Project

Management
DR. AMR EL-BARADIE
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Course Objectives

u Provide an advanced socio-technical perspective to the

management of projects.
u Provide an insight on key aspects and challenges of Project
Management (PM).
u Emphasize the tools that improve the ability to plan, implement
and manage projects during their entire life cycle, from scoping
the project until its closure, including the methodologies of
estimating time and costs for completion and the
measurement of progress and performance.
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Course Outline

u Modern Project Management

u Organization Strategy and Project Selection
u Organization: Structure and Culture
u Defining the Project
u Estimating Project Times and Costs
u Developing a Project Plan
u Managing Risk
u Scheduling Resources and Costs
u Reducing Project Duration
u Progress and Performance Measurement and Evaluation
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Text Book

Project Management:
The Managerial Process

Erik W. Larson & Clifford F. Gray

Seventh Edition
McGraw-Hill – 2017
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Grades

u Assignments 15%
u Term Project 85%
100%
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Modern Project
Management
CHAPTER 1
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Learning Objectives

u Understand why project management is crucial in today’s

world.
u Distinguish a project from routine operations.
u Identify the different stages of project life cycle.
u Understand the importance of projects in implementing
organization strategy.
u Understand that managing projects involves balancing the
technical and sociocultural dimensions of the project.
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Chapter Outline

u Introduction
u What Is a Project?
u Current Drivers of Project Management
u Project Governance
u Project Management Today—A Socio-Technical Approach
u Assignment
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Introduction
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Introduction

All of mankind’s greatest accomplishments—from building the

great pyramids to discovering a cure for polio to putting a man on
the moon—began as a project.
u Project management provides people with a powerful set of
tools that improves their ability to plan, implement, and
manage activities to accomplish specific objectives.
u But project management is more than just a set of tools; it is a
results-oriented management style that places a premium on
building collaborative relationships among a diverse cast of
characters.
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What Is a
Project?
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What Is a Project?

u A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a

unique product, service, or result.
u Major Characteristics of a Project:
1. An established objective.
2. A defined life span with a beginning and an end.
3. Usually, the involvement of several departments and professionals.
4. Typically, doing something that has never been done before.
5. Specific time, cost, and performance requirements.
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What a Project Is Not

u Projects should not be confused with everyday work.

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Programs versus Projects

u A program is a group of related projects designed to

accomplish a common goal over an extended period of time.
u Each project within a program has a project manager.
u The major differences lie in scale and time span.
u Program management is the process of managing a group of
ongoing, interdependent, related projects in a coordinated
way to achieve strategic objectives.
u Example:
u Project: completion of a required course in project management.
u Program: completion of all courses required for a business major.
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Project Life Cycle
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The Project Manager

u Manages temporary, non-repetitive activities and frequently

acts independently of the formal organization.
u Marshals resources for the project.
u Is linked directly to the customer interface.
u Provides direction, coordination, and integration to the project
team.
u Is responsible for performance and success of the project.
u Must induce the right people at the right time to address the
right issues and make the right decisions.
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Being Part of a Project Team

u Most people’s first exposure to project management occurs while working

as part of a team assigned to complete a specific project.
u Sometimes this work is full-time, but in most cases, people work part-time on
one or more projects.
u They must learn how to juggle their day-to-day commitments with additional
project responsibilities.
u They may join a team with a long history of working together, in which case
roles and norms are firmly established.
u Alternatively, their team may consist of strangers from different departments
and organizations.
u As such, they endure the growing pains of a group evolving into a team.
u They need to be a positive force in helping the team coalesce into an
effective project team.
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Current Drivers
of Project
Management
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Current Drivers of Project
Management

u Compression of the Product Life Cycle

u Time to market for new products with short life cycles has become
increasingly important.
u Knowledge Explosion
u The growth in new knowledge has increased the complexity of
projects because projects encompass the latest advances.
u Triple Bottom Line (Planet, People, Profit)
u The threat of global warming has brought sustainable business
practices to the forefront.
u Businesses can no longer simply focus on maximizing profit to the
detriment of the environment and society.
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Current Drivers of Project
Management

u Increased Customer Focus

u Increased competition has placed a premium on customer satisfaction.
u Customers no longer simply settle for generic products and services.
u Small Projects Represent Big Problems
u The velocity of change required to remain competitive or simply keep
up has created an organizational climate in which hundreds of projects
are implemented concurrently.
u This climate has created a multi-project environment and a plethora of
new problems.
u Sharing and prioritizing resources across a portfolio of projects is a major
challenge for senior management.
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Project
Governance
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Project Governance

u Competing in a global market influenced by rapid change, innovation, and

time to market means organizations manage more and more projects.
u Some means for coordinating and managing projects in this changing
environment is needed.
u Centralization of project management processes and practices has been
the practical outcome.
u How do these organizations oversee the management of all these projects?
u How were these projects selected?
u How do they ensure performance measurement and accountability?
u How can project management continually improve?
u Centralization entails governance of all project processes and practices to
improve project management.
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Project Governance

u Governance is designed to improve project management in

the whole organization over the long haul.
u The rationale for integration of project management was to
provide senior management with:
u An overview of all project management activities;
u A big picture of how organizational resources are being used;
u An assessment of the risk their portfolio of projects represents;
u A rough metric for measuring the improvement of managing
projects relative to others in the industry; and
u Linkages of senior management with actual project execution
management.
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Project Governance

u Operationally, what does project management integration

mean?
u It necessitates combining all of the major dimensions of project
management under one umbrella.
u Governance means applying a set of knowledge, skills, tools,
and techniques to a collection of projects in order to move the
organization toward its strategic goals.
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Project Governance
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Project
Management
Today: A
Socio-
Technical
Approach
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Project Management Today: A
Socio-Technical Approach
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Assignment
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Assignment

u Case 1.1 – A Day in the Life (Page 20).

u Case 1.2 – The Hokies Lunch Group (Page 22).
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Thank You