UNIT I
Introduction to Project Management
Meaning and definition of Project:
A Project is a chapter of tasks that need to be completed at a stipulated time in order to accomplish a particular task. Projects can vary from simple to complex and can be managed by one people to hundred persons. A Project is generally deemed to be a success if it achieves the objectives according to their acceptance criteria, within an agreed timescale and budget. Time, Cost and Quality are the building blocks of every project.
Time: - Scheduling is a collection of techniques used to develop and present schedules that describes when task will be done.
Cost: - How are required amount of funds acquired and finance managed?
Quality: - How will fitness for purpose of the deliverables and management processes be assured?
Examples of projects may include the construction of a new bridge or building or developing software for an improved business process. A relief effort for a natural disaster, or setting up a strategy to break into a new sales geographic market are also projects.
Classification of Projects: -
Every Project is dissimilar in respect to other project so projects can be classified based on several different points. The classification of projects in project management varies according to a number of different factors such as complexity, source of capital, its content, those involved and its purpose. Projects can be classified based on the following factors.
1) According to complexity: -
a) Easy: - A Project is classified as easy when the relationships between tasks are fundamental and detailed planning or organizations are not required. A small work team and a few external shareholders and co- workers are common in this case. The tasks of the projects can be undertaken by a small team.
b) Complicated: - The project network is broad and difficult. There are many task interdependencies. With these projects, simplification where possible is everything. The task of executing this type of project requires proper planning.
2) According to the source of capital: -
a) Public: - Financing comes from Governmental institutions.
b) Private: - Financing comes from businesses or private incentives.
c) Mixed: - Financing comes from a mixed source of both public and private funding.
3) According to Project content: -
a) Construction: - These are projects that have anything to do with the construction of civil or architectural work. Predictive methods are used along with agile techniques. To say, construction is an engineering project and the process of planning its execution must be painstakingly done to reach the expected results.
b) IT: - Any project that has to do with software development, IT system, etc. The types of project management information systems vary across the board, but in today's world are very common.
c) Business: -These projects are involved with the development of a business idea, management of a team work, cost management, etc. and they generally follow a commercial strategy.
d) Service or product production: - These are projects that involve the development of a creative goods or service, design of a new product, etc.
4) According to those involved: -
a) Departmental: - When a certain department or area of an organization is involved.
b) Internal: - When a whole company itself is involved in the project's development.
c) Matriarchal: - When there is a combination of departments involved.
d) External: - When a company outsources external project manager or teams to execute the project. For example - digital transformations, process improvements and strategy changes.
5) According to its objective: -
a) Production: - Oriented at the production of a product or service taking into consideration a certain determined objective to be met by an organization.
b) Social: - Oriented at the improvement of the quality of life of people. This can be in the form of giving corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the people.
c) Educational: - Oriented at the education of others. This is always done to make them better.
d) Community: - Oriented at people too, however with their involvement.
e) Research: - Oriented at innovation and the gaining of knowledge to enhance the operational efficiency of an organization.
Project consume resources of time and money. Without project management, how could we tell how many resources have been consumed and were they consumed productively or effectively for the company?
Definition of Project Management
To define Project Management, one must define a project. Anything that has a start, a finish and produces a deliverable is a Project. Project Management, therefore, is the method by which a project is planned, monitored, controlled and reported on, in other words, managed.
Project Management is the process of enforcing the team work to achieve the goals at a time constraint. The primary challenge of project management is to accomplish all the project tasks within the given time period. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the initial of the development process. The initial constraints are scope, time and budget. The secondary challenge is to utilize the sharing of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined goals.
A key factor that differentiates project management from just " management" is that it has this final deliverable and a definite time period, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Because of this a project professional needs a large range of skills, often technical skills and certainly people management skills and good business awareness.
Project Management is the art of arranging all the components of a project. For example, the launching of a new service, a marketing campaign, or the development of a new product are projects. In fact, even arranging a wedding is a project that requires management.
Project management is one of those things that looks easy until we try it. Below are the top ten needs of project management that will help us to answer the above arising questions.
a) Control scope creep and manage change: - Small changes in demands occur on every project. They come from management, the customer, our project team, suppliers or other shareholders. Individually, they may be acceptable, but as a whole these project demands can add up to an important project expansion (referred to as "scope creep" which can overturn our budget.
b) Deliver project results on time and on budget: - The project management process starts with a well thought out business case justification that generally comprises some type of cost calculation associated with Return on Investment (ROI). After these measures are established, the project manager ensures that on time, on budget performance is maintained, otherwise the project will never give the desired results.
c) Focus the project team on the solution: - The project team can easily go off the topic and spend their valuable time on the wrong tasks. A good project manager keeps the project team focused by using an intelligible and incisive project charter, sort out hurdles or cover the team work from unwanted difficulties.
d) Obtain project buy-in from disparate groups: - A good project manager uses the tools in the fundamental stage of project management to collect user requirements, project constraints and a feasibility study to build a strong business case justification. Utilizing input from various sources, the project manager overcomes dissent and obtains buy-in by communicating the project benefits as the different shareholders groups see them.
e) Define the critical path to optimally complete your project: - Every project is made up of a chapter of attached activities, each of which has its own limitations. The project manager identifies the critical path of activities - the optimal sequence of actions that best warrant the projects successful completion.
f) Provide a process for estimating project resources, time and costs: - Making use of project management software, earlier project experiences and a solid project fundamental stage can provide the discipline needed to decrease project estimating wrongs, increasing the likelihood that the project will finish on time and on budget.
g) Communicate project progress, risks and changes: - As a project progresses, shareholders must be kept informed of the outcomes, changes, etc. The need for project management exists partly because it creates a project communication plan to address these communication issues, provide a format and lay out a process for execution.
h) Surface and explore project assumptions: - Every project is based, to some extent, on assumptions. A good project manager searches into user requirements, project limitations and management expectations to understand what is said and not said.
i) Prepare for unexpected project issues: - Every project runs into unforeseen issues such as changes in market conditions and is hit with sudden cause variability. Accomplished project managers plan for the unexpected by lining up other courses of action.
j) Document, transfer and apply lessons learned from your projects: - The last phase of project management centre on "closing out" the project. The project manager reviews how well each prior phase - project initiation, project planning, project execution and project monitoring and control was performed.
Characteristics of Project Management: -
Nowadays, project management is regarded as a very high priority as all companies or organizations, whether small or large, are at one time or another involved in implementing new undertakings, creativities and changes.
Effective project management call for having the following attributes that are necessary in becoming an effective project manager.
a) Effective communication skills: - The project manager must vividly explain the project goals as well as each member's tasks, responsibilities, expectations and feedback.
b) Strong leadership skills: - The project manager must have strong leadership qualities such as power to motivate his team to give the best performance to accomplish the goals.
c) Good decision maker: - The project manager must have decision making skills as there will always have some important decisions that need to be acted on.
d) Technical expertise: - An effective project manager needs to have sound technical knowledge to understand the issues that are related to the technical aspect.
e) Inspires a shared vision: - An effective project manager can lead his team to the right direction if he can eloquent the vision to his team members very well.
f) Team building skills: - Project managers need to know how to give the team work the importance they need by focusing on their positive attributes. He has to be fair and just in the way he treats them.
g) Cool under pressure: - As the project continues, certain incidents could take place on the project's momentum which could test the manager's patience. Therefore, it is essential that a project manager keeps his patience at each steps and not to lose himself that could adversely affect his relationship with the team.
h) Good negotiation skills: - In times, conflicts could arise due to differences in opinion, project managers need absolute negotiating skills to sort out the issue and maintain harmony and peace.
i)Empathetic: - Being grateful, understanding and caring are a few of the things that an empathetic leader shows to his members. It includes understanding the needs of the project and its shareholders.
j) Competence: - What a good manager is performing can initiate new projects as well as face the challenges that come with them.
It is essential for an effective project manager to have these characteristics for him to succeed in managing the project.
Importance of Project Management: -
Project management may seem like a loose term used to describe the management of projects. However, projects tend to be complex and multifaceted, in need of effective planning, organization and monitoring.
'Why is project management important?' is an interesting question that clients sometimes ask. They wonder if they really need project management because on paper it looks like an unnecessary tax and overhead as project managers don't really deliver anything and often get in the way of what they want the team to do.
Here, we have some of the importance of project management: -
a) Strategic alignment: - Project management is important because it makes sure what is being delivered, is right, and will deliver real value against the business opportunity. Every client has strategic goals and the projects that we do for them advance those goals.
b) Leadership: - Project management is important because it brings leadership and direction to projects. Without project management, a team can be like a ship without a rudder, moving but without direction, control or purpose. Leadership allows and enables team members to do their best work.
c)Clear focus & objectives: - Project management is important because it makes sure there's a proper plan for executing on strategic goals. Where project management is left to the team to work out by themselves, we will find teams work without proper briefs and without a defined project management methodology. Projects lack focus, can have vague or nebulous objectives, and leave the team.
d) Realistic project planning: - Project management is important as it warrants proper expectations are set around what can be delivered, by when , and for how much. Without proper project management, budget estimates and project delivery timelines can be set that are over ambitious or lacking in analogous estimating insight from similar projects.
e) Quality control: - Projects management is important because it warrants the quality of whatever is being delivered, consistently hits the mark. Without a dedicated project manager, tasks are under estimated, schedules tightened and processes rushed. The result is bad quality output as there's no quality management in place.
f) Risk management: - Project management is important as it warrants risks are properly managed and mitigated against to avoid becoming issues. Risk management is critical to project success. The temptation is just to sweep them under the carpet, never talk about them to the client and hope for the best.
g) Orderly process: - Project management is important as it warrants the right people do the right things at the right time -it makes sure proper project process is followed throughout the project lifecycle.
h) Continuous oversight: - Project management is important as it warrants a project's progress is tracked and reported properly. Continuous project oversight confirms that a project is tracking properly against the original plan, is critical to ensuring that a project stays on track.
i) Subject matter expertise: -Project management is important because someone needs to be able to understand if everyone's doing what they should. Project managers from their past experience will know a bit of delivering the projects they manage. They will build technical skills and subject matter expertise, they will know everything about the work that their teams execute, the platforms and systems they use etc.
j) Managing and learning from success and failure: - Project management is important because it learns from the successes and failures of the past. Project management can break bad habits and when one delivering projects, it's important not to repeat the same mistakes. Project managers use retrospectives, lessons learned, or upcoming project reviews to see what went fine, what didn't go so fine and what should be done in other way for the next project.
Need for Project Management
While preparing project, view project into these three perspectives, it helps to give much better understanding of the whole process
1) How does project fit into the organization?
2) How the project will evolve over time?
3) What skills are required to manage the project successfully?
Let us have a closer look regarding the objectives of project management:
a) The successful development and implementation of all project's procedures. A project, regardless of its size, usually involves five distinctive stages of equal importance: Initiation, Planning and Design, Construction and Execution, Monitoring and Control, Completion. Running a smooth and easy-going development and execution of all the above phases lead to a project succession.
b) Productive guidance, efficient communication and apt supervision of the project's team. Always one has to consider that the success or failure of a project is highly dependent on teamwork. Efficient communication is important where information needs to be presented in a vivid, unambiguous and in complete way.
c) The achievement of the project's main goal within the given constraints. The most important constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. Staying within the constraints always feeds back into the measurement of a project's performance and success.
d) Optimization of the allocated necessary inputs and their application to meet the pre-defined targets is a matter where is always space for improvement. All processes and procedures can be reformed and upgraded to enhance the sustainability of a project and to lead the team work through the strategic change process.
e) Production of a complete project which follows the client's exclusive needs and objectives. One need to shape and reform the client's sight or to work with them as regards the project's objectives, to modify them into feasible goals. Once the client's aims are vividly described they usually smash on all decisions taken by the project's stakeholders. Keeping the client's happy and fulfilling their expectations not only conduct a successful collaboration which probably eliminate surprises during project execution but also warrants the feasibility of one's professional status in the future.
In brief, project management objectives are the successful development of the project's procedures of initiation, planning, execution, regulation and closure as well as the guidance of the project team's operations towards achieving all the targets within the set scope, time, quality and budget standards.
Key takeaways
- A Project is a chapter of tasks that need to be completed at a stipulated time in order to accomplish a particular task.
- To define Project Management, one must define a project. Anything that has a start, a finish and produces a deliverable is a Project.
- Every Project is dissimilar in respect to other project so projects can be classified based on several different points.
- Project consume resources of time and money. Without project management, how could we tell how many resources have been consumed and were they consumed productively or effectively for the company?
- Effective project management call for having the following attributes that are necessary in becoming an effective project manager.
- Project management may seem like a loose term used to describe the management of projects.
- In brief, project management objectives are the successful development of the project's procedures of initiation, planning, execution, regulation and closure as well as the guidance of the project team's operations towards achieving all the targets within the set scope, time, quality and budget standards.
A project manager is just as physician who leads a injury team and decides on a patient's course of action-both at the same time. Without the proper quite permissions to handle all project management issues efficiently, development teams can easily get into trouble. -Scott Berkun, author of "Making Things Happen"
How did it start? In the late 1980s, Microsoft launched an ambitious project and ran into a problem. There were too many players involved. We had marketing, engineering and business end teams and no one knew how to coordinate them all.
So, Microsoft came up with an original solution at the time. When Microsoft appointed a dedicated leader, everything went well and the team was very pleased with the dynamics of their work. The end results of this new strategy were Excel.
Ultimately, Microsoft created this new role as a staple for all projects. In this way, the project manager was born.
Good project managers are people with good entrepreneurship. This allows the project manager to think beyond the basic skill set needed to manage the project and guide the team and team members to the finish line. After all, the success or failure of a project rests solely on the project manager's shoulders, and the project manager is responsible for the final result.
Project managers keep projects on time, on budget, concise, and inform everyone to their satisfaction. Is expected. "
— Rock Agency, Camry but technical know-how doesn't just allow project managers to effectively communicate ideas to everyone involved. A good project manager uses his technical understanding to win the respect of his team members. Because project managers influence more decisions than anyone else in the company, their main task is not only to win the respect of employees, but also to maintain it throughout the project and into the future. Is to use what you know.
What does the project manager do? Eight important roles and responsibilities
1. Activities and resource planning
Planning helps meet project deadlines, and many projects fail due to inadequate planning. First and foremost, a good project manager defines the scope of a project and determines the resources available.
Then create a clear and concise plan for both project execution and progress monitoring. Projects are naturally unpredictable, so good project managers skills to form adjustments along the way if necessary, before the project reaches its end.
2. Project team formation and motivation
A good project manager won't complicate things with team with elaborate spreadsheets, long checklists, and whiteboards. Instead, they put the team at the forefront. They make clear, easy-to-understand plans that inspire the team to reach their full potential. They reduce bureaucracy and guide the team on a clear path to their ultimate goal.
— Dragan Hrgić, remake
3. Time management control
Clients typically determine the success or failure of a project based on whether the project was delivered on time. Therefore, meeting the deadline is indisputable.
They know how to do the following effectively:
Define an activity
Sequence activity
Estimate the activity period
Create a schedule
Keep the schedule
4. Cost estimation and budgeting
Even if the project meets the client's expectations and is delivered on time, it will fail if the budget is significantly exceeded. Good project managers frequently review their budgets and plan ahead to avoid major cost overruns.
5. Ensuring customer satisfaction
After all, a project will only succeed if the customer is happy. One of the key responsibilities of all project managers is to minimize uncertainty, avoid unnecessary surprises, and get clients involved in the project reasonably as much as possible.
6. Project risk analysis and management
The larger the project, the more likely it is that there will be hurdles and pitfalls that were not included in the original plan. Temporary interruptions are unavoidable, but good project managers know how to identify and assess potential risks with great care and almost intuitively before starting a project. They know how to avoid the risk, or at least minimize its impact.
7. Progress monitoring
In the early stages, the project manager and his team have a clear vision and are keen to produce the desired results. But the road to the finish line is by no means without some bumps along the way. If things don't go according to plan, project managers need to monitor and analyze both spending and team performance and always take effective corrective actions.
8. Manage reports and required documents
A good project manager provides a comprehensive report documenting that all project requirements have been met and a history of the project, including what was done, who was involved, and what could be better in the future I can do it.
Need a project manager?
No matter how big or demanding your project is, you would like someone who can maintain efficiency and productivity reliably and consistently. Surveys show that not only are 89% of high-performing organizations include project managers, but their profession is consistently one of the most in-demand organizations. Project management is essential to the success of your business, and business owners face the biggest challenges and have the right vision, the right skills, and the right know-how to successfully complete a project on time. I need a leader.
Project managers are an integral part of almost all types of organizations. From small institutions where only one project manager directs a small number of projects to multinational IT companies that hire highly specialized project managers for ambitious projects. If any of these describe your business or any kind of company in between, the answer is definitely yes.
Key takeaways
- A project manager is just as physician who leads a injury team and decides on a patient's course of action-both at the same time.
- Good project managers are people with good entrepreneurship. This allows the project manager to think beyond the basic skill set needed to manage the project and guide the team and team members to the finish line.
- The project manager ensures that knowledge and information flow seamlessly.
- Moving a project forward requires both technical know-how and direct knowledge of the tasks to be assigned to others.
- Motivation is not an issue if you do your part well, always support your team, and take a fair and sound approach with your team.”
- No matter how big or demanding your project is, you would like someone who can maintain efficiency and productivity reliably and consistently.
- Surveys show that not only are 89% of high-performing organizations include project managers, but their profession is consistently one of the most in-demand organizations.
Meaning/Definition of Organizational Structure, Organizational Work Flow
The organizational structure regulates how information flows between levels within the company. For example, in a centralized structure, decisions flow from top to bottom on the other hand, in a decentralized structure, decisions flow among various levels of the organizations.
A project organization is a structure that facilitates the coordination and implementation of project activities. Its main reason is to create a scenario that provides interactions among the team members with a minimum number of disruptions, overlaps and conflicts.
Structure will give employees more clarity, help manage expectations, enable better decision-making and provide consistency. Organizational charts also assign responsibility, organize workflow and make sure important tasks are completed on time.
Organizational workflow: - An organization's workflow is comprised of the set of processes it needs to achieve, the set of people or other resources available to perform those processes, and the interactions among them.
Executing the business process workflows in the right manner could go a long way in redefining our organization's workflow and help automate wherever possible.
Before we begin our task, it is important to know that we require a reliable, automated and no-code business process workflow software like C flow. It simplifies the process of creating workflows, makes it easier for our employees to communicate and get things done faster leading to improved customer satisfaction.
The main phases of business process are: -
Step 1- The first phase where an action will trigger the entire workflow and this is the point where it should end.
Step 2- Bringing in the people involved in the task to successfully complete it including team members, HRs, Admins and Managers.
Step 3- The set of fields that will be filled at step 1 and will be sent for final approval to the corresponding member.
Step 4- The final result will be related back to the original person who triggered the workflow in the first place.
All major workflows follow the same pattern which reduces any confusion and allows an employee to complete the task in time without any bottleneck issues. It also automates the process by following a standard template which makes the workflow easy to understand for everyone involved and approve or reject as needed.
The major workflows every organization should automate:
1) Document approval workflow: - A document approval process begins with creating the draft, reviewing it by self and send it to the manger for approval. If rejected, it will be sent back with comments to update document and sent again for approval. Once approved, it will be saved to the database and also sent to the specific team.
2) Expense approval process: - Expense claim is an important aspect of every company for all items including HR, IT and operations.
The finance team can reduce their burden with a streamlined workflow for the process. A default form with multiple fields should be filled with comments and sent for approval. It may also have the option to reject certain items in the list or the entire request.
3)New employee on boarding workflow:- The business process workflows simplify HR department's job.
It begins by collecting an employee's personal information in a form, saves it to the database and makes sure they sign all documents digitally after which the offer letter will be sent to the employee.
4) Leave approval workflow: - Employees in an organization where they approve leaves on time and provide incremental salary hike are bound to work harder, be more dedicated.
One can promote it by automating leave approval workflow which starts when the employee creates a request. The request can be approved or rejected by the team leader or manager.
5) New customer or vendor addition workflow: - The strength of a business lies in the type of customers a company has and the sellers who help them bring out products or services. A simplified workflow process will allow new customer or vendor to simply fill in a couple of basic details. Their information will automatically be recorded in the database and their file will be allocated an identification number before a welcome kit is forwarded to them.
6) Creating a new invoice: - It is easier than ever to send invoices to a customer with a business process workflow.
The template will have a couple of fields that need to be filled before sending an invoice to a vendor or customer forth services given. Once payment is credited, it will update automatically as cleared and send reminders to avoid late payment using automation software.
The hard work of the project depends on the well-being of the stakeholders. From time to time you have completed a project. The client has accepted all deliverables. However, the project will not succeed because some stakeholders are not satisfied.
- Stakeholder satisfaction is a sign of the success of the project.
- At this point, you may be wondering who the stakeholders are and who needs to be satisfied in order to successfully complete the project.
- I'm writing this blog post to answer these questions, and I want to solve any questions you might have about the project stakeholders
Stakeholders
More simply, a stakeholder is an individual, group of people, or organization that is interested in a project or is directly or indirectly influenced by the outcome of the project. This may include members of the project team, project sponsors, members of the organization, and people outside the organization.
For example, when you try to build a dam, you have a large number of stakeholders. These include governments, local governments, evacuated populations, populations living near dams, environmentalists, project management teams, senior management, and more.
Not all stakeholders are equal. Everyone has different requirements and expectations. You should treat them according to their demands and expectations. Failure to do so can jeopardize the success of the project.
Understanding the needs, expectations, and requirements of your stakeholders increases your chances of success. Overlooking key stakeholders can make the situation even more difficult later in the project. Project delays, cost overruns, and in the most severe cases, can cause abrupt termination of a project.
Types of project stakeholders
Project stakeholders can be divided into two categories:
- Internal stakeholders
- External stakeholders
Internal stakeholders
Internal stakeholders are within the organization. For example: sponsor
Internal customer or client (if the project is for the internal needs of the organization)
- Project team
- Program manager
- Portfolio manager
- Management
Managers in another group within the organization (functional managers, operations managers, management managers, and so on).
These stakeholders are usually most interested in the success of the project.
External stakeholders
External stakeholders are outside the organization. For example:
External customer or client (if the project is the result of a contract)
Project outcome end user
- supplier
- Subcontractor
- government
- Local government
- Local community
- media
Positive Stakeholders and Negative Stakeholders
Stakeholders can be positive or negative
Active stakeholders see the positive side of the project and benefit from its success. These stakeholders help the project management team complete the project successfully.
Negative stakeholders, on the other hand, see the results and can be adversely affected by the project or its results.
Many experts consider competitors to be a negative stakeholder as your project also affects them. Keep in mind that competitors are not negative stakeholders, as they must actively control their stakeholders for a successful project, but they do not control or meet their requirements.
As we saw in the previous example, the general public can be a stakeholder. In this case, managing the entire population is impractical, so consult with their official person or leader to understand their requirements and expectations.
Some examples of this type of project relate to mining, the environment, roads, railroads, dam construction, etc.
Stakeholders need to be identified and recorded in the stakeholder registration very early in the project.
Some stakeholders have less interest and influence on the project. However, you also need to manage them as they can be influential stakeholders.
Overview
Stakeholders are individuals or groups of individuals who are influenced by or are interested in a project. It is important to identify stakeholders at the start of the project and develop a strategy to manage them and their requirements. This allows the project to be completed with minimal failure.
Project Phases and lifecycle
At the beginning of a project, the quantity of designing and work required could seem overwhelming. There can be dozens or even hundreds of tasks that need to be completed in the right order at the right time.
Experienced project managers know that when dividing a project into phases, it is often easier to handle the project details and follow the steps in the correct order. Dividing your project management effort into these five phases provides a structure for your effort and helps simplify it into a series of logical and manageable steps.
1. Start the project
The start is the first phase of the project life cycle. Here, the value and feasibility of the project is measured. Project managers typically use two evaluation tools to decide whether to carry out a project.
Business Case Document – This document justifies the need for a project and contains an estimate of potential financial benefits.
Feasibility Study – This is a project goal, timeline, and cost assessment to determine if a project needs to be run. Balance the project requirements with the resources available to see if it makes sense to carry out the project.
The team abandons the proposed project labelled unprofitable and / or infeasible.
2. Project plan
When a project receives a green light, you need a solid plan to guide your team and save time and budget. A well-written project plan provides guidance on resource acquisition, funding acquisition, and procurement of necessary materials. Project planning sets the direction for the team to produce quality results, handle risks, generate acceptance, communicate benefits to stakeholders, and manage suppliers.
Project planning also helps the team prepare for obstacles that may be encountered during the course of the project and helps the team understand the cost, scope, and time frame of the project.
3. Run the project
This is the most commonly related phase of project management. Execution is about building deliverables that satisfy your customers. Team leaders do this by allocating resources and allowing team members to focus on their assigned tasks.
Execution is highly dependent on the planning stage. The work and energy of the team during the execution phase springs from the project plan.
4. Project monitoring and control
Monitoring and control often occur at the same time and can be combined with execution. When a team executes a project plan, the team should always monitor their progress.
To ensure delivery of promised content, teams need to monitor tasks to prevent scope creep, calculate key performance indicators, and track changes over time and costs allocated. This constant vigilance helps keep the project running smoothly.
5. End of project
When the team delivers the completed project to the customer, it closes the project, informs stakeholders of the completion, and frees resources for other projects. This important step in the project life cycle allows teams to evaluate and document projects and use the failures and successes of previous projects to move on to the next project, building a stronger process and a more successful team.
Key takeaways
- An organizational structure is a system that show how certain activities are directed in order to reach the goals of an organization. These activities can include rules, roles and responsibilities.
- It also automates the process by following a standard template which makes the workflow easy to understand for everyone involved and approve or reject as needed.
- The template will have a couple of fields that need to be filled before sending an invoice to a vendor or customer forth services given.
- Once payment is credited, it will update automatically as cleared and send reminders to avoid late payment using automation software.
- If the project is small, there are several stakeholders. For large projects, there can be a huge number of stakeholders, including the community and the general public. In this case, it becomes difficult to manage stakeholders.
- Project stakeholders can be divided into two categories:
- Internal stakeholders
- External stakeholders
- Active stakeholders see the positive side of the project and benefit from its success.
- Stakeholders are individuals or groups of individuals who are influenced by or are interested in a project.
- Project management can sometimes seem overwhelming, but splitting it into these five different cycles helps your team manage the most complex projects and use their time and resources smarter.
Context of IT projects
You can use the PESTLE technique to analyze the six key components of your project context.
1. Politics
This component covers the relationship between the project and external political stakeholders. It can also refer to consensus across an organization's supply chain and its internal departments. For example, government changes can have a significant impact on the construction of schools for the future and the execution of publicly funded capital projects such as the NHSIT system.
2. Economy
This component is concerned with balancing the long-term benefits of a project with the cost of its implementation. For example, funding large-scale capital projects usually relies on public funding. PFI or PPP. Long-term projects are also susceptible to interest rate uncertainty.
3. Sociology
This component is related to the interaction of the project with its users and the understanding of the needs of society. For example, building a power plant requires a good understanding of the sociological trends and social implications surrounding the project. This makes the stakeholder identification process important.
4. Technology
This aspect means a deeper understanding of the technical specifications surrounding the project. For example, computer-related technology is advancing at high speed. Therefore, implementing a new software system requires careful consideration of the availability of such a system and the expected amount of time the system is expected to age.
5. Legal
This component may refer to legally bound health and safety issues or data protection issues. For example, the nuclear industry has a very high regulatory framework in which it operates. In addition, the health and safety of employees under the Industrial Safety and Health Act must be carefully managed.
6. Environment
This aspect is related to the impact of the project on the surrounding environment. Disposal of waste from construction sites is strictly regulated. For example, working on contaminated land that requires a high degree of preparation before the actual construction begins can have a significant impact on the project schedule.
What is the life cycle of the project?
The project life cycle contains the steps required for a project manager to successfully manage a project from start to finish. The project life cycle has five phases (also known as five process groups): start, plan, run, monitor / control, and end. Each of these project phases represents a group of interrelated processes that need to be performed.
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Figure 1
5 process groups for project management
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Figure 2
Start phase
The beginning phase of the project life cycle consists of two separate processes: the project charter and stakeholder registration. The point of this phase is to determine the vision of the project, document what you want to achieve, and ensure approval from the sanctioned person. The main components of the project charter are:
- Business case
- Project scope
- Deliverables
- Purpose
- Required resources
- Milestone plan and timeline
- Cost estimate
- Risks and problems
Dependencies
Take the time to establish a clear and cohesive vision, think about who should be ideally involved in the realization of the project, and secure the necessary resources in advance to get a strong start to prepare the project. I can. Everything that comes next.
Planning stage
The process group in the planning phase starts with a project management plan, project scope, work breakdown, etc., and ends with qualitative and qualitative ones, a project infrastructure that enables goals to be achieved within a given time and budget constraint. To build. Quantitative risk analysis and risk response. This is a detailed roadmap and a blueprint for success. At the end of this phase of the life cycle, everyone on the team not only understands the vision of the project, but also exactly what they need to do to reach the finish line on time and on budget. I will.
Execution phase
At the execution stage, the rubber hits the road. Most of the budget is allocated and most of the project deliverables are created. Execute a project plan and put it into action whether it takes weeks, months, or even years. The University of Villanova defines the goals for this phase as "adjusting timeline expectations and effectively managing the team while achieving benchmark goals." The execution phase often involves team development, stakeholder involvement, and quality assurance activities, either formal or informal.
Monitoring and control phase
The monitoring and control phase monitors the actual progress of the project against the plan and takes corrective action as necessary. Even with the perfect plan, you don't have to keep an eye on tracking and reporting. After all, you know what they are saying about the best plan.
Closing phase
The end phase is the final phase of the project life cycle and contains only one single process. It's more than just checking for completed projects. It is imperative to formally end the project and ensure approval or approval from customers, stakeholders and project sponsors. This process involves:
- Providing the project Hosting a post-meeting
- Archive of project records
- Celebrate or acknowledge achievement
- Formally disband or release the team
The importance of this final step in the project life cycle cannot be exaggerated. In particular, more and more organizations are adopting Hollywood model work, where temporary teams gather around one project and disband and reorganize for another project. How to operate the movie crew. All filmmaking ends with a "rap party". The same is true for all major work projects.
Key takeaways
- The project context is the environment in which the project runs. It covers both the internal and external environments.
- Understanding the context of a project is important because different projects have different context issues to deal with.
- The project life cycle contains the steps required for a project manager to successfully manage a project from start to finish.
- The project life cycle has five phases (also known as five process groups): start, plan, run, monitor / control, and end.
- The importance of this final step in the project life cycle cannot be exaggerated.
- How to operate the movie crew. All filmmaking ends with a "rap party". The same is true for all major work projects.
- The end phase is the final phase of the project life cycle and contains only one single process.
Let's start with the knowledge area. There are 10 of them. The order in which they appear in the PMBOK® Guide is as follows:
- Project integrated management
- Project scope management
- Project schedule management
- Project cost management
- Project quality control
- Project resource management
- Project communication management
- Project risk management
- Project procurement management
- Management of project stakeholders.
- Project Management Institute
Depending on the project, you need to know more or less about each. For example, a small project may not need to procure anything, so you can knock off number 9. However, you will need to answer each question to qualify for PMP®. The knowledge domain is made up of processes. We'll talk more about them later.
Why is there a knowledge area?
Great question! Perhaps because it's difficult to try to memorize the entire process of the exam and it helps to group them?
That may be a spin-off benefit, but that's not the real reason. The real reason is that most projects use most of these areas most of the time. A general consensus (or what you might call a project management best practice) is that you need to be able to work across these areas to complete your project. Knowledge areas are a convenient way to group theoretical and practical techniques. They link key themes or disciplines that the project manager must work with to carry out the project.
One thing to keep in mind is that this list of 10 is not exclusive. You may need to use other specialized skills to complete the project, such as leadership or litigation. However, for most people, familiarity with the areas covered by the PMBOK® Guide is sufficient. The knowledge area provides a broad foundation for drawing from it.
5 PMBOK® Guided Process Groups – 6th Edition
Every project requires 5 process groups. These are the second largest part of the backbone of the PMBOK® Guide. The process groups are:
- start
These processes help you define new work, either in a completely new project or in an upcoming phase. They guarantee that you have the authority to continue.
2. Plan
These processes help define goals and limit the scope of work to be performed. It also includes all tasks related to task planning and scheduling. Again, you can cover the entire project or just the phase you are currently working on. Alternatively, you may have closed one phase and planned the next phase in parallel.
3. Running
These processes run when you perform a project task. This is the "delivery" part of project management, where the main activity occurs and the product is created.
4. With monitoring control
These processes allow you to track, review, and report on the work you are doing. Change management falls into this process group because it also describes what happens if a project turns out not to follow an agreed plan. We will run these processes together with the processes in the execution group (mainly with other groups), so we will monitor them.
5. Closed
Finally, these processes allow you to complete all the tasks of other groups when you close the project or phase.
Project Management Institute, Project Management Knowledge System Guide, (PMBOK® Guide) – 6th Edition, Project Management Institute, 2017, p. 25.
It's a good idea for your project to walk through each of these groups in a neat, linear order. It doesn't happen in reality. As mentioned above, you will spend time in each process group and start over in the next phase. Monitoring and control begins on day one. It grows while the project is in the delivery phase, but continues throughout. You can close a particular activity at any time, not just at the end of the project.
This is what you can then take:
Process groups are not the same as the project life cycle. The life cycle shows how a project moves from start to finish in different phases. Do not confuse the two, as you may pass through all or some process groups within a phase.
You can remember this in your exam by noting that all process group names end with "–ing". They are verbs (do words). The life cycle is represented by a noun: start, run, close. Be aware of the PMP exam questions that ask you to choose a term, as the choice to start, run, or close is wrong.
What is a process group for?
Process groups group processes (planned ... promises) that often run in a project at about the same time or with similar inputs and outputs. Once you get used to them, it's actually a very logical way to group what you need to do.
The easiest way to remember the difference is:
Knowledge field
They cover what you need to know.
Process group
They cover what you need to do.
Process groups help you apply the knowledge you have about different areas of expertise in project management. They take you into your knowledge and let you and your team step through exactly what you have to do at each point.
Do you want to clear it now?
There is only one PMBOK® guide backbone to check. Finally, let's talk about the process.
Each process has prerequisites (called inputs), tools and techniques that you can use to actually run the process, and output. This is another result of running the process. When you achieve these things, you know that the process is finished (at least until the next time you need to use it).
The guide has about 50 processes. The main part of the book is divided into 10 chapters, each chapter dealing with the PMI Knowledge Area. Each chapter details the processes that apply to that knowledge area, and each process is grouped into process groups.
Not evenly divided. He explains that more than 50% of the processes fall into the planning process group. Read the relevant chapters from his book and see the bar charts for yourself. It becomes clear that planning is essential to the success of a project and that the most work in the field is required.
The PMBOK® Guide has charts that work perfectly, so I'm not going to list them all here. That's what I always recommend to students.
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Table 1-4 of the PMBOK® Guide shows the knowledge area at the bottom and the process groups at the top, and maps different processes to related boxes where these two axes intersect. For example, at the intersection of project integration management and start process groups, there is a process of "creating a project charter". This table describes the mapping between project management process groups and knowledge areas.
You can see that some cells in the table are blank. This means that there are no processes associated with that particular outage in the course of the project. You can see that each process group has at least two processes (otherwise it's a group? It's a single process), although there aren't really many in the starting process group.
It's much easier to look at the table than I can explain. See below or see the related page in a copy of the guide. When many students flick to this page of the guide, the areas of knowledge, process groups, and interactions between processes suddenly become apparent. We recommend that you use the Sticky tab to mark the copy page, as you will frequently refer to this table both in your PMP research and in your daily work as a project manager.
Which process do you use?
The simple answer to this question is to use a process that helps you get the job done. Ideally, everyone in the business should use the same process for the same activity.
There are significant benefits to everyone who uses the same process for the same activity. A PMI Pulse of the Profession® study reports that high-performing organizations are three times more likely to use standard processes across their organizations than low-performing organizations. Using the project management process actually improves the success of your project. This PMI article provides some examples of organizations that have seen the benefits of using standard processes.
It is your responsibility to choose the right process to achieve the desired result. If you haven't purchased anything, it doesn't make sense to choose to go through all the procurement processes. Choose a process that will help you and your project. Doing this requires some expert judgment, so if you are just getting started, you can be nervous about choosing the right process.
please do not. That's mostly common sense. If you are still unsure of making the right decision, talk to your manager or mentor. As a rule of thumb (until you build your own experience bank), it's better to realize that you don't need to apply the process than to apply it and then skip the process and regret it later. is.
However, to pass the PMP exam, you need to know all about them.
Do I really need to learn all of them for the PMP exam?
At this point, you're probably thinking about taking the PMP exam. You may have already submitted your application (in that case, congratulations, you're on your way to becoming a PMP).
The domain of knowledge forms an important part of the exam. You will also have questions about individual processes, such as process inputs, tools, techniques, and outputs.
A good starting point for preparing for the exam is to remember the table. Then start your exam session and write down your notes (cheat sheets) before answering the first question. Investing a few minutes of actual test time is a great way to write this down. This allows all revisions to be dumped from the brain onto paper for reference during the test. It's also a good way to relieve stress, as you know you have the notes at hand. I call it a brain dump and I definitely need to include this table.
Use your favourite technique to remember it, any modification technique that you think will give you the best results based on your learning preferences. The Bruce Garrod article on the PMI community website has some good tips for remembering the table.
However, if you choose to remember it, think about the logic behind it. All processes are mapped to knowledge areas and process groups, and there is a strong rationale for why they are combined in that way. Understanding how a process is used in a real project can help you see where the process fits in the table and in the context of your day-to-day work. The more you focus on why the process is on the table, the easier it is to place the table. An additional advantage of this approach is that if you forget where something is on the table, you can still get a complete picture of how the process is used and answer your exam questions.
Tools for exam preparation
The Brain Dump in Table 1-4 is just one way to organize your PMP exam knowledge area questions. Other revision guides and exam preparation tools are available to be fully prepared for everything that may occur in connection with the process.
Knowledge areas and process groups are an integral part of the PMBOK® Guide, so you need to make sure you are using a comprehensive exam preparation guide such as PMPrepCast. A complete set of daily English explanations and videos covering the entire PMBOK® Guide (and more-if you don't know yet, you'll also face questions about topics not covered by the PMBOK® Guide). Is all you need to prepare for success.
How much time do I need to spend revising process groups and knowledge areas?
The amount of time you spend learning the PMI process group and its corresponding knowledge area depends on how quickly you master the core concept. Some students get the mapping and the logic behind it very quickly. It takes time for others to be confident in their ideas and to be able to remember them under test conditions.
The best way is to work at your own pace, not comparing yourself to other PMP applicants. By all means, set goals for the time you want to take the exam and create an achievable study schedule that suits you. Get the highest quality PMP preparation tools possible (PM PrepCast is not always very affordable) and use them to plan your studies.
In summary:
- The project management knowledge area covers what project managers need to know in order to successfully manage a project.
- The process covers what the project manager and team must do to make the project successful.
- A process group is a logical group of processes.
Key takeaways
- That's a lot of knowledge! Each area represents the complete area of the discipline, including terminology, tools, concepts, and tasks.
- In other words, you need to know about each to be able to manage your project successfully.
- That may be a spin-off benefit, but that's not the real reason. The real reason is that most projects use most of these areas most of the time.
- A general consensus (or what you might call a project management best practice) is that you need to be able to work across these areas to complete your project.
- You may need to use other specialized skills to complete the project, such as leadership or litigation.
- However, for most people, familiarity with the areas covered by the PMBOK® Guide is sufficient.
- Process groups are not the same as the project life cycle. The life cycle shows how a project moves from start to finish in different phases.
- The best way is to work at your own pace, not comparing yourself to other PMP applicants.
- A good starting point for preparing for the exam is to remember the table. Then start your exam session and write down your notes (cheat sheets) before answering the first question.
References
- https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/project-manager-responsibilities/#:~:text=In%20the%20broadest%20sense%2C%20project,on%20budget%2C%20and%20within%20scope.
- https://www.cio.com/article/3224865/what-is-a-project-manager-the-lead-role-for-project-success.html
- https://www.careervillage.org/questions/29216/what-is-the-role-and-responsibilities-of-a-project-manager-at-a-nonprofit-organization?gclid=Cj0KCQiA962BBhCzARIsAIpWEL2z4HpT_KLeGJYD2QbtzQbmUweKuyRmDQyYXl7UMYIPi8nMXuZbiRIaAmaiEALw_wcB
- https://www.simplilearn.com/stakeholders-impact-on-the-projects-article
- https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-5-project-stakeholders-project-management/#:~:text=In%20a%20project%2C%20there%20are,contractors%20and%20subcontractors%2C%20and%20suppliers.
- https://www.projectmanager.com/project-management
- https://venngage.com/blog/project-life-cycle/
- https://www.parallelprojecttraining.com/context-environments-explain-meant-term-project-context-explain-four/
