A.

Project Planning Phase

Why Projects?

We form projects in order to fix the responsibility and authority for the achievement of an
organizational goal on an individual or small group when the job does not clearly fall within the
definition of the routine work.

Project Management Steps

1. Problem Identification – the stage where a need for a proposed project is identified, defined,
and justified.
2. Project Definition – The phase at which the purpose of the project is clarified. A mission
statement is the major output of this stage.
3. Project Planning – A plan represent the outline of the series of actions needed to accomplish a
goal. Determines how to initiate a project and execute its objectives.
4. Project Organizing – Specifies how to integrate the functions of the personnel in a project. Done
concurrently with project planning.
5. Resource Allocation – Projects and goals are accomplished by allocating resources to functional
requirements.
6. Project Scheduling – Timeliness is the essence of project management. Allocate resources so
that the overall project objectives are achieved within a reasonable time span.
7. Project Tracking and Reporting – Involves checking whether or not project results conform to
project plans and performance specifications. These are pre-requisites for project control.
8. Project Control – Requires that appropriate actions be taken to correct unacceptable deviations
from expected performance. Actuated through measurement, evaluation, and corrective action.
9. Project Termination – The phase out of a project should not be allowed to drag on after the
expected completion time.

Project Cycle

Situational Analysis

 A process of collecting and evaluating the information related to a project idea. Determining the
existing conditions and problems regarding the target population and project area.

 A process that will help your project team create together a common understanding of your
project’s context – including the organizational environment and the social, economic, political,
and institutional systems that affect the project targets you want to accomplish.

At this stage;

1. Related information is collected

2. Existing conditions are determined,
3. Analysis of the partners, problems, objectives, and strategies is made
4. Project objectives are determined.

What is a Conceptual Model?

 A tool for documenting a situation analysis.

 A diagram that portrays what is happening within a project. It shows the major forces (threats
and opportunities).

The Situation Analysis consists of several methods of analysis:

 5Cs Analysis
 SWOT Analysis
 Porter 5 Forces Analysis

Summary of a Project Plan or “Project Charter”

1. Summary of project plan – A brief description of what is planned. Project scope and objectives
are enumerated. The critical constraints on the project is outlined. The summary should include
a statement of how the project complements organization and national goals, budget size, and
milestones.
2. Objectives – Should be very detailed in outlining what the project is expected to achieve and
how the expected achievements will contribute to the overall goals of a project.
3. Approach – Managerial and technical methodologies of implementing the project is specified.
4. Policies and Procedures – Project policy involves specifying the general guidelines for carrying
out tasks within the project. Procedures involves specifying the detailed method for
implementing a given policy relative to the tasks needed to achieve the goal.
5. Contractual aspect – This section contains complete description of all agreements made with the
client or any third party. Includes all reporting requirements, technical specifications of all
deliverables, agreements of delivery dates, incentives (if any) for performance, for exceeding
contractual requirements, and penalties (if any) for non-compliance.
6. Schedules – This signifies commitment of resources against time in pursuit of project objectives.
Should specify when the project will be initiated and when it is expected to be completed. Major
phases of the project should be identified.
7. Resource requirements – Estimates of project expenses, both capital and operating, are included
here. Costs associated with each task are shown and overhead and fixed charges are listed.
8. Personnel – This section covers details of the project work force. It notes special skill
requirements, necessary training, and special legal arrangements.
9. Risk Management (Contingency Plans) – Courses of actions to be taken in case of undesirable
events. Risks should be predetermined.
10. Evaluation Methods – Description of all project evaluation procedures and quality standards. It
also includes procedures to ensure compliance with all corporate monitoring requirements.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

Planning techniques differ from industry to industry and from subject to subject. There seem to be as
many different planning sequences and steps as there are authors writing about planning. Almost all
of them, regardless of the number of steps, meet the same criteria if they are meant to guide a
project proposal to a successful conclusion.

Project Planning

 Systematic sequencing and scheduling of the tasks comprising a project.

 Provides the basis for the initiation, implementation, and termination of a project.

 It sets guidelines for specific project objectives, project structure, tasks, milestones, personnel,
cost, equipment, performance, and problem resolutions.

Project Plan

 A model of the process that the project team intends to follow to realize the project objectives.

 It brings together a number of important aspects of this process including its scope, timing, cost,
and associated risks.

 It can be viewed as a type of “contract” between the team members and other stakeholders.

 It “defines” the process by which the objectives will be achieved, and the responsibilities in
carrying out this process.

The Planning Process – Nuts and Bolts

A. The Launch Meeting – and Subsequent Meetings.

- Project launch meeting sets the project scope, elicits cooperation of others in the organization,
demonstrates managerial commitment to the project, and initiates the project plan.
- The plan itself is generated through hierarchical planning process by which parts of the plan are
sequentially broken down into finer levels of detail by the individuals or groups that will implement
them.
B. Sorting Out the Project - The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- A detailed, hierarchical (from general to specific) tree structure of deliverables and tasks that
need to be performed to complete a project.
- WBS lists all the tasks required to carry out the plan together with task structure resource
requirements, durations, predecessors, and identification of the people responsible for each task.
1. Senior manager appoints a PM to a new project.
2. PM launches the meeting with at least 1 representative of senior management (project
champion, individual with the strongest interest to the project). Next are the managers from the
functional areas that will be called upon to contribute competencies or capacities to the project.
3. When the group has developed what appears to be a workable plan, the plan moves through the
appropriate management levels where it is approved, or altered and approved.
4. It is critical for a successful planning to have open, honest, and frequent communication
between interested parties on a project.
Project Design
 is a process that culminates in a written document (the program or the project design plan) on
the project’s objectives, methods, timetable and resources, providing the framework for executing a
program or project.
The design phase consists of 3 components, namely:
 Conceptualization, which entails defining the scope, goals, and objectives and the methodologies
for action;
 Planning, which entails formulating the program or project elements;
 Proposal writing, which entails converting the concept and the plan into a project document.\

Project Appraisal
- is the structured process of assessing the viability of a project or proposal. It involves calculating the
feasibility of the project before committing resources to it. It is a tool that company’s use for choosing
the best project that would help them to attain their goal.
- a tool which is also used by companies to review the projects completed by it. This is done to know
the effect of each project on the company. This means that the project appraisal is done to know,
how much the company has invested on the project and in return how much it is gaining from it.

Project Appraisal Key Steps

Step #1. Concept Analysis

The first step requires you (as a project appraiser or analyst) to conduct a range of analyses in order
to determine the concept of the future project and provide the Decision Package for the senior
management (project sponsors) for approval. It means you need to carry out the problem-solution
analysis that determines the problem/need to be addressed and the solution to be used to handle the
problem. The solution should be analyzed by cost-effectiveness and feasibility (various project
appraisal methods and techniques can be used). Also you will need to identify stakeholders (those
people and organizations involved in or affected by the problem and/or solution) and analyze their
needs (how they relate to the problem and/or solution).

Step #2. Concept Brief

At this step you must develop a summary of the project concept to define the goals, objectives, broad
scope, time duration and projected costs. All this data will be used to develop the Concept Brief. You
need to develop a project statement document that specifies the project mission, goals, objectives
and vision. Then you create a broad scope statement that specifies the boundaries, deliverables and
requirements of your endeavor. Finally you make a preliminary schedule template that determines an
estimated duration of the project, and then develop a cost projection document based on cost
estimates and calculations.

Step #3. Project Organization

You use the Concept Brief to determine an organizational structure of your project. This structure
should be developed and explained in the Project Organizational Chart. The document covers such
issues as governance structure (roles and responsibilities), team requirements and composition,
implementation approach, performance measures, other info. The idea behind the Project
Organizational Chart is to create a visual representation of the roles, responsibilities and their
relationships and what people/organizations are assigned to what roles and duties within the project.

Step #4. Project Approval

The final stage requires you to review all the previous steps and gather them into a single document
called the Project Appraisal. This document summarizes all the estimations and evaluations made, to
justify the project concept and verify that the proposed solution addresses the identified problem.
The financial, the cost-effectiveness and the feasibility analyses will serve as the methods of project
appraisal to approve the project. The document is to be submitted to the snooper stakeholders (the
customer, the sponsor) for review and approval. If the appraisal is approved, then the project steps to
the next phase, the planning.

Aspects of Project Appraisal

Technical Appraisal
 Will the project work?
 Availability of the required quality and quantity of raw material.
 Availability of utilities like power and water, etc.

Financial Appraisal
 Can the project be financed properly?
 Will there be sufficient funds to cover the expenditure requirements during the life of the
project?
 Means of financing

Economic
 Impact of the project on the distribution of income in the society
 Impact of project on the level of savings and investment in the society and socially desirable
objectives like self-sufficiency, employment, etc.
 Contribution of the project

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PHASE

Project Implementation (2 Phases)

 Project Activation – this means making arrangements to have the project started. It involves
coordination and allocation of resources to make the project operational.
 Project Operation – this is the practical management of a project. Here, project inputs are
transformed into outputs to achieve immediate objectives.

Project Completion
Often the most neglected phase of the project life cycle. Once the project is over, it is easy to pack
things up, throw some files in the drawer, and start moving right into the initiation phase of the next
project.
CONTRACT CLOSURE
 is concerned with completing and settling the terms of the contracts contained in the project.
 it supports the Project Completion Process because Contract Closure determines if the work
described in the contract was completed accurately and satisfactorily.

Project Evaluation Phase

 Is a process of collecting, recording, and organizing information about project results and lessons
learned for future projects which are captured during the Closure Phase.
 As a project draws to a close it is necessary to evaluate whether the objectives have been
achieved and the benefits realized.
 It may also be necessary to consider the return on the investment made.
Project evaluation is important to answer the following questions:
 What progress has been made?
 Were the desired outcomes achieved?
 Do the project results justify the project inputs?
 How has the project improved the affected parties/organization involved?

Project Impact Evaluation

Impact Evaluation
 Is an assessment of how the intervention being evaluated affects outcomes, whether these
effects are intended or unintended.
 “The attainment of development goals of the project of program, or rather the contributions to
their attainment.” (IFAD definition)
 “Project impact evaluation establishes whether the intervention had a welfare effect on
individuals, households, and communities, and whether this effect can be attributed to the
concerned intervention.” (ADB definition)
 Purpose of Impact Evaluation
 Impact evaluation serves both objectives of evaluation: lesson-learning and accountability.
 A properly designed impact evaluation can answer the question of whether the program is
working or not , hence assist decision about scaling up.