Original work only 

 

**Note that this week, you will select your project topic. You must have your project topic approved by your professor. Please make one-page document outlining your project and place it in the Dropbox***

 

This week you have a course project due. This course project requires you to submit your course project topic along with a summary for that project. The summary must be done on a Word Document, it must state the project, what the projects' goal is at minimum. The "Course Project Overview" will give you a hint of what some previous students projects have been. Please keep in mind that I am looking for you to carryout a project that has an 'end goal'. In other words, the project has to have a beginning and an end, it cannot be perpetual!

 

A few things want you to be aware of when selecting your course project:

 

1. Your project must be SMART, i.e., it must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Our goal for this project is to become familiar with and utilize the Project Management Institutes (PMI's) Knowledge Areas and Process to implement, monitor and control projects.

 

**Note that this week, you will select your project topic. You must have your project topic approved by your professor. Please make one-page document outlining your project and place it in the Dropbox***

 

Modern Project ManagementIntroduction

Welcome to Week 1! This week, we begin to set the ground work for managing a project. This week, we will look at what a project is, the project life cycle, project organizations, and the charter. So if you are ready, so am I.  

What Is a Project? 

A project is a nonroutine effort with limited time, limited budget and resource availability, and limited performance specifications to meet the needs of the project's customer, whether an external client or customer, or an internal operating group within an organization. There are forms of work other than projects that are pursued in organizations, whether or not those organizations are commercial or industrial firms, or government or not-for-profit institutions. These forms of work are described later in this section.

So what defines a project? The Project Management Institute states that for something to be considered a project, it must have five attributes, discussed below.

1. A project has an established objective. Projects are results-oriented. Specific tangible items called deliverables must be produced, or specific services must be provided.
2. A project has a defined life span with a beginning and an end. The work required in a project should be performed within a specific time period. For instance, a project to establish a telecommunications network may be scheduled to start on May 1 and completed 6 months later on October 31. At this point, the project comes to an end and the completed project is turned over, either to an external client or customer, or to an internal operating group for its operation or use.
3. A project involves work that is unique. A given project typically involves some element that has never been done before. On one hand, a project, such as the development of a new pharmaceutical product, may require fundamentally new work. On the other hand, a project, such as a bridge construction, may be based on using a fairly standard work process, but that process has to be used in a situation that is unlike any situation faced in previous bridge-building projects.
4. A project must meet specific time, cost, and performance requirements. A project has constraints that are not independent; rather, they interact and require trade-offs of one for the other. For example, adding resources to shorten the time to COMPLETE project may increase the total project cost. The constraints of time, cost, and performance are called the triple constraints. More specifically, elements that constrain the work options and actions of a project are the established completion schedule (time), budget (cost), and scope (performance). It may be helpful to think of performance as work performance, because the idea is to perform the necessary work and produce the work results (or deliverables) that are required by the customer, whose satisfaction is also an element.
5. A project must have assigned resources. This means a project needs to have an assigned budget and assigned individuals to accomplish the project. 

The textbook has a slightly different set of attributes, but in the end, the key information to remember about projects is summarized in the following callout box.

A Project

 

• A temporary endeavor undertaken to COMPOSE unique product, service, or result. - Project Management Institute

The Project Life Cycle

As a consequence of a project having a beginning and an end, the complete time duration represents a project life cycle. Just as a human being goes through different phases during his or her life—birth, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, old age, and death—so, too, does a project go through different phases during its finite life. Moreover, a related consequence is that the project work will have to be defined in terms of individual work activities within the project life cycle and within the individual phases. Each of these activities will have a beginning and an end.

The Project Life Cycle

 

 

According to the Project Management Institute, in the project management industry, projects are generally accomplished in five distinct phases. We will look at each phase. 

Initiation

The initiation phase is the first phase of a project. In this phase, we write the project charter. With this document, we confirm the existence of the project and seek funding to complete the project. The charter authorizes the project. Once the charter is approved, we begin to perform a detailed identification of the project's stakeholders, because we will be working with them throughout the project.

Planning

In the planning phase, we COMPOSE project scope statement, WBS, risk management plan, schedule, communication plan, resources plan, and quality plan. These plans will guide the rest of the project. Many of these plans will be created by you in the Course Project.

Execution

In the execution phase, we do the work of the project. We create the deliverables and product of the project. This is where buildings get built and software gets programmed.

Monitoring and Control

No project can easily come in on time and on budget unless someone monitors the project's progress and controls the project's schedule and budget. The monitoring and control phase looks at where the project's progress is with respect to where it was planned to be by that time. This phase is designed to bring the project in on time and on budget and to make corrections as needed to do just that.

Close Out

The close out phase ensures that the project's records are maintained, the project's lessons learned are recorded, the final payments are made, and the project team is released to do other projects. Project audits are typically done in this phase in order to assist in future projects. This project life cycle describes the typical project life cycle found in the industry. This stepwise process helps the project manager bring in the project on time and on budget while creating a product required by the customer or sponsor.

 

The Project Charter

In the industry, the process of project selection and strategic project management begins the creation of a project charter. A project charter is the first document created for a project. It is the document in which the idea is translated into words that form the backbone of a project. If the project is selected for completion, the project charter is the document that formally authorizes the project. As such, your first course project assignment is to complete project charter.

The project charter should contain a number of important sections that will be needed to assist the individual or team doing project selection. The following is a description of these sections.

Project Title

What will the project be known as? What shall we call it? Each project is normally given a unique name.

Project Description/Mission/Purpose

Why are we doing this project? What requirements are we trying to fulfill?

Product Description

What will this project create when finished? What is the product of this project? What will this final product look like?

Business Case

From a business standpoint, why are we doing this project? Will it make us money? Will it lose us money? Are we required to FINISH project because of a regulation?

Project Manager Authority Level

Who will be the project manager of this project? How much authority does he or she have to spend the company's money to FINISH project?

Key Stakeholders

Who are the key people that the project manager has to work with to FINISH project?

Objectives

What measurable results must be obtained, or services performed, by this project? Most projects have a number of objectives that must be attained for success.

Milestones

What are the significant points or events in the project and when do the stakeholders expect to reach these points? For example, when should phase one testing be complete or when should the roof be on the new warehouse? These are examples of typical milestones.

Success Criteria and High-Level Requirements

How will this project be judged as a success or failure? What will the key stakeholders use as objective, measurable criteria to judge this success or failure? What specific stakeholder requirements is this project required to meet?

Budget

What is the initial high-level budget for this project? In many cases, this becomes a not-to-exceed budget.

Resources Preassigned

What resources have already been assigned to this project?

High-Level Risks

What are the self-evident, high-level risks for this project?

Approval Requirements

Who will sign off on the project? What sections will need sign-offs before we can proceed to the next step?

High-Level Assumptions and Constraints

What assumptions are we making with regard to the project? What are we assuming will or will not happen in our project? What external limits are being placed on the project that constrain our choices?

High-Level Boundaries

What work is part of the project; what work is not? What work or costs will be excluded from the project? Where does this project end and other work begin? What work is considered outside of this project?

As you can see, a charter is really designed to answer the questions a typical individual would ask before approving a large purchase, or a large amount of work: who, what, when, and why. Who will be doing the work? What will be done? When will it start and when is it to end? Why are we even doing this work? Won't you ask the same questions? Corporations ask these questions constantly before starting a project to ensure that only the right projects are done.

Project Organizations

In the practitioner's view of project organizations, there are five basic organizations corporations typically use to do projects. We will explore each of these organizations below. Essentially, industry breaks down the matrix organization (from the textbook) into three separate forms. Each form of a matrix is very different from the other. So let's take a look at all organizational forms from an industry perspective.

Functional

A functional organization is your typical organization where the workers report to one supervisor. That supervisor reports to one manager and that manager reports to an individual in senior management. This organization was designed to do day-to-day work, not projects. Normally, projects are possible in this organization if they can be accomplished by one functional area without outside assistance, such as IT doing an IT project without the help of other departments. A true project manager does not usually reside in this organization even though individuals may have the title of project manager. Instead, this type of organization employs project coordinators or project expeditors to accomplish projects. These individuals report to functional managers and lack the latitude given to true project managers with respect to managing the project. Hence, projects are very difficult to do in a functional environment.

Weak Matrix

One of the main difficulties with a functional organization and performing projects is the inability to use cross-functional teams. Cross-functional teams are composed of individuals from many different functional areas, such as HR, IT, and sales. A matrix was designed to correct for this difficulty. In a weak matrix, the functional manager still retains control of all project resources, because true project managers do not typically exist. Again, project coordinators and project expeditors are used in weak matrices to do the project work. In a weak matrix, the day-to-day work normally takes precedence over project work. With the benefit of cross-functional teams, in a weak matrix, projects are much easier to do than in a functional environment. A weak matrix should be used for projects in which cross-functional expertise is required, but the project is not as important as day-to-day work.

Balanced Matrix

A balanced matrix is another form of a matrix organization. It functions much like a weak matrix with one notable difference. In a balanced matrix, the project manager does exist and shares power with the functional manager. This is the first organization we have discussed in which a true project manager exists! A balanced matrix should be used for projects in which cross-functional expertise is required and when the project is equally as important as day-to-day work.

Strong Matrix

A strong matrix is the last form of a matrix organization. In a strong matrix, the project manager, not the functional manager, controls all the resources. The project manager is provided with a dedicated cross-functional team to do the project. Projects done in a strong matrix are usually the easiest for the project manager to complete of all of the matrix type organizations. These organizational types are normally reserved for those projects that are more important to the corporation than day-to-day work.

Pure Project or Projectized

A pure project is a completely different form of organization. In this organization, the project team is separate from the functional organization. The project team is made up of a dedicated team that may or may not come from the parent organization, meaning that many pure project teams consist of contractors. In this organization, the functional manager either does not exist or has no power over any resources. This type of organization is used in R & D projects or other large, complex projects. Aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceuticals typically use this form of organization for their projects.

As can be seen, the choice of the right organization for a given project is so important to the ultimate success or failure of the project. Some projects do not require much control of resources by the project manager and others demand it. It is important that the project manager give this issue its due concern.

Agile

In modern project management, two schools of thought exist: traditional and agile. So far, we have been discussing traditional project management. In this course, each week's lecture will contain a section to explore agile project management. So let's start our exploration of agile.

Some projects are somewhat simple. Build a building in that lot on the corner. Build a high-rise apartment in the center of the city. However, some projects are quite complex. We don't know what we want, but we know what is a must. We don't know how it should look, but we know what functions it must possess. These are agile projects! 

Traditional project management is made for easy-to-design, repetitive projects. Agile was created for projects that require innovation and collaboration to be successful. Agile project management was created for those projects that are hard to define, that are not cookie cutter, and that are collaborative in their approach. 

This week, we explored the initiation phase of the project management process. In this phase, both traditional and agile project management function very similarly. Both require a charter to get the project off to a good start and both require authorization to begin the project. As we have seen, the function of a project charter is to authorize a project, so a charter is similar in both methods. Next week, we will see that agile and traditional project management begin to separate in their ideology with the creation of the scope.  

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