ENG 2001: first lecture

Project Management Foundation

Project Management Scope

  • Outline of Topics Covered:

    • Definition of a project

    • Operations vs. Project Management

    • Project Life Cycle

    • Project Stakeholders

    • Project Constraints

    • Programs and Portfolios

PMBOK Guide

  • Refers to the Project Management Body of Knowledge as the essential reference throughout the course.

  • Available in the Steacie Library.

Understanding Projects

Definition of a Project

  • Key Characteristics:

    • Temporary (has a start and end date)

    • Unique outcome (varies in size)

  • Definition:

    • A project may be defined as a "temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result."

  • Example:

    • Initial stage of Dam 11 refurbishment in Campbellford involving a multidisciplinary engineering team (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.).

Deliverables of a Project

  • Types of Deliverables:

    • Product: A tangible item.

    • Service: An intangible offering.

    • Result: An outcome, often documented.

Examples of Projects

  • Construction of a Petrochemical Industry:

    • Delivers products and services related to petroleum

  • Aircraft Production:

    • Involves aeronautical services and engineering type

  • Maintenance Engineering:

    • Improving maintenance checklists for specific engine types

  • Environmental Cleanup:

    • Services focused on cleaning environments (e.g., Bagmati river cleanup)

  • Sustainability Projects:

    • Tree planting initiatives aimed at sustainability goals.

Operations vs. Projects

  • Once a project is completed, its deliverables transition from project status to ongoing operations.

  • Operational Role:

    • Responsible for the ongoing creation of goods or services within the organization.

Project Management

Definition

  • Project Management Defined:

    • The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Project Life Cycle

Overview

  • Definition:

    • A collection of phases representing the project is termed the project life cycle.

  • Phases:

    1. Initiating

    2. Planning

    3. Executing

    4. Closing

  • Review Points:

    • The end of each phase serves as a checkpoint to evaluate project continuity.

Phase Gates

  • Known as review points within the project life cycle; they assess whether to proceed to the next phase.

  • Waterfall Project Management:

    • An approach where phases flow sequentially, resembling water flowing downward.

    • This method is effective for high-risk, high-investment projects (e.g., community center construction).

Agile vs. Waterfall

  • Agile Approach:

    • Suitable for projects with volatile objectives and unclear specific goals (e.g., web development).

Project Stakeholders

Definition

  • Individuals, groups, and organizations impacted by or involved in a project.

  • Key Roles:

    • Project sponsor

    • Project manager

    • Project team members (employees, customers)

    • External entities (suppliers, government, interest groups)

Managing Stakeholders

  • Understanding stakeholder dynamics is essential in project initiation and management.

  • Not all stakeholders can be pleased, necessitating compromise.

Project Constraints

  • Responsibilities of the project manager include satisfying the following fundamental constraints:

    • Scope

    • Time

    • Cost

  • Additional constraints can include:

    • Quality, Resources, and Risk

Definition of Risk

  • PMBOK Definition:

    • "An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project's objective."

  • Objectives of Risk Management:

    • Establishing a Risk Management Plan should encompass:

    • Listing potential risks and their impacts

    • Allocating budget for risk management

    • Appointing individuals to oversee risk management activities

Interaction of Constraints

  • Project constraints are interlinked. For example:

    • When a construction project faces time constraints, options may include:

    • Increasing costs through overtime to expedite work, potentially impacting quality.

    • Adjusting project scope in consultation with sponsors to meet deadlines.

Project Manager’s Role

  • Balancing project customer satisfaction and project performance requires excellent communication and negotiation skills.

Programs and Portfolios

Definitions

  • Programs: Groups of related projects managed together to achieve common business objectives.

  • Portfolios: Collections of initiatives or projects selected to achieve an organization's strategic goals.

Example: York Academic Plan

  • Projects may relate to sustainability strategy initiatives, diversity and inclusion efforts, or construction standards.

York Sustainability Program Goals

  • Project Goal PL6:

    • Ensure ecologically healthy campuses with engaging spaces for educational and community use.

  • Scope Involvement:

    • Initiatives like community gardens, integrated landscape management, and events aimed at environmental engagement.

  • Project Goal PL8:

    • New developments and renovations adhere to high green building standards, targeting the LEED Gold standard.

  • Recent Developments:

    • Examples include various building projects that achieved LEED Gold certification.

Introduction to the Initiating Phase

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  • Ultimate Indicator of Project Success:

    • Financial contribution to the project sponsor

    • Measure of public good achieved (social benefits)

    • Contribution to a project program or portfolio

Key Questions Addressed in the Initiating Phase

  • Value Assessment:

    • The business case must answer: What is the value of this project?

Essentials of the Initiation Phase

  • Foundation for Remaining Project:

    • Initiating phase establishes groundwork for the entire project.

  • Two Required Steps:

    1. Creation of a Business Case:

    • Determines overall options and selects the best course of action.

    1. Creation of a Project Charter:

    • Sets the overall goals and objectives.

    • Officially launches the project, ensuring agreement among project sponsor, project manager, and key stakeholders.

Business Case Development

  • Example Case Studies:

    • Campbellford Dam Options:
      a. Demolish and build a new one.
      b. Refurbish with new concrete surfacing.
      c. Do nothing.

    • CN Tower Options:
      a. Tripod design.
      b. Hexagonal core with three curved support arms.
      c. Do nothing.

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis:

    • Likely costs compared to potential benefits.

    • Estimated costs can be both tangible and intangible.

Business Case Report Template

  • Components of the Business Case:

    • Proposed Project (Name/identifier)

    • Background information on project history.

    • Business need or opportunity addressed.

    • Potential approaches to complete the project.

    • Detailed cost and benefits analysis for each option including:

    • Financial expenditures

    • Time required

    • Risks

    • Quality reduction potential.

    • Recommendation section for best option.

Project Charter Construction

  • Project Charter Essentials:

    • Contents of the Project Charter:

    • Project goals: Achievements supporting organization’s goals.

    • Project objectives: Specific and measurable outcomes required.

    • Project budget.

    • Project sponsor details.

    • Key project stakeholders.

    • Overall project milestones.

    • Overall project risks.

  • Project Charter Template Components:

    • Project name, date produced, project goals, objectives, budget, and stakeholder information.

Project Charter Kickoff Meeting

  • Meeting Schedule:

    • Invites stakeholders to review:

    • Organization’s strategy.

    • Project goals, objectives, budgets.

    • Key milestones and known risks.

Ending the Initiating Phase

  • First Phase Gate Review:

    • Determining whether to proceed to the planning phase.

    • Approval communicated in writing by project sponsor to project manager.

Planning Phase Introduction

  • Purpose of Stakeholder Planning:

    • Identify all project stakeholders and build effective relationships.

  • Two Main Steps:

    1. Creating Stakeholder Register

    2. Creating Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Identifying Stakeholder Characteristics

  • Assessment of Stakeholders:

    • Documented in the project charter.

    • Expanded in planning stage by assessing power, support, and interest levels.

    • Definitions:

    • Power: Capacity to influence others, affecting project outcome positively/negatively.

    • Interest: Corresponds with engagement level.

    • Support: Willingness to assist varying from supportive to indifferent.

  • Examples of High Interest Stakeholders:

    • CEO, project sponsors, clients.

Step 2 - Engaging Stakeholders

  • Maintaining Relationships:

    • Periodic reviews of interest and power levels.

    • Adjust engagement strategies as needed.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan Template

  • Components:

    • Project name, stakeholder details, engagement strategy tailored to each stakeholder.

Confidentiality of Stakeholder Documents

  • Important Note:

    • Stakeholder assessments should remain confidential.

Scope Planning Introduction

  • Project Scope Includes:

    • Project requirements, production, scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS).

Gathering Project Requirements

  • Understanding Needs of Project Sponsor:

    • Categorize requirements into Functional and Technical:

    • Functional Requirements: Desired user experience/features.

    • Performance/Technical Requirements: Set targets for operational characteristics (speed, reliability).

Scope Planning Templates

  • Project Requirements Document:

    • Template includes:

    • Functional and Technical/Performance Requirements.

  • Project Scope Statement:

    • Includes deliverables, key specifications, exclusions, and related documentation.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

  • Overview and Levels:

    • Hierarchical organization of deliverables into multiple levels (Level 1: Project, Level 2: Deliverables, Level 3: Work Packages).

  • Creating a WBS:

    • Top-down, bottom-up approaches, or standard WBS adaptation.

Challenges in Creating WBS

  • Rules and Considerations:

    • 8/80 Rule: Work packages should not be smaller than 8 hours or larger than 80 hours.

    • WBS guides project organization, aiding schedules and budgets.

Schedule Planning Introduction

  • Commencement of the Schedule:

    • Begins post-definition of project scope, includes logical order of activities and timeframes.

Benefits of Developing a Project Schedule

  • Enhances Commitments and Visibility:

    • Commitment to stakeholders, visualization of efforts and dependencies.

    • Progress tracking based on established timelines (baseline).

Activity Definition and Management

  • Criteria for Activity Creation:

    • Clarity, moderately long duration, responsible parties identified.

  • Activity List Template:

    • Includes work package, activity description, duration, and human resource requirements.

Estimating Activity Duration

  • Challenges in Duration Estimates:

    • New activities, unforeseen circumstances, and varying expertise levels.

  • Techniques for Estimation:

    • Past project experience, detailing characteristics of tasks.

Activity Performance Management

  • Governing Factors:

    • Sequence dependencies, resource availability, and specific date needs.

Types of Schedules

  • Different Formats of Project Schedules:

    • Network Diagram

    • Milestone-Based Schedule

    • Activity-Based Schedule

    • Dependency-Based Schedule

Network Diagram

  • Representation of Activities:

    • Layout direction: Left to right, showing dependencies with arrows.

  • Addressing Resource Overallocation:

    • Introduce additional dependencies or schedule resources across multiple tasks.

Milestone-Based Schedule

  • Milestones as Important Events:

    • Indicators of significant project completions without activity measurement.

Activity-Based Schedule

  • Detailing Activities:

    • Contains duration, start, and end dates.

  • Work-Back Schedule:

    • Determines timing backward from project end date.

Dependency-Based Schedule

  • Illustrates Activity Dependencies:

    • Gantt chart representation integrates activities, durations, timelines, and dependencies.

Dependency Types

  • Different Dependency Relations:

    1. Finish-to-Start (FS) : One activity must finish to start another.

    2. Start-to-Start (SS) : One activity cannot start until another starts.

    3. Finish-to-Finish (FF) : One activity must finish for another to be considered finished.

    4. Start-to-Finish (SF) : An activity cannot finish until another has started.

Adjusting Activity Scheduling with Lead and Lag

  • Lead: Overlap experienced between two activities when one is starting as another ends.

  • Lag: A necessary gap between activities for resource availability or work nature.

ENG 2001: Essential Documents for Project Management Success

Outline of Lecture 3

  • Critical Path Analysis

    • Critical Path Calculations

      • Forward Pass

      • Backward Pass

    • Float/Slack

Critical Path Analysis

  • Definition: The critical path is the longest sequence of activities in the project schedule. This sequence corresponds to the earliest planned completion time for the project.

  • Example:

    • Consider a network diagram with two activity paths:

      1. Select vacation destination > apply for passport > depart for vacation (13 days)

      2. Select vacation destination > book vacation > pack for vacation > depart for vacation (5 days)

    Activity Durations:

    • Select vacation destination: 2 days

    • Apply for passport: 10 days

    • Book vacation: 1 day

    • Depart for vacation: 1 day

    • Pack for vacation: 1 day

  • The total duration of the first path (critical path) is 13 days.

Implications of Critical Path Analysis

  • The first path (13 days) represents the earliest possible date for project completion.

  • Delay Consequence: Any delay in an activity along a critical path will impact the entire project timeline.

  • Total Float Definition: Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the project end date.

  • In the previous example, the two activities not on the critical path share 8 days of total float, allowing for potential delays.

Total Float Example (Non-Critical Path Activities)

  • Duration and Total Float Calculation for Non-Critical Paths (Barrett, 2021):

    • Total float and durations are analyzed via corresponding calculations for each defined activity.

    • Example Floats:

      • Activity A: Total float = 0 days, Duration = 14 days

      • Activity B: Total float = 11 days, Duration = 18 days

      • Activity C: Total float = 7 days, Duration = 25 days

      • Activity D: Total float = 0 days

Start and Finish Definitions

  • Early Start (ES): The earliest time a task can start without impacting subsequent tasks.

  • Early Finish (EF): The earliest time a task can finish without impacting subsequent tasks.

  • Late Start (LS): The latest time a task can start without impacting subsequent tasks.

  • Late Finish (LF): The latest time a task can finish without impacting subsequent tasks.

  • Float (F): Amount of time a task can be delayed without impacting other tasks.

Critical Path Calculations

Forward Pass Calculation Steps

  1. Determine the earliest start and finish for each activity via a forward pass assessing the schedule.

  2. Method for Calculation:

    • For activities with no predecessors:

      • Set ES = 1

      • EF = ES + Activity Duration - 1

    • For subsequent activities:

      • Set ES = EF of preceding activity + 1

      • EF = ES + Activity Duration - 1

Backward Pass Calculation Steps

  1. Calculate the latest finish and start for each activity via a backward pass.

  2. Method for Calculation:

    • For activities with no successors:

      • Set LF = EF (from forward pass)

      • Set LS = LF - Activity Duration + 1

    • For preceding activities:

      • Set LF = LS of succeeding activity - 1

      • LS = LF - Activity Duration + 1

Total Float Calculation

  • Formula: Total Float = LS - ES or Total Float = LF - EF

  • Each activity on the network diagram will have an associated total float value indicating potential delays without schedule impacts.

Critical Path Clarification

  • Tasks with zero float define the critical path due to their inability to be delayed without negative implications on the project schedule.

  • Multiple critical paths may exist depending upon project constraints or imposed finish dates.

Budget Planning in Project Management

  • Importance of thorough project cost management to avoid overruns and their negative consequences.

  • Negative Impacts of Higher Project Costs:

    • Changes to project’s Business Case justification leading to potential project cancellation.

    • Deferrals of other projects due to reduced funding availability.

    • Insufficient funds available within the organization.

    • Reduced profitability for the business.

Steps in Planning for Project Cost

  1. Create cost estimates.

  2. Create the detailed budget.

  3. Determine when project costs will incur and their total amount.

  4. Understand the importance of cost control in project management.

Types of Project Costs

  • Direct Costs: Related directly to project activities (e.g., salaries, materials).

  • Indirect Costs: Associated with overhead (e.g., rent, utilities).

Cost Estimation Approaches

  1. Analogous Estimating: Base estimate on previous similar project costs.

    • Advantages: Easy to perform and early in planning.

    • Disadvantages: Historical data may be unavailable, leading to inaccuracies.

  2. Parametric Estimating: Uses standard rates for specific activities.

    • Advantages: Accurate for standard rates.

    • Disadvantages: Limited to standard costs only.

  3. Bottom-Up Estimating: Detailed assessment of work packages, providing high accuracy.

    • Advantages: Detailed and accurate.

    • Disadvantages: Requires comprehensive scope and schedule information, making it later in the planning phase.

Templates for Cost Estimating

  • Templates will help in documenting cost estimations for HR and other costs over defined periods, including contingency allocations for budget overruns.

Detailed Budget Benefits

  1. Monitoring: Allow for comparison of planned versus actual costs post-activity commencement.

  2. Cash Flow Management: Identify necessary timings for expenditures, ensuring funds are available when required.

Project Team Planning Steps

  1. Identify project HR requirements.

  2. Develop project roles and responsibilities, ensuring clarity via documentation.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI)

  • RACI Definition: A planning tool for clarifying team member roles and communication in project work.

  • Categories: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed,

    • Clarification of roles for efficiency and clear communication within project tasks.

Conclusion on Project Management

  • The successful completion of project management frameworks relies upon rigorous planning, comprehension of critical path metrics, budget accuracy, and team organizational clarity.