Project Management

1
1 WHAT IS A PROJECT?
1.1 A project is any sort o p!anne" #n"erta$ing
All of us have been involved in projects, whether they be our personal projects or in business
and industry. Examples of typical projects are for example:
Personal projects:
obtain an MBA
write a report
plan a weddin
plant a arden
build a house extension
!ndustrial projects:
construct a buildin
provide a as supply to an industrial estate
build a motorway
desin a new car
Business projects:
develop a new course
develop a new course
develop a computer system
introduce a new product
prepare an annual report
set up a new office
Projects can be of any si"e and duration. #hey can be simple, li$e plannin a party, or
complex li$e launchin a space shuttle.
%enerally projects are made up of:
a defined beinnin,
multiple activities which are performed to a plan,
a defined end.
#herefore a project may be defined as a means of movin from a problem to a solution via a
series of planned activities.
A project is a means of movin from a problem to a solution via a series of planned
activities.
A project has a definite beinnin and end.
Projects consist of several activities.
#wo essential features are present in every project no matter how simple or complicated they
are. !n the first place, all projects must be planned out in advance if they are to be
successfully executed. &econdly, the execution of the project must be controlled to ensure
that the desired results are achieved.
'
Prepared by #omas &abol based on notes of (ohn Marsh, )niversity of *olverhampton, )+.
,n most projects it is possible to carry out multiple activities simultaneously. )sually it is
possible to perform several activities at the same time, however there will be activities which
cannot bein until a precedin activity has been completed. &uch relationships are referred
to as dependencies or precedencies, and when plannin a project it is important to establish
the order of precedence of dependent activities, and to establish those activities which can be
performed in parallel with other activities.
-eardless of the nature or si"e of your project a successful outcome can only be achieved
by usin sound project manaement techni.ues. #he most widely used and popular methods
of project manaement are %antt /harts, /ritical Path Method 0/PM1 and Proramme
Evaluation and -eview #echni.ue 0PE-#1. 2owever, it is important to remember that
projects are carried out by people, and the human aspects of project manaement are critical
for the project success.
1.% Termino!ogy an" &einitions
A project is an interrelated set of activities that has a definite startin and endin point and
results in the accomplishment of a uni.ue, often major outcome. 3Project manaement3 is,
therefore, the plannin and control of events that, toether, comprise the project. Project
manaement aims to ensure the effective use of resources and delivery of the project
objectives on time and within cost constraints.
An activity or tas$ is the smallest unit of wor$ effort within the project and consumes both
time and resources which are under the control of the project manaer. A project is a
se.uence of activities that has a definite start and finish, an identifiable oal and an interated
system of complex but interdependent relationships.
A schedule allocates resources to accomplish the activities within a timeframe. #he schedule
sets priorities, start times and finish times.
Project management is:
the adept use of techni.ues and s$ills 0hard and soft1 in plannin and controllin tas$s and
resources needed for the project, from both inside and outside of oranisation, to achieve
results.
#he purpose of project manaement is to achieve successful project completion with the
resources available. A successful project is one which:
has been finished on time
is within its cost budet
performs to a technical4performance standard which satisfies the end user.
1.' T(e Attri)#tes o S#ccess#! Project Management
#he effectiveness of project manaement is critical in assurin the success of any substantial
underta$in. Areas of responsibility for the project manaer include plannin, control and
implementation. A project should be initiated with a feasibility study, where a clear definition
of the oals and ultimate benefits need to be established. &enior manaers5 support for
projects is important so as to ensure authority and direction throuhout the project5s proress
and, also to ensure that the oals of the orani"ation are effectively achieved within this
process. #he particular form of support iven can influence the deree of resistance the
project encounters.
+nowlede, s$ills, oals and personalities are all factors that need to be considered within
project manaement. #he project manaer and his4her team should collectively possess the
necessary and re.uisite interpersonal and technical s$ills to facilitate control over the various
activities within the project.
#he staes of implementation must be articulated at the project plannin phase.
6isareatin the staes at its early point assists in the successful development of the project
by providin a number of milestones that need to be accomplished for completion. !n addition
to plannin, the control of the evolvin project is also prere.uisite to success. /ontrol
re.uires ade.uate monitorin and feedbac$ mechanisms by which senior and project manaers
can compare proress aainst initial projections at each stae of the project. Monitorin and
feedbac$ also enables the project manaer to anticipate problems 0e..: the $noc$7on effects of
late start or finish times1 and therefore ta$e pre7emptive corrective measures for the benefit of
the project overall.
Projects normally involve the introduction of a new system of some $ind and, in almost all
cases, new methods and ways of doin thins. #his impacts upon the wor$ of others: the
3users3. )ser consultation is an important factor in the success of projects and, indeed, the
deree of user involvement can influence the extent of support for the project or its
implementation plan. A essential .uality of the project manaer is that of bein a ood
communicator, not just within the project team itself, but with the rest of the orani"ation and
outside bodies as well 0the users may be internal or external1.
1.'.1 *eat#res o projects
Projects are often carried out by a team of people who have been assembled for that
specific purpose. #he activities of this team may be co7ordinated by a project manaer.
Project teams may consist of people from different bac$rounds and different parts of the
oranisation. !n some cases project teams may consist of people from different
oranisations.
Project teams may be inter7disciplinary roups and are li$ely to lie outside the normal
oranisation hierarchies.
#he project team will be responsible for delivery of the project end product to some
sponsor within or outside the oranisation. #he full benefit of any project will not
become available until the project as been completed.
!n recent years more and more activities have been tac$led on a project basis. Project teams
and a project manaement approach have become common in most oranisations. #he basic
approaches to project manaement remain the same reardless of the type of project bein
considered. 8ou may find it useful to consider projects in relation to a number of major
classifications:
a1 Engineering an" constr#ction
#he projects are concerned with producin a clear physical output, such as roads,
brides or buildins. #he re.uirements of a project team are well defined in terms of
s$ills and bac$round, as are the main procedures that have to be underone. Most of
the problems which may confront the project team are li$ely to have occurred before
and therefore their solution may be based upon past experiences.
b1 Intro"#ction o ne+ systems
#hese projects would include computerisation projects and the introduction of new
systems and procedures includin financial systems. #he nature and constitution of a
project team may vary with the subject of the project, as different s$ills may be re.uired
and different end7users may be involved. Major projects involvin a systems analysis
approach may incorporate clearly defined procedures within an oranisation.
c1 Respon"ing to "ea"!ines an" c(ange
An example of respondin to a deadline is the preparation of an annual report by a
specified date. An increasin number of projects are concerned with desinin
oranisational or environmental chanes, involvin developin new products and
services.
Acti,ity
/onsider this last cateory. /an you thin$ of any examples where your oranisation needs to
respond to chane and a project manaement approach may be valid9
1.- Responsi)i!ities o t(e Project Manager
'. #o plan thorouhly all aspects of the project, solicitin the active involvement of all
functional areas involved, in order to obtain and maintain a realistic plan that satisfies their
commitment for performance.
:. #o control the orani"ation of manpower needed by the project.
;. #o control the basic technical definition of the project, ensurin that 3technical3 versus
3cost3 trade7offs determine the specific areas where optimisation is necessary.
<. #o lead the people and orani"ations assined to the project at any iven point in time.
&tron positive leadership must be exercised in order to $eep the many disparate elements
movin in the same direction in a co7operative.
=. #o monitor performance, costs and efficiency of all elements of the project and the project
as a whole, exercisin judement and leadership in determinin the causes of problems and
facilitatin solutions.
>. #o complete the project on schedule and within costs, these bein the overall standard by
which performance of the project manaer is evaluated.
1.-.1 W(y "o projects go +rong?
#here can be many reasons why projects o wron. #he most common reasons are as
follows:
a1 Project oals are not clearly defined
b1 #here can be constraints on the completion of projects arisin from the different
objectives of:
&hort time scale
-esource availability
?uality factors
2uman factors
1.-.% Pro)!ems +it( Project .oa!s
#he project sponsor or client has an inade.uate idea of what the project is about at the
start.
#here may be a failure of communication between the client and the project manaer.
#he may be due to a lac$ of technical $nowlede on the part of the client or an overuse
of jaron by the project manaer.
&pecifications may be subject to constant chane. #his may be due to problems with
individual clients, decision ma$in processes at the client end, or environmental chanes.
@or example the overnment may chane the basic 3rules of the ame3 before the
completion of the project.
#he project oals may be unrealistic and unachievable, and it may be that this is only
realised once the project is under way.
#he client may become carried away with the idea of the project and may be unable to
see clearly what can be achieved.
Projects may be hihly complex and may have a number of objectives that actually
contradict each other.
#here are perhaps two staes which can help in ensurin that oals are properly defined and
achievable:
a1 Ensurin that the client specification is clear and understandable. #o do this you must
first of all establish the objectives of the project. !t would help to as$ the followin
.uestions:
*hat is it that the oranisation is settin out to achieve or is bein as$ed to achieve9
*ill the suested project fulfil these objectives9
2ave all the alternatives been considered and is the chosen option the best one
available9
2ave the full effects of the project, both inside and outside the oranisation, been
considered9
b1 Preparation of a Project overvies 0Project brief1. #he brief should ta$e the objectives set
out in the previous exercise and translate them into tarets and oals. Any $ey
constraints should also be identified and stated at this stae. #his brief should be areed
by the sponsor4client and communicated to the project manaer. Any ambiuities or
.ueries should be sorted out as soon as possible.
A ood way forward would be throuh the establishment of s#ccess criteria for the project.
!f you want the project to succeed 0and who doesn5t91, then you have to $now when you
have succeeded.
&uccess criteria can be described as bein (ar" or sot:
Har" criteria are often the most obvious criteria that are tanible and measurable and
can be expressed in .uantitative terms. #hey tend to pose the .uestion 3what93, that is
3what should be achieved93
Sot criteria are usually less obvious, but not necessarily less important. #hey are often
intanible and .ualitative. /onse.uently they may be difficult to measure. #hey would
tend to as$ the .uestion 3how93
a/ Har" criteria
Performance specifications: these may be set out in terms of the ability to deal with
certain demands. @or example, this could be throuhput of traffic, number of
patients, volume of transactions processed or the number of en.uiries dealt with.
&pecific .uality standards: this could relate to technical standards and tolerance, or
may be the achievement of a favourable report from an outside inspection aency.
Meetin deadlines: this is probably the most obvious one of them all where projects
need to be completed within a iven time scale. @or example, a new system may
need to be implemented ready for the start of the financial year, or a new
development may have to meet time re.uirements as laid down in contract
specifications.
/ost of budet constraints: an important criterion may be to complete the project
within a cost limit or budet which has been determined. Additionally there may be
re.uirements in terms of the onoin cost of the completed project. @or example,
a new system may be re.uired to ma$e savins for the oranisation on a continuin
basis.
-esource constraints: there may be other resource constraints such as ma$in use of
existin premises or labour force.
As you can see, the above criteria are relatively easy to establish and should also be .uite
easy to specify in a project brief.
)/ Sot criteria
6emonstrative co7operation: this would be about showin that the project team
could wor$ toether effectively and without a deree of conflict. !t could be an
important consideration to develop and implement solutions for the oranisation
which have a wide element of consensus and stem from a co7operative attitude.
Presentin a positive imae: this may also be important but obviously can be difficult
or impossible to .uantify.
Achievin a total .uality approach: this would be more about the adoption of a
philosophy of continuous improvement than the achievement of specific performance
tarets on .uality.
%ainin total project commitment: this is aain about how the project is manaed and
the attitude of the project team to it.
Ensurin that ethical standards are maintained: it can be very important to ensure that
no corners have been cut that should not have been and that professional standards of
ethics have not been breached.
&howin an appreciation of ris$: this would ensure that no unacceptable ris$s were
ta$en in the pursuit of other project objectives. Aain this is about how the project
is developed rather then the end product itself.
1.-.' Constraints on t(e comp!etion o projects
a1 Time
,ur definition of a project stated that it was an activity which had a defined beinnin and
endin point. Most projects will be close7ended in terms of there bein a re.uirement for
completion by a certain point in time. #his point may be the result of an external factor
such as new leislation, or may be derived from oranisational re.uirements. !t may also
be partly determined by other constraints. #here is li$ely to be some relationship between
the time ta$en for a project and its cost. A trade7off between the two constrainin factors
may then be necessary.
b1 Reso#rce A,ai!a)i!ity
#here is li$ely to be a budet for the project and this will clearly be a major constraint.
/ost constraints may be set in a number of ways, for example as an overall cash limit or as
a detailed budet bro$en down over a number of expenditure headins. Aabour resources
in particular may be a limitin factor on the completion of the project. !n the short run it
is li$ely that labour will be fixed in supply. *hilst the overall resource available may in
theory be sufficient to complete the project, there may be difficulties arisin out of the
way in which the project has been scheduled. #hat is, there may be a number of activities
scheduled to ta$e place at the same time and this may not be possible iven the amount of
resources available.
c1 0#a!ity actors
*hether the project delivers the oods to the riht .uality.
#here are techni.ues which can be used to overcome the problems referred to above. #hese
include:
Budgeting, and the correspondin control of the project budet throuh budetary
control procedures.
Project planning and control techni.ues such as %antt charts and networ$ analysis.
An important point to note at this stae is how the various constraints on project completion
are li$ely to be interlin$ed with each other. @or example, problems with time constraints or
resource constraints may be overcome by spendin more throuh wor$in overtime,
employin more people or purchasin better machines. Budet problems may have a $noc$7
on effect on the achievement of deadlines.
!t is important to remember that while project manaement techni.ues are important, they
tend to understate the importance of the $ey resource: people. !n a fact chanin
environment where tas$s are often difficult, controversial with uncertain outcomes, 3people
manaement3 s$ills are called for.
S#mmary
A project should possess identifiable oals and a definite startin and finishin point.
Project oals must be defined clearly. A useful chec$list can be developed in relation to
success criteria. /riteria may be hard and concerned with what the project should achieve,
or soft when they will cover how the project should proceed.
#he major constraints on the completion of projects are #ime, -esource Availability and the
need to achieve the re.uired standard of performance for the project.
% THE PROCESS O* PROJECT MA1A.EME1T
%.1 Project P!anning
A major decision at the outset of any project is to decide upon the orani"ation and
composition of the project team. !n so doin, it is worth rememberin that many members will
have dual responsibilities of involvement in the project in addition to a commitment to other
projects or manaement of a functional area on a day7to7day basis. !t is at this stae that a
project manaer should be appointed and responsibilities made explicit for all members of the
team.
#he selection of the team will be dependent upon the s$ill re.uirements of the project, and
upon the matchin of those s$ills to those possessed by individual members of the team.
#here may be a conflict here with hierarchical status.
#he project manaement team will, therefore, bein its tas$ in advance of project proper so
that a plan can be developed. An important first step is to set the objectives and then define
the project, brea$in it down into a set of activities and related costs. !t is probably too early
to determine exact resource implications at this stae, but expected re.uirements for people,
supplies and e.uipment should at least be estimated durin the plannin stae.
%.% Project Sc(e"#!ing
#his phase is primarily concerned with attachin a timescale and se.uence to the activities to
be conducted within the project. Materials and people needed at each stae of the project are
determined and the time each is to ta$e will be set.
A popular and easy to use techni.ue for schedulin is the use of %antt charts. %antt charts
reflect time estimates and can be easily understood. 2ori"ontal bars are drawn aainst a time
scale for each project activity, the lenth of which represent the time ta$en to complete.
Aetters or symbols can also be added to the left of each bar to show which other activities
need to be completed before that one can bein.
%.%.1 .antt C(arts
A %antt /hart is a simple techni.ue that can be used to attach a time scale and se.uence to a
project.
A %antt /hart is a form of hori"ontal bar chart and hori"ontal bars are drawn aainst a time
scale for each project activity, the lenth of which represents the time ta$en to complete. #o
construct a %antt /hart the followin steps are necessary:
'1 )se the hori"ontal axis to represent time
:1 )se the vertical axis to represent activities
;1 -epresent each activity by a hori"ontal bar of appropriate lenth
<1 #a$e activity procedures into account by startin each activity bar to an appropriate point
alon the time axis after its precedin activities. Bormally the start point for an activity
is the earliest time that it could start after its precedin activities had finished.
!t is possible to enhance the %antt /hart in several ways. @or instance the number of staff
re.uired to do a tas$ can be entered into the bar on the diaram.
%antt charts, also commonly $nown as milestone plans, are a low cost means of assistin the
project manaer at the initial staes of schedulin. #hey ensure that:
'. all activities are planned for,
:. the se.uence of activities is accounted for,
;. the activity time estimates are recordedC and
<. the overall project time is recorded.
#hey are therefore a simple, rouh and ready means of plannin a project and assessin
proress and are sufficient for most simple projects.
2owever, where projects become complex, it becomes difficult to see relationships between
activities by usin a %antt /hart. @or more complex projects Betwor$ Analysis techni.ues are
used.
%antt charts also provide a summary of the project as a whole and can be used as a rouh and
ready means of assessin proress at the project control phase. At any date, the project
manaer can draw a dateline throuh the %antt chart and see which activities are on7time,
which are behind schedule and enerally record project status aainst plan.
%antt charts, named after 2enry A. %antt, one of the pioneers of scientific manaement, are a
useful means of representin a schedule of activities comprisin a project and enable the
operations manaer to $now exactly what activities should be performed at a iven time and,
more importantly, to monitor daily proress of a project so that corrective action may be ta$en
when necessary.
#o construct a %antt chart, the various activities are listed on a vertical axis and the hori"ontal
axis is used to represent time. Activity precedencies are ta$en into account by startin a
hori"ontal bar to represent the next activity at an appropriate point after its precedin
activities, i.e. those activities which must ta$e place before the next activity can start, have
ta$en place. Bormally this would be at the earliest time that it could start after its precedin
activities had finished.
E2amp!e3
&uppose a project comprises five activities: A,B,/,6, and E. A and B have no precedin
activities, but activity / re.uires that activity B must be completed before it can bein.
Activity 6 cannot start until both activities A and B are complete. Activity E re.uires activities
A and / to be completed before it can start. !f the activity times are A: D daysC B: ; daysC /: D
daysC 6: = daysC and E: < days,
i1 determine the shortest time necessary to complete this project.
ii1 identify those activities which are critical in terms of completin the project in the shortest
possible time.
So!#tion3
#he fiure below indicates the form that a %antt chart would ta$e from the above information.
Activity A
Activity B
Activity /
Activity 6
Activity E
#ime
#he above chart shows that activities A and B have no precedin activities and so can start
riht away. Activity / re.uires Activity B to have been completed before it can bein. #he
chart is then completed usin such precedence relationships as listed in the .uestion, with each
hori"ontal bar bein proportional in lenth to the activity time that it represents.
Aoo$in at the chart it is apparent that the project ends when activity E has been completed.
*or$in bac$ in time from activity E the 3steps3 which are crucial or critical in order to ensure
that the project duration does not extend beyond the planned lenth are: E,/ and B. #he
shortest time in which the project could be completed from the iven information is therefore
'> days. #he set of activities B,/ and E which toether determine the project duration are
referred to as the critica! pat( throuh the chart.
#hose activities formin the critical path can be hihlihted on the %antt chart to help the
operations manaer to ive priority to them if lac$ of resources mean that such decisions have
to be made.
!t is important to reali"e thouh that activities not on the critical path can become so if they
are allowed to drift too far. 2ow far could activities A and 6 drift before they affected the
duration of the project9
Provided the project is not too complex in its activity relationships or simply too bi to be
mapped on reasonably si"ed raph paper, %antt charts can be very useful tools for the project
manaer and are raphically superior to the networ$ analysis methods of /PM and PE-#.
#hey allow the critical activities to be found, i.e. those activities which must be performed on
time if the project duration is not to increase, and any 3slac$3 or 3float3 in the se.uence of
activities can easily be shown.
%.%.% E2amp!es o .antt c(arts
1. A project comprises t(e o!!o+ing acti,ities3
Activity
Immediate
Predecessors
Activity
Time
(days)
A 7 ':
B 7 >
/ A ';
6 A, B ':
E /, 6 ''
@ 6 ';
% E, @ ''
a1 /onstruct a %antt chart which will provide an overview of the planned project.
b1 2ow soon could the project be completed9
c1 *hich activities need to be completed on time in order to ensure that the project is
completed as soon as possible9
%. A project (as t(e o!!o+ing acti,ity "etai!s3
Activity
Immediate
Predecessors
Activity
Time
(weeks)
A 7 ;
B 7 <
/ 7 ;
6 / ':
E B =
@ A E
% E, @ ;
6raw a %annt chart to represent the projectC determine those activities comprisin the
critical pathC and estimate the project duration
'. T(e o!!o+ing inormation is a,ai!a)!e on a management project3
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor
s
6uration
06ays1
&taff -e.uired
0per day1
A 7 ; >
B 7 = ;
/ B : <
6 A ' <
E A > =
@ 6 ; >
% 6, E ; ;
At present you have nine staff available. #emporary staff can be hired at a rate of F'GG per
day.
'1 6raw a %antt /hart to show the shortest time it will ta$e to complete the project.
:1 !f the project is to finish on time, how many temporary staff are re.uired, and at what
cost9
' 1ETWOR4 A1A56SIS
'.1 Intro"#ction to PERT an" CPM
#he two most common and widely used project manaement techni.ues that can be classified
under the title of Betwor$ Analysis are Proramme Evaluation and review #echni.ue 0PE-#1
and /ritical Path Method 0/PM1. Both were developed in the 'D=G5s to help manaers
schedule, monitor and control lare and complex projects. /PM was first used in 'D=E to
assist in the development and buildin of chemical plants within the 6uPont corporation.
!ndependently developed, PE-# was introduced in 'D=H followin research within the &pecial
Projects ,ffice of the )& Bavy. !t was initially used to plan and control the Polaris missile
proramme which involved the coordination of thousands of contractors. #he use of PE-# in
this case was reported to have cut eihteen months off the overall time to completion.
'.% T(e PERT7CPM Proce"#re
#here are six staes common to both PE-# and /PM:
'. 6efine the project and specify all activities or tas$s.
:. 6evelop the relationships amonst activities. 6ecide upon precedences.
;. 6raw networ$ to connect all activities.
<. Assin time and4or costs to each activity.
=. /alculate the lonest time path throuh the networ$: this is the 3critical path3.
>. )se networ$ to plan, monitor and control the project.
@indin the critical path 0step =1 is a major in controllin a project. Activities on the critical
path represent tas$s which, if performed behind schedule, will delay the whole project.
Manaers can derive flexibility by identifyin the non7critical activities and replannin,
reschedulin and reallocatin resources such as manpower and finances within identified
boundaries.
PE-# and /PM differ slihtly in their terminoloy and in networ$ construction. 2owever
their objectives are the same and, furthermore, their project analysis techni.ues are very
similar. #he major difference is that PE-# employs three time estimates for each activity.
Probabilities are attached to each of these times which, in turn, is used for computin expected
values and potential variations for activity times. /PM, on the other hand, assumes activity
times are $nown and fixed, so only one time estimate is iven and used for each activity.
%iven the similarities between PE-# and /PM, their methods will be discussed toether. #he
student will then be able to use either, decidin whether to employ variable 0PE-#1 or fixed
0/PM1 time estimates within the networ$.
PE-# and /PM can help to answer the followin .uestions for projects with thousands of
activities and events, both at the beinnin of the project and once it is underway:
*hen will the project be completed9
*hat are the critical activities 0i.e.: the tas$s which, if delayed, will effect time for overall
completion19
*hich activities are non7critical and can run late without delayin project completion
time9
*hat is the probability of the project bein completed by a specific date9
At any particular time, is the project on schedule9
At any particular time, is the money spent e.ual to, less than or reater than the budeted
amount9
Are there enouh resources left to complete the project on time9
!f the project is to be completed in a shorter time, what is the least cost means to
accomplish this and what are the cost conse.uences9
'.' Critica! Pat( Ana!ysis
#he objective of critical path analysis is to determine times for the followin:
ES 8 Ear!iest Start Time. #his is the earliest time an activity can be started, allowin for
the fact that all precedin activities have been completed.
5S 8 5atest Start Time. #his is the latest time an activity can be started without delayin
the start of followin activities which would put the entire project behind schedule.
E* 8 Ear!iest *inis( Time. #he earliest time an activity can be finished.
5* 8 5atest *inis( Time. #he latest time that an activity can finish for the project to
remain on schedule.
S 8 Acti,ity S!ac$ Time. #he amount of slippae in activity start or duration time which
can be tolerated without delayin the project as a whole.
!f E& and A& for any activity is $nown, then one can calculate values for the other three times
as follows:
E@ I E& J t
A@ I A& J t
& I A& 7 E& or & I A@ 7 E@
Analysis of the project normally involves:
'. 6eterminin the /ritical Path. #he critical path is the roup of activities in the project
that have a slac$ time of "ero. #his path of activities is critical because a delay in any
activity alon it would delay the project as a whole.
:. /alculatin the total project completion time, #. #his is done by addin the activity times
of those activities on the critical path.
#he steps in critical path analysis are as follows:
a1 6etermine E& and E@ values for all activities in the project: the @orward Pass throuh
the networ$.
b1 /alculate A& and A@ values for all activities by conductin a Bac$ward Pass throuh the
networ$.
c1 !dentify the critical path which will be those activities with "ero slac$ 0i.e.: E&IA& and
E@IA@1.
d1 /alculate total project completion time.
'.- PERT an" Acti,ity Time Estimation
#he major distinuishin difference between PE-# and /PM is the use of three time estimates
for each activity in the PE-# techni.ue, with /PM usin only one time for each activity usin
/PM.
#he three time estimates specified for each activity in PE-# are:
i1 the optimistic timeC
ii1 the most probable timeC and
iii1 the pessimistic time.
#he optimistic, most li$ely and pessimistic time estimates are used to calculate an expected
activity completion time which, because of the s$ewed nature of the beta distribution, is
marinally rater than the most li$ely time estimate. !n addition, the three time estimates can
be used to calculate the variance for each activity. #he formulae used are as follows:
*here:
o, m, p 7 optimistic, most li$ely, and pessimistic times
t 7 expected completion time for tas$
v 7 variance of tas$ completion time
+nowin the details of a project, its networ$ and values for its activity times 0t1 and their
variances 0v1 a complete PE-# analysis can be carried out. #his includes the determination of
the E&, E@, A&, A@ and & for each activity as well as identifyin the critical path, the project
completion time 0#1 and the variance 0K1 for the entire project.
Bormally when usin PE-#, the expected times 0t1 are calculated first from the three values of
activity time estimates, and it is these values of t that are then used exactly as before in /PM.
#he variance values are calculated for the various activity times and the variance of the total
project completion time 0i.e. the sum of the activity expected times of those activities on the
critical path1 is the sum of the variances of the activities lyin on that critical path.
'.9 Pro)a)i!ity Ana!ysis
,nce the expected completion time and variance 0# and K1 have been determined, the
probability that a project will be completed by a specific date can be assessed. #he assumption
is usually made that the distribution of completion dates follows that of a normal distribution
curve.
/onsider the example where the expected completion time for a project 0#1 is :G wee$s and
the project variance 0K1 is 'GG. *hat is the probability that the project will be finished on or
before wee$ :=9
Answer: 0.69
'.: Wor$e" E2amp!es on 1et+or$s
'. A project has the followin activities, precedence relationships, and activity durations:
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor
s
Activity 6uration
0wee$s1
A 7 ;
>
< p m o
t
+ +
=
:
>

=
o p
v
B 7 <
/ 7 ;
6 / ':
E B =
@ A E
% E, @ ;
a1 6raw a %antt chart for the project.
b1 /onstruct a /PM networ$ for the project.
c1 !dentify those activities comprisin the critical path.
d1 *hat is the project5s estimated duration9
e1 /onstruct a table showin for each activity, its activity duration, earliest start time, latest
start time, earliest finish time, latest finish time, and the activity slac$.
Answers:
c1 /, 6
d1 '= wee$s
:. A project desined to refurbish a hospital operatin theatre consists of the followin
activities, with estimated times and precedence relationships shown. )sin this
information draw a networ$ diaram, determine the expected time and variance for each
activity, and estimate the probability of completin the project within sixty days.
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor
s
,ptimistic
#ime
Most Ai$ely
#ime
,ptimistic
#ime
A 7 = > E
B 7 'G '; :H
/ A ' : '=
6 B H D '>
E B, / := ;> <'
@ 6 > D 'H
;. An activity has these time estimates: optimistic time o I '= wee$s, most li$ely time m I :G
wee$s, and pessimistic time p I :: wee$s.
a1 calculate the activity5s expected time or duration t.
b1 calculate the activity5s variance v.
c1 calculate the activity5s standard deviation.
<. A project has the followin activities, precedence relationships, and time estimates in
wee$s:
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor
s
,ptimistic
#ime
Most Ai$ely
#ime
,ptimistic
#ime
A 7 '= :G :=
B 7 H 'G ':
/ A := ;G <G
6 B '= '= '=
E B :: := :E
@ E '= :G ::
% 6 :G :G ::
a1 /alculate the expected time or duration and the variance for each activity.
b1 /onstruct the networ$ diaram
c1 #abulate the values of E&,E@,A&,A@ and slac$ for each activity
d1 !dentify the critical path, and the project duration.
e1 *hat is the probability that the project will ta$e loner than =E wee$s to complete9
=. #he project detailed below has the both normal costs and 3crash3 costs shown. #he crash
time is the shortest possible activity time iven that extra resources are allocated to that
activity.
Activity
Immediate
Predecessor
s
Bormal
#ime
Bormal
#ime /ost
01
/rash
#ime
/rash #ime
/ost
01
A 7 = : GGG < > GGG
B A H ; GGG > > GGG
/ B : ' GGG : ' GGG
6 B ; < GGG : > GGG
E / D = GGG > H GGG
@ /, 6 E < =GG = > GGG
% E, @ < : GGG : = GGG
Assumin that the cost per day for shortenin each activity is the difference between crash
costs and normal costs, divided by the time saved, determine by how much each activity
should be shortened so as to complete the project within twenty7six days and at the minimum
extra cost.
- MA1A.EME1T O* PROJECTS
%antt charts, PE-#, /PM and other schedulin techni.ues have proven to be valuable tools in
the manaement of lare and complex projects. A wide variety of software pac$aes is
available for project manaers, for use on micro7 or larer computers, to assist in the handlin
of complex networ$ problems. PE-# and /PM, however, cannot ever purport to be able to
solve all project schedulin and manaement problems in service or manufacturin industries.
%ood manaement practices, clear responsibilities for tas$s, and accurate and timely reportin
systems are the most essential .ualities for successful project completions. #he watchword is
that useful as these techni.ues are, they are only tools to assist the manaer in ma$in better,
more calculated decisions in the process of conductin lare scale projects.
-.1 T(e Process o Project Management
#raditional approaches to project manaement have emphasised the procedures involved.
#his reflects an idea of project manaement which has emphasised physical resources and the
use of analytical techni.ues such as networ$ analysis. Another approach which has been
found to be effective is much more people and oranisation oriented and can be bro$en down
into a series of steps:
a1 /larifyin the nature of the project
b1 6efinin oals and objectives
c1 @easibility studies
d1 6etailed oranisation of the project:
Project definition
Plannin and schedulin
e1 Project implementation and control
*e can have a loo$ at these in turn.
-.1.1 C!ariying t(e nat#re o t(e project
#he followin need to be established at the plannin stae of the project:
-esourcin,
manaement support,
nature of team wor$inC the balance, for example, between creativity and
implementation s$ills,
clarity of objectives.
-.1.% &eining goa!s an" o)jecti,es
The success criteria for the project need to be defined. We have already seen that there
could be hard or soft.
-.1.' *easi)i!ity St#"ies
#he basic .uestions to be as$ed are:
!s the project feasible9
2ow feasible are the alternatives under consideration9
#he aim of the study would be to carry out a preliminary investiation which should help to
determine whether the project should proceed further and how it should proceed.
#he relevance of this approach will vary with the nature of the project itself. #he more
concrete the project is, the more li$ely that there will be established procedures in relation to
feasibility. At the other end of the scale there will be less need for a feasibility study for an
open project.
#he project manaer responsible for conductin the feasibility study would normally
consider:
a/ Cost3 is this within the budet set by the oranisation or within the capabilities of the
oranisation to finance it9 2ow do the alternatives compare9
)/ Timing3 are there specific constraints on timin and is it possible to complete the
project within these constraints9
c/ Perormance3 will the project satisfy performance criteria which have been determined9
Basically this means will it do the job it is desined to do9
"/ Eect on t(e organisation3 is it feasible in the context of the oranisation and the
effect which it will have upon it9
*e should have a loo$ at these factors in a little more detail.
a1 Cost factors will be loo$ed at throuh a financial appraisal. #his should be related to
financial criteria which have been determined. 8ou need to consider whether the
followin criteria are relevant.
i1 /apital expenditure implications:
*hat are the costs of the project9
!f there are alternatives, what are the relative fiures9
*hat effect will this have upon the oranisation5s finances particularly the capital
budet9
2ow will it fit with controls imposed upon the oranisation by central
overnment.
2ow will the expenditure be financed9 *hat are the alternatives9
ii1 -evenue implications:
2ow much will this cost both in the current year and in subse.uent years9
*hat are the li$ely ains in terms of income9
*hat effect will this have upon the revenue budet9
#he answers to these .uestions will determine the financial criteria upon which the
feasibility will be juded.
b1 Timing3 the project schedule may need to comply with specific criteria which have been
laid down. #imin can be important:
to comply with leal or overnmental re.uirements. @or example, new leislation or
new re.uirements may need to be implemented by a certain dateC
for operational reasons. A new system may be re.uired as a matter of oranisational
policy or to fit in with existin procedures and deadlinesC
to assist with financin arranements. %rants or borrowin approvals may need to
be spent within a specific periodC
to ive the oranisation an ede over its competitors.
c1 Perormance speciications: these may be:
technical
service based
resultin from external reulations
re.uired by clients and customers
d1 Organisationa! conte2t3
*hat is the policy of the oranisation9
,ranisational cultureC does the project fit in with the eneral values and beliefs of
the oranisation9
2ow will it affect resourcin9 0Are the s$ills, technoloy and physical space
available91
2ow will the project fit in with existin procedures9 *hat effect will it have upon
systems9
#he actual .uestions as$ed and the shape of the study and the conse.uent report will depend
upon the type of project bein investiated.
Acti,ity
Examine a live project in your own oranisation. Ma$e a list of .uestions that should be
as$ed in relation to feasibility.
4.1.3.1 Feasibility eport
#he project manaer will be responsible for reportin on feasibility to the sponsorin
decision ma$ers or sta$eholders.
#his may be done in a variety of ways and with different derees of formality. #ypical
contents would include:
project definition coverin oals and objectives
eneral bac$round and introduction with an outline description of the options
a clear definition of success criteria or feasibility criteria
findins of the feasibility study
financial appraisal
preliminary compliance
oranisational suitability
the plan for the manaement of the project includin implementation
S#mmary
@easibility is principally concerned with:
cost
timin
performance
oranisational factors
-.1.- &etai!e" Organisation o t(e Project
4.1.4.1 Project !efinition
#his beins once the project has received formal approval to proceed. !ts purpose is to
formally document the objectives of the project and decide how the wor$ will be underta$en.
#he Project Manaer will carry out this wor$, in consultation with the Project &ponsor, and
&ub7Project Manaer where there are sub7projects.
Aare projects may be divided into sub7projects, with each sub7project re.uirin its own sub7
project definition.
'. Ens#re t(at Prere;#isites are in p!ace. Before definition can bein you should have:
a Project Brief sined off by all parties involved in the project
authority to proceed
a Project &ponsor
a Project Manaer
'. C!ariy O)jecti,es.
,bjectives must be achievable by the project alone, and must be measurable.
:. &etermine Project Scope.
6eterminin the scope of the project helps to clarify objectives and set the boundaries of
the project. !t is often useful to state limitations i.e. what the project will not cover.
;. &etermine Wor$ Str#ct#re.
Aare projects can be better controlled, and are therefore more li$ely to be successful, if
they can be divided into smaller units of wor$ 0sub7projects1.
!dentify tas$s which can be arraned into loical roups to form sub7projects. %roupin
could be on the basis of 0for example1:
tas$s relatin to one functional area,
tas$s to be performed by staff in one eoraphic location,
tas$s relatin to a particular deliverable,
tas$s to be performed by team members belonin to the same 6ivision or
6epartment.
=. I"entiy t(e Major Project Mi!estones
Milestones are sinificant events in the life of the project, such as installation of
hardware or completion of trainin. #hey are used in trac$in project proress.
6ates will be added to these durin Plannin.
>. Ens#re Project Str#ct#re an" Responsi)i!ities are Esta)!is(e"
Assin &ub7project Manaers where appropriate. /larify composition and
responsibilities of Project &teerin %roup, and responsibilities of Project &ponsor and
Project Manaer.
Produce a project oranisation structure to show reportin lines.
E. &etermine Management Systems
#hese will vary accordin to the si"e and nature of the project but should always
include:
a proress control system for recordin planned and actual times. #his could be an
automated system or a manual one,
acceptance procedures for formal review and areement of each project deliverable
scheduled manaement chec$points
!f the project is divided into sub7projects it is important that consistent manaement
systems are used across them all.
H. &oc#ment t(e Project &einition
#he results of Project 6efinition must be documented and distributed for areement to:
Project &ponsor
&teerin %roup members 0if applicable1
&ub7project manaers
Aine manaers who are contributin sinificant resource to the project
#he precise format of the document is left to the discretion of the Project Manaer.
2owever the followin topics should be covered:
.oa!s an" O)jecti,es
&tate the business oals and the project objectives.
Wor$ Str#ct#re an" Scope
A hih level description of the wor$ to be performed includin:
a brief statement of the current business situation and the chanes which the project
is intended to brin about
a list and brief description of each sub7project
$ey events in the project i.e. the Major Milestones
Organisation an" Responsi)i!ities
!nclude an oranisation chart, names and responsibilities.
2ihliht any functions or responsibilities peculiar to this project.
Ris$s an" Ass#mptions
Aist and briefly describe each identified ris$. %ive an indication of its severity i.e. the
probability of its occurrence and the impact on the project if it does occur.
Management Systems
,utline the systems to be used for trac$in and control of the wor$.
Potentia! Pro)!ems
Aist any other outstandin issues which miht affect the project, and any actions bein
ta$en to resolve them. !nclude details of who is responsible for the action and the
completion date.
Appen"ices
#he Project 6efinition document will first be issued as a draft. ,nce the &ub7Project
Manaers have completed &ub7project 6efinition their reports can be added as
appendices. #he &ub7project 6efinition should include ,bjectives, *or$ &tructure and
&cope and ,ranisation.
#he whole document will normally be only a few paes. @or very lare projects, where
the document exceeds about a do"en paes, it may be helpful to include a
Manaement &ummary as the first section.
4.1.4." Project Planning and #cheduling
Project Plannin beins as soon as 6efinition allows. #he process involves plannin sub7
projects first and hence 6efinition must at least have identified the sub7projects and the major
tas$s involved in them.
@rom this point, Plannin and 6efinition tend to continue in parallel as a series of iterations,
radually refinin and hardenin both 6efinition and Plans.
#he purpose of the Project Plan at this stae, is to provide detailed realistic estimates of
time, duration, resource and cost, and plannin should be carried out only in sufficient detail
to allow this to be achieved. 6etailed plannin for allocation of tas$s to individuals is carried
out proressively as the wor$ proceeds.
*here there are sub7projects these should be planned first and then combined to produce the
overall project plan. Produce a plan for each sub7project, or for the total project if there are
no sub7projects as follows:
'. !dentify Major Activities
Brea$ the wor$ down into activities of the order of :G7=G days of effort, ensurin that
milestones correspond to completion of one or more of these. !n practice the
achievement of a milestone is usually a ood basis for identifyin an activity e.. 5prepare
and perform user trainin5.
:. !dentify and /hart 6ependencies
Produce a networ$ chart for the sub7project showin dependencies between the major
activities and dependencies on other sub7projects or external events.
;. Estimate Effort and 6uration
Estimate effort and duration of each major activity.
<. Provide /ontinency
At this stae estimates are li$ely to be 5soft5 and probably expressed in ranes, because
precise details of the wor$ are not settled. /ontinency needs to be allowed both on the
estimated effort and elapsed time because of:
the li$elihood of unforeseen wor$ arisin,
the li$elihood that tas$s will ta$e loner than expected,
the li$elihood of chanes to re.uirements or plans before publication. 0&ubse.uent
chanes should be processed throuh /hane /ontrol1.
/ontinency provision should remain evident in plans 0probably as one or more
continency 5tas$s51. #his provision should then proressively be removed from plans
durin #rac$in and /ontrol as a result of either:
bein used up by e.. tas$s ta$in loner than planned,
or reachin a point where uncertainty is reduced such that a part of continency
provision can safely be deleted. #his usually means the deletion of continency
allowed, but not used, on tas$s now completed.
=. &chedule Major Activities
6etermine start and end dates for each major activity and produce a bar chart or other
diaram, showin relationships between activities.
>. /alculate -esource -e.uirements
/alculate re.uirements for each time period. !dentify needs for each resource type 0e..
systems analyst, user staff1 and identify needs for special s$ills or scarce resources.
E. /alculate /osts
/alculate costs for the sub7project. #his should include 5hardenin up5 items such as
cablin, trainin etc., for which an order of costs had been produced previously.
H. 6etermine ,verall /osts and Benefits of the Project
#he cost4benefit justification should have already been stated in the feasibility study.
#his stae provides the opportunity to review the case in the liht of more detailed
information.
D. 6ocument the Project Plan
,nce a viable plan has emered 0i.e. conflicts have been resolved, resource availability
has been confirmed etc.1 the Project Manaer should produce the Project Plan coverin:
Project &chedule. #his should show major activities by sub7project on a bar chart or
other diaram. #he chart should also show project milestones and taret dates.
&how continency as a sinle provision at the end. !nclude an overall project
networ$ showin the critical path. Barrative explanation may be included for
clarification.
Major /hec$points and -eviews. Aist the dates of /hec$point -eports, /hec$point
Meetins, &teerin %roup Meetin and the Post7!mplementation -eview.
6eliverables. Aist the major products of the project with delivery dates and
acceptance procedures.
-esources. &ummarise the resource needs from the sub7project plans.
/osts and Benefits fiures. -evise and refine as a result of completion of 6efinition
and Plannin.
Potential Problems. Aist any ris$s, problems or assumptions which may jeopardise
the Plan, toether with actions needed to correct the situation.
Appendices. Any useful supportin information includin &ub7project Plans may be
included.
'G. Ensure Manaement &ystems are in place.
-.1.9 Project Imp!ementation an" Contro!
#he role of the project manaer falls into three areas:
i1 Manaement of sta$eholders
ii1 Manaement of the project life cycle
iii1Manaement of performance
An approach needs to be developed for each of these. /ontrol and monitorin procedures
need to be put in place and appropriate information systems developed.
#he procedures which are put into place can only be successful if:
there is satisfactory information to enable the team to manae the project effectivelyC
they are simple and easy to operate and understandC
they have the full support of the project team.
2ow should this relate to the three cateories referred to above9
i1 Management o sta$e(o!"ers3
&ta$eholders5 interest must be monitored to ensure that:
their interest and support is maintainedC
their views and ideas are bein ade.uately reflected in the project developmentC
their personal success criteria are bein pursued and achievedC
environmental chane is fully ta$en into account.
ii1 Management o t(e project !ie cyc!e3
#his is probably the most conventional view of project control. @eedbac$ systems need to be
set up to monitor $ey areas.
Acti,ity
@or a project that is already underway in your oranisation, identify the $ey areas re.uirin
monitorin and suest the $ind of information and procedures that would be involved.
S#ggeste" Ans+er
#he $ey areas would be as follows:
#he project timetable, with particular reference to critical event times and potential
bottlenec$s. #here should be feedbac$ on activity times achieved and their effect on the
whole project. !f networ$ analysis is used, then it is vital that the networ$ is rewor$ed
and updated to ta$e into account the actual performance achieved.
#he project budetC budetary control procedures can be used as in respect of any other
form of budet.
?uality and performance standardsC these need to be monitored aainst the oriinal
project specification subject to chanes areed with sta$eholders in the course of project
development.
*here possible this should all be done throuh positive reportin which will re.uired action
to be ta$en.
iii1 Management o perormance3
#his is the least tanible but possibly the most important of the three cateories. 2ow it is
tac$led will depend upon what $ind of project is bein carried out.
!t is unli$ely that the project team will spend all of their wor$in time toether in close
proximity and under the direct supervision of the project manaer. !t is much more li$ely
that they will wor$ apart most of the time, only meetin up occasionally and only meetin
with the project manaer from time to time. /ontrol issues that need to be considered
therefore would be:
2ow to et the best out of the team when they are toether. !f you are holdin meetins
then they should be purposeful and effective. #hey should not simply be part of the
routine. 2avin said that, they may be an important element in bindin the team toether
and in developin a team approach to plannin and monitorin of performance.
Ensurin people wor$ when the team is apart. 8ou need to set people realistic deadlines
and ensure that they see the importance of their contribution and that their contribution is
fully valued.
/ommunications are important in terms of disseminatin information and $eepin
everyone informed. #here are views that team members should be iven information on
a need to $now basis but this approach can cause problems.
Ensurin continuin commitment by the team and adherence to the values and beliefs
bein pursued by the team.
/hane, in particular, needs to be communicated to team members .uic$ly and
effectively.
!t is important to stress once aain the need to loo$ at the team and also for the project
leader to loo$ inwards at his or her own performance.
-.% *#n"ing t(e Project
#his will be determined by:
a1 #he nature of the project
b1 #he nature of the oranisation
-.%.1 T(e nat#re o t(e Project
A major capital scheme will call for a lare injection of new finance into the oranisation. A
manaement project can often be manaed by usin existin staffin resources. 2owever it
should not be forotten that there is an opportunity cost to this.
-.%.% T(e nat#re o t(e organisation
/ompanies can use a variety of resources for capital projects.
&hare issues
Aon term loans
Aeasin
#he ability of companies to raise finance will depend upon the perceptions of lenders of
money. Public &ector oranisations are often restricted in their sources of finance by
overnment reulations.
9 H<MA1 *ACTORS
%antt charts, PE-#, /PM and other schedulin techni.ues have proven to be valuable tools in
the manaement of lare and complex projects. A wide variety of software pac$aes is
available for project manaers, for use on micro7 or larer computers, to assist in the handlin
of complex networ$ problems. PE-# and /PM, however, cannot ever purport to be able to
solve all project schedulin and manaement problems in service or manufacturin industries.
%ood manaement practices, clear responsibilities for tas$s, and accurate and timely reportin
systems are the most essential .ualities for successful project completions. #he watchword is
that useful as these techni.ues are, they are only tools to assist the manaer in ma$in better,
more calculated decisions in the process of conductin lare scale projects.
&o far little mention has been made of the human issues involved in the manaement of
projects. #hese issues will now be addressed.
.ro#p &isc#ssion3
6iscuss the .ualities you would loo$ for in appointin a project manaer.
*hat factors would you ta$e into account when selectin members of a project team, and
how would you motivate them if you were the project manaer9
6iscuss any project with which you have been involved from the point of view of the
projects objectives and constraints, its manaement and implementation includin the use
of plannin, schedulin and controllin techni.ues, any problems encountered and how
they were dealt with.
9.1 H#man *actors in Project Management
6insmore uses the followin definitions for projects and project manaement:
A project is a uni.ue venture with a beinnin and an end, conducted by people to meet
established oals within parameters of cost, time and .uality.
Project manaement is the combination of people, systems, and techni.ues re.uired to
coordinate the resources needed to complete projects within established oals.
!t is all too easy to form the view that project manaement and networ$ techni.ues such as
/PM and PE-# are one and the same thin. Because networ$s are valuable tools for
raphically showin relationships between project activities, pinpointin critical activities and
for estimatin the probability of project completion by a certain date, some manaers believe
that they constitute the only important manaement tool in the plannin, schedulin and
controllin phases of a project. Bo project is manaed effectively without a ood
%antt4/PM4PE-# approach but e.ually there are other manaement tools and practices
re.uired for effective manaement of projects.
.ro#p "isc#ssion point3
O#t!ine t(e "ierence )et+een Project Management an" Operationa! or *#nctiona!
Management.
9.% Moti,ation
2uman motivation is a complex issue and a reat deal of research has been done on how best
to motivate employees of an oranisation to achieve ood performance.
#he term 3Motive3 has a dictionary definition of: Lcausin motion: concerned with the
initiation of actionM, and 3Motivate3 has the definition: Lto provide with a motive, to induce.M
Karious manaerial strateies have been adopted to motivate people within an orani"ation,
and they are often cateorised under the headins:
Paternalistic,
&cientific,
Participative.
Paternalistic stratey assumes that simply by belonin to an orani"ation with whose aims
and objectives an employee can identify, that employee will be sufficiently motivated to
perform well for the orani"ation.
&cientific manaement, as championed by @. *. #aylor, is of the carrot and stic$ variety and
is based upon the assumption that motivation can be directly lin$ed to reward for ood
performance and a lac$ of reward for a poor performance. #he reward is tanible and
in the form of increased payment.
Participative manaement is based upon the theory that if an employee is iven an objective
then he or she should be left to sort out the best method of achievin that objective without
bein told what to do by 3the boss3. N&ee also the !ntroduction to Kroom Kroom O 6eci,
Manaement and Motivation, Penuin, 'DHDP.
*hatever stratey adopted, they are all based upon the premise that Lperormance 8 a)i!ity
times moti,ation=> i.e. that more competent and the more motivated an employee the
reater will be his4her performance.
9.' Moti,ation T(eory
#o motivate is rather more than ivin a reason for doin somethin. !t is the creation of a
$een enthusiasm or desire in a person for the achievement of a particular objective or set of
objectives. Because human beins have free7will and have a reat many other influences
actin upon them, it is not surprisin that motivation is a complex issue.
,ne very important .uality needed by a project manaer is the ability to motivate the project
team. 6ifferent people respond to various techni.ues of persuasion in sometimes very
different ways, and it is necessary to $now how to approach a particular individual, or roup
of individuals, in order to optimise your li$elihood of success in motivatin them into
appropriate action.
9.- Mas!o+
,ne field of psycholoy that considers human motivation theory is that of EQ!&#EB#!AA
P&8/2,A,%8 or 2)MAB!&#!/ P&8/2,A,%8, and one of its best $nown proponents
is Abraham 2arold Maslow 0)&. Psycholoist 0'DGH7'DEG1.
Existential psycholoy emphasises that each individual is constantly ma$in choices, reat
and small, which cumulatively determine the $ind of person he4she becomes. !t is concerned
with the individual5s attempts to discover a satisfyin sense of personal identity and to ive
.ro#p "isc#ssion3
*rom yo#r e2periences at yo#r company or organi?ation> +(ic( o t(e
a)o,e c(aracterisations )est represents its management sty!e?
meanin to his4her life. As well as Maslow you may wish to loo$ at the wor$ of -ollo May,
and /arl -oers.
2umanistic psycholoy is another term for existential psycholoy and which is critical of
those schools of psycholoy which are preoccupied with 3&tatistics, white rats and
computers3 preferrin instead to concentrate upon the individual from an existential
viewpoint. N@urther readin: @. #. &everin 0Ed.1, 2umanist Kiewpoints in Psycholoy, Bew
8or$, 0'D>=1P.
9.-.1 Mas!o+@s T(eory o H#man Moti,ation
Maslow5s theory is based on the idea that there is a hierarchy of basic human needs. 2e
oranised these into five cateories:
physioloical needs
safety needs
love
esteem
self actualisation.
#hese are sometimes represented in the literature as a pyramid with the more basic needs at
the bottom.
Maslow uses the wor$ prepotent to indicate those needs which prevail over the others. &o
the more basic the unfulfilled need, the more prepotent it is as a motivator, and so on.
@or example a person dyin from huner or thirst is unli$ely to be hihly motivated by the
need for the esteem or respect of his colleaues.
Maslow ma$es the point that only needs which are unsatisfied are motivatin factors.
&atisfied needs are not.
&isc#ssion point3
W(at re!e,ance> i any> "oes Mas!o+@s approac( (a,e or t(e management o
projects +it(in yo#r organi?ation?
9.9 Project teams
As we have seen, the manaement of a project involves rather more than just the mastery of
%antt charts, networ$ analysis and other mathematical techni.ues. !t includes the creation
and manaement of a team of people who are iven the tas$ of handlin the project from its
inception to successful completion.
#he benefits of effective teamwor$ are clear to those who have experienced the synery
created by a team who wor$ toether well, who cooperate with each other, and who are all
committed to the project.
Synergy is the state in which the team 5ta$es off5, wor$in toether as a whole to achieve far
more than the individuals, wor$in separately, could have done.
#he opposite of such a syneristic roupin is sometimes called dysfunctional conflict 7 the
unpleasant state when everyone seems to be wilfully at cross purposes with everyone else,
and the roup achieves much less than the individuals wor$in separately, could have done.
An effective team is more dependent upon the chemistry between the members of the roup
than a strict matchin of the various roles suested by Belbin et al. to the attributes of those
roup members. Mutual trust is an effective lubricant to the effectiveness of team wor$.
#eamwor$ depends upon bein able to persuade people to wor$ toether, to cooperate, and
to be committed to the project. By their very nature, projects are usually one7off situations
and the project team will usually be an ad7hoc matrix of individuals chosen for their specialist
s$ills and who may not be used to wor$in toether. #he role of the project manaer is
particularly challenin under these conditions.
.ro#p &isc#ssion3
&ra+ing #pon yo#r o+n e2periences +it(in yo#r organi?ation> "isc#ss one e2amp!e o
team+or$ +(ic( yo# consi"er to (a,e )een s#ccess#!> an" one e2amp!e +(ic( mig(t
(a,e )een more s#ccess#! t(an it +as.
.ro#p "isc#ssion3
In t(e pre,io#s "isc#ssion point can yo# separate o#t t(ose actors +(ic(
mig(t )e t(o#g(t o as interna! ones> an" t(ose +(ic( mig(t )e consi"ere"
e2terna! actors.
: THE PROJECT MA1A.ER
So#rce3 Project Management A A Manageria! Approac(> Jac$ Mere"it( an" Sam#e!
Mante!> Wi!ey> 1BB9.
#he prime objectives of project manaement are performance, cost and time NMeredith,
'DD=P. /learly there is a relationship between these three objectives, and there may be trade7
offs between them to be manaed by the PM.
Cost
Performance
Time
...the PM is expected to integrate all aspects of the project, to ensre that the proper
!nowledge and resorces are availa"le when and where needed, and a"ove all to ensre
that the expected reslts are prodced in a timel# , cost$effective manner% &Meredith, '99(,
p.)*.
/hapter ; of NMeredith, 'DD=P is concerned with the Project Manaer and they discuss in
section ;.' the differences between a functional manaer and a project manaer. A functional
manaer bein defined as a person in chare of a functional department such as mar$etin,
enineerin, finance etc., within an orani"ation.
#hey arue that the functional manaer is li$ely to be a specialist in the area bein manaed,
and as such they are analytically oriented, so that when a technically difficult tas$ is
encountered they $now how to analyse and tac$le it.
+As fnctional managers the# are administrativel# responsi"le for how something will "e
done, who will do it, and what resorces will "e devoted to accomplish the tas!.+
By contrast, the PM is more li$ely to be a eneralist, or non7specialist, with a wide
bac$round of both experience and $nowlede, and who is re.uired to manae a number of
diverse functional areas, each comprisin a roup of specialists in their own fields. #he PM5s
tas$ then is to brin toether all the bits of the project toether to form a coherent whole 7
i.e. the PM must be more s$illed in synthesis, whereas the functional manaer must be more
s$illed in analysis. #he authors arue that the functional manaer uses an analytical
approach whereas the PM uses a systems approach.
#he analytical approach would brea$ a system down into smaller and smaller parts, but the
systems approach is one which attempts to understand the lin$s between the components, as
well as the components themselves, on the basis that the lin$s between components are as
important in determinin the systems performance as the components themselves. !n order
understand the system better, it is necessary to understand the environment 0or larer system1
of which it is a part.
#he authors maintain that the adoption of the systems approach is crucial for project
manaement, with an understandin of the oranisational proramme of which the project is
a part, and the orani"ation in which the proramme exists, as well as the environment within
which the orani"ation operates.
,n pae ''', the authors suest another difference between the functional an project
manaers. #he functional manaer is a direct, technical supervisor, whereas the PM is a
facilitator. #he facilitation of co7operation between those who have various $inds of
specialised $nowlede and those who need it.
#hree .uestions face the PM at the outset of a project:
*hat needs to be done9
*hen must it be done9
2ow are the resources needed by the project to be obtained9
!t will have occurred to you that the PM will often be reliant upon functional manaers for
answers to these .uestions, and for other specialist inputs and it is often the case that the
functional manaers will ma$e some of the fundamental and critical project decisions. @or
example they may select the people who will be responsible for carryin out the project, and
may develop the technoloical plan detailin how to accomplish the project5s oals, as well
as fre.uently influencin the precise deployment of the projects resources. !t is this
separation of powers between functional and project manaement that on the one hand
ma$es for a successful outcome to the project, but on the other is a source of discomfort for
both.
+,ote that the PM is responsi"le for organising, staffing, "dgeting, directing, planning,
and controlling the project. -n other words, the PM manages the project, "t the fnctional
managers ma# affect the choice of technolog# to "e sed within the project and the specific
individals who will do the wor!.+ &Meredith, '99(, p.'''$''..*
/learly a ood project manaer will attempt to influence by neotiation or other means the
choice of specific individuals ma$in up the project team, and the PM cannot allow the
functional manaer to usurp control of the project, since if this happens the project is li$ely
to become secondary to the wor$ of that functional roup and conse.uently the project is
li$ely to suffer. E.ually the functional manaer cannot allow the PM to usurp his4her
authority when it comes to ma$in technical decisions in the functional area, or indeed to the
assinment of duties to personnel within that functional department or section.
Another very real problem faced by the project manaer is that of micromanagement. #his
is the unhappy state of affairs created by the PM5s line manaer ta!ing over the PM/s jo" "#
exercising extremel# close spervision over ever# action the PM ta!es, or will tell the PM
precisel# what to do. &ee box below for .uote from pae '': of Meredith and Mantel:
At times, a senior manaer 0 the PM5s immediate superior1 will, in effect, ta$e over the PM5s
job by exercisin extremely close supervision over every action the PM ta$es, or will actually
tell the PM precisely what to do. All of the powers normally deleated to the PM are
withdrawn and the PM5s boss runs the project. #his condition is $nown as
micromanagement. !t stamps out any creativity or initiative from the PM or project wor$ers,
frustrates almost everyone connected with the project, and enerally ensures mediocre
performance, if not failure. #he senior rationalises the need for control with such statements
as: 3After all, the project is m# responsibility,3 or 38ou must understand how important this
project is to the firm,3 or 3&uperboss expects me to $eep my eye on everythin that oes on
around here.3
&uch nonsense sounds loical until subjected to analysis. #he first comment denies the virtue
of deleation. #he second assumes that everyone except the spea$er is stupid. #he third is
an indication of the self7importance of the superior. #o be fran$ we do not $now how to
cure or prevent micromanaement. !t is practised by individuals who have so little trust in
their co7wor$ers that they must control everythin. Micromanaers are rarely li$eable
enouh for anyone to try to help them. ,ur considered advice to PMs who are
micromanaed is to re.uest a transfer. NMeredith, 'DD=, p. '':P
.#i"e!ines or Managing Projects
&et a clear %oal
6etermine the ,bjectives
Establish /hec$points, Activities, -elationships, and #ime estimates
/reate a &chedule
6evelop people individually and as a team
-einforce the commitment and excitement of people
!nform everyone connected with the project
Kitalise people by buildin areements
Empower yourself and others
-is$ approachin problems creatively
&ource: -andolph and Posner, %ettin the (ob 6oneR Manain Project #eams and #as$
@orces for &uccess, Prentice72all, 'DD:
.ro#p Acti,ity
)sin the approach outlined by 6ic$ Mc/ann 0in 2ow to !nfluence ,thers at *or$,
2einemann, 'DHD1 and usin your perceptions of your colleaues determine which cateory
of team role each member of your team fits best.
)se the templates provided to tic$ each perceived attribute for each of your colleaues, and
present them with the completed templates.
,n receipt of your templates, count up the tic$s under each cateory and see which one has
the most tic$s.
Team Ro!es
$%plorer&promoters 'ssessor&developers Thruster&organi(ers
,utoin ,utoin 6etermined
Enthusiastic Analytical Action7oriented
*arm Experimenter 6isciplined
#al$ative !dea7developer #ouh
&timulatin /hallene7see$er !ndependent
!mainative &ociable Aoical
!mpulsive ,rani"er 6ecisive
Excitable Pramatic @actual
Persuasive Aoical /ommandin
,pinionated Planner !mpatient
Emotional Product7champion #as$7oriented
@ar7sihted #al$ative &tubborn
6ramatic %roup7wor$er /ompetitive
-is$7ta$er Expressive /onflict7confronter
)oncluder&producers )ontroller&inspector *pholder&maintainer
&teady /onservative Beliefs7based
-eliable ?uiet ?uiet
Effective Practical &upportive
Efficient Aoical 56efender of the faith5
6ependable 6etail7oriented /onscientious
@inisher #horouh #raditional
,rani"ed Accurate -eserved
&ystematic /onscientious 5Aon fuse5
Practical 6ependable /onflict7avoidin
6eadline7conscious -eserved /ontrollin
/risis7hardy /ritical Advisin
/hane7resistant 6istant /onsensus7see$in
Present7oriented 5Bit7pic$er5 &elf7effacin
eporter&advisers )reator&innovators
2elpful !mainative
+ind !ntuitive
*ell7li$ed !ndependent
#houhtful 52ead7in7the7clouds5
+nowledeable -esearcher
&upportive !nnovator
#olerant !nformation7see$er
Easy7oin Procrastinatin
!nformation7atherer Absent7minded
*illin Bon7finisher
/ooperative 6eadline7misser
&oft @uture7oriented
/onflict7avoidin @lexible
Procrastinatin !dea7enerator
Principled Kisionary
.#i"e to Strategic Pacing
Team Ro!e &os &on@ts
Explorer7promoter Explore ideas
Allow them to tal$
%ive Spositive5 stro$es
/oncentrate on the future
Be enthusiastic
-ecord important areements in writin
Be flexible
6on5t tal$ about details
6on5t ta$e issue with their opinions
unless they persist
6on5t dwell on the past
Assessor7developer Be prepared
Analyse issues fully
Explore possibilities
Be factual
&pea$ clearly, loically and precisely
#hin$ laterally
6on5t tal$ about subjects you $now little
about
6on5t ive too many opinions
6on5t waste time
#hruster7orani"er Be businessli$e
Be factual
Be oal7oriented
%ive incentives
Be punctual
Ma$es thins happen
&ummari"e reularly
6on5t attac$ personally but focus on the
facts surroundin disareements
6on5t be ambiuous
6on5t et off the subject
/oncluder7producer Be structured
%ive notice of proposed chanes
Be practical
&tic$ to your word
+eep to deadlines
@ocus on results
6on5t chane your mind too fre.uently
6on5t Swaffle5
/ontroller7inspector )se memos to communicate
&end written information before meetin
&low down your pace
#a$e time to understand them
#al$ about details
#hin$ before you spea$
Be practical
6on5t Sdrop in5 unexpectedly
6on5t surprise them
6on5t be over7optimistic
6on5t rush them
6on5t concentrate on the future at the
expense of the past
)pholder7maintainer 6evelop personal relationships
Be clear and precise
Encourae them to tal$
Be supportive
6on5t dominate discussions
6on5t inore their feelins
-eporter7adviser Be flexible
6evelop personal relationships
Be cooperative
%ive personal than$s
Establish harmony
Allow them to express their concerns
6on5t put facts before feelins
6on5t move too fast
6on5t be insincere
/reator7innovator Explore ideas
Be enthusiastic
Ensure you have some $nowlede of the
area under discussion
%ive personal than$s
#olerate their disorani"ed ways
-ecord important decisions in writin
6on5t be too structured
6on5t force them into difficult deadlines
6on5t be too converent in your thin$in