C722 Project Management - Study Guide

Projects

A temporary activity that creates a unique result.

Initiatives with specific goals and start and end dates. Develops a new product or service, reduce costs, add technology, etc.

Operations

Day-to-day activities in an organization. Continuous & ongoing.

Product

Something created by a project.

Business Scenario

An imagined or projected sequence of events that is representative of a significant business need or problem & enables vendors to understand the value to the customer organization of a developed solution.

Business Scenarios have this information:

- Past events that are relevant

- Current key information

- Expected or desired outcomes

Business Strategy

The activities, methods, tactics, etc. that will be employed to meet the business's goals. Determined by senior management in the organization to improve the value of the company to its stakeholders.

Subject Matter Experts

SMOs. A person who is an authority in a particular area or project.

Program

A group of related projects.

Portfolio

A group of initiatives (projects and programs) that a company engages in to improve its operations.

Charter

The definition of a project according to stakeholders. Defines how customer will determine if project met expectations. Includes a beginning, work steps, and clear and defined end.

Business Case

The justification for a project - Explains the business need.

Project Life Cycle Phases

Defining, Planning Executing, Closing

Defining

Where detailed planning occurs. Level of detail aligns with complexity of project. Use Work Breakdown Structure to identify outcomes needed.

Can require significant time for large projects.

Typically ends when baselines for scope, budget, and schedule are approved by customer and/or sponsor and project team.

Executing

Where most of the work is done.

Deliverables are completed. Progress is monitored and actions taken as needed to stay on track.

May return to planning phase as needed if objectives can't be met, to modify budget, schedule, or scope.

Critical to be careful of scope creep—don't add functionality without considering impact.

This phase is complete when all work activities and deliverables are ready to be delivered to customer/sponsor.

Closing

When project outcomes are delivered to the customer and/or sponsor.

Project Manager ties up loose ends:

- Reassign project resources back to company

- Document project results and lessons learned

- Close out procurement activities

- Verify completed project is transitioned to customer

SMART Goals

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time Based

Project Management

The act of running a project and encompasses the use of general management or specific project management knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to ensure that the project meets its goals.

Aspects of project management

Stakeholder Relations

Managing Interdependent Tasks

Managing Volatility

Communications

Schedule Development

Work Breakdown

PERT charts

Risk Management

Project Sponsor

The individual (often manager or executive) with overall accountability for a project. Primarily concerned with ensuring project delivers agreed upon benefits.

Project Manager

The people who guide projects. Need 10 competencies:

Integration management - includes processes/activities needed to identify, define, and coordinate various processes and project management activities.

Scope management - includes the processes that ensure that all the work required is identified to complete the project successfully.

Time management - includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project.

Cost management - includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.

Quality management - includes processes/activities that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities.

Human resource management - includes the processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team.

Communication management - includes processes to ensure timely and appropriate planning, creation, distribution, management, control, and monitoring of project information.

Risk management - includes the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project.

Procurement management - includes the processes necessary to acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team.

Stakeholder management - includes the processes required to identify all people or organizations impacted by the project, analyzing stakeholder expectations, and developing appropriate strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution.

Triple Constraints

Cost

Time

Scope

Working PM vs Dedicated PM

Working project managers - PM also responsible for operational delivery project.

Dedicated project managers - PMs who have a distinctly separate role in organization and can be the functional manager for project for duration of project.

Problems with working project managers

Usually wearing multiple hats

Lack of time, may also have lack of PM skills and training

People from other disciplines may not report directly to you but you are responsible for their work in project.

Communication Plan

Communication with project stakeholders, including:

Management at all levels and users of the system

Everyone hoping develop deliverables - workers, suppliers, etc

Stockholders of business

Other project partners

Identify for each stakeholder:

Reporting needs - what to include in status report (budget, schedule issues, etc.)

Format - spreadsheet, table, one page summary

Preferred medium (email, phone, presentation)

When -

Who is responsible

Status Meetings

Purpose - Communicate current summary pf project schedule, budget, and functional progress.

Identify ""Red Light"" that will impact project success and what decisions/resources are needed.

Identify ""Yellow Light"" issues that may be arising, recommendations for avoiding

Accomplishments for current period

Upcoming plans for immediate work period

Record usage and near term requirements

Important that meetings are regular and timely.

Stakeholder

An individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

Stakeholder Analysis

Understand who the stakeholders are, their responsibilities, and their communication needs. Develop a matrix to guide communications.

Change requests (CR)

Changes in scope, schedule, or funding that need approval.

Change control board (CCB)

Those with authority to approve changes. Ensures change doesn't negatively impact the project's triple constraint of time, cost, and scope. Can be a small group of individuals from within a project team.

Project Reports

Communicate the current status of the project, risks team is facing, and direction to the team for the immediate work period. Project the future performance of the project as known at this point. Clear and concise regarding who is doing what and what the deadlines are.

Collaboration Tools

Software products to help manage the creating and communication of the plan and tasks to be performed. MS project is one example.

Virtual teams often work in shared threaded discussions (better than IM)

Google Drive also useful.

Work Breakdown Structure

A tool to ensure people understand what is expected of them and how they will be held accountable. Breaks work down into measurable components.

Conflict Management

80% of all problems come from poor communication

Establish Expectations for team members - what to do, how to communicate, how to resolve issues

Address Conflict Immediately - Make it safe. Listen and hear issues and stay professional. Don't take sides.

Stay Focused on Project and Goals - don't take on more than project was designed for

Remember you're dealing with people - They have own motivation. Know their WIFM and how it aligns with the project.

Conflict is an opportunity to learn and grow.

PMI

Project Management Institute

Largest project management organization in the world - 400,000 members. Publishes foundational and practice standards.

Foundational standards give frameworks and process for program, project, portfolio management

Practice standards focus on topics like risk management scheduling, and estimating.

PMBOK

Project Manager's Book of Knowledge

PMP/CAPM

Certifications for project managers -

Project Management Professional (PMP) - Largest global certification

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

AXELOS

A joint venture between HM Cabinet Office and Capita plc that developed PRINCE2

PRINCE2

PRojects IN a Controlled Environment, version 2

Functional/Departmentalized Org

Oldest & most basic form.

PROS

Clear lines of authority.

SMEs can work on multiple projects.

Flexible use of staff within unit.

Easy to prioritize dept work within unit.

Clear paths for career growth.

CONS

Low project manager authority.

Ineffective for projects.

Org doesn't focus on solving business-wide issues.

Sharing resources across functions can be difficult.

Project customer not only focus; customer response can be slow.

Can lead to information silos.

Matrix Org

PROS

Project is central focus

PMs have access to lots of technically skilled people, SMEs as needed

Team members have less anxiety about futures

Customer response is fast

No duplication in admin personnel

Team organization is flexible

CONS

Requires cooperation, coordination among managers

SMEs not in daily contact with other SMEs to share knowledge

Decision making authority not always clear

Resource balancing is simpler, but can lead to friction

Closeouts can be difficult

Division of authority is complex

Strong/Weak Matrix Org

Weak - similar to functional org; functional managers retain authority for own parts of projects.

Strong - attempt to provide appearance of project team in matrix org

Projectized Org

PM is manager/leader for specific projects.

SMEs from different functional units report to PMs for specific projects

Cross-functional cooperation promoted.

At project end, resources return to home depts.

Collaboration is KEY

PROS

PM has full authority

Response to customers/stakeholders faster, clearer

Timely decisions on project issues

Org structure simple, flexible, easy to understand

CONS

Must keep SMEs busy or risk losing to another project

Can be expensive - duplication of personnel

Policies/procedures may be inconsistent

Team members may be anxious when released from project

PMO

Project Management Office.

Aligns project to corporate strategy

Monitors status and availability of resources

Keeps resources employed to best advantage across all projects

Reduces overhead and bureaucracy and creates economies of scale

Central repository for all project policies, procedures, and historical records

Repository for lessons learned; assures best practices

Ensures consistent policies and procedures across projects

Subject Matter Expert

A person who is an authority in a particular area or project.

OPM3 Organizational Maturity Levels

From the Delaware Department of Technology and Information

Ad Hoc

Level 1 - ""Ad Hoc"" - No formal standards, processes, procedures or resources, technologies and reporting methodologies are sporadic

Planned

Level 2 - ""Planned"" - Standards, processes, procedures exist but are not the standard, basic documentation exists, management support is inconsistent

Managed

Level 3 - ""Managed"" - Standards, process, procedures are organizational standard, formal documentation exists, management support is consistent, execution is inconsistent

Integrated

Level 4 - ""Integrated"" - More refined standards, processes, procedures & resources in place. More refined documentation. Consistent management support and execution. Efficiencies across all projects. Metrics to collect performance data.

Sustained

Level 5 - ""Sustained"" - Lessons learned and best practices applied to continuously improve standards, procedures, processes. Metrics collected and applied at all levels. Organization can increase competitive performance.

Project Selection Model Criteria

Models can focus on profit, ROI, time required to return initial investment, market share, or other non-numeric outcomes. Best model depends on goals.

Important to give stakeholders the impression that care goes into the selection process

Realistic

Accurately reflects the way organization does business.

Appropriate for resources, capabilities, external environment

Capable

Uses factors that are relevant to organization

Flexible

Provides accurate measures across a reasonable range of conditions

Easy to Use

Provides results in a reasonable amount of time. Results easily understood by decision makers.

Low Cost

Costs of gathering data and running the model should be low relative to the scale of the project.

Comparable

Usable across a range of projects such that outcomes of the model can be used to compare projects

Non-numeric Selection Methods

Focus on selection methods not limited to traditional numeric performance measures

Competitive Necessity

Approval is based on ensuring viability of the company in the marketplace.

Operating Necessity

Approval is based on whether a project will ensure ongoing operations - not doing it would interrupt operations.

Sacred Cow

Projects suggested by senior leadership or powerful constituents. Done to satisfy leaders without regard for project viability or contribution to strategic/operational needs. Existence not questioned.

Checklist Model

Frequently used non-numeric method. Series of question to evaluate each potential project. Answers compared to determine whether projects are selected or rejected.

Highly flexible - Questions can cover wide range of organizational and strategic issues. Cost, time, outcomes, alignment with strategy, innovation, business issues addressed, measurement, risks, internal resources needed, etc.

Numeric Selection Criteria

Using financial and other quantitative measures to drive decision making.

Two kinds: Profit/profitability based, scoring models.

Profit based measure financial return. (Payback period, NPV, IRR)

Scoring Criteria

Extension of checklist approach. Incorporates selection criteria that can be qualitative or quantitative. Criteria based on strategic objectives.

Each criterion treated equally.

Best to use a group of scorers.

Weighted Factor Scoring Model

Places emphasis on selected criteria when calculating total project score. Allows more critical criteria to play a larger role - good for making the right decision.

Weighted Project Score is the sum of (score x weight) for each criterion.

Time Value of Money

Money is worth more now than in the future. A dollar now = less later.

Opportunity Cost

What you have to give up if you spend money on something. Value of the next best alternative.

Payback Period

The amount of time required to earn back the cost of doing the project. Must know cost of project and how much revenue it will generate in future periods.

Internal Rate of Return

Evaluates potential projects as if they were financial investments. Calculates rate of return for project. The rate identified by an IRR calculation is the rate that makes the cost of the project equal to the future cash flows of the project.

Companies want projects to have high internal rates of return.

Net Present Value

A financial measure fo the total future benefit of the project minus the costs of the project.

If future benefits are greater than project cost, NPV is positive.

Higher NPV = greater benefit.

Includes all income and expenses for project.

Future Net Cash Flows

Value of future cash outflows and inflows for a project.

Discounted Cash Flows

Future cash flow with a discount rate applied to calculate a present value.

Discount rate can be based on bank rates or other comparative rates for acquiring capital.

Project Life Cycle Phases

The phases a project goes through during its life.

Phases can overlap.

Defining

Idea for project is generated and formalized. Decision on whether to implement is made. Ends when project charter is approved.

Planning

Where detailed planning occurs. Level of detail aligns with complexity of project. Use Work Breakdown Structure to identify outcomes needed.

Can require significant time for large projects.

Typically ends when baselines for scope, budget, and schedule are approved by customer and/or sponsor and project team.

Executing

Where most of the work is done.

Deliverables are completed. Progress is monitored and actions taken as needed to stay on track.

May return to planning phase as needed if objectives can't be met, to modify budget, schedule, or scope.

Critical to be careful of scope creep - don't add functionality without considering impact.

This phase is complete when all work activities and deliverables are ready to be delivered to customer/sponsor.

Closing

When project outcomes are delivered to the customer and/or sponsor.

Project Manager ties up loose ends:

- Reassign project resources back to company

- Document project results and lessons learned

- Close out procurement activities

- Verify completed project is transitioned to customer

Project Scope

What the result of the project is desired to be.

Project Scope Statement includes:

Objectives

Deliverables

Acceptance Criteria

Technical Requirements

Limits and Exclusions

Milestones

Constraints

Assumptions

Beware scope creep! And require documentation.

Scope

What the result of the project is desired to be.

Project Scope Statement includes:

Objectives

Deliverables

Acceptance Criteria

Technical Requirements

Limits and Exclusions

Milestones

Constraints

Assumptions

Beware scope creep! And require documentation.

Time

Float Time - Difference between time require for critical path to complete and time for another path to complete

Cost

Sum of all expenses directly charged to a project. Includes:

Salaries and wages

Materials

Facility purchase/rental

Equipment

Travel expenses

Cost of quality level

All functions and scope requirements

Scope Creep

When things are added to the project outside the original scope.

Project Baseline

Establishes expected scope, expected cost, and expected schedule.

Project Quality

Impacted by Triple Constraint. Quality can be lost when one of the triple constraints changes. If cost, schedule, or scope changes, you must adjust one or both of the other constraints to maintain the same level of quality.

PERT

Project Evaluation and Review Technique -

Developed in 1950's for Navy's Polaris Missile Project.

Used to estimate activity duration times. Statistical approach. Recommended by PMBOK for estimating activity duration times that vary.

CPM

Critical Path Method -

Developed by DuPont Corporation to help with projects in manufacturing plants. Used for estimating project activity durations, but assumes estimates don't vary and are reliable.

Use the longest route.

CCPM

Critical Chain Project Management -

Focuses on managing uncertainties of a project.

Assumes resources are in limited supply and plans around availability.

Waterfall Method

Project work flows downward like water falling over a ledge. From deliverable to deliverable to deliverable. Swimming back upstream is expensive!

PRINCE2

Projects IN Controlled Environments -

Highly structured project management method that focuses on specifications of outputs rather than coordination of activities.

Widely accepted in European Union

Complexity in PM

Complexity is a whole made up of complicated or interrelated parts - like a project!

Likelihood of project not going as planned increases with complexity of team, processes, or outcome. Government relation can also affect this.

Uncertainty in PM

Uncertainty is something unknown or undefined. Customer may not be able to fully define desired outcome in advance.

Technology can lead to uncertainty.

Scope expansion require additional work, cost, time. Challenge to manage as PM.

Project Processes

Five steps to project management - five processes. Not linear as middle ones are iterative.

Initiating

First step of a project.

Document business need/problem that will be solved.

Define project.

Evaluate proposals

Complete project selection

Identify stakeholders

Create project charter. It is issued at the close of this phase.

Planning

One of three iterative processes mid-project.

Document customer requirements and deliverables

Estimate resource needs

Finalize scope, budget, and schedule (The Triple Constraint)

Create Work Breakdown Structure

Create Network Diagram

Create Activity List

Write plan for specific areas (quality, communications, HR, procurement, change management, scope management, etc.)

Scope, budget, and schedule become the standard for performance measurement during the project.

Executing

What the project team does to create outcomes.

PM adds team members as needed, releases as needed. Challenge to assimilate these changes.

PM implements plan: manages resources, communicates with stakeholders, engages with vendors, ensures team can complete work, documents change requests, assesses team performance, rewards/recognizes performance.

Monitoring & Controlling

Iterative activities during project work.

Monitoring: assessing whether project plan is being implemented as designed and outcomes and deliverables will be as expected.

Controlling: actions to get team back on plan or adjust plan to get desired deliverables. Only necessary when monitoring shows a need.

Reporting performance, monitoring budget and schedule, assessing quality, monitoring risks, monitoring vendor performance, determining when replanning is needed, documenting scope changes, verifying deliverables, keeping everything in sync.

Closing

Actions that occur in order to ensure all project activities are completed. Wrapping up project work so team can move on.

Paying outstanding vendor invoices

Reconciling vendor accounts

Returning excess materials and supplies

Returning project assets to sponsoring organization

Writing lessons learned

Completing project documentation

Delivering completed projects to customer

Receiving sign-off from customer

Archiving project documents

Project Termination

Early termination is wise when project outcomes are no longer needed or resources aren't available.

Traditional Methods

The path from beginning to end is linear and sequential steps are followed - define, plan, execute, close. Most common in project organizations.

Good when there is:

Well defined outcome

Low-complexity project outcome

Scope unlikely to change

Risks low and unidentifiable

Projects that use known/stable technologies

Projects not resource constrained

Volatility can lead to project not meeting scope, budget, or cost requirements

Over planning wastes resources, under-planning leaves team without support

Agile Methods

Developed for projects where end is not clearly defined in advance. Software, new product development.

Iterative approach. Team delivers project to customer in usable chunks.

Sprint - Short bursts of activity. Team stays in focus and in communication with customer.

Customer functionality requirements are called backlog, updated with user stories and scored by team members.

Retrospective - Discussion after a sprint to evaluate what you'll change for next time.

Scrum

Cross function team working closely together for continuous improvements. Daily standup meeting where team discusses work status and plans for the day.

Extreme Project Management

An approach for extraordinary events, uncertainty, or complexity.

Focus is on human resources, not planning.

Rapid evolution and quick results. Collaborative problem solving.