Starting the Project

A Case Study for PMP® Certification Course

Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Challenges
3. Solution
4. Approach
5. Final outcome
6. Critical success factor
7. Lessons learned
Introduction:

The success of the project is highly dependent on the establishment of an

integrated plan, considering all the aspects of the project.

The various aspects of the project include scope, schedule, cost, quality, project
activities, procurement, and closure. It is also required to determine the project
methodology, so that appropriate results or outputs can be achieved aligning to the
business requirements.

The project being global, the complexity level is high and every aspect of the project
has to be considered and treated critically.

It was proposed to assess, analyze, articulate, and determine the project plan and
project management methods, so that the project can be executed successfully.

Challenges

The organization where the solution has to be implemented across the globe would
have the following challenges:

• Selection of appropriate project management approach

• Collection of requirements, analyzing, and defining scope globally and
regionally
• Availability of the right resources and capabilities with minimal variations
• Organizing the schedule considering the dynamics of global environment
• Determining and standardizing the metrics and quality criteria across
• Defining and conducting procurement globally and regionally
• Effective project governance
• Uniform practices across the different locations throughout the project life
cycle.
Solution

The initiation of the project requires a good understanding of the project and its
dynamics, so that a workable solution can be defined and followed. This requires
Assessing and analyzing project needs and determining the appropriate
methodology

• Planning and managing the project scope

• Planning and managing the resources and budget
• Defining appropriate project schedules by estimating the efforts and
sequencing tasks
• Defining, managing, and controlling the quality of project and products
• Establishing an approach for procurement management
• Project governance globally and regionally along with the establishment of
layered management structure
• Determining and defining the Project or Phase Closure activities

Approach

The various levels of project organization have to be established, which involve

Governance, Management, and Team. This has to be organized at various different
levels as depicted in the below table:

Level Governance Management Team

Corporate Global
Global Global Support
Governance Project Manager

Regional Regional Regional

Regional Support
(Country) Governance Project Manager

Regional Project Execution Team

Local (Cell)
Governance Coordinators Leads and Team
Global level roles will have the end-to-end view of the project globally and would
coordinate and consolidate at global level.

Similarly, the regional level does it at country level and local (cell) level, where the
actual execution happens within the cell for implementation of the solution. Having
this project organization structure, it is essential to determine and define the solution
depicted in the solution section for each level.

1. Establishing Project Governance Structure

Project Governance Structure established should include:

● Evaluating, directing, and monitoring the project at global and regional level
● Defining guidelines for project governance to align with corporate governance
● Providing the oversight of the project objectives and directions
● Establishment of global PMO to govern the project for better alignment,
standardization, and compliance since the project is global and complex

The direction provided by the governance at each level, both globally and regionally
the respective project management (project manager) shall demonstrate the
compliance and ensure the project delivers the result required.

2. Project Methodologies, Methods, and Practices

After detailed deliberation of the Global PM along with the regional PMs, it was
proposed to consider the methodologies which support the dynamics at each cell.
The regional project managers were empowered to decide upon the same. However,
the methodologies followed at global level were predictive, which provided the
directional focus on specific deliverables in a defined stage.
 Project Planning Execution Monitoring & Closure
Initiation Controlling

Kick Off Collection of Directing and Monitoring and Performing the

Project Charter Requirements Managing the controlling all closure activities
PM Assignment Defining project aspects of the for formalizing
Define Basic baseline plans execution project the acceptance
structure for for scope, Acquiring Performing of deliverables
Governance & Schedule, resources, change if there and signing off
PM Budget, developing, and are any Capturing the
Engage with Resources, Risk, managing team deviation for lesson learnt
stakeholders Stakeholder, Managing corrections Formal
Quality, Quality Validation of the declaration of
Procurement, Engaging with deliverables and closure of
Communication stakeholders & acceptance project or phase
etc. Communication
Conducting
procurements

The same shall be replicated at each regional level by selecting the suitable
approaches like predictive (agile), hybrid, iterative, and incremental.

This provides the necessary flexibility to the regional PMs to decide upon the
required approaches which are feasible to the provided environment. However, the
approach selected shall complement the global scenario and comply with the
direction set.

3. Planning and Managing Scope

The scope of the project includes defining the scope of the deliverables and the scope
of the project which involves resources, processes, and activities that are required
for delivering the project. Firstly, it is essential to understand the requirements,
define the scope, and establish the work breakdown structure (WBS) and
requirement traceability matrix.

The typical work breakdown structure for project would be as follows:

 1. IMS

1.1 DRMS 1.2 IDS 1.3 CMS 1.4 GCTS 1.5 FMS

1.1.1 1.2.1 1.3.1 1.4.1 1.5.1

1.1.2 1.2.2 1.3.2 1.4.2 1.5.2

1.1.3 1.2.3 1.3.3 1.4.3 1.5.3

1.1.4 1.2.4 1.3.4 1.4.4 1.5.4

1.1.5 1.2.5 1.3.5 1.4.5 1.5.5

IMS : Integrated Management System

DRMS : Data and Record Management System
IDS : Information and Document Sharing
CMS : Consumer Management System
GCTS : Goods Carrier Tracking System
FMS : Franchise/Partner Management System

The breakdown under each level can be further broken down to the next level until
it cannot be subdivided logically.

The Global WBS structure can become the base and further elaboration has to be
done at the regional levels considering the variations locally. This can be for
templates and features required to suit the tailoring requirements of a specific
region.

Starting from the bottom of the WBS structure, one can estimate the efforts,
resources, cost, and risk, and consolidate upwards to obtain the scope at project
level.
4. Planning and Managing Budget and Resources

The budget and resources required for the project need to be estimated from the
bottom of the WBS structure, moved upwards, and consolidated. The various tools
and techniques are used for the same that include:
● Expert Judgement
● Analogous Estimation
● Parametric Estimation
● Bottom-up Estimation
● Three-Point Estimation

Here the consideration of cost associated with Resources, Risks, Change also need
to be considered. Based on this, cost estimation is obtained, where further
deliberation would be done before allocation of budget.

The cost baseline includes estimation of the cost for the project, plus cost estimated
from risk (contingency reserve). Above the cost baseline, the management reserve is
allocated, but that cannot be utilized by the project manager without having the
proper approval from the global authority.

Management Project
Reserve Budget
Contingency Control Cost Baseline
Reserve Account
Activity Work Package
Contingency Cost
Reserve Estimates
Activity Cost
Estimates

Picture: Depiction of consolidation levels of the cost estimation for determining

budget
Note: Control Account refers to the level in the WBS structure where the PM does
the monitoring of the project performance.

5. Planning and Managing Schedule

Once the WBS is defined, the efforts, resources, costs, and risks are estimated at each
level and cost baseline is obtained. Further, the sequence of the deliverables, the
resources’ allocation, and fund flow have to be planned.

The establishment of the project flow with the estimation of the duration of the tasks,
story, feature, and velocity based on the sequence are defined. This helps in
establishing the project schedule and determining the calendar for milestone
deliverables, resource movement, fund flow, etc.

This requires consideration of dependencies, leads, lags, critical paths, floats, etc.,
and defining the project Gantt charts and network diagrams.

6. Planning and Managing Quality

The term quality refers to the degree to which the set of inherent characteristics
fulfills requirements. The quality should be feasible, modifiable, and measurable,
which is to be considered for the entire lifecycle of the project. This requires
establishing the quality policies applicable globally and then the same is reflected
regionally.

Quality Management plan defined considering deliverables at global level has to

ensure defining criteria. This is to measure at global level and similarly for regional
level. This has to be done at every level of deliverables defined in WBS and those
should be specific, measurable, and not subjective.

Besides, the quality audits need to be done regularly to ensure the compliance and
adherence to the process defined. The frequency of testing the deliverables has to
be defined, so that they are validated against planned.
Usage of seven basic tools of quality has to be considered at appropriate levels.
Those are:
● Run Chart/Control Chart
● Fishbone Diagram
● Pareto Chart
● Histogram
● Scatter Diagram
● Cheek Sheets
● Flow Charts

7. Planning and Managing Procurement

Since the project requires consideration of global scenarios while selecting the
suppliers, it is very important to define the supplier strategy. Besides, the decision
has to be made for make or buy, so that accordingly procurement plans can be
defined.

With the effective use of tools like make or buy analysis, market research, meetings,
expert judgement, negotiations, and bidder conference, an essential insight towards
the selection of the right suppliers would be possible.

The effective procurement management plan requires the following, considering the
global and regional scenarios:
● Statement of work
● Procurement management plan
● Source selection criteria
● Monitoring and management for selected sellers

8. Planning and Managing Project/Phase Closure

Closing the project or phase requires defining the steps to be followed. These are to
be done to formalize the closure at each level of the project, both globally and
regionally.
The criteria to determine the closure of the project or phase are handing over the
modules completed to production/operations and obtaining the formal sign-offs.
Further, it is required to capture and consolidate the lessons learned during the
phase/project, so that they can be consolidated and made available for future
reference.

Close-out meetings have to be conducted to conclude upon the completion of the

phase/project in all aspects.

9. Integration of Planning Activities

Overall, all the plans, methods, plans, and activities defined require integration for
effective coordination. This includes the plans related to the management of scope,
schedule, cost, quality, resources, risk, procurement, communication, and
stakeholder including all the artifacts, tools, and techniques.

This provides the integrated view of the project to manage with a holistic view of the
project. This enables:
● Informed decisions
● Consolidation of plans to check on their dependencies
● Determining critical information requirements
● Managing and rectifying the violation of any norms, policies, or guidelines
● Assessment of dependencies, gaps, and continued business value

Final outcome

With the establishment of the integrated plan and appropriate methodology, the
global project would be able to accomplish the result complimenting the dynamics
at global and regional level.

Every aspect of the project can be handled with full visibility, so better
management, monitoring, and control can be accomplished.
The visualization and visibility towards the global integrated view of the solution
and plan would help the teams to get better clarity of the overall project, in terms
of the project directions and objectives. Further, the detailed view of regional
deliverables and plans, the task will become simple, with alignment to the global
directions.

The structured review mechanism at each level helps to get the better insight
towards the deliverables and the achievements. Further, this helps in achieving the
quality, acceptable to stakeholders.

The use of combination of various approaches for the project management at

different levels provides better ability to move with required phase and ensures the
project is completed in time (schedule), cost (budget), and within defined scope.

The understanding of the regional dynamics and defining the procurement plans
would help in better control of suppliers and their supply.

Overall, the plan established with a good understanding of the project, project
environment, and its dynamics provide the better edge to take the project to
success.

Critical success factor

The various critical success factors which are very important in making the project,
for establishing the Integrated Management System for global goods carrier
services involve the following:
• Active participation of stakeholders (including customers) and management
to provide their inputs and feedback regularly
• Identifying, defining, and communicating the plan at all levels to obtain the
better insights of the project
• Availability of the experts (Subject Matter Experts) to define the correct
approaches applicable to the project and organization environment
• Right estimation the of scope, time, cost, effort, and resources
 • Establishment of right metrics and methodology for the measuring the
success of the project
• Effective strategy for identifying suppliers and their management
• Establishment of a good communication management plan
• Consolidating and providing the integrated view of the project which
provides good insight towards the entire project and its progress

Lessons Learned

The establishment of the plan for the global environment and obtaining the
integrated view provide the insight towards the consideration required while
planning for global projects. That includes
• Better understanding of the global environment with the challenges
associated while planning
• Better insight towards the global and regional differences
• Complexity involved in defining the solution and approach, both globally and
regionally, and aligning the plans to complement each other
• Obtained insight towards the political, legal, environmental, economical,
technological, and social environments influencing the project
• Increased ability to identify and associate with suppliers to make an effective
plan for procurement globally