Because learning changes everything.

Chapter One
Modern Project
Management

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 An Overview of Project Management 8th Ed

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 Learning Objectives

1-1 Understand why project management (PM) is crucial in

today’s world
1-2 Distinguish a project from routine operations
1-3 Identify the different stages of a project life cycle
1-4 Describe how Agile PM is different from traditional PM
1-5 Understand that managing projects involves balancing the
technical and sociocultural dimensions of the project

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 Chapter Outline

1.1 What Is a Project?

1.2 Current Drivers of Project Management
1.3 Agile Project Management
1.4 Project Management Today: A Socio-Technical Approach

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 Examples of Projects Given to Recent College Graduates

• Business information: install new data security system

• Physical education: develop a new fitness program for senior citizens
• Marketing: execute a sales program for a new home air purifier
• Industrial engineering: create a value chain report for every aspect of a key product from
design to customer delivery
• Chemistry: develop a quality control program for an organization’s drug production
facilities
• Management: implement a new store layout design
• Pre-med neurology student: join a project team linking mind mapping to an imbedded
prosthetic that will allow blind people to function normally
• Sport communication: create a promotion plan for a women’s basketball project
• Systems engineers: develop data mining software of medical papers and studies related
to drug efficacy
• Accounting: work on an audit of a major client
• Public health: design a medical marijuana educational program
• English: create a web-based user manual for a new electronics product

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 1.1 What Is a Project?

Project Defined (according to PMI)

• A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service,
or result
• The major goal of a project is to satisfy a customer’s need.
Major Characteristics of a Project

• Has an established objective

• Has a defined life span with a beginning and an end
• Involves several departments and professionals
• Involves doing something never been done before
• Has specific time, cost, and performance requirements

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 What a Project Is Not

• Projects should not be confused with everyday work.

• A project is not routine, repetitive work!

• Ordinary daily work typically requires doing the same or similar work
over and over, while a project is done only once; a new product or
service exists when the project is completed.

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 Program versus Project

Program Defined
• A group of related projects designed to accomplish a common goal
over an extended period of time
Program Management Defined

• A process of managing a group of ongoing, interdependent, related

projects in a coordinated way to achieve strategic objectives
Examples:

• Project: completion of a required course in project management

• Program: completion of all courses required for a business major

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 Comparison of Routine Work with Projects

Routine, Repetitive Work Projects

Taking class notes Writing a term paper
Daily entering sales receipts into the Setting up a sales kiosk for a
accounting ledger professional accounting meeting
Responding to a supply-chain Developing a supply-chain
request information system
Practicing scales on the piano Writing a new piano piece
Routine manufacture of an Apple Designing an iPod that is
iPod approximately 2 X 4 inches,
interfaces with PC, and
stores 10,000 songs
Attaching tags on a manufactured Wire-tag projects for GE and
product Wal-Mart

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 Project Life Cycle

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 Project Life Cycle

1. Defining stage: Specifications of the project are defined; project

objectives are established; teams are formed; major responsibilities are
assigned.
2. Planning stage: The level of effort increases, and plans are developed
to determine what the project will entail, when it will be scheduled, whom
it will benefit, what quality level should be maintained, and what the
budget will be.

3. Executing stage: A major portion of the project work takes

place—both physical and mental. The physical product is produced (a
bridge, a report, a software program). Time, cost, and specification
measures are used for control. Is the project on schedule, on budget, and
meeting specifications? What are the forecasts of each of these
measures? What revisions/changes are necessary?

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 Project Life Cycle

4. Closing stage: Closing includes three activities: delivering the

project product to the customer, redeploying project resources,
and post-project review.

• Delivery of the project might include customer training and

transferring documents.
• Redeployment usually involves releasing project
equipment/materials to other projects and finding new
assignments for team members.

• Post-project reviews include not only assessing performance

but also capturing lessons learned.

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 The Challenge of Project Management

The Project Manager

• Manages temporary, non-repetitive activities and frequently acts
independently of the formal organization.
• Arranges resources for the project.
• Is the direct link to the customer.
• Works with a diverse group of characters.
• Provides direction, coordination, and integration to the project team.
• Is responsible for performance and success of the project.
• Must encourage the right people at the right time to address the right
issues and make the right decisions.

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 1.3 Agile Project Management

Agile Project Management (Agile PM)

• Is a methodology emerged out of frustration with using traditional
project management processes to develop software.
• Is now being used across industries to manage projects with high
levels of uncertainty.
• Employs an incremental, iterative process sometimes referred to as a
‘rolling wave’ approach to complete projects.
• Focuses on active collaboration between the project and customer
representatives, breaking projects into small functional pieces, and
adapting to changing requirements.
• Is often used up front in the defining phase to establish specifications
and requirements, and then traditional methods are used to plan,
execute, and close the project.
• Works best in small teams of four to eight members.

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 Rolling Wave Development

• Iterations typically last from one to four weeks.

• The goal of each iteration is to make tangible progress such as define
a key requirement, solve a technical problem, or create desired
features to demonstrate to the customer.
• At the end of each iteration, progress is reviewed, adjustments are
made, and a different iterative cycle begins.
• Each new iteration subsumes the work of the previous iterations until
the project is completed and the customer is satisfied.

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 1.4 Project Management Today: A Socio-Technical Approach

The Technical Dimension (The “Science”)

• Consists of the formal, disciplined, purely logical parts of the process.

• Includes planning, scheduling, and controlling projects.

• Clear project scope statements are written to link the project and
customer and to facilitate planning and control.

• Creation of the deliverables and work breakdown structures facilitates

planning and monitoring the progress of the project.

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 1.4 Project Management Today: A Socio-Technical Approach

The Sociocultural Dimension (The “Art”)

• Involves the contradictory and illogical world of implementation.

• Centers on creating a temporary social system within a larger
organizational environment that combines the talents of a divergent
set of professionals working to complete the project.
• Project managers must shape a project culture that stimulates
teamwork and high levels of personal motivation as well as a capacity
to quickly identify and resolve problems that threaten project work.
• The manager must build a cooperative social network among a
divergent set of allies with different standards, commitments, and
perspectives.

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 A Socio-Technical Approach to Project Management

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