PROJECT

MANAGEMENT

B.Sravanthi
Asst.Prof
CED, KITSW
Definitions and concepts
 Systems
 Programs
 Projects
 Maturity and Excellence
 Informal Project Management
 Success and Failure
 Product vs Project Management
 Project Management Methodologies
 Systems:
 The exact definition of a system depends on the users,
environment, and ultimate goal.
Business practitioners define a system as:
 A group of elements, either human or nonhuman, that is

organized and arranged in such a way that the

elements can act as a whole toward achieving some
common goal or objective
Cont..
 Systems are collections of interacting subsystems that,
if properly organized, can provide a synergistic
output.
 Systems are characterized by their boundaries or
interface conditions.
 Closed system
 Open system
 Extended system
 Cont..
 Closed system:
 If the business firm system were completely isolated from
the environmental system, then a closed system would exist,
in which case management would have complete control
over all system components
 Open system:
 Ifthe business system reacts with the environment, then the
system is referred to as open system.
 All social systems, for example, are categorized as open
systems. Open systems must have permeable boundaries.
Cont..
 Extended system:
 If a system is significantly dependent on other systems
for its survival, then it is an extended system.
 Not all open systems are extended systems. Extended
systems are ever changing and can impose great
hardships on individuals who desire to work in a
regimented atmosphere.
Cont..

 Military and government organizations were the first

to attempt to define the boundaries of systems,
programs, and projects.
 Below are two definitions for systems.
 Air Force Definition

 NASA Definition
Air Force Definition(system)

 A composite of equipment, skills, and techniques

capable of performing and/or supporting an
operational role.
 A complete system includes related facilities,
equipment, material services, and personnel
required for its operation to the degree that it can
be considered as a self-sufficient unit in its intended
operational and/or support environment.
NASA Definition(system)
 One of the principal functioning entities comprising
the project hardware within a project or program.
 The meaning may vary to suit a particular project or
program area. Ordinarily a “system” is the first
major subdivision of project work (spacecraft
systems, launch vehicle systems).
Program
 Air Force Definition(Program)
 The integrated, time-phased tasks necessary to
accomplish a particular purpose.
 NASA Definition(program)
A relative series of undertakings that continue over a
period of time (normally years) and that are designed
to accomplish a broad, scientific or technical goal in the
NASA long-range plan (lunar and planetary
exploration, manned spacecraft systems)
Project:
 Projects are also time-phased efforts (much shorter
than programs) and are the first level of
breakdown of a program.
 A typical definition would be:
 NASA/Air Force Definition:
A project is within a program as an undertaking that has a
scheduled beginning and end, and that normally involves
some primary purpose.
Maturity and Excellence
 Maturity
 Maturity in project management is the implementation of a
standard methodology and accompanying processes such
that there exists a high likelihood of repeated successes.
 Excellence
 Organizations excellent in project management are those
that create the environment in which there exists a continuous
stream of successfully managed projects and where success
is measured by what is in the best interest of both the
company and the project (i.e., customer).
Cont..

The growth of excellence

Informal Project Management
 Informal project management does have some
degree of formality but emphasizes managing the
project with a minimum amount of paperwork.
 informal project management is based upon
guidelines rather than the policies and procedures
that are the basis for formal project management.
Cont..
 Informal project management mandates:
 Effective communications
 Effective cooperation

 Effective teamwork

 Trust

These four elements are absolutely essential for

effective informal project management.
Cont..

The evolution of project documentation over the years

Success:
 Historically, the definition of success has been
meeting the customer’s expectations regardless of
whether or not the customer is internal or external.
 Success also includes getting the job done within the
constraints of time, cost, and quality.
 Using this standard definition, success is defined as a
point on the time, cost, quality/performance grid.
 The secondary definitions of success are usually
internal benefits.
 Cont..

 If achieving 86 percent of
the specification is acceptable
to the customer and follow-on
work is received, then the
original project might very well
be considered a success
Cont..
 The definition of success can also vary according to
who the stakeholder is.
 For example, each of the following can have his or
her own definition of success on a project:
 Consumers: safety in its use
 Employees: guaranteed employment
 Management: bonuses
 Stockholders: profitability
 Government agencies: compliance with federal
regulations
Cont..
 Critical success factors identify what is necessary to meet
the desired deliverables of the customer. We can also
look at key performance indicators (KPIs), which measure
the quality of the process used to achieve the end results.
KPIs are internal measures or metrics that can be
reviewed on a periodic basis throughout the life cycle of
the project. Typical KPIs include:
 Use of the project management methodology
 Establishment of the control processes
 Use of interim metrics
 Quality of resources assigned versus planned for
 Client involvement
Cont..

SUCCESS FACTORS
Failure:
 The true definition of failure is when the final results
are not what were expected, even though the
original expectations may or may not have been
reasonable.
 Generally failure is defined as unmet expectations
 Planning failure-
 Actual failure

 Perceived failure
Cont..
 Planning failure -difference between what was
planned and what was, in fact, achieved.
 Actual failure - difference between what was
achievable and what was actually accomplished.
 Perceived failure - the net sum of actual failure and
planning failure
 Cont..
project management has
planned a level of
accomplishment (C) lower than
what is achievable given
project circumstances and
resources (D). This is a classic
under planning situation.
Actual accomplishment (B),
however, was less than
planned

Components of failure(pessimistic planning)

 Cont..

Here is planned to accomplish

more than is achievable.
Planning failure is again
assured even if no actual
failure occurs. In both of these
situations (over planning and
under planning), the actual
failure is the same, but the
Components of failure (optimistic planning) perceived failure can vary
considerably.
 Cont..
 In the 1980s, they believed that the failure of a project was
largely a quantitative failure due to
 Ineffective planning
 Ineffective scheduling
 Ineffective estimating
 Ineffective cost control
 Project objectives being “moving targets”
 A failure in the 1990s was largely attributed to:
 Poor morale
 Poor motivation
 Poor human relations
 Poor productivity
 No employee commitment
Stage gate Process
 When companies recognize the need to begin
developing processes for project management, the
starting point is normally the stage-gate process.
 The stage-gate process was created because the
traditional organizational structure was designed
primarily for top-down, centralized management,
control, and communications, all of which were no
longer practical for organizations that use project
management and horizontal work flow.
 The stage-gate process eventually evolved into life-
cycle phases.
Cont..
 Stages are groups of activities that can be performed
either in series or parallel based upon the magnitude of
the risks the project team can endure.
 The stages are managed by cross-functional teams.
 The gates are structured decision points at the end of
each stage. Good project management processes
usually have no more than six gates.
 With more than six gates, the project team focuses too
much attention on preparing for the gate reviews rather
than on the actual management of the project
Cont..
 Project management is used to manage the stages
between the gates, and can shorten the time
between the gates. This is a critical success factor if
the stage-gate process is to be used for the
development and launch of new products.
 A good corporate methodology for project
management will provide checklists, forms, and
guidelines to make sure that critical steps are not
omitted.
Cont..
 Checklists for gate reviews are critical. Without
these checklists, project managers can waste hours
preparing gate review reports. Good checklists
focus on answering these questions:
 Where are we today (i.e., time and cost)?
 Where will we end up (i.e., time and cost)?

 What are the present and future risks?

 What assistance is needed from management?

 Cont..
 The gatekeepers are authorized to evaluate the
performance to date against predetermined criteria
and to provide the project team with additional
business and technical information.
 Gatekeepers must be willing to make decisions. The
four most common decisions are:
 Proceed to the next gate based upon the original objectives
 Proceed to the next gate based upon revised objectives
 Delay making a gate decision until further information is
obtained
 Cancel the project
Cont.
 sponsors must also have the courage to terminate a
project. The purpose of the gates is not only to obtain
authorization to proceed, but to identify failure early
enough so that resources will not be wasted but will be
assigned to more promising activities.
 the three major benefits of the stage-gate process:
 Providing structure to project management
 Providing possible standardization in planning, scheduling,
and control (i.e., forms, checklists, and guidelines)
 Allowing for a structured decision-making process
Cont..
 Today, the stage-gate process appears to have been
replaced by life-cycle phases.
 Since the stage-gate process focuses on decision-making
more than life-cycle phases, the stage- gate process is
being used as an internal, decision-making tool within
each of the life- cycle phases.
 The advantage is that, while life-cycle phases are the
same for every project, the stage-gate process can be
custom-designed for each project to facilitate decision-
making and risk management.
 The stage-gate process is now an integral part of
project management, whereas previously it was used
primarily for new product development efforts.
 Project Life Cycles
 Every program, project, or product has certain phases of
development known as life-cycle phases.
 A clear understanding of these phases permits managers
and executives to better control resources to achieve goals.
 During the past few years, there has been at least partial
agreement about the life-cycle phases of a product. They
include:
 Research and development
 Market introduction
 Growth
 Maturity
 Deterioration
 Death
 Cont..
 Today, there is no agreement among industries, or even
companies within the same industry, about the life-cycle
phases of a project. This is understandable because of
the complex nature and diversity of projects.
 The theoretical definitions of the life-cycle phases of a
system can be applied to a project. These phases include:
 Conceptual
 Planning

 Testing

 Implementation

 Closure
Conceptual

 The conceptual phase, includes the preliminary

evaluation of an idea.
 Most important in this phase is a preliminary
analysis of risk and the resulting impact on the time,
cost, and performance requirements, together with
the potential impact on company resources.
 The conceptual phase also includes a “first cut” at
the feasibility of the effort.
Planning

 It is mainly a refinement of the elements in the

conceptual phase and requires a firm identification of
the resources required and the establishment of realistic
time, cost, and performance parameters.
 This phase also includes the initial preparation of
documentation necessary to support the system.
 For a project based on competitive bidding, the
conceptual phase would include the decision of whether
to bid, and the planning phase would include the
development of the total bid package (i.e., time,
schedule, cost, and performance).
 Cont..

Testing
The third phase testing is predominantly a testing and final
standardization effort so that operations can begin. Almost all
documentation must be completed in this phase.
Implementation
The fourth phase is the implementation phase, which
integrates the project’s product or services into the existing
organization. If the project was developed for establishment of a
marketable product, then this phase could include the product life-
cycle phases of market introduction, growth, maturity, and a portion
of deterioration.
Closure

 The final phase is closure and includes the reallocation

of resources. Consider a company that sells products to
consumers.
 As one product begins the deterioration and death
phases of its life cycle (i.e., the divestment phase of a
system), new products or projects must be established.
 Such a company would, therefore, require a continuous
stream of projects to survive. As projects A and B begin
their decline, new efforts (project C) must be developed
for resource reallocation.
 Cont..

The closure phase evaluates

the efforts of the total
system and serves as input
to the conceptual phases for
new projects and systems.
This final phase also has an
impact on other ongoing
projects with regard to
identifying priorities.
LIFE-CYCLE PHASE DEFINITIONS
Cont..
 More companies are preparing procedural manuals
for project management and for structuring work
using life-cycle phases. There are several reasons
for this trend:
 Clear delineation of the work to be accomplished in each
phase may be possible.
 Pricing and estimating may be easier if well-structured work
definitions exist.
 Key decision points exist at the end of each life-cycle phase
so that incremental funding is possible
Project life cycle
Product vs Project management
 Product management:
 Product management is an organizational function that
guides every step of a product’s lifecycle: from
development, to positioning and pricing, by focusing on the
product and its customers first and foremost.
 To build the best possible product, product managers
advocate for customers within the organization and make
sure the voice of the market is heard and heeded
Cont..
 Project Management:
 Project management is the use of specific knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value
to people.
 Project management is the process of leading the work
of a team to achieve all project goals within the given
constraints. This information is usually described in
project documentation, created at the beginning of the
development process. The primary constraints are
scope, time, budget.
GATE REVIEW MEETINGS
 Gate review meetings are a form of project closure.
Gate review meetings could result in the closure of
a life-cycle phase or the closure of the entire
project.
 Gate review meetings must be planned for, and this
includes the gathering, analysis, and dissemination
of pertinent information.
 This can be done effectively with the use of forms,
templates, and checklists.
Cont..
 There are two forms of closure pertinent to gate
review meetings:
 Contractual closure
 Administrative closure.

 Contractual closure
 isthe verification and signoff that all deliverables
required for this phase have been completed and all
action items have been fulfilled. Contractual closure is
the responsibility of both the project manager and the
contract administrator.
Cont..
 Administrative closure.
 Administrative closure is the updating of all pertinent
records required for both the customer and the
contractor.
 Customers are particularly interested in documentation
on any as-built or as-installed changes or deviations
from the specifications. Also required is an archived
trail of all scope changes agreed to during the life of
the project.
 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES

 Achieving project management

excellence, or maturity, is more
likely with a repetitive process
that can be used on each and
every project. This repetitive
process is referred to as the
project management methodology
 Good methodologies integrate
other processes into the project
management methodology,

Integrated processes for the twenty-first century

 Cont..
 Project Management: The basic principles of planning,
scheduling, and controlling work
 Total Quality Management: The process of ensuring that the
end result will meet the quality expectations of the customer
 Concurrent Engineering: The process of performing work in
parallel rather than series in order to compress the schedule
without incurring serious risks
 Change management: The process of controlling the
configuration of the end result such that value added is
provided to the customer
 Risk Management: The process of identifying, quantifying, and
responding to the risks of the project without any material
impact on the project’s objectives
Integrated processes (past, present, and future)
 Cont..
 The characteristics of a good methodology based upon
integrated processes include:
 A recommended level of detail
 Use of templates
 Standardized planning, scheduling, and cost control techniques
 Standardized reporting format for both in-house and customer use
 Flexibility for application to all projects
 Flexibility for rapid improvements
 Easy for the customer to understand and follow
 Readily accepted and used throughout the entire company
 Use of standardized life-cycle phases (which can overlap) and end of
phase reviews
 Based upon guidelines rather than policies and procedures
 Based upon a good work ethic
Next week

 Organizational structures