Project Management, Planning

and Control
 Project

Project is ‘A unique set of co-ordinated activities,

with definite starting and finishing points,
undertaken by an individual or organization to meet
specific objectives within defined schedule, cost and
performance parameters.’
 Project

As stated in the definition, a project has a definite

starting and finishing point and must meet
broadly these three fundamental criteria:
1. The project must be completed on time;
2. The project must be accomplished within the
budgeted cost;
3. The project must meet the prescribed quality
requirements.
 Project Triangle

Development projects need to be

planned, managed, and delivered
under certain constraints.
These constraints are referred to
as the Project Triangle, where
each side of the triangle represents
a constraint; wherein any changes
to any of the sides causes a change
in the other sides.
For example, a change or
adjustment to reduce the time will
change the quality and the cost.
 Project Triangle

Understanding the project triangle allows for better choices,

especially when the projects need to make tradeoffs; If the
project adjusts any one side of the triangle, the other sides are
affected.

For example, to adjust the project plan to:

1. To move the schedule to finish to an early date you need to
reduce the scope and cost.
2. Reduction of the project budget results in less time and a
decreased scope.
3. Increase scope can result in an increase of the time and cost.
 TIME-BOUND PROJECT

A scoreboard for a Prestigious Football tournament

must be finished in time for the opening match, even
if it costs more than anticipated and the display of
some secondary information may be abandoned.
In other words, cost and performance may have to be
sacrificed to meet the unalterable starting date of the
tournament.
 COST-BOUND PROJECT

A local authority housing development may have to

curtail the number of housing units and may even
overrun the original construction programme, but
the project cost cannot be exceeded, because the
housing grant allocated by central government for
this type of development has been frozen at a fixed
sum.
Another solution to this problem would be to reduce
the specification of the internal fittings instead of
reducing the number of units.
 PERFORMANCE (QUALITY)-BOUND PROJECT

An arms manufacturer has to design and

manufacture a new type of rocket launcher to meet
the client’s performance specification in terms of
range, accuracy and rate of fire.
Even if the delivery has to be delayed to carry out
more tests and the cost has increased, the
specification must be met.
Again if the weapons were required during a war, the
specification might be relaxed to get the equipment
into the field as quickly as possible
 SAFETY-BOUND PROJECT

Safety is a factor that is required by law and enshrined in the

Health & Safety at Work Act.
Not only must safe practices be built into every project, but
constant monitoring is an essential element of a safety policy.
To that extent it could be argued that all projects are safety-
bound, since if it became evident after an accident that safety
was sacrificed for speed or profitability, some or all of the
project stakeholders could find themselves in real trouble, if
not in jail.
For this reason the ‘S’ symbol when shown in the middle of
the project management triangle gives more emphasis of its
importance.
Project management:
The planning, monitoring and control of all aspects
of a project and the motivation of all those involved
in it, in order to achieve the project objectives within
agreed criteria of time, cost and performance.
Project manager may be defined as
The individual who has the responsibility, authority
and accountability assigned to him or her to achieve
safely the project objectives within agreed time, cost
and performance/quality criteria.
 Project context (Project environment)

Projects are influenced by a number of factors which

can be external or internal to the organization
responsible for its management and execution.
The important thing for the project manager is to
recognize what these factors are and how they
impact on the project during the various phases from
inception to final handover, or even disposal.
These external or internal influences are known as
the project context or project environment.
 Project context (Project environment)

All these influences

are encapsulated by
the acronym
PESTLE, which
stands for Political
Economic Social
Technical Legal
Environmental.
 The project life cycle

The project life cycle describes the stages a project

goes through as it progresses from start to finish.
 The project life cycle

 Initiation: The first stage where you figure out the ‘why’ of the project’s
existence. You map out the project’s objective, pick a manager, and clarify your
approach. The key deliverable of this stage is the project charter.
 Planning: This is where you use your PM knowledge to develop a detailed plan
for the project’s execution. You’ll define the project’s scope, create a WBS, and
map out a schedule. All the heavy lifting – communication plans, risk
management plans, etc. – is done in this stage. Some of the key deliverables are
the WBS, Gantt chart, and project plan.
 Execution: This is the “do” phase of the project where you actively track
assigned tasks and ensure that the project stays on course. You’ll hold
meetings, send out status reports, and ensure that the project runs smoothly.
 Control: The ‘control’ phase runs alongside the Execution phase and is
focused on monitoring the project’s progress. You’ll monitor milestones, goals,
and activities to keep the project on track.
 Closure: In this fifth and final stage, you’ll hand over all deliverables to
stakeholders and formally close the project. You’ll also review the project for
lapses, insights, and positives. The key deliverable in this stage is the project
report.