Class activity

Project – is a temporary endeavor

undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result
Class Exercise
(30 mins) A4 papers
You are provided with: Scissor
Paper cum

Construct a two-story - Work in your groups

building. Document - Every project has a
everything you do manager

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Basics of Projects & Project
Management
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To be covered…

• Basics of projects & project management

• Project Life Cycle

• Characteristics/Elements of Project(s)

• Some definitions

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Some definitions
Projects…

A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.

Projects drive change in organizations and enable business value creation (Table 1.1 Pg. 9)

Deliverables remain beyond the life span of the project!

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What is Project Management?
 When is Project Management
Needed?

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1/15/2020

What are the stages of a

project/Project Life Cycle?
18

INITIATION PLANNING EXECUTION CLOSING

 What motivates
Project Initiation?
• Organizational leaders
initiate projects in
response to factors
acting upon their
organizations.
• Four fundamental
categories of these
factors are:
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 Project Initiation
• Project objective or need is identified – this
can be a business problem or opportunity
• Feasibility study to confirm each option
(solution) addresses the project objective
• Recommended solution(s) is(are) approved
• Project is initiated to deliver the approved
solution(s)
• A project manager is appointed
• Major deliverables and participating work
groups are identified (project team begins to
take shape)
• Project manager sought for approval to move
on to detail planning phase
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• Project solution is further developed
• Plan steps necessary to meet project objective
• Team identified all work to be done
• Project scope - Resources for the project, along with
strategies for producing them are identified
• Project plan created outlining activities, tasks,
dependencies and timeframe
• Project manager manages budget preparation; by
providing cost estimates for labor, equipment and material
lost. Budget is used to manage and control cost
expenditure during implementation
• Project team prepared schedule and estimated costs
• Identified and deal with threats to project success (risk
management)
• Identified project stakeholders & establish communication
plan describing the information needed and delivery
method to be used to keep stakeholders informed
• Document quality plan – providing quality targets ,
assurance, control measures, criteria to gain acceptance
 • Initiation creates a project charter that
minimally contains a description of the
business need, the desired deliverables, and
a formal approval to proceed by appropriate
Distinction management.
• Planning creates an integrated plan outlining
between in greater detail the various projected
Initiating and aspects of the proposed effort. Articles in
this section will deal with these topic areas in
Planning more detail. A major point in this chapter is
that the initiation process and its related
planning activities are fundamental activities
that should not be shorted to save time.
 • Project is put into motion and performs work of the project
• Control and communication is maintained as implementation
continues
• Progress continuous monitored and necessary adjustment are
carried and recorded as variance from original plan
• Managers spend most of their time here
• Regular team meetings for updates on progress
• Project manager uses information from updates to maintain control
over direction of project by measuring performance of activities -
deliverables, comparing results with original project plan and taking
corrective actions needed. Else team would record variation from
original plan and publish to the plan.
• It is most important to keep stakeholders & sponsors of project
abreast of progress status and corrective actions
• Reporting and publishing of updates and communication with
stakeholders should follow agreed frequency and format
• Status reports should always emphasize anticipated end points in
terms of cost, schedule and quality of deliverables & each
deliverable produced reviewed for quality against set criteria
• Once all deliverables have been produced & customer accepts final
solution, then project is ready for closure
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 • Releasing final deliverables to
customer/recipient, handing over project
documentation to the business,
• Terminating supplier contracts
• Releasing project resources and
communicating the closure of the project
to stakeholders
• Evaluate lesson learned; to examine what
went well and what did not. This analysis
enables wisdom of experience to be
transferred back to the project
organization to help future project teams

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Indicators of the end of a project

• The objectives would have been met

• The objectives cannot be met

• Funding (and other resources) are exhausted

• The need no longer exist

• Human and/or physical resources no longer available

• Termination for a legal cause or convenience

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Quick Summary

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What is the cost of making changes during a project Life Cycle?
How has it been for your project?

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 Are there
other school
of thoughts
for the
stages
involved in a
project?

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 (My Definition)
The careful management of
the different
Summary of characteristics/elements of a
what Project project through the project
Management is life cycle to achieve project
objectives and understanding
what success looks like is
what project management is
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 Known definitions of PM
• Project management is the art of
coordinating resources and directing
unidisciplinary groups so that the
components of work performed by
each group accumulates into a
multidisciplinary team effort which
achieves the desired objectives (or
contracted scope of work) on time and
within budget (PMI, www.pmi.org)

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Some definitions
Project Management…

The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to

meet the project requirements.

These are accomplished through the application and integration of project

management processes

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Benefits of / Purpose for Project Management
• Resolve organizational problems;
• Meet objectives;
• Satisfy expectations;
• Identify, recover or terminate projects;
• Manage constraints;
• Manage change in a better manner
• Etc. (see Page 10 of PMBOK)

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 Start and end time

Objectives or goals
Characteristics
of a project
Benefits or value

Allocation of Resources

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Some definitions
Project Manager…
(S)He works with the project team and other stakeholders to determine and use
the appropriate generally recognized good practices, for the project.
The Project Manager with the project team, will tailor the framework to arrive at
methodologies, procedures, rules, tools and techniques to achieve the project
objective.

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Characteristics Leadership Communication
of a good
project
manager
Problem solving Dealing with
skills uncertainty

Planning

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