Project Management

Concepts

Halima Haque
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Administration
Jahangirnagar University.
Flow of Presentation

• Project
• Project Management
• Project Characteristics
• Project Life Cycle
• Difference between Project activities and
Functional activities
• Importance of Project Management
• The role and skills of Project Manager
Project
• A project is temporary, unique, and the product of a
multifaceted and progressively elaborated process
that produces a solution for a specific objective.

• The word Project comes from the Latin word

Projectum, which means “something that comes
before anything else happens”.

• “A Project is a unique endeavor to produce a set of

deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and
quality constraints.”
Jason Westland
Triple Constraint
Project
•
“ Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service, or result.”
(Source: Project Management Institute. A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge : PMBOK)
• Examples of projects could include:
Developing a new product or service.
 Effecting a change in structure, staffing, or style of
an organization.
 Developing a new or modified information system.
 Implementing a new business procedure or
process.
Project Characteristics

Unique in Nature Approved budget

Limited resources Beneficial change

Element of risk Defined timescale

Project Management
• Project management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to
project activities to meet project requirements.
Project management is accomplished through
the use of the following 5 processes:
 Initiation
 Planning
 Execution
 Controlling and
 Closure
Project Management Environment
Project Life Cycle
Project Life Cycle
Sub-divisions in Project Life Cycle
Activities of the Project Cycle
1. Project Initiation: Justification of the
project which will satisfy or solve more than
one problems is required in this stage. Then it
is very important to select or identify the most
potential project. Identification or selection of
project depends on:
 Study National Plan,
 National Goal
 Sectoral priorities
 Project ranking in relation to priority
 Define broad goal
2. Project Planning
• Project Preparation and Analysis:
Set up targets through objectives
Collection of data
Conduct feasibility study
Choose among alternative designs
Phasing of costs
Phasing of benefits
Prepare Development Project proforma/
proposal (DPP) which provides a complete
picture of a project at a glance. It is the basic
document prepared for processing and approval.
• Project Appraisal:

Examine Economic viability

Examine Financial soundness
Examine Technical soundness
Managerial and organizational soundness
Environmental aspects
Cost effectiveness test
• Project Approval:

Process Development project proposal(DPP)

through appropriate authority.
Getting approval from concerned party
Giving notification
Negotiation (in case of foreign aided projects)
i. Preparation of loan document
ii.Negotiate loan agreement
iii.Organizing working committee to negotiate.
3.Project Execution/Implementation
Procure materials
Recruit manpower
Organize an office
Prepare work schedule
Specify job description
Clarify responsibility
Prepare work plan
Award contract
• Monitoring: Checking progress of a project
activities against a pre-set target (time , cost ,
quality)
• Supervision and control: To make corrective
measures while there arise any problem.
• 4. Project Closure:
• Evaluation: The main purpose of this is to look
systematically at the elements of success and
failure in our experience to learn how better to
plan for the future. This is an ex-post analysis of
the project.
• Evaluation is an objective examination of the
past in order to better predict and control the
future.
Evaluation (cont.)
• Evaluation is a planned process to determine
efficiency, relevance, effectiveness and impact of
the project.
• Evaluation compare project attainment with
projected targets.
• Evaluation identifies reasons for discrepancy if
there any.
• Evaluation suggest methods which will help for
future project of similar nature.
Difference between Project Management
and General Management.
Project Success Factors
• Stakeholder involvement
• Executive management support
• Clear statement of requirements
• Proper planning
• Realistic expectations
• Smaller Project milestones
• Competent staff
• Ownership
• Clear vision and objectives
• Hard working and focused staff
 Project Manager
• In a perfect world, the project manager would simply
implement the project plan and the project would be
completed. The project manager would work with others to
formulate a schedule, organize a project team, keep track of
progress, and announce what needs to be done next, and then
everyone would charge along. Of course no one lives in a
perfect world, and rarely does everything go according to
plan. Project participants get testy; they fail to complement
each other; other departments are unable to fulfill their
commitments; technical glitches arise; work takes longer than
expected. The project manager’s job is to get the project back
on track. A manager expedites certain activities; figures out
ways to solve technical problems; serves as peacemaker when
tensions rise; and makes appropriate tradeoffs among time,
cost, and scope of the project.
Role of a project manager
• The role of a project manager is affected by the
one-shot nature of the project
• The role of a project manager is difficult when
team members are still linked to their permanent
work areas
– Members may be assigned to several projects
simultaneously
• Managers must rely on their communication
skills and powers of persuasion
Project Manager Attributes
• Leader & manager
• Facilitator, coordinator
• Communicator
• Credibility: Technical/
Administrative
• Work under pressure
• Goal-oriented
• Innovator
• Versatilist
Project manager attributes

Versatilist

Specialist

Generalist
Project Manager Duties
• Reports to senior management
• Communicates with users
• Plans and schedules
• Obtains and allocates resources
• Controls risks
• Manages people
• Coordinates
• Implements quality assurance
• Controls the budget
• Delivers results