0. project management framework (fundamentals)

By: Mohamed Salah ElDien Mohamed Aly, MSc, PMP®, DIT, MCAD

Project Management Framework (Fundamentals)

You are guaranteed to get at least 5 questions from this section. Following are important topics you need to cover in this section

Definitions of Project and Project Management Project

“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates a definite beginning and end.”,

PMBOK Guide, 4th edition, 2008.

- Temporary does not necessarily mean short in duration.

- Temporary does not generally apply to the product, service, or result created by the project.

- Progressive Elaboration is one of the main characteristics of the project.

Project Specifications;

- A project is different from day-to-day business and it has a specific Start date and

End date.

- The ongoing work effort is generally a repetitive process because it follows an

organization’s existing procedures and that’s why Project is different from

operations and maintenance...etc.

- A project creates a unique product, service, or result, although repetitive

elements may be present in it.

- Because of the unique nature of projects, there may be uncertainties about the

products, services, or results that the project creates.

- The end is reached when:

The stakeholders expectations are met or exceeded, or

The project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met, or the project is terminated because the need for it no longer exists.

- To determine if some activity is a project or not, ask the questions:

Is it unique? Does the project have a limited time frame? Is there a way to determine when the project is completed? Is there a way to determine stakeholder satisfaction?


Project Stakeholders

- Stakeholders are those people or organizations with a vested interest in the

project. They have something to either gain or lose as a result of the project.

- Stakeholders often have very different or conflicting objectives.

- Key stakeholders should be identified and contacted early on to get their input

for the project overview, goals, and deliverables

- Forgetting an important stakeholder could be a project killer.

- The project sponsor, generally an executive in the organization with the

authority to assign resources and enforce decisions regarding the project. He is a

stakeholder.

- The customer is a stakeholder as are contractors and suppliers.

- The project manager and the managers from other departments in the

organization are stakeholders as well.

Cost, Risk and uncertainty vs. Time


Project Management

“The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to describe, organizes, execute, and monitor the work of project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder requirements from a project.”

Managing a project typically includes:

- Identifying requirements,

- Addressing the various needs, concerns, and expectations of the stakeholders as

the project is planned and carried out, then, managing various constraints to

accomplish objectives.

- Balancing the competing project constraints including, but not limited to:

Scope,

Quality,

Schedule,

Budget,

Resources, and

Risk.

- To manage Projects effectively those constraints should be divided into Phases

and smallest possible sub phases. This iterative process should go up to the level

where further division creates confusion rather than helping the project. In

database terminology we call this as "Atomic level”.

- PMI defined 42 project management processes / Atomic processes to handle all

aspects of a project life.

- PMBOK guide defines Knowledge Areas for the Project Managers. Managers will

use these skills (Knowledge) to work on given INPUTS using TOOLS to produce

OUTPUTS. Those are;

1. Project Integration Management

2. Project Scope Management

3. Project Time Management

4. Project Cost Management

5. Project Quality Management

6. Project Human Resource Management

7. Project Communications Management


8. Project Risk Management.

9. Project Procurement Management

PM processes apply to the 5 phases of a project life:

1. Initiating,

2. Planning,

3. Executing,

4. Monitoring and Controlling, and

5. Closing.

Project, Program and Portfolio

- A program is defined as a group of related projects managed in a coordinated

way to obtain benefits and control which not available from managing them

individually. A project may or may not be part of a program but a program will

always have projects.

- A portfolio refers to a collection of projects or programs and other work that are

grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet

strategic business objectives. The projects or programs of the portfolio may not

necessarily be interdependent or directly related

Project Management Office (PMO)

- A project management office (PMO) is an organizational body or entity assigned

various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management

of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of a PMO can range from

providing project management support functions to actually being responsible

for the direct management of a project.

- A primary function of a PMO is to support project managers in a variety of ways

which may include, but are not limited to:

Identifying and developing project management methodology, best practices, and standards;

Developing and managing project policies, procedures, templates, and other shared documentation (organizational process assets);

Coaching, monitoring, training, and oversight;

Monitoring compliance with project management standards, policies, procedures, and templates via project audits;

Managing shared resources across all projects administered by the PMO; and


Coordinating communication across projects.

Project Manager’s Role

- Project managers are assigned by the performing organization to achieve the project objectives.

- Project manager is in charge of all aspects of the project including, but not limited to:

Developing the project management plan and all related component plans,

Keeping the project on track in terms of schedule and budget,

Identifying, monitoring, and responding to risk, and

Providing accurate and timely reporting of project metrics. - The project manager is the lead person responsible for communicating with all

stakeholders, particularly the project sponsor, project team, and other key stakeholders.

Good Project Manager’s Skills

- Communication skills

- Organizational and Planning Skills

- Budgeting Skills

- Problem Solving and Decision making

- Negotiating and Influencing

- Leadership Skills

- Team Building and Human Resources


Project Triple-Constraint

Project Organizational Structure

- Organizational Structures; project organizations need to have a structure to deliver

undertaken project.

- There are 3 major types of organizations:

Functional Organizations

Projectized Organizations

Matrix Organizations Weak Matrix organizations

Strong Matrix organizations

Balanced Matrix organizations

- Variations and combinations may exist.

- The level of authority the project manager enjoys is denoted by the organizational structure.

1. Functional Organization;

- Organizations is centered on specialties and grouped by function.

- Each department will do its project work independent of others.

- Each employee reports to only one manager.

- It is important to know and respect the chain of command.

- Project managers have little to no formal authority.


- Good communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills on the part of the

project manager are required to bring about a successful project under this

structure.


2. Projectized Organization

- Projectized organizations are nearly the opposite of functional organizations. It

aims to develop loyalty to the project, not to a functional manager.

- The focus of this type of organization is the project itself.

- Most of the organization’s resources are involved in project work,

- Team members are often co-located,

- Project managers have a great deal of independence and authority.


3. Matrix Organization

- Matrix organizations are a blend of functional and projectized characteristics.

- Weak matrix maintains many of the characteristics of a functional organization,

and the project manager role is more of a coordinator or expediter than that of a

true project manager.

- Strong matrix has many of the characteristics of the projectized organization,

and can have full-time project managers with considerable authority and full-

time project administrative staff.

- Balanced matrix organization recognizes the need for a project manager; it does

not provide the project manager with the full authority over the project and

project funding.

- Employees in a matrix organization report to one functional manager and at

least one project manager.

- It’s possible that employees could report to multiple project managers if they are

working on multiple projects at one time.

- Functional managers pick up the administrative portion of the duties and assign

employees to projects. They also monitor the work of their employees on the

various projects.

- Project managers are responsible for executing the project and giving out work

assignments based on project activities.

- Project managers and functional managers share the responsibility of

performance reviews for the employee.

Strong Matrix Organization

- The project managers have a great power.

- They have the ability to strong-arm the functional managers into giving up their

best resources for projects.

- When competing for resources, project managers may negotiate resources

among each other.


- Functional Manager handles only the administrative aspect of his employees’

life.

Weak Matrix Organization

- The functional managers have all the power in this structure.

- Project managers are really project coordinators or expeditors with part-time

responsibilities on projects in a weak matrix organization.

- Project managers have little to no authority, just like in the functional

organization.

- On the other hand, the functional managers have a lot of authority and make all

the work assignments. The project manager simply expedites the project.


Organizational Structure


Project Management vs. Organization

Project Expediter, Coordinator, Manager

- Depending on the type of Organization, the project manager’s role and power

can be very limited

- Project Expediter

Acts primarily as a staff assistant

As communications coordinator.

Cannot personally make or enforce decisions. - Project Coordinator

has some power to make decisions

Has some authority

reports to a higher-level manager

Organizational Process Assets

- Processes & Procedures;

Organizational standard processes such as standards, policies


Standardized guidelines, work instruction, proposal evaluation criteria,

and performance measurement criteria

Templates

Financial control procedures

Procedures for prioritizing, approving, and issuing work authorization

Etc.

- Corporate Knowledge Base;

Process measurement databases

Project files

Historical information & lesson learned knowledge bases

Issue and defect management databases

Configuration management knowledge bases

Financial databases

Etc.

Keynotes;

- Be able to describe the difference between projects and operations. A project is temporary in nature with a definite beginning and ending date. Operations are ongoing.

- Be able to denote some of the skills every good project manager should possess. Communication, budgeting, organizational, problem solving, negotiation and influencing, leading, and team building.

- Be able to differentiate the different organizational structures. Organizations are usually structured in some combination of the following: functional, projectized, and matrix (including weak matrix, balanced matrix, and strong matrix).

- Be able to name the five project management processes. Initiation, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing.


Note:

1. A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a pre-specified product, result, or service. Each process is characterized by its inputs, the tools and techniques that can be applied, and the resulting outputs.

2. To successfully deliver project, team needs to consider "Project related

Processes" and "Product Related Process". Always remember - Product is the output that project produces and Project is work that needs to be done to produce the Product. PMBOK Guide 4th Edition considers Project related processes only.

Triple Constraints: - Time, Cost, Scope are initially known as Triple constraints. This means that, if one

of these constraints has been changed the other two constraints will be directly impacted. Project Management methodology is evolving Quality and Risk were also added to those constraints.

PMBOK 4th Edition: Process Chart-

Initiation Planning Executing

Monitoring and Controlling

Closing

Integration

1.1 Develop- Project Charter

1.2 Develop Project Management Plan

1.3 Direct & Manage Project Execution

1.4 Monitor & Control Project Work 4.5 Perform Integrated Change Control

1.6 Close Project or Phase

Scope

2.1 Collect Requirements 2.2 Define Scope 2.3 Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

2.4 Verify Scope 2.5 Control Scope

Time

3.1 Define Activities 3.2 Sequence Activities 3.3 Estimate Activity Resources 3.4 Estimate Activity Durations 3.5 Develop Schedule

3.6 Control Schedule


Cost 4.1 Estimate Costs 4.2 Determine Budget

4.3 Control Costs

Quality 5.1 Plan Quality 5.2 Perform Quality Assurance

5.3 Perform Quality Control

HR 6.1 Develop Human Resources Plan

6.2 Acquire Project Team 6.3 Develop Project Team 6.4 Manage Project Team

Communi- cations

7.1 Identify Stakeholders

7.2 Plan Communications

7.3 Distribute Information 7.4 Manage Stakeholder

Expectations

7.5 Report Performance

Risk

8.1 Plan Risk Management 8.2 Identify Risks 8.3 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis 8.4 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis 8.5 Plan Risk Responses

8.6 Monitor and Control Risks

Procurement 9.1 Plan Procurements 9.2 Conduct Procurements

9.3 Administer Procurements

9.4 Close Procurements

0. project management framework (fundamentals)

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