning, Conceptual Design, Schematic Design, Design Development,
Construction Drawings (or Contract Documents), and Construction Administration. In
software development, this approach is often known as the waterfall model, i.e., one
series of tasks after another in linear sequence. In software development many
organizations have adapted the Rational Unified Process (RUP) to fit this methodology,
although RUP does not require or explicitly recommend this practice. Waterfall
development works well for small, well defined projects, but often fails in larger projects
of undefined and ambiguous nature. The Cone of Uncertainty explains some of this as
the planning made on the initial phase of the project suffers from a high degree of
uncertainty. This becomes especially true as software development is often the
realization of a new or novel product. In projects where requirements have not been
finalized and can change, requirements management is used to develop an accurate and
complete definition of the behavior of software that can serve as the basis for software
development. While the terms may differ from industry to industry, the actual stages
typically follow common steps to problem solving "defining the problem, weighing
options, choosing a path, implementation and evaluation."

Critical Chain Project Management

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing

projects that puts more emphasis on the resources (physical and human) needed in
order to execute project tasks. It is an application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to
projects. The goal is to increase the rate of throughput (or completion rates) of projects in
an organization. Applying the first three of the five focusing steps of TOC, the system
constraint for all projects is identified as are the resources. To exploit the constraint,
tasks on the critical chain are given priority over all other activities. Finally, projects are
planned and managed to ensure that the resources are ready when the critical chain
tasks must start, subordinating all other resources to the critical chain.

Regardless of project type, the project plan should undergo Resource Leveling, and the
longest sequence of resource-constrained tasks should be identified as the critical chain.
In multi-project environments, resource leveling should be performed across projects.
However, it is often enough to identify (or simply select) a single "drum" resource—a
resource that acts as a constraint across projects—and stagger projects based on the
availability of that single resource.

Planning and feedback loops in Extreme Programming (XP) with the time frames of the
multiple loops.

Extreme Project Management

In critical studies of Project Management, it has been noted that several of these
fundamentally PERT-based models are not well suited for the multi-project company
environment of today. Most of them are aimed at very large-scale, one-time, non-routine
projects, and nowadays all kinds of management are expressed in terms of projects.

Using complex models for "projects" (or rather "tasks") spanning a few weeks has been
proven to cause unnecessary costs and low maneuverability in several cases. Instead,
project management experts try to identify different "lightweight" models, such as Agile
Project Management methods including Extreme Programming for software development
and Scrum techniques.

The generalization of Extreme Programming to other kinds of projects is extreme project

management, which may be used in combination with the process modeling and
management principles of human interaction management.

Event chain methodology

Event chain methodology is another method that complements critical path method and
critical chain project management methodologies.

Event chain methodology is an uncertainty modeling and schedule network analysis

technique that is focused on identifying and managing events and event chains that
affect project schedules. Event chain methodology helps to mitigate the negative impact
of psychological heuristics and biases, as well as to allow for easy modeling of
uncertainties in the project schedules. Event chain methodology is based on the
following principles.

• Probabilistic moment of risk: An activity (task) in most real life processes is not
a continuous uniform process. Tasks are affected by external events, which can
occur at some point in the middle of the task.
• Event chains: Events can cause other events, which will create event chains.
These event chains can significantly affect the course of the project. Quantitative
analysis is used to determine a cumulative effect of these event chains on the
project schedule.
 • Critical events or event chains: The single events or the event chains that have
the most potential to affect the projects are the “critical events” or “critical chains
of events.” They can be determined by the analysis.
• Project tracking with events: Even if a project is partially completed and data
about the project duration, cost, and events occurred is available, it is still possible
to refine information about future potential events and helps to forecast future
project performance.
• Event chain visualization: Events and event chains can be visualized using
event chain diagrams on a Gantt chart.

INCE2

The PRINCE2 process model

PRINCE2 is a structured approach to project management, released in 1996 as a

generic project management method. It combined the original PROMPT methodology
(which evolved into the PRINCE methodology) with IBM's MITP (managing the
implementation of the total project) methodology. PRINCE2 provides a method for
managing projects within a clearly defined framework. PRINCE2 describes procedures to
coordinate people and activities in a project, how to design and supervise the project,
and what to do if the project has to be adjusted if it does not develop as planned.

In the method, each process is specified with its key inputs and outputs and with specific
goals and activities to be carried out. This allows for automatic control of any deviations
from the plan. Divided into manageable stages, the method enables an efficient control
of resources. On the basis of close monitoring, the project can be carried out in a
controlled and organized way.

PRINCE2 provides a common language for all participants in the project. The various
management roles and responsibilities involved in a project are fully described and are
adaptable to suit the complexity of the project and skills of the organization.

Process-based management

Capability Maturity Model, predecessor of the CMMI Model

Also furthering the concept of project control is the incorporation of process-based
management. This area has been driven by the use of Maturity models such as the
CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) and ISO/IEC15504 (SPICE - Software
Process Improvement and Capability Estimation).

Agile Project Management approaches based on the principles of human interaction

management are founded on a process view of human collaboration. This contrasts
sharply with the traditional approach. In the agile software development or flexible
product development approach, the project is seen as a series of relatively small tasks
conceived and executed as the situation demands in an adaptive manner, rather than as
a completely pre-planned process.

Processes
Traditionally, project management includes a number of elements: four to five process
groups, and a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the
same basic project management processes will be used.

The project development stages

Major process groups generally include:

• Initiation
• Planning or development
• Production or execution
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing

In project environments with a significant exploratory element (e.g., Research and

development), these stages may be supplemented with decision points (go/no go
decisions) at which the project's continuation is debated and decided. An example is the
Stage-Gate model.

Initiation

Initiating Process Group Processes

The initiation processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not
performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business’
needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business
environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the
project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to
fix them.

The initiation stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas:

• Analyzing the business needs/requirements in measurable goals

• Reviewing of the current operations
• Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget
• Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project
• Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule

Planning and design

Planning Process Group Activities

After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail. The main
purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and
to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a
failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully
accomplishing its goals.

Project planning generally consists of

• determining how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave);

• developing the scope statement;
• selecting the planning team;
• identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure;
• identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking
the activities in their logical sequence;
• estimating the resource requirements for the activities;
• estimating time and cost for activities;
• developing the schedule;
• developing the budget;
• risk planning;
• gaining formal approval to begin work.

Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management,
identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and
holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable.
For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final
product may be performed concurrent with the project planning activities, and may help
to inform the planning team when identifying deliverables and planning activities.

Executing

Executing Process Group Processes

Executing consists of the processes used to complete the work defined in the project
management plan to accomplish the project's requirements. Execution process involves
coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of
the project in accordance with the project management plan. The deliverables are
produced as outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project
management plan.

Monitoring and controlling

Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project

execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective
action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key
benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify
variances from the project management plan.

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group Processes

Monitoring and Controlling includes:

• Measuring the ongoing project activities ('where we are');

• Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project
management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be);
• Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get
on track again);
• Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only
approved changes are implemented
In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and controlling process also provides feedback
between project phases, in order to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring
the project into compliance with the project management plan.

Project Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes:

• Continuing support of end users

• Correction of errors
• Updates of the software over time

Monitoring and Controlling cycle

In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems
are resolved.

Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a
normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of
necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-
requested changes, value engineering and impacts from third parties, to name a few.
Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented
to show what was actually constructed. This is referred to as Change Management.
Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more
specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The
record is made on the contract documents – usually, but not necessarily limited to, the
design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built
drawings, or more simply, “as built.” The requirement for providing them is a norm in
construction contracts.

When changes are introduced to the project, the viability of the project has to be re-
assessed. It is important not to lose sight of the initial goals and targets of the projects.
When the changes accumulate, the forecasted result may not justify the original
proposed investment in the project.

Closing

Closing Process Group Processes.

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof.
Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons
learned.
This phase consists of:

• Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally
close the project or a project phase
• Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of
any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase

Project control systems

Project control is that element of a project that keeps it on-track, on-time and within
budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning and ends late in the
project with post-implementation review, having a thorough involvement of each step in
the process. Each project should be assessed for the appropriate level of control
needed: too much control is too time consuming, too little control is very risky. If project
control is not implemented correctly, the cost to the business should be clarified in terms
of errors, fixes, and additional audit fees.

Control systems are needed for cost, risk, quality, communication, time, change,
procurement, and human resources. In addition, auditors should consider how important
the projects are to the financial statements, how reliant the stakeholders are on controls,
and how many controls exist. Auditors should review the development process and
procedures for how they are implemented. The process of development and the quality
of the final product may also be assessed if needed or requested. A business may want
the auditing firm to be involved throughout the process to catch problems earlier on so
that they can be fixed more easily. An auditor can serve as a controls consultant as part
of the development team or as an independent auditor as part of an audit.

Businesses sometimes use formal systems development processes. These help assure
that systems are developed successfully. A formal process is more effective in creating
strong controls, and auditors should review this process to confirm that it is well designed
and is followed in practice. A good formal systems development plan outlines:

• A strategy to align development with the organization’s broader objectives

• Standards for new systems
• Project management policies for timing and budgeting
• Procedures describing the process
• Evaluation of quality of change

Topics
Project managers

A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project

managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any
project, typically relating to construction industry, engineering, architecture, computing,
or telecommunications. Many other fields in the production, design and service industries
also have project managers.

A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project
objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable
project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint
for projects, which is cost, time, and scope.
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement
the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The
ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form
close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key
issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.

Project Management Triangle

The Project Management Triangle.

Like any human undertaking, projects need to be performed and delivered under certain
constraints. Traditionally, these constraints have been listed as "scope," "time," and
"cost". These are also referred to as the "Project Management Triangle", where each
side represents a constraint. One side of the triangle cannot be changed without
affecting the others. A further refinement of the constraints separates product "quality" or
"performance" from scope, and turns quality into a fourth constraint.

The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project. The cost
constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for the project. The scope constraint
refers to what must be done to produce the project's end result. These three constraints
are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means increased time and
increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope,
and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.

The discipline of Project Management is about providing the tools and techniques that
enable the project team (not just the project manager) to organize their work to meet
these constraints.

Work Breakdown Structure

Example of a Work breakdown structure applied in a NASA reporting structure.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a tree structure, which shows a subdivision of
effort required to achieve an objective; for example a program, project, and contract. The
WBS may be hardware, product, service, or process oriented.
A WBS can be developed by starting with the end objective and successively subdividing
it into manageable components in terms of size, duration, and responsibility (e.g.,
systems, subsystems, components, tasks, subtasks, and work packages), which include
all steps necessary to achieve the objective.

The Work Breakdown Structure provides a common framework for the natural
development of the overall planning and control of a contract and is the basis for dividing
work into definable increments from which the statement of work can be developed and
technical, schedule, cost, and labor hour reporting can be established.

Project Management Framework

Example of an IT Project Management Framework.

The Program (Investment) Life Cycle integrates the project management and system
development life cycles with the activities directly associated with system deployment
and operation. By design, system operation management and related activities occur
after the project is complete and are not documented within this guide.[19]

For example, see figure, in the US United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
the program management life cycle is depicted and describe in the overall VA IT Project
Management Framework to address the integration of OMB Exhibit 300 project
(investment) management activities and the overall project budgeting process. The VA IT
Project Management Framework diagram illustrates Milestone 4 which occurs following
the deployment of a system and the closing of the project. The project closing phase
activities at the VA continues through system deployment and into system operation for
the purpose of illustrating and describing the system activities the VA considers part of
the project. The figure illustrates the actions and associated artifacts of the VA IT Project
and Program Management process.

International standards

There have been several attempts to develop Project Management standards, such as:

• Capability Maturity Model from the Software Engineering Institute.

• GAPPS, Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards- an open source
standard describing COMPETENCIES for project and program managers.
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
 • HERMES method, Swiss general project management method, selected for use in
Luxembourg and international organizations.
• The ISO standards ISO 9000, a family of standards for quality management
systems, and the ISO 10006:2003, for Quality management systems and
guidelines for quality management in projects.
• PRINCE2, PRojects IN Controlled Environments.
• Team Software Process (TSP) from the Software Engineering Institute.
• Total Cost Management Framework, AACE International's Methodology for
Integrated Portfolio, Program and Project Management)
• V-Model, an original systems development method.
• The Logical framework approach, which is popular in international development
organizations.
• IAPPM, The International Association of Project & Program Management, guide to
Project Auditing and Rescuing Troubled Projects.

Project portfolio management

An increasing number of organizations are using, what is referred to as, project portfolio
management (PPM) as a means of selecting the right projects and then using project
management techniques as the means for delivering the outcomes in the form of benefits to
the performing private or not-for-profit organization.

Project management methods are used 'to do projects right' and the methods used in PPM are
used 'to do the right projects'. In effect PPM is becoming the method of choice for selection and
prioritising among resource inter-related projects in many industries and sectors.