Unit - 3
Project team
Successful projects are usually the result of careful planning and the talent and collaboration of a project’s team members. Projects can’t move forward without each of its key team members, but it’s not always clear who those members are, or what roles they play. Here, we will describe five roles – project manager, project team member, project sponsor, executive sponsor and business analyst – and describe their associated duties.
Project Manager
The project manager plays a primary role in the project, and is responsible for its successful completion. The manager’s job is to ensure that the project proceeds within the specified time frame and under the established budget, while achieving its objectives. Project managers make sure that projects are given sufficient resources, while managing relationships with contributors and stakeholders.
Project manager duties:
Develop a project plan
Manage deliverables according to the plan
Recruit project staff
Lead and manage the project team
Determine the methodology used on the project
Establish a project schedule and determine each phase
Assign tasks to project team members
Provide regular updates to upper management
Project Team Member
Project team members are the individuals who actively work on one or more phases of the project. They may be in-house staff or external consultants, working on the project on a fulltime or part-time basis. Team member roles can vary according to each project.
Project team member duties may include:
Contributing to overall project objectives
Completing individual deliverables
Providing expertise
Working with users to establish and meet business needs
Documenting the process
Project Sponsor
The project sponsor is the driver and in-house champion of the project. They are typically members of senior management – those with a stake in the project’s outcome. Project sponsors work closely with the project manager. They legitimize the project’s objectives and participate in high-level project planning. In addition, they often help resolve conflicts and remove obstacles that occur throughout the project, and they sign off on approvals needed to advance each phase.
Project sponsor duties:
Make key business decisions for the project
Approve the project budget
Ensure availability of resources
Communicate the project’s goals throughout the organization
Executive Sponsor
The executive sponsor is ideally a high-ranking member of management. He or she is the visible champion of the project with the management team and is the ultimate decision-maker, with final approval on all phases, deliverables and scope changes.
Executive sponsor duties typically include:
Carry ultimate responsibility for the project
Approve all changes to the project scope
Provide additional funds for scope changes
Approve project deliverables
Business Analyst
The business analyst defines needs and recommends solutions to make an organization better. When part of a project team, they ensure that the project’s objectives solve existing problems or enhance performance, and add value to the organization. They can also help maximize the value of the project deliverables.
Business analyst duties:
Assist in defining the project
Gather requirements from business units or users
Document technical and business requirements
Verify that project deliverables meet the requirements
Test solutions to validate objectives
Standard Project Roles and Responsibilities
This describes typical roles and responsibilities for projects and programs. Roles may be assigned to one or more individuals. Conversely, individuals may play one or more roles.
Executive Sponsor
• Has ultimate authority and responsibility for a project or program
• Approves changes to scope
• Provides additional funds for scope changes
• Approves deliverables
Executive Committee (Class 4/5 Project)
• Allocates resources to support project implementation
• Advises on issues escalated by Steering Committee
• Exemplifies rapid analysis and decision-making characteristics imperative of all project team members
• Prioritizes project to demonstrate its importance and timeliness across other UCSC objectives
• Recommends a communication plan within the UCSC community
• Provides information and expert advice about campus plans for other projects or system developments that impact project timelines, deliverables, or resources
• Recommends resolution of scope related matters
• Advises on strategic partnerships
Steering Committee
• Provides campus wide leadership in support of the project
• Resolves issues escalated by the project manager or project team leads
• Resolves or forwards policy issues to appropriate decision-making bodies
Program/Project Sponsor
• Makes the business decisions for the program/project
• Participates day-to-day in one or more programs/projects
• Makes user resources available
• Approves work products
• Disposes of issues and project scope change requests
Program/Project Manager
• Reports to and receives direction from Executive Sponsor
• Participates in and approves project plan and deliverables*
• Manages, reviews, and prioritizes the project work plans with objective to stay on time and on budget
• Provides status and progress reviews to Executive Sponsor and Steering Committee
• May manage and supervise the following resources:
- Senior technical staff
- Technical project managers
- Team leads
- Team members
Project Team Lead / ScrumMaster
• Assigned full or part time to participate in project team activities
• Responsible for contributing to overall project objectives and specific team deliverables
• Manages specific project plan activities and contributes to project plan development in collaboration with project manager
• Coordinates documentation, testing, and training efforts related to project plan
• If the project adopts an Agile development approach, the ScrumMaster is responsible for managing each development sprint, the daily Scrum and ensuring that the team properly applies Agile development principles.
Project Team Member
• Assigned full or part time to participate in project team activities
• Responsible for contributing to overall project objectives and specific team deliverables
• Escalates policy issues to team lead for referral to appropriate policy making bodies
• This role includes all various resources necessary to execute the project plan.
Technology Support
• This role is comprised of various team members who perform technology support for the project.
• Membership includes DBA, App Admin, App Dev, Business Analyst, etc.
• Establishes project support technology standards
• Assists team members in the use of project support technology
• Maintains project support technology
• Ensures that the technical environment is in place and operational throughout the project
• Establishes and maintains target environment for new applications
Stakeholders
• Community member affected by or participating in the project
Key User
• Provides source information to the team
• Provides expert business understanding of the organization
• Represents the user’s area in identifying current or future procedures
• Reviews and confirms major SDLC work products for the project
• Participates as required in User Acceptance Testing Activities
Key takeaways
- The project manager plays a primary role in the project, and is responsible for its successful completion
- Project team members are the individuals who actively work on one or more phases of the project
Data can have a significant impact on the outcomes of a project, which is why it’s important for project managers to not only look at data but that they are able to understand the data, so that their clients will get the results they want.
While many businesses understand the importance of investing in data science for innovation, not all businesses know how to turn that into business value. So how can project managers leverage data to realize project benefits? Here are some suggestions below.
1. ASSESSING PROJECT RISKS
Every project will come with different risks but incorporating data analytics into the project management process allows executives and managers to identify, rank and prioritise those risks in a more informed manner. The following things should be considered when performing a risk analysis:
- Size and complexity of the project
- The client’s risk tolerance
- The competence of the project or risk manager
This will help mitigate the likelihood of risks occurring and predict the possible effects of those risks. It’s important to note that projects should be regularly assessed for risks as projects change or head in a new direction. Conducting regular risk assessments will prevent problems arising later in the project.
2. FORECASTING THE DATE OF COMPLETION
Data analytics can be used by project managers to watch for early warning signs in terms of budget, schedule and quality, so they can take proactive action. Data can be used to gauge the rate of work so completion of tasks can be predicted.
When certain tasks are taking a lot longer, managers can speak to their team to find out if something is blocking their progress or if it has slowed down for other reasons. Insightful analytics can help project managers improve resources and better forecast revenue and costs.
3. MEASURING SUCCESS
In the past it was hard to measure success other than through sales or voluntary customer data, such as surveys or reviews. Now businesses have the capacity to know more about their customers than ever before through data mining. This allows project managers to sift through large quantities of data to look for trends. Finding useful trends allows project managers to create successful projects.
Analyzing data also reduces the complexity of projects because the more informed your decisions are the less uncertainty there is. Gathering information is vital to the success of any product and is what drives business decisions. The key to making good business decisions is ensuring the data is relevant. Good project managers are able to see the bigger picture in the data and use it to tell meaningful stories.
DATA MISTAKES TO AVOID
An experienced project manager knows the importance of avoiding data mistakes, however for new project managers it can be a daunting task, so here are some common data mistakes to avoid.
Collecting irrelevant data: The first question a project manager should ask themselves as they’re looking at data is: “Is this information relevant?”. There’s an immense amount of data available but being able to decipher what data is important to the project at hand is a valuable skill in a project manager.
Not acting on the data: Once the relevant data has been collected, a company needs to learn to leverage that data quickly, so they have a competitive edge. Really do your research when dealing with new trends or technology, because if you don’t know how to interpret that data it could be a missed opportunity for your organization, if you don’t act on it.
Failing to communicate: A project manager should be supportive of their team members, monitor the project for any issues that may arise and keep the team on track to deliver tasks on time. The agile method is great for project managers because it allows their client to be informed every step of the way and are able to ensure their team is on track. Anywise Consulting recommends the agile methodology because some of the core communication values allow for greater transparency and frequent communication with clients.
Thinking data is only for trained data analysts: Project managers shouldn’t think that just because data analysts are trained to look at data that they are the only ones who can understand it. In fact, working together is much more productive and cohesive, as project managers may be able to spot trends or anomalies from a business perspective that a data analyst may miss. It’s important to collaborate and use each team members’ experience to get the most out of the data.
Key takeaways
While many businesses understand the importance of investing in data science for innovation, not all businesses know how to turn that into business value.
Project contracts. Types and contents.
Contracts are legally binding agreements between at least 2 different legal entities named a buyer and a seller. The buyer wishes to buy certain goods or services from a seller. The seller, in return for the goods or services provided, expects monetary or other values to be paid to them.
When a buyer and seller agree to work together as mentioned above, both sides will have expectation to receive some value from the other party. And both sides also have certain obligations to fulfil towards each other. A legally binding contract will help protect the rights of both sides by ensuring both sides fulfil their obligations. In case of any issues, any of the aggrieved side can take legal recourse.
Elements of a legally binding contract
Contract is an elaborate document containing the detailed scope of work along with all other agreed terms and conditions, stating the rights and obligations of both sides.
A legally binding contract will have the following components:
- There must be an offer from one side. The offer must be a genuine offer.
- There must be acceptance from the other side. The acceptance must be a willing acceptance without any kind of pressure.
- There must be equal exchange of values between both the sides.
- Must be signed by authorized personnel.
- The work in the contract must be legally allowed work. There can’t be a legal contract for illegal work.
While all the above elements must be present in a legally binding contract, it is said that the consideration is the most important factor, as that defines the benefits received by both sides. It is also said that the consideration must be win-win for both sides.
Contract Types
There are three broad categories of contracts as mentioned below:
Fixed Price Contract (FP)
Time and Material Contract (T&M)
Cost Reimbursable Contract (CR)
Fixed Price Contract
Fixed Price contracts are used when the scope of work is clearly defined and the requirements are well understood. Once the scope is clearly defined, then it is expected that the seller will come up with a fixed price quotation for the agreed scope of work. The seller needs to understand the requirements and also all the associated risks which may occur during the project work, while making a fixed prices quotation. Hence for a fixed prices contract the seller also needs to be very matured and capable.
Once agreed, it becomes a win-win for both sides. The buyer is assured of a fixed price to be paid once the defined scope of work is completed by the seller. The payments will be made based on delivering well defined outcomes. The seller here assumes all the cost related risk once agreed. The seller may lose money in this kind of a contract, at the same time the seller may make maximum profit also in this kind of contract if they can complete the work in less cost.
It will take solid maturity and clarity on both sides to come up with fixed-price contracts. Negotiation may take some time. Fixed price contracts once finalized, will use change requests for any kind of changes to be made in scope or any other terms and conditions.
There are 3 different flavours of fixed-price contract as below:
- Firm Fixed Price Contract (FFP)
- Fixed Price with Incentive (FPIP)
- Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment (FP-EPA)
Time and Material Contract (T&M)
Time and Material contracts are very popular contract type which is used for regular purchases for standard items. Items may include augmenting temporary manpower for the project with well-defined skills and expertise level. Item also includes standard materials which may be needed for consumption in the project.
In T&M contracts, the organization will select some preferred suppliers of such manpower and materials. The vendors will be selected based on their capabilities and experience. There will be a negotiated price (or rate) for such supplies. The final price paid will be for the amount of quantity of such resources consumed or purchased.
Managing T&M contracts is pretty simple. T&M contract uses both the flavours of fixed price and reimbursement based on consumption.
Cost Reimbursable Contract (CR)
In cost reimbursable contract the buyer pays the actual cost incurred by the seller and an additional fee or profit. There are 2 components paid separately in this kind of contract. While actual cost is reimbursed as per actual, the fee amount is somewhat decided upfront.
This kind of contract is used when the requirements are not clear. The team also does not much clarity about the details of how the product will be developed. Hence in absence of clarity on all accounts, this becomes the best possible arrangement.
Cost reimbursable contracts are used for new research and development, proof of concept developments which requires immense innovation without a guarantee of predicted outcome.
Following are some of the flavours of Cost-Reimbursable contracts.
- Cost plus percentage of cost (CPPC)
- Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF)
- Cost plus Incentive Fee (CPIF)
- Cost plus award fee (CPAF)
Cost plus contracts puts all the risk on the buyer, as the seller is assured of all the actual cost plus some fee. The entire responsibility lies on the buyer. These contracts sometime can be misused also. As the seller will not bother much about cost control, as they are assured of all actual costs. This requires the buyer to audit and micro manage all the expenses.
Project execution Project cost control.
Almost all the projects need to be guided right throughout in order to receive the required and expected output at the end of the project. It is the team that is responsible for the project and most importantly the project manager that needs to be able to carry out effective controlling of the costs. There are, however, several techniques that can be used for this purpose.
In addition to the project goals that the project manager has to oversee, the control of various costs is also a very important task for any project. Project management would not be effective at all if a project manager fails in this respect, as it would essentially determine whether or not your organization would make a profit or loss.
Cost Control Techniques
Following are some of the valuable and essential techniques used for efficient project cost control:
1 - Planning the Project Budget
You would need to ideally make a budget at the beginning of the planning session with regard to the project at hand. It is this budget that you would have to help you for all payments that need to be made and costs that you will incur during the project life cycle. The making of this budget therefore entails a lot of research and critical thinking.
Like any other budget, you would always have to leave room for adjustments as the costs may not remain the same right through the period of the project. Adhering to the project budget at all times is key to the profit from project.
2 - Keeping a Track of Costs
Keeping track of all actual costs is also equally important as any other technique. Here, it is best to prepare a budget that is time-based. This will help you keep track of the budget of a project in each of its phases. The actual costs will have to be tracked against the periodic targets that have been set out in the budget. These targets could be on a monthly or weekly basis or even yearly if the project will go on for long.
This is much easier to work with rather than having one complete budget for the entire period of the project. If any new work is required to be carried out, you would need to make estimations for this and see if it can be accommodated with the final amount in the budget. If not, you may have to work on necessary arrangements for 'Change Requests', where the client will pay for the new work or the changes.
3 - Effective Time Management
Another effective technique would be effective time management. Although this technique does apply to various management areas, it is very important with regard to project cost control.
The reason for this is that the cost of your project could keep rising if you are unable to meet the project deadlines; the longer the project is dragged on for, the higher the costs incurred which effectively means that the budget will be exceeded.
The project manager would need to constantly remind his/her team of the important deadlines of the project in order to ensure that work is completed on time.
4 - Project Change Control
Project change control is yet another vital technique. Change control systems are essential to take into account any potential changes that could occur during the course of the project.
This is due to the fact that each change to the scope of the project will have an impact on the deadlines of the deliverables, so the changes may increase project cost by increasing the effort needed for the project.
5 - Use of Earned Value
Similarly, in order to identify the value of the work that has been carried out thus far, it is very helpful to use the accounting technique commonly known as 'Earned Value'.
This is particularly helpful for large projects and will help you make any quick changes that are absolutely essential for the success of the project.
Bar Charts
Gantt charts are example of bar charts only
Were introduced by Henry Gantt
Activity & its progress with time is shown on such charts
Activity shown on vertical axis whereas time on horizontal axis
Starting of bar shows beginning time of an activity
Hence length of the bar shows time of completion of activity
Width of bar chart does not show anything
Helps to know the progress of the project & activities
Visualization of entire project can be done
Resource requirements of the project or activities can be shown
Not all activities of the project can be shown on bar chart
Bar charts are not preferred for bigger projects, details can’t be provided
Bar chart only shows the progress of activity as expected & not the actual progress attained with time
Hence review of the project can’t be done, so bar charts can’t be used as controlling devices
To show the progress of activities on the bar chart, hatched lines along the corresponding bars can be shown.
Inter dependencies & inter relationships are not shown on bar chart
Concurrent activities can be shown through parallel bars
Sequential activities are shown through bars in series
Precedence relationship among activities can also be shown on bar chart
Bar charts can only be drawn if the time of each activity is certain
Critical activities are not shown on bar chart
Optimization of the cost or time can’t be done on bar charts
Following stages are included in the development of a bar chart:
1. Breakdown the project into activities, jobs, operation along with their resources
2. Decide the sequence of these activities (concurrent or sequential)
3. Assign the resources i.e., time for starting & completion
4. Represent in the form of bar chart
Network diagram
Network Diagrams are a graphical portrayal of the activities and events of a project. They show how each activity relates to others in the project, the sequence of activities, and the need to perform some tasks before others. Networks also facilitate the determination of the impact of early or late starts or finishes, provide information about the allocation of resources, and allow managers to do “what if” analyses. With this information, managers may view the status of the plan, analyze progress, and evaluate alternatives.
Types of Network Diagrams
There are two types of network diagrams that are used:
- Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM), also called “activity network diagram” or “activity on arrow”
- Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), also called “node network” or “activity on node.”
Benefits of a Network Diagram
There are a number of benefits that program personnel can have utilizing a network diagram. A few benefits are:
- The project manager can track each element of a project and share status.
- Report progress to stakeholders
- Establishing project workflows
- Tracking dependencies
- Display any bottlenecks that pose a risk
Network Diagram Requirements
The following conditions must exist to develop a Network Diagram:
- All program activities must be clearly defined, including identifiable start and completion points.
- A logic diagram showing the sequence and interrelationships of activities must be developed.
- The time to complete each activity must be estimated as accurately as possible.
Network diagram tools
- Critical chain method - The Critical Chain Method (CCM) is one of the methods used to perform Schedule Network Analysis that takes into account task dependencies, limited resource availability, and buffers. It’s used to prepare the project schedule when limited or restricted resources are available.
- Critical path method - The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a way to determine the critical path of a schedule. The critical path is the longest path of scheduled activities that must be met to execute a project. This is important for Program Managers (PM) to know since any problems on the critical path can prevent a project from moving forward and be delayed. Earned Value Management (EVM) analysis focuses on the critical path and near-critical paths to identify cost and schedule risks. Other schedule paths might have slack time to avoid delaying the entire project, unlike the critical path. There might be multiple critical paths on a project. The method is used with Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT).
- Precedence diagram method - Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) is a visual representation technique that depicts the activities involved in a project. It is a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes/nodes to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies.
- PERT - Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a method used to examine the tasks in a schedule and determine a Critical Path Method variation (CPM). It analyzes the time required to complete each task and its associated dependencies to determine the minimum time to complete a project. It estimates the shortest possible time each activity will take, the most likely length of time, and the longest time that might be taken if the activity takes longer than expected. The US Navy developed the method in 1957 on the Polaris nuclear submarine project.
Key takeaways
- Network Diagrams are a graphical portrayal of the activities and events of a project.
- Contracts are legally binding agreements between at least 2 different legal entities named a buyer and a seller
References:
- Cost Accounting a Managerial Emphasis, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi
- Charles T. Horngren and George Foster, Advanced Management Accounting
- Robert S Kaplan Anthony A. Alkinson, Management and Cost Accounting
- Ashish K. Bhattacharya, Principles and Practices of Cost Accounting A. H. Wheeler publisher
- D. Vohra, Quantitative Techniques in Management, Tata McGraw Hill Book Co. Ltd.
Unit - 3
Project team
Successful projects are usually the result of careful planning and the talent and collaboration of a project’s team members. Projects can’t move forward without each of its key team members, but it’s not always clear who those members are, or what roles they play. Here, we will describe five roles – project manager, project team member, project sponsor, executive sponsor and business analyst – and describe their associated duties.
Project Manager
The project manager plays a primary role in the project, and is responsible for its successful completion. The manager’s job is to ensure that the project proceeds within the specified time frame and under the established budget, while achieving its objectives. Project managers make sure that projects are given sufficient resources, while managing relationships with contributors and stakeholders.
Project manager duties:
Develop a project plan
Manage deliverables according to the plan
Recruit project staff
Lead and manage the project team
Determine the methodology used on the project
Establish a project schedule and determine each phase
Assign tasks to project team members
Provide regular updates to upper management
Project Team Member
Project team members are the individuals who actively work on one or more phases of the project. They may be in-house staff or external consultants, working on the project on a fulltime or part-time basis. Team member roles can vary according to each project.
Project team member duties may include:
Contributing to overall project objectives
Completing individual deliverables
Providing expertise
Working with users to establish and meet business needs
Documenting the process
Project Sponsor
The project sponsor is the driver and in-house champion of the project. They are typically members of senior management – those with a stake in the project’s outcome. Project sponsors work closely with the project manager. They legitimize the project’s objectives and participate in high-level project planning. In addition, they often help resolve conflicts and remove obstacles that occur throughout the project, and they sign off on approvals needed to advance each phase.
Project sponsor duties:
Make key business decisions for the project
Approve the project budget
Ensure availability of resources
Communicate the project’s goals throughout the organization
Executive Sponsor
The executive sponsor is ideally a high-ranking member of management. He or she is the visible champion of the project with the management team and is the ultimate decision-maker, with final approval on all phases, deliverables and scope changes.
Executive sponsor duties typically include:
Carry ultimate responsibility for the project
Approve all changes to the project scope
Provide additional funds for scope changes
Approve project deliverables
Business Analyst
The business analyst defines needs and recommends solutions to make an organization better. When part of a project team, they ensure that the project’s objectives solve existing problems or enhance performance, and add value to the organization. They can also help maximize the value of the project deliverables.
Business analyst duties:
Assist in defining the project
Gather requirements from business units or users
Document technical and business requirements
Verify that project deliverables meet the requirements
Test solutions to validate objectives
Standard Project Roles and Responsibilities
This describes typical roles and responsibilities for projects and programs. Roles may be assigned to one or more individuals. Conversely, individuals may play one or more roles.
Executive Sponsor
• Has ultimate authority and responsibility for a project or program
• Approves changes to scope
• Provides additional funds for scope changes
• Approves deliverables
Executive Committee (Class 4/5 Project)
• Allocates resources to support project implementation
• Advises on issues escalated by Steering Committee
• Exemplifies rapid analysis and decision-making characteristics imperative of all project team members
• Prioritizes project to demonstrate its importance and timeliness across other UCSC objectives
• Recommends a communication plan within the UCSC community
• Provides information and expert advice about campus plans for other projects or system developments that impact project timelines, deliverables, or resources
• Recommends resolution of scope related matters
• Advises on strategic partnerships
Steering Committee
• Provides campus wide leadership in support of the project
• Resolves issues escalated by the project manager or project team leads
• Resolves or forwards policy issues to appropriate decision-making bodies
Program/Project Sponsor
• Makes the business decisions for the program/project
• Participates day-to-day in one or more programs/projects
• Makes user resources available
• Approves work products
• Disposes of issues and project scope change requests
Program/Project Manager
• Reports to and receives direction from Executive Sponsor
• Participates in and approves project plan and deliverables*
• Manages, reviews, and prioritizes the project work plans with objective to stay on time and on budget
• Provides status and progress reviews to Executive Sponsor and Steering Committee
• May manage and supervise the following resources:
- Senior technical staff
- Technical project managers
- Team leads
- Team members
Project Team Lead / ScrumMaster
• Assigned full or part time to participate in project team activities
• Responsible for contributing to overall project objectives and specific team deliverables
• Manages specific project plan activities and contributes to project plan development in collaboration with project manager
• Coordinates documentation, testing, and training efforts related to project plan
• If the project adopts an Agile development approach, the ScrumMaster is responsible for managing each development sprint, the daily Scrum and ensuring that the team properly applies Agile development principles.
Project Team Member
• Assigned full or part time to participate in project team activities
• Responsible for contributing to overall project objectives and specific team deliverables
• Escalates policy issues to team lead for referral to appropriate policy making bodies
• This role includes all various resources necessary to execute the project plan.
Technology Support
• This role is comprised of various team members who perform technology support for the project.
• Membership includes DBA, App Admin, App Dev, Business Analyst, etc.
• Establishes project support technology standards
• Assists team members in the use of project support technology
• Maintains project support technology
• Ensures that the technical environment is in place and operational throughout the project
• Establishes and maintains target environment for new applications
Stakeholders
• Community member affected by or participating in the project
Key User
• Provides source information to the team
• Provides expert business understanding of the organization
• Represents the user’s area in identifying current or future procedures
• Reviews and confirms major SDLC work products for the project
• Participates as required in User Acceptance Testing Activities
Key takeaways
- The project manager plays a primary role in the project, and is responsible for its successful completion
- Project team members are the individuals who actively work on one or more phases of the project
Data can have a significant impact on the outcomes of a project, which is why it’s important for project managers to not only look at data but that they are able to understand the data, so that their clients will get the results they want.
While many businesses understand the importance of investing in data science for innovation, not all businesses know how to turn that into business value. So how can project managers leverage data to realize project benefits? Here are some suggestions below.
1. ASSESSING PROJECT RISKS
Every project will come with different risks but incorporating data analytics into the project management process allows executives and managers to identify, rank and prioritise those risks in a more informed manner. The following things should be considered when performing a risk analysis:
- Size and complexity of the project
- The client’s risk tolerance
- The competence of the project or risk manager
This will help mitigate the likelihood of risks occurring and predict the possible effects of those risks. It’s important to note that projects should be regularly assessed for risks as projects change or head in a new direction. Conducting regular risk assessments will prevent problems arising later in the project.
2. FORECASTING THE DATE OF COMPLETION
Data analytics can be used by project managers to watch for early warning signs in terms of budget, schedule and quality, so they can take proactive action. Data can be used to gauge the rate of work so completion of tasks can be predicted.
When certain tasks are taking a lot longer, managers can speak to their team to find out if something is blocking their progress or if it has slowed down for other reasons. Insightful analytics can help project managers improve resources and better forecast revenue and costs.
3. MEASURING SUCCESS
In the past it was hard to measure success other than through sales or voluntary customer data, such as surveys or reviews. Now businesses have the capacity to know more about their customers than ever before through data mining. This allows project managers to sift through large quantities of data to look for trends. Finding useful trends allows project managers to create successful projects.
Analyzing data also reduces the complexity of projects because the more informed your decisions are the less uncertainty there is. Gathering information is vital to the success of any product and is what drives business decisions. The key to making good business decisions is ensuring the data is relevant. Good project managers are able to see the bigger picture in the data and use it to tell meaningful stories.
DATA MISTAKES TO AVOID
An experienced project manager knows the importance of avoiding data mistakes, however for new project managers it can be a daunting task, so here are some common data mistakes to avoid.
Collecting irrelevant data: The first question a project manager should ask themselves as they’re looking at data is: “Is this information relevant?”. There’s an immense amount of data available but being able to decipher what data is important to the project at hand is a valuable skill in a project manager.
Not acting on the data: Once the relevant data has been collected, a company needs to learn to leverage that data quickly, so they have a competitive edge. Really do your research when dealing with new trends or technology, because if you don’t know how to interpret that data it could be a missed opportunity for your organization, if you don’t act on it.
Failing to communicate: A project manager should be supportive of their team members, monitor the project for any issues that may arise and keep the team on track to deliver tasks on time. The agile method is great for project managers because it allows their client to be informed every step of the way and are able to ensure their team is on track. Anywise Consulting recommends the agile methodology because some of the core communication values allow for greater transparency and frequent communication with clients.
Thinking data is only for trained data analysts: Project managers shouldn’t think that just because data analysts are trained to look at data that they are the only ones who can understand it. In fact, working together is much more productive and cohesive, as project managers may be able to spot trends or anomalies from a business perspective that a data analyst may miss. It’s important to collaborate and use each team members’ experience to get the most out of the data.
Key takeaways
While many businesses understand the importance of investing in data science for innovation, not all businesses know how to turn that into business value.
Project contracts. Types and contents.
Contracts are legally binding agreements between at least 2 different legal entities named a buyer and a seller. The buyer wishes to buy certain goods or services from a seller. The seller, in return for the goods or services provided, expects monetary or other values to be paid to them.
When a buyer and seller agree to work together as mentioned above, both sides will have expectation to receive some value from the other party. And both sides also have certain obligations to fulfil towards each other. A legally binding contract will help protect the rights of both sides by ensuring both sides fulfil their obligations. In case of any issues, any of the aggrieved side can take legal recourse.
Elements of a legally binding contract
Contract is an elaborate document containing the detailed scope of work along with all other agreed terms and conditions, stating the rights and obligations of both sides.
A legally binding contract will have the following components:
- There must be an offer from one side. The offer must be a genuine offer.
- There must be acceptance from the other side. The acceptance must be a willing acceptance without any kind of pressure.
- There must be equal exchange of values between both the sides.
- Must be signed by authorized personnel.
- The work in the contract must be legally allowed work. There can’t be a legal contract for illegal work.
While all the above elements must be present in a legally binding contract, it is said that the consideration is the most important factor, as that defines the benefits received by both sides. It is also said that the consideration must be win-win for both sides.
Contract Types
There are three broad categories of contracts as mentioned below:
Fixed Price Contract (FP)
Time and Material Contract (T&M)
Cost Reimbursable Contract (CR)
Fixed Price Contract
Fixed Price contracts are used when the scope of work is clearly defined and the requirements are well understood. Once the scope is clearly defined, then it is expected that the seller will come up with a fixed price quotation for the agreed scope of work. The seller needs to understand the requirements and also all the associated risks which may occur during the project work, while making a fixed prices quotation. Hence for a fixed prices contract the seller also needs to be very matured and capable.
Once agreed, it becomes a win-win for both sides. The buyer is assured of a fixed price to be paid once the defined scope of work is completed by the seller. The payments will be made based on delivering well defined outcomes. The seller here assumes all the cost related risk once agreed. The seller may lose money in this kind of a contract, at the same time the seller may make maximum profit also in this kind of contract if they can complete the work in less cost.
It will take solid maturity and clarity on both sides to come up with fixed-price contracts. Negotiation may take some time. Fixed price contracts once finalized, will use change requests for any kind of changes to be made in scope or any other terms and conditions.
There are 3 different flavours of fixed-price contract as below:
- Firm Fixed Price Contract (FFP)
- Fixed Price with Incentive (FPIP)
- Fixed Price with Economic Price Adjustment (FP-EPA)
Time and Material Contract (T&M)
Time and Material contracts are very popular contract type which is used for regular purchases for standard items. Items may include augmenting temporary manpower for the project with well-defined skills and expertise level. Item also includes standard materials which may be needed for consumption in the project.
In T&M contracts, the organization will select some preferred suppliers of such manpower and materials. The vendors will be selected based on their capabilities and experience. There will be a negotiated price (or rate) for such supplies. The final price paid will be for the amount of quantity of such resources consumed or purchased.
Managing T&M contracts is pretty simple. T&M contract uses both the flavours of fixed price and reimbursement based on consumption.
Cost Reimbursable Contract (CR)
In cost reimbursable contract the buyer pays the actual cost incurred by the seller and an additional fee or profit. There are 2 components paid separately in this kind of contract. While actual cost is reimbursed as per actual, the fee amount is somewhat decided upfront.
This kind of contract is used when the requirements are not clear. The team also does not much clarity about the details of how the product will be developed. Hence in absence of clarity on all accounts, this becomes the best possible arrangement.
Cost reimbursable contracts are used for new research and development, proof of concept developments which requires immense innovation without a guarantee of predicted outcome.
Following are some of the flavours of Cost-Reimbursable contracts.
- Cost plus percentage of cost (CPPC)
- Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF)
- Cost plus Incentive Fee (CPIF)
- Cost plus award fee (CPAF)
Cost plus contracts puts all the risk on the buyer, as the seller is assured of all the actual cost plus some fee. The entire responsibility lies on the buyer. These contracts sometime can be misused also. As the seller will not bother much about cost control, as they are assured of all actual costs. This requires the buyer to audit and micro manage all the expenses.
Project execution Project cost control.
Almost all the projects need to be guided right throughout in order to receive the required and expected output at the end of the project. It is the team that is responsible for the project and most importantly the project manager that needs to be able to carry out effective controlling of the costs. There are, however, several techniques that can be used for this purpose.
In addition to the project goals that the project manager has to oversee, the control of various costs is also a very important task for any project. Project management would not be effective at all if a project manager fails in this respect, as it would essentially determine whether or not your organization would make a profit or loss.
Cost Control Techniques
Following are some of the valuable and essential techniques used for efficient project cost control:
1 - Planning the Project Budget
You would need to ideally make a budget at the beginning of the planning session with regard to the project at hand. It is this budget that you would have to help you for all payments that need to be made and costs that you will incur during the project life cycle. The making of this budget therefore entails a lot of research and critical thinking.
Like any other budget, you would always have to leave room for adjustments as the costs may not remain the same right through the period of the project. Adhering to the project budget at all times is key to the profit from project.
2 - Keeping a Track of Costs
Keeping track of all actual costs is also equally important as any other technique. Here, it is best to prepare a budget that is time-based. This will help you keep track of the budget of a project in each of its phases. The actual costs will have to be tracked against the periodic targets that have been set out in the budget. These targets could be on a monthly or weekly basis or even yearly if the project will go on for long.
This is much easier to work with rather than having one complete budget for the entire period of the project. If any new work is required to be carried out, you would need to make estimations for this and see if it can be accommodated with the final amount in the budget. If not, you may have to work on necessary arrangements for 'Change Requests', where the client will pay for the new work or the changes.
3 - Effective Time Management
Another effective technique would be effective time management. Although this technique does apply to various management areas, it is very important with regard to project cost control.
The reason for this is that the cost of your project could keep rising if you are unable to meet the project deadlines; the longer the project is dragged on for, the higher the costs incurred which effectively means that the budget will be exceeded.
The project manager would need to constantly remind his/her team of the important deadlines of the project in order to ensure that work is completed on time.
4 - Project Change Control
Project change control is yet another vital technique. Change control systems are essential to take into account any potential changes that could occur during the course of the project.
This is due to the fact that each change to the scope of the project will have an impact on the deadlines of the deliverables, so the changes may increase project cost by increasing the effort needed for the project.
5 - Use of Earned Value
Similarly, in order to identify the value of the work that has been carried out thus far, it is very helpful to use the accounting technique commonly known as 'Earned Value'.
This is particularly helpful for large projects and will help you make any quick changes that are absolutely essential for the success of the project.
Bar Charts
Gantt charts are example of bar charts only
Were introduced by Henry Gantt
Activity & its progress with time is shown on such charts
Activity shown on vertical axis whereas time on horizontal axis
Starting of bar shows beginning time of an activity
Hence length of the bar shows time of completion of activity
Width of bar chart does not show anything
Helps to know the progress of the project & activities
Visualization of entire project can be done
Resource requirements of the project or activities can be shown
Not all activities of the project can be shown on bar chart
Bar charts are not preferred for bigger projects, details can’t be provided
Bar chart only shows the progress of activity as expected & not the actual progress attained with time
Hence review of the project can’t be done, so bar charts can’t be used as controlling devices
To show the progress of activities on the bar chart, hatched lines along the corresponding bars can be shown.
Inter dependencies & inter relationships are not shown on bar chart
Concurrent activities can be shown through parallel bars
Sequential activities are shown through bars in series
Precedence relationship among activities can also be shown on bar chart
Bar charts can only be drawn if the time of each activity is certain
Critical activities are not shown on bar chart
Optimization of the cost or time can’t be done on bar charts
Following stages are included in the development of a bar chart:
1. Breakdown the project into activities, jobs, operation along with their resources
2. Decide the sequence of these activities (concurrent or sequential)
3. Assign the resources i.e., time for starting & completion
4. Represent in the form of bar chart
Network diagram
Network Diagrams are a graphical portrayal of the activities and events of a project. They show how each activity relates to others in the project, the sequence of activities, and the need to perform some tasks before others. Networks also facilitate the determination of the impact of early or late starts or finishes, provide information about the allocation of resources, and allow managers to do “what if” analyses. With this information, managers may view the status of the plan, analyze progress, and evaluate alternatives.
Types of Network Diagrams
There are two types of network diagrams that are used:
- Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM), also called “activity network diagram” or “activity on arrow”
- Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), also called “node network” or “activity on node.”
Benefits of a Network Diagram
There are a number of benefits that program personnel can have utilizing a network diagram. A few benefits are:
- The project manager can track each element of a project and share status.
- Report progress to stakeholders
- Establishing project workflows
- Tracking dependencies
- Display any bottlenecks that pose a risk
Network Diagram Requirements
The following conditions must exist to develop a Network Diagram:
- All program activities must be clearly defined, including identifiable start and completion points.
- A logic diagram showing the sequence and interrelationships of activities must be developed.
- The time to complete each activity must be estimated as accurately as possible.
Network diagram tools
- Critical chain method - The Critical Chain Method (CCM) is one of the methods used to perform Schedule Network Analysis that takes into account task dependencies, limited resource availability, and buffers. It’s used to prepare the project schedule when limited or restricted resources are available.
- Critical path method - The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a way to determine the critical path of a schedule. The critical path is the longest path of scheduled activities that must be met to execute a project. This is important for Program Managers (PM) to know since any problems on the critical path can prevent a project from moving forward and be delayed. Earned Value Management (EVM) analysis focuses on the critical path and near-critical paths to identify cost and schedule risks. Other schedule paths might have slack time to avoid delaying the entire project, unlike the critical path. There might be multiple critical paths on a project. The method is used with Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT).
- Precedence diagram method - Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) is a visual representation technique that depicts the activities involved in a project. It is a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes/nodes to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies.
- PERT - Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a method used to examine the tasks in a schedule and determine a Critical Path Method variation (CPM). It analyzes the time required to complete each task and its associated dependencies to determine the minimum time to complete a project. It estimates the shortest possible time each activity will take, the most likely length of time, and the longest time that might be taken if the activity takes longer than expected. The US Navy developed the method in 1957 on the Polaris nuclear submarine project.
Key takeaways
- Network Diagrams are a graphical portrayal of the activities and events of a project.
- Contracts are legally binding agreements between at least 2 different legal entities named a buyer and a seller
References:
- Cost Accounting a Managerial Emphasis, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi
- Charles T. Horngren and George Foster, Advanced Management Accounting
- Robert S Kaplan Anthony A. Alkinson, Management and Cost Accounting
- Ashish K. Bhattacharya, Principles and Practices of Cost Accounting A. H. Wheeler publisher
- D. Vohra, Quantitative Techniques in Management, Tata McGraw Hill Book Co. Ltd.
