Project management

EMT341 Management for Engineers

Examination questions
-examples-
Q . Explain the function of the person who is involved directly in Project Management below:
[Berikut adalah pihak yang terlibat secara langsung di dalam pengurusan projek, huraikan peranan setiap satu
daripadanya]

1. Program Manager [Pengurus Program]

2. Project Manager [Pengurus Projek]
3. Executive[Eksekutif]

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 Answers
PROGRAM MANAGER: is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day activities of a
particular program and also for keeping a birds-eye view of the program operations.
When a company decides to launch a new program, the program manager is the
person who will see it through from launch to finish and will monitor and report on
progress throughout the process. (2 marks)

PROJECT MANAGER: achieves operational objectives by contributing information and

recommendations to strategic plans and reviews; preparing and completing action
plans; implementing production, productivity, quality, and customer-service
standards; resolving problems; completing audits; identifying trends; determining
system improvements; implementing change. (2 marks)

EXECUTIVE: he/she will be under the supervision of Project Manager. He/she will
assist and support the project manager in handling tendering. Familiar with tender
process (per-tender), tender documentation, valuation and award. Ability to handle
costing as well as responsibilities to compile tender books for tender submission. To
maintain and update proper filing system. To maintain and update tender/bids working
files, project documents etc. (2 marks)
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Definition of a

PROJECT
Case 1
“A software group may be asked to develop an
application program that will access U.S. government
data on certain commodity prices and generate records
on the value of commodity inventories held by a firm;
the software must be available for use on April 1”
Case 2
“The Illinois State Bureau for Children’s Services may
require an annually updated census (Survey) of all
Illinois resident children, aged 17 years or younger, living
with an illiterate single parent; the census must begin in
18 months.”

A project, then, is a temporary endeavour (attempt to achieve goals) undertaken to create a unique product or service
(scope) . It is specific, timely, usually multidisciplinary, and always conflict ridden (Dominated). Projects are parts of
overall programs and may be broken down into tasks, subtasks, and further if desired. Current trends in project
management are noted..

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 More examination examples
a. State the THREE (3) main variables that are optimized in project management.
[Nyatakan TIGA (3) pembolehubah utama yang dioptimumkan dalam pengurusan projek.]

(5 Marks / Markah)

B. Elaborate on at least FIVE (5) responsibilities of a project manager.

[Perincikan sekurang-kurangnya LIMA (5) tanggungjawab pengurus projek.]

(10 Marks / Markah)

C. Describe the main processes of project management.

[Huraikan proses-proses utama dalam pengurusan projek.]

(10 Marks / Markah)

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Project Goal @ main variables to optimise @ what is managed @ Project objectives

❖ Projects have three interrelated objectives:

➢ (1) meet the budget,
➢ (2) finish on schedule, and
➢ (3) generate deliverables that satisfy the client.
B. S C
❖ Because we live in an uncertain world, as work on the project proceeds, unexpected problems are bound to arise.
❖ These chance events will threaten the project’s schedule or budget or scope.
❖ The PM must now decide how to trade off one project goal against another (e.g., to stay on schedule by assigning
extra resources to the project may mean it will run over the predetermined budget).
❖ If the schedule, budget, and scope are rigidly predetermined, the project is probably doomed to failure unless the
pre-set schedule and budget are overly generous or the difficulty in meeting the specifications has been seriously
overestimated.

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 Life cycle of project

S- Shape J- Shape

Slow – Fast – Slow Slow – fast

Eg. Building Eg. Computer software
Houses

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 Steps in Selecting a Project
• Common questions by top management

1. Is the project potentially profitable? Does it have a chance of meeting our return - on - investment hurdle
(problem) rate?
2. Is the project required by law or the rules of an industrial association; i.e., a “ mandate? ”
3. Does the firm have, or can it easily acquire, the knowledge and skills to carry out the project successfully?
4. Does the project involve building competencies that are considered consistent with our firm ’ s strategic
plan?
5. Does the organization currently have the capacity to carry out the project on its proposed schedule?
6. In the case of R & D projects, if the project is technically successful, does it meet all requirements to make it
economically successful?

Select viable project first, the PM is selected.

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 Method of Selecting A Project

1. Nun-numerical method
a) The Sacred Cow → idea from CEO
b) The Operating/Competitive Necessity → selects any project that is necessary for continued
operation of a group, facility, or the firm itself.
c) Comparative Benefits → institutions often appoint a selection committee made up of
knowledgeable individuals, each arrange a set of potential projects into a rank - ordered set
2. Numeric Selection Methods
a) Financial Assessment Methods → select projects on the basis of their expected economic value
to the firm, e.g. payback period and discounted cash flow.
b) Financial Options and Opportunity Costs → employs financial analysis that recognizes the value
of positioning the organization to capitalize on future opportunities.
c) Scoring Methods →to overcome some of the disadvantages of the simple financial profitability
methods, especially their focus on a single criterion.

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 Establish project council

Identify Project Categories and Criteria → Derivative

projects → Platform projects → Breakthrough projects → R & D projects

Collect Project Data

Assess Resource Availability

Project portfolio
Reduce the Project and Criteria Set
process (PPP)
Prioritize the Projects within Categories

Select the Projects to Be Funded and Held in Reserve

Implement the Process

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End of chapter 1

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Project
Manager
EMT 341 management for engineers

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How to select a good PM
• Credibility
• Technically & Administratively competent
• not expected to have an expert ’ s knowledge of each of the technologies that may be germane (idea or
information) to the project
• should, however, have expertise in one or more areas of knowledge relevant to the project
• Sensibility
• needs a finely tuned set of political antennae
• equally sensitive sensor of interpersonal conflict between team members, or between team members
(including himself or herself) and other parties - at - interest to the project
• open and honest intra-team communication is critical to project success.
• technical sensors that indicate when technical problems are being swept under the rug or when the project is
about to fall behind its schedule.
• Leadership, Style, Ethics
• PM should be a leader, adopt a participatory management style that may have to be modified depending on the
level of technological sophistication and uncertainty involved in the project.
• Another critical project management skill is the ability to direct the project in an ethical manner.

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Roles of a PM
EMT 341 Management for Engineers

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 PM’s Role 1
• Facilitator
• is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and
assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the
discussion.
• It is a tenet (a principle or belief) of facilitation that the facilitator will not lead the
group towards the answer that he/she thinks is best even if they possess an opinion on
the subject matter. The facilitator's role is to make it easier for the group to arrive at its
own answer, decision, or deliverable.

• Supervisor
• Person in the first-line management who monitors and regulates employees in
their performance of assigned or delegated tasks. Supervisors are
usually authorized to recommend and/or effect hiring, disciplining, promoting,
punishing, rewarding, and other associated activities regarding the employees in
their departments.

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 PM’s Role 2
• Communicator
• The PM must be a person who can handle responsibility.
• The PM is responsible to the project team, to senior
management, to the client, and to anyone else who may have a
stake in the project ’ s performance or outcomes.
• The PM is in the middle of responsibility and must manage the
project in the face of all these often - conflicting interests.
• Problems arise when some of these parties propagate
communications that may mislead other parties, or directly
conflict with other messages in the system. ** The solid lines denote the PM ’s communication
• It is the PM ’ s responsibility to introduce some order into this channels.
communication mess. **The dotted lines denote communication paths for
the other parties - at - interest in the project.

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 PM’s Role 3
• Meeting, convener and Chair
• Meeting → a frequent medium for the PM to communicate and report to the senior management and convey
instructions to the project team.
• Most of the causes of meeting - dread (great fear) are associated with failure to adopt common sense about when to
call meetings and how to run them.
• In an effective meeting, PM have to:
o make sure that the meeting starts on time and has a prearranged stopping time.
o As convener of the meeting, the PM is responsible for taking minutes and keeping the meeting on track.
o The PM should also make sure that the invitation to the meeting includes a written agenda that clearly explains the
purpose for the meeting and includes sufficient information on the project to allow the invitees to come prepared

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 PM’s Role 4
• Virtual project manager
• More and more often, project teams are geographically dispersed.
• These geographically dispersed projects are often referred to as “virtual projects”, possibly because so much of
the intra - project communication is conducted via email, through websites, by telephone or video conferencing,
and other high - technology methods.
• In recent decades, the international dispersion of industry, “ globalization, ” has dramatically increased the
communication problems, adding the need for translators to the virtual communication networks.
• For virtual projects to succeed, communication between PM and project team must be frequent, open, and two -
way.

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Responsibilities of a PM
EMT 341 Management for Engineers

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 PM’s responsibility to project 1
• Acquiring Resources
1. PM ’ s responsibility to ensure that the project has the appropriate level of
Resources.
• When the project team needs specific resources to succeed, there is no acceptable
excuse for not getting them — though there may be temporary setbacks.
2. The individual (Personnel) in the organization who is most competent on
the specific task to be accomplished.

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 PM’s responsibility to project 2
• Fighting Fires and Obstacles
• Still another key responsibility of the PM is to deal with obstacles.
• All projects have their crises — fires that must be quenched.
• The successful PM is also a talented and seasoned fire fighter.
• Early in the project’s life cycle, fires are often linked to the need for resources. Budgets get cut, and
the general cuts must be transformed into highly specific cuts in the quantities of highly specific
resources
• As work on the project progresses, most fi res are associated with technical problems, supplier
problems, and client problems.
• “Most experienced PMs are good fire fighters. If they do not develop this skill they do not last as PMs.”

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 PM’s responsibility to project 3
• Leadership and Making Trade – Offs
• PM is also responsible for making the trade - offs necessary to lead the project to a successful conclusion
• The PM is the key figure in making trade - offs between project cost, schedule, and scope (B. SC??).
• Which of these has higher priority than the others is dependent on many factors having to do with the
project, the client, and the parent organization.
• If cost is more important than time for a given project, the PM will allow the project to be late rather than incur added
costs.
• If a project has successfully completed most of its specifications, and if the client is willing, both time and cost may be
saved by not pursuing some remaining specifications. It is the client ’ s choice.
• ** Of the three project goals, scope (specifications and client satisfaction) is usually the most important.
Schedule is a close second, and cost is usually subordinate to the other two.

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Required skills

• Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Persuasion (interpersonal)

• It is not possible for the PM to meet these responsibilities without being a skilled negotiator and resolver of conflict.
• The acquisition of resources requires negotiation.
• Dealing with problems, conflict, and fi res requires negotiation and conflict resolution.
• The same skills are needed when the PM is asked to lead the project to a successful conclusion - and to make the trade - offs
required along the way.
• Persuade.
• Projects must be selected for funding, and they begin when senior management has been persuaded that they are worthwhile.
• Change/trade-off in project → PM ’ s skill at persuading others to accept the project as well as changes in its methods and
scope once it has been accepted
• Others interpersonal skills
• Managers perform ceremonial obligations; provide leadership to employees; build a network of relationships with bosses,
peers, and employees; and act as liaison to groups and individuals both inside and outside the company (such as suppliers,
competitors, government agencies, consumers, special-interest groups, and interrelated work groups)

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Other Skills (conceptual, diagnostic, technical, interpersonal)

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Informational and Decisional Skills

• Informational skills.
• Managers spend a fair amount of time gathering information by questioning people both inside and outside the organization.
• They also distribute information to employees, other managers, and outsiders.
• Decisional skills.
• Managers use the information they gather to encourage innovation, to resolve unexpected problems that threaten
organizational goals (such as reacting to an economic crisis),
• decide how organizational resources will be used to meet planned objectives.
• They also negotiate with many individuals and groups, including suppliers, employees, and unions.

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 ThankYou
M. Mohamad Isa
+6 013 3223 579
muammar@unimap.edu.my
http://some.edu.my

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