1) What is project management?

Project management can be defined as the discipline of applying specific processes and principles to initiate,
plan, execute and manage the way that new initiatives or changes are implemented within an
organization. Project management is different to management of business as usual activity, which is an
ongoing process, as it involves creating new work packages to achieve agreed ends or goals. The primary
challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints. The primary
constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is
to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives. The objective of
project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the client's objectives. A project is
a temporary endeavour designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and
end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals
and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.

Project management processes fall into five groups:

1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring and Controlling
5. Closing

Key components of project management are:

 Time – the intended duration of the work

 Cost – the budget allocated for the work
 Scope – what innovations or changes will be delivered by the project
 Quality – the standard of the outcome of the project.

Project management stages

Although there are different project management methodologies and approaches, most projects follow these
stages:

 Initiating the project – the project manager defines what the project will achieve and realize, working with
the project sponsor and stakeholders to agree deliverables.
 Planning – the project manager records all the tasks and assigns deadlines for each as well as stating the
relationships and dependencies between each activity.
 Execution – the project manager builds the project team and also collects and allocates the resources and
budget available to specific tasks.
 Monitoring – the project manager oversees the progress of project work and updates the project plans to
reflect actual performance.
 Closing – the project manager ensures the outputs delivered by the project are accepted by the business and
closes down the project team.
2) List the 9 principles of project management?
1. Success Principle

Even before you manage a project, you must commit yourself to success in that endeavour. Your goal as a
project manager is the successful completion of the project. This isn’t merely about keeping the project on
schedule and within budget. Many a project has come in on time and with money to share, but the goal was
never fully achieved. That is project failure.

2. Definition Principle

You have a structure, but you must move into the definition phase to fully grasp the project. That’s a principle
often passed over at the expense of the project. It’s easier said than done, however, with many voices offering
differing opinions of what the project is. Your job as project manager is to make it clear what the project is
about, which can be problematic when there are many stakeholders. Defining the project is not a one-time
event, but something that must be revisited throughout the project. You must make sure that everyone,
especially your team, has a clear definition in mind so they can work productively

3. Commitment Principle

Are you committed to the project? You better be! But so must every other person involved in the project. You
must have the sponsor and the team on board, too, or else you don’t have a viable project. This commitment
is crucial before the project is even planned, yet alone executed. By commitment, we mean an agreement on
project goals and objectives, scope, quality and schedule. Once you have these you’re ready to work.

4. Structure Principle

This is the first thing you’ll have to think about when managing a project. The structure will basically stand
on three pillars: your project goal, resources and time. What you must know is the reason for the project, which
might seem obvious, but this question defines the project and leads to its structure. The next step is
understanding how long it will take to accomplish that goal, so you’ll want to have a timeline that’s broken up
by milestones, marking major phases in the project.ProjectManager.com takes the principle of structure and
adds structure to it with our online Gantt chart. The Gantt chart offers a spreadsheet to the left and a timeline
populated with that data to the right. There, tasks are points in time, beginning with a start data and ending
with its deadline. This chart allows you to easily organize your projects and the tasks within them. Furthering
the structure, tasks that are sequentially dependent on one another can be linked to avoid leaving teams idle
by delaying work. The larger project can also be broken down by milestones, so the major phases of the project
are clearly delineated.
4. Project Manager Principle

Projects are set to fail if they’re not lead by a project manager. The project manager comes up with the plan to
achieve the goals of the project, and they manage the team assembled to complete those tasks. You, as a project
manager, are responsible for getting the sponsors on board, communication, risk management, budgeting,
scheduling, the whole kit and caboodle. Therefore, you want to have a skill set that includes technical
knowledge, managerial experience, interpersonal skills and so much more. The most important thing to
remember is never become complacent, always be learning.

5. Communication Principle

While reporting to the various participants in the project is key, there must be a primary communication
channel between yourself and the project sponsor. This is the only way to ensure that project decisions are
properly implemented. Without having a singular way to disseminate what the sponsor wants to the project
manager, you’re not being efficient or effective in administrating the project. Even if there are multiple
sponsors, they must speak with one voice or risk sending the project into chaos. You have the responsibility
to set this line of communication in place, finding the right person, with the right skills, experience, authority
and commitment in the executive team to facilitate this important task.

6. Progress Principle

To progress in a project, a project must have well-defined roles, policies and procedures in place. That means
that everyone must know what they’re responsible for and who they answer to. There needs a delegation of
authority for any project to function. It also means that you must have thought out how you’re going to manage
the scope of work, maintain the quality of the project, define its schedule and cost, etc. Without these things
being figured out at first, you’re putting the project at risk.

7. Life Cycle Principle

The life cycle of a project are its phases, from planning to initiation, monitoring to closing. Each phase of the
project is dependent on planning it and then doing it. Milestones determine the start and end of these project
life cycles. You can think of them as signposts on the drive to reach your project’s destination.

8. Transparency Principle

By transparency, we mean that you must report on the progress of the project to your sponsors and
stakeholders. You can’t hide anything from them, or at least you do at your own risk, for it’ll inevitably come
back to haunt you. Of course, your sponsors and stakeholders don’t need you to drown them in minutia about
the project. They want to see the broad strokes regarding progress, budget and schedule. Save the details for
your team. Yes, you must be transparent with your team. They need reports too, but you want to have those
reports customizable to create effective reports that hits the target audience for whom they’re intended. When
it comes to transparency, ProjectManager.com has the tools to make that principle a reality. Our real-time
dashboard is a window into the project, which is constantly being updated when team member’s file their
status reports. The dashboard’s many project metrics automatically crunches those numbers and displays them
in easy-to-read graphs and charts, which can then be shared or printed out for reporting and meetings.

9. Risk Principle

Risk is part of life, and it’s certainly a part of any project. What you must do is, before the project even starts,
figure out what are the potential risks inherent in the work ahead. Identifying them is a not an exact science,
of course, but you can use historic data and knowledge from you, your team and sponsors to uncover where
risk lies. Using a risk register template helps you capture all this information. It’s not enough to just know that
risk might rise at this or that point in a project, you also should put in place a plan in which to resolve the issue
before it becomes a problem. That means giving each risk a specific team member who is responsible for
watching out for it, identifying it and working towards its resolution. Naturally, you’re not going to foresee
every risk, hopefully you’ll have at least identified the big ones. That’s why you must have an eye out for any
irregularities. Have your team trained to be your eyes and ears on the project front. The sooner you identify a
risk, whether expected or not, the faster you can resolve it and keep the project on track

3) What’s the difference between construction management & project management?

There are three main categories of Construction Manager and Project Manager:

 Scope of Responsibilities
 Authority Level
 Focus

Construction Manager vs. Project Manager Responsibilities

While the construction manager oversees on-site operations, such as personnel, materials, and the
construction budget, project managers oversee ALL phases of the project, from marketing to administrative
needs.
If we think about a construction project as a timeline, the project manager is involved from start to end,
whereas the construction manager is only involved during the actual construction phase.
One key difference to note is that it is not uncommon for Project Managers to step into this role without
much technical construction knowledge, whereas construction managers, almost without fail, come from a
construction background. That being said, when push comes to shove, the Project Manager is the one who
has more authority over the project.
Finally, these two roles are also differentiated by their focus. At the end of the day, the construction
manager’s main responsibility is to make sure that the project is technically sound. The project manager, on
the other hand, is more responsible for the project budget and the timeline.

Construction Manager Salary vs. Project Manager Salary

According to Payscale.com, as of January 12, 2016, the median salary for a Construction Manager in the
United States is $73,561. By location, Construction Managers in San Francisco earn 42% more than the
median, and Construction Managers in Phoenix earn 4% less. Project Managers in the construction industry
in the United States earn a median salary of $95,941 (data from Salary.com). While the 90th percentile of
Project Managers earn $119,000 / year, according to the report, the 90th percentile of construction managers
earn $120,000 / year. So, while the median salary displays large variance, those at the top of either field may
actually earn nearly the same salary.

Focus and Responsibilities:

As shown in the two job descriptions below, while responsibilities of the construction manager and the
project manager are similar, their focus varies, as the construction manager focuses more on the physical
construction, while the project manager deals with the project from beginning to end.

A great example of this is in the sense of the budget. Both construction managers and project managers deal
with budgeting, yet the construction manager is only responsible for the budget of the physical construction,
while the PMs budget may expand to marketing, client meetings, and more.

Construction Manager Job Description

Project Manager – Construction, Job Description

•Commence projects by coordinating the project team, defining project scope and detailing project
plan/budgets. •Build, analyze and manage CPM schedules with effective results. •Performing constructability
reviews, staging analysis, and phasing planning. •Interpret contract documents along with analyzing and
negotiating change orders, including quantity, cost, and entitlement. •Develop, understand and analyze cost
estimates. •Deliver project plans, including budget and schedule estimates, and obtain necessary approvals
from senior management. •Take responsibility for all aspects of the projects and take a hands-on approach to
anticipating and solving problems of recurring issues in an ongoing effort to minimize crisis management.
•Oversee contract administration for all development initiatives. •Standardize and refine project contract
documents, bid forms, closeout standards, and all other pertinent documentation. •Monitor contractor
performance to ensure high quality work and materials and adherence to contract documents. •Provide strong
leadership and management for the design and construction teams.
4) Parameters affecting construction management:
a. Type of the project.
IKEA Building, Navi Mumbai
Commercial Building

b. Scale of the project.

Project Built up- 35,000 sq.m
Project Cost estimated – 500cr.
Duration- 24 months (expected)

c. Construction techniques-
Structural Steel Frame Work
AAC block Work

5) Role and responsibilities of project manager?

The Project Manager is responsible for delivering the project, with authority and responsibility from the
Project Board to run the project on a day-to-day basis.

Role of the project manager

The project manager is the individual responsible for delivering the project. The individual leads and
manages the project team, with authority and responsibility from the project board, to run the project on a
day-to-day basis. The standard project management method and is applicable to all project types.

As well as the formal responsibilities set out in methods, the project manager has an important role in
interfacing between the project and the business area. This is important for communicating and encouraging
the need for transformation and change within the business area in tandem with the delivery of new
capabilities from the project. The readiness of the business to exploit the new capability is crucial to success.
Without this state of readiness in the business, there are likely to be disruptions and delays in the plan
for benefits realisation.

Specific responsibilities of the project manager

The project manager, operating within agreed reporting structures, is responsible for:

 designing and applying appropriate project management standards for incorporation in the NI
Gateway Review Process
 managing the production of the required deliverables
 planning and monitoring the project
 adopting any delegation and use of project assurance roles within agreed reporting structures
 preparing and maintaining project, stage and exception plans as required
 managing project risks, including the development of contingency plans
 liaison with programme management (if the project is part of a programme) and related projects to
ensure that work is neither overlooked nor duplicated
 monitoring overall progress and use of resources, initiating corrective action where necessary
 applying change control and configuration management processes
  reporting through agreed lines on project progress through highlight reports and end-stage
assessments
 liaison with appointed project assurance representatives to assure the overall direction and integrity
of the project
 maintaining an awareness of potential interdependencies with other projects and their impact
 adopting and applying appropriate technical and quality strategies and standards
 identifying and obtaining support and advice required for the management, planning and control of
the project
 managing project administration
 conducting a project evaluation review to assess how well the project was managed
 preparing any follow-on action recommendations

In construction projects the project manager also provides the interface between the project sponsor and the
supply side of the project team.

Skills and attributes needed to be a project manager

The project manager should be able to:

 apply a PRINCE2 project management approach to the specific requirements of the project
 establish a good working relationship with the Senior Responsible Owner
 direct, manage and motivate the project team
 develop and maintain an agreed project plan and detailed stage plans
 understand and apply business case and risk management processes
 tailor expert knowledge to meet specific circumstances
 plan and manage deployment of physical and financial resources to meet project milestones
 build and sustain effective communications with other roles involved in the project
 apply quality management principles and processes

6) What is cost estimation and project cost control?

Cost Estimate:
A cost estimate is the approximation of the cost of a program, project, or operation. In project
management (i.e., for engineering), accurate estimates are the basis of sound project planning or we can say
that cost estimating is a well-formulated prediction of the probable delivery cost of a specific
project/program. Or we can say that in a world of limited funds, as a project manager you're constantly
deciding how to get the most return for your investment. The more accurate your estimate of project cost is,
the better able you will be to manage your project’s budget.
Therefore, estimating a project’s costs is important for several reasons:

 It enables you to weigh anticipated benefits against anticipated costs to see whether the project makes
sense.

 It allows you to see whether the necessary funds are available to support the project.

 It serves as a guideline to help ensure that you have sufficient funds to complete the project.

Inputs to Estimate Project Cost

The Estimate Costs process takes the following inputs :

 Scope baseline

 Project schedule

 Human resource plan

 Risk register

 Enterprise environmental factors

 Organizational process assets

Estimation Techniques:

The tools and techniques used for Estimate Costs are:

 Expert judgment

 Analogous estimating

 Parametric estimating

 Bottom-up estimating

 Three-point estimates

 Reserve analysis

 Cost of quality

 Project Management estimating software

 Vendor bid analysis

Expert Judgment:
Expert Judgment is an estimation technique where cost estimates from individuals who have previous
experience in past similar projects can be utilized. Information from those who have experience in
performing the activities becomes valuable for calculating accurate estimates.