Project Management
Project Management
Some fundamentals 1
Building on a sound BASE 2
Virtual structures 3
Balancing the role - Adair's model 3
Project initiation 8
Identifying and managing risk 9
Project definition 12
Planning 13
The activity planning process 14
Deliverable breakdown structure 15
Planning tools 16
Network diagrams 17
The critical path 18
Gantt charts 19
Estimating 20
Implementation 21
Change control 21
Milestone management 23
Reviewing 24
Chairing an effective review meeting 25
Participating in effective meetings 25
Project closure 27
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Contents |
Some fundamentals
What is a project?
Not everything in life is a project; some things are processes. But if we can recognise those
things that are projects, we can apply a project approach, and thereby maximise our chances of
success.
How do we define a project? Typically, it is something that has most, if not all, of the following
characteristics:
An identifiable deliverable
Boundaries of time, cost and quality
A finite timescale – a start and a finish
A one-off finite existence
Involvement of several people, often on an ad-hoc basis
A limited set of resources
Delivers business benefits to the organisation
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Building on a sound BASE
Time
B
S
B A S E
E Cost Quality
Ensure that you have a solid BASE before you accept responsibility for the project.
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Virtual structures
The ‘ideal’
Stakeholders, Sponsor
Project Board Steering Committee
Team Member * Team Member * Team Member * Team Member * Team Member * Visible Project Team
‘Invisible’ Team
A B C D (departmental staff)
The success of a project frequently depends upon the ability of the Project Manager to play a full
part in the two groups that they are linked with - The Project Board and the Project Team. The
Project Manager has a core responsibility to represent the work of each one to the other - and
ensure that there are no surprises either way!
Some issues
Senior Manager
Other
Project Manager
Line Managers
In virtual teams, the project manager may have some people dedicated to the project, but will
also frequently have to work through indirect team members who report to their own line
manager. In this case, the project manager may have to work through influence and persuasion
rather than direct control.
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In virtually every management situation there are three basic elements:
Area of Maximum
Performance
Task
Team Individuals
Often these needs are in conflict. The temptation sometimes is to let the short term needs of
one element overshadow the others, but often this produces a backlash later which disrupts all
three elements.
The effective project manager will keep the three elements in mind at all times, especially when
planning, and will assess the priorities for each situation and act accordingly.
The three needs will seldom coincide, but having them overlapping as much as possible will
produce better results from the team.
In fact, the effectiveness of the project manager is judged by the extent to which each individual
knows their part in the team to deliver the activity.
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Keeping the balance
The project manager will need to carry out activities in each of the three areas.
Task activities
B A S E
accountabilities
Checking performance against plan
Change control
Risk management
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The project process
Initiation
Time
Risk Analysis
Definition
Planning
Change
Control Implementation
Closure
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Feasibility study
In certain situations a feasibility study may be required to investigate a problem or an idea and
propose one or a selection of options as the way forward. Current thinking dictates that this is
handled as a separate project. The outcome of the feasibility project would be used to drive a
second project.
At this stage the expenditure has been low, and a formal assessment will enable the project to
be properly resourced or aborted, depending on just how viable the solution is.
The feasibility study examines three key criteria:
Strategic – does the proposed project fit with company or departmental goals?
Commercial – is the project financially viable?
Technical – is the proposed solution technically feasible?
If the answer to any of these questions is unsatisfactory, there is a chance to terminate the
project before any appreciable costs have been incurred.
The minimum outcome of any feasibility project will be:
Initial business case
Outline scope
Risk assessment
Outline project plan
These documents would be used as input to a second project that will deliver the solution.
A feasibility study process would include:
Problem definition
Investigation stage
Creation of options
Recommendations
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Project initiation
Introduction
Project Initiation is the first phase of the project process and ensures that the pre-requisites for
starting a project are in place. The phase expects that a certain amount of high-level work would
be completed. This would be:
Initial business case
Outline scope
Risk assessment
Outline project plan
The two major outputs from this phase are the Project Organisation Structure (POS) and the
outline Project Definition Document (PDD).
The POS is based on the three level model described in the previous section. This can easily be
created as an organagram and circulated to all new project team members.
The PDD is a key Project Management document as it describes why we are doing the project
and what needs to be delivered. Suggested sections are as follows:
Introduction and background to the project
Outline business case
Project boundaries
The objectives and scope - what is to be done
Outline project deliverables
What is excluded from the project
Known Constraints
Evaluation of success criteria
RAIDC Spreadsheet (Risks, Actions, Issues, Decisions and Changes)
Any customer quality requirements
Outline plan
There may well be industry sector specific sections that are added to the Project Definition
Document that come under the following headings:
Health and Safety
Environmental
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Identifying and managing risk
Risk is any threat or potential occurrence which may prevent the project from achieving its
business objectives. It may affect time, cost or quality. All projects face risk to some extent, but
clearly risk will vary from project to project.
Risk should be addressed as early in the project as possible. This should be done in a systematic
way and then managed through the life of the project. We would recommend the compilation
of a risk log that is monitored regularly throughout the project. Two types of risk are always
present in almost all projects
Project risk – associated with the technical aspects of the work to achieve the desired project
outcomes.
Process risk – associated with the project process, procedures, tools and techniques used,
communication, stakeholders and team performance.
Any risk that occurs then becomes a project issue, and must be dealt with appropriately.
High
Medium High Critical
Probability
Increasing
Low
Insignificant Low Medium
Low High
Increasing Impact
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Critical – is likely to have a catastrophic affect on the project schedule/costs and is likely to
affect project milestones especially the project end-date. Actions must be put in place to deal
with these and must be monitored regularly and carefully. The affect on the project may be
terminal.
High – is likely to have a major impact on the project schedule/costs and is likely to affect
project milestones. Actions must be put in place to deal with these and must be monitored
regularly and carefully.
Medium – is likely to have a significant impact on the project but is not expected to impact on
the achievement of project milestones. To be reviewed regularly at project review meetings etc.
Low – not expected to have any serious impact on the project. Review regularly for category and
monitor.
Insignificant – has very little or no impact on the project.
Take action
When dealing with risk you may need to address both the cause of the risk and the effect it
has on the project depending upon its seriousness and impact on the project.
The actions taken can be described in 5 categories. The acronym RATPC describes the
categories:
Reduce: the action plans in place either reduce the impact, the probability or both.
Accept: let the risk happen, because the impact and the probability are both acceptable.
Transfer: the risk is transferred to a third party.
Prevent: remove the risk so that there is no likelihood of it occurring or that there is no
impact.
Contingency: a set of actions in place to that are set to happen if the risk occurs.
Ignoring the risk is not an option!
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Documenting risk – the risk log
The risk log provides a repository for all information concerning individual risks. The log lists all
the risks identified during the project and subsequently should be monitored and updated on a
regular basis.
A risk log would contain some or all of the following information:
Risk Number: a unique identifier
Description of Risk
Probability: probability of the risk occurring
Impact: impact on the project if the risk occurs
Category (RATPC)
Timing: identifies when the project risk is likely to occur
Triggers: identifies those events that will indicate that the risk is about to happen
Proposed Actions: actions in place to deal with the risk
Risk Owner: owner of the risk
Current Status: status i.e. live, increasing, reducing, dead.
Contingency
Contingency is included in a project to take into account the unexpected – unidentified risks.
Contingency often takes the form of a pot of money or time that is set to one side in case it is
required.
The contingency provision is typically under the control of the Project Manager but agreed with
the Project Board. The Project Manager authorises the use of the contingency resource used by
the project team. The contingency should be clearly shown on the project plan, where it is
needed.
The amount of contingency required should reflect the degree of risk associated
with an activity, a group of activities or achieving a milestone.
Some typical contingency values might be:
Zero risk = zero contingency
Low = 5 – 7%
Medium = 10 – 15%
High = 15 – 25%
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Project definition
Project Definition phase is where the Project Manager and Project Board confirm their
understanding of:
Why the project needs to be completed
What has to be achieved
This will take the form of a written “contract” between the Project Board and the Project
Manager.
The output will be an enhanced Business case and Project Definition Document (PDD).
The Business Case will contain updated reasons for “Why the project needs to be completed”
including financial information if appropriate.
The PDD will contain the following elements:
Introduction and background to the project
Final business case
Project boundaries
The final objectives and final scope - what is to be done
Final project deliverables
What is excluded from the project
Known Constraints
Evaluation of success criteria
RAIDC Spreadsheet (Risk, Actions, Issues, Decisions and Changes)
Any customer quality requirements
Project plan.
Although the term final is used there is no implication of “no changes”. Any changes to these
documents must be changed in a controlled way. See change control.
During the Initiation phase there will be a danger of information overload, therefore this phase
will be a series of iterations and will involve the Project Manager having regular review meetings
with the Project Board and team members.
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Planning
Introduction to planning
Planning is the most important step in the whole project. It is vital that this phase is done well.
A plan is the backbone of every project; it is one of the key documents that cover all aspects of
the project. Planning is a process that enables the Project Manager and their team to:
To define clearly what deliverables are required
Provide activity plans on how the deliverables will be delivered
Provide resources for the required activities
To think ahead and predict risks and issues
Monitor progress against plan
It is important that your plan is a robust one, but it must be “fit for purpose” so that team
members of the project team use it to execute, monitor and control the project.
There may up to three levels of plans within a project:
A Project Plan that illustrates the overall project
A Milestone Plan that details the work required to deliver the next deliverable or achieve the
next milestone
Team Plans that are for the individual teams within the project team
The ability to plan in a flexible and creative manner is the key to achieving substantial gains in
performance and control over time. The greater the number of activities which need to mesh,
the greater the need for effective planning
Planning need not be onerous or restricting. Indeed, it must be flexible to be successful. Plan
and control what you can, and allow time to handle the unexpected.
Principles of planning
A plan will always change
A plan is only as good as the information available at that point in time
The plan is nothing – planning is everything
A plan is only as good as the identified assumptions attached
It’s wise to plan, but foolish to look further than you can see.
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The activity planning process
Use a random
brainstorming technique to
List all the Activities collect ideas, then evaluate
whether or not they are
required
Based on appropriate
Add Time Estimates resources
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Deliverable breakdown structure
This is designed to identify the components that make up the project deliverables. It does not
show how much work is involved, or who will do the work, but it is an important checklist of all
that has to be done.
If the project deliverable is building of a new shed, the DBS might look something like:
New shed
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Planning tools
As can be seen, both Gantt charts and network diagrams have their place in planning. In reality,
with the increasing use and sophistication of software tools, Gantt charts do show logic, and
network diagrams are plotted against a calendar time. But if the software does not allow this,
we need both.
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Network diagrams
Method of potentials
There are two main parts to a diagram, the box and the line. The box represents the activity and
all its relevant information and the line links the boxes to show the flow of the logic. The flow is
from left to right. To describe an activity we draw a box with a number of compartments. A
simplified form of the notation is shown below:
Activity Activity
Activ
Name ity
Number
Total
Duration
Float
Earliest start time (EST) : The earliest time the activity can start
Latest start time (LST) : The latest time the activity can start
Activity description : The name given to the activity
Activity duration (D) : Estimate of how long the activity will take
Activity number: Unique number for the activity, i.e. 100 or 200. They are used for
reference purposes so that an activity can be described without ambiguity
Total Float (F): The total amount of time by which an activity may be delayed or extended
without affecting the end date of the project.
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The critical path
5 5 12 12 15 15
G H I
7 0 3 0 5 0
0 0 0 0 1 1 5 12 7 14 12 19 20 20
Start A B L M O Finish
0 0 11 0 14 0 2 7 5 7 1 7 0 0
We have included a start and end activities that act as milestones. They are particularly useful
for merging paths at the end of the project.
Being able to identify the critical path - and then anticipating any problems with it - is the secret
of meeting timescales.
Some definitions of the critical path are:
The path of zero float or slack
The path where LST = EST
The sequence of activities which determines the total time for a project
The longest sequence of irreducible activities
The critical path of the above diagram is activity start, A, B, G, H, I, Finish.
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Gantt charts
Gantt charts are very useful and effective tools for controlling projects, spotting deviations and
problems, sharing information with the team and reporting progress.
In principle they are simple to construct and can capture a great deal of information about the
project plan. A Gantt chart gives a very effective overview and perspective of the whole project
and enables everyone to see the dependencies and sequence of activities.
A Gantt chart has three basic parts:
A timeline
Activity breakdown
A Gantt for each activity, the length of which represents the time estimated as necessary for
the activity
A Gantt chart may also be used to schedule resources, such as personnel, equipment or budget.
This can help avoid over-scheduling of people or equipment, particularly where these may be
employed on a number of projects.
A typical top level chart may look something like this:
Initiation
Definition
Planning
Implementation
Close-out
Although it is possible to show dependencies on a Gantt chart, this can become complicated,
and a network diagram is a better tool to use. Identifying the dependencies, then controlling
and managing them successfully is critical to project success.
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Estimating
By their nature projects are very difficult to estimate. There is often uniqueness about them. If
the actual time and cost do coincide with the original estimates, it is often more by luck than
judgement. But a rough estimate is infinitely better than no estimate at all, because it provides
something to work towards and encourages motivation.
In practice, changes in the composition of the project team or enlargement of the project scope
can quickly invalidate the estimate, but it is nevertheless vital to have something to work from.
Why estimate?
It provides a basis for control, so that actual progress can be monitored
It gives focus and motivation to the project team
It enables resourcing requirements to be assessed at functional and departmental levels
Early estimates enable the overall viability of the project to be assessed
Without estimates, it is difficult to see when the project is going out of control on either time
or cost.
Rules of estimating
Be absolutely sure you understand what work is involved before estimating.
Involve other members of the team. Two heads are better than one.
Use historical data where it is available.
Be pessimistic rather than optimistic.
Narrow down the estimates as the project progresses.
Contingency should reflect the degree of risk.
to+3tm+2tp
te =
6
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Implementation
Managing progress
Once a project is under way there is still a lot you can do to ensure that the project delivers.
Monitoring progress is the process of measuring whether activities conform to the project plan.
To manage and monitor the progress:
Monitor the start and end times of activities and what they have delivered. Always speak to
the person responsible for the work. Talk in terms of “time spent so far and “time to
complete”.
Avoid unnecessary scope creep (see change control)
Regularly review plans against risks Monitor the critical path
Keep the Project board and other stakeholders informed
Keep the team informed
Reporting
Project managers need reporting systems that are time-sensitive and communicate the project's
current and future positions to the project board, the direct team and the indirect team.
Change control
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Introduction
Changes to scope will happen during the life of the project, they should not be unexpected.
When changes occur, they usually fall into one of two categories. Either they are raised by the
customer or by the project team. There are three important questions that need to be answered
before the change is actioned:
Who pays for the change and do they agree to pay?
What is the timescale of the change?
What is the impact of the change on the end date of the project?
The answer to these questions will determine whether the change goes ahead or not. The
change to scope can only be agreed by the Project Board.
The important point to remember is that the change must be processed in a controlled way.
The main rule is that every project must have a change control process which must be used.
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Milestone management
Each Gantt on the Gantt chart should have some kind of deliverable or milestone that tells you
whether or not you have completed that activity.
The project manager will need to keep a sharp eye on these milestones to ensure that the
project is not going off track.
The stakeholders, too, will want to feel assured that things are progressing according to plan,
but they are unlikely to want to see a regular Gantt chart. Instead, they may require some kind of
simplified table that will enable them to stay in the picture, and alert them if things need
attention.
The format of this will be a cultural thing in line with the style of management and the type of
organisation, but a simple milestone management document will have some core information
along the lines of the example below.
Activity
Number What When Who Dependencies Status
Green; project on track to deliver next milestone and project end date
Orange; next project on track to miss next milestone but to deliver project end date
Red; project on track to miss next milestone and miss project end date
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Reviewing
Introduction
Although the project manager should review progress on a daily basis, it is important to hold
formal reviews with the team. These can take the form of 15 minute one-to-one’s through to
formal meetings with the project board.
Review meetings
Review meetings are an important part of the communication process. The purpose of the
review is to examine whether the process is working, as well as checking progress on the
activity. The former aspect is often omitted, to everyone’s cost.
Reviewing before implementation enables everyone to be clear on their role and the deliverables
before getting too far into the project. Review during implementation gives an opportunity to
check progress and process. What’s going well? What’s going badly?
The project board may request monthly meetings to review the progress of the project so far.
The meetings should follow a pre-determined agenda.
Never treat review meetings lightly. Team motivation and morale can suffer through not
knowing what's going on, so be wary of cancellation without good cause. All types of review
meetings can be moved rather than clash with project milestones.
Typical process elements for review may include:
How appropriate are the project plan and budget?
How appropriate is the strategy for achieving the project objectives?
How suitable are the project structure and reporting relationships for the activity?
How clearly defined are the project roles and responsibilities?
How effective are the IT systems in helping the project team?
How effective are the project communications and control procedures?
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Chairing an effective review meeting
Best practice
1. Be clear on the purpose and desired outcome, and build an agenda before the meeting.
Short meetings with limited number of agenda items for discussion are better.
3. Establish timings and stick to them. Clarify any rules about the leadership of the meeting,
speaking time, etc. Handle the rules consistently, impartially, firmly and diplomatically.
4. Define the subjects for discussion and request concise, relevant comments.
5. Always explain why a subject is being taken up for discussion; whether to inform, gather
points of view, develop ideas, solve problems or reach a decision. Not all matters justify
discussion; some can be taken for information only.
6. Encourage everyone to contribute. Allocate each participant a turn to speak in the order
that they can make their requests.
7. Stop repetition.
10. Make sure that everyone has understood the conclusions properly, and that they are clear to
the person taking the minutes or actions.
12. If the meeting lasts more than one hour, have a break.
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Best practice
1. Ensure that you turn up on time.
4. If you are asked to give a presentation, find out what is expected of you and for how long
you are expected to speak.
5. Start by thinking what you want to achieve and what you want to say.
8. Make notes on your actions, be clear that you understand what you have to do and by
when.
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Project closure
One of the key definitions of a project is its finite timescale. If the start and end become vague
the project and the techniques used can lose their effectiveness over operational management.
A clear end stops the project from drifting into operational use and is recognition that the
project is complete.
Customer acceptance
Ensure that the acceptance criteria have been met and receive the customer’s acceptance of
this.
Ensure that processes and procedures are in place for support of the deliverables
Identify any follow up actions
Project audit
A project audit is different from a post project review in that it takes place at least a year after
the completion of a project and is usually associated with larger projects. Project audits examine
whether the project has achieved the goals and objectives that were set out in the project
definition. These areas include:
Technical performance
Financial return in comparison with the original business case for starting the project.
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