Project

Management
By
Fraol Adula (MBA & MA in AcFn)

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 Chapter one
General introduction to a project
 1.1. Meaning and Definition of
Project
What is project?
• Project is in general a building block of an
investment plan.
• A project can be described as a combination
of human and material resources pooled
together in an organization to achieve a
specific objective.

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 Definition of Project (Cont...)

According to USA Project Management

Institute,
“Project is a one shot, time limited, goal
directed, major undertaking, requiring the
commitment of varied skills and resources”
• It also describes a project as “a combination
of human and non-human resources pooled
together in a temporary organization to
achieve a specific purpose.”

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 Def. of Project (Cont…)

ISO-8402. ( ISO document defines project as)

“A unique process consisting of a set of

coordinated and controlled activities with
start and finish dates, undertaken to
achieve an objective conforming to specific
requirement including constraints of time,
cost and resources”

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 Def. Project (Cont…)

From the above all definitions we can learn that

• A project is an economic/development activity
• It requires commitment of scarce resources
• It brings some benefit from its accomplishment
• The benefit should exceed its cost
• Implementation of a project needs resources or
inputs.
• Every project converts the given inputs into outputs
through the process of implementation

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 1.2. Characteristics of Project
The special features of project that differentiate it
from any other on-going activities, are

• Objective: A project has a fixed set of objectives.

Once the objectives are achieved the project ceases
to exist.
• Life span: A project can not continue endlessly. It
has to come to an end at some time.
• Single entity: A project is a single entity and is
normally entrusted to one responsibility centre, while
participants in the project are many.
• Life cycle: A project has a life cycle reflected by
growth, maturity and decay.

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 Characteristics of Project (cont…)

• Uniqueness: No two projects are exactly

similar even if the plants are exactly identical
or are duplicated.
• the location,
• the infrastructure,
• the agencies and
• the people make each project unique.
• Team work: Any project calls for team work-.
The team members may be from different
–discipline,
–organization, and even country

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 Characteristics of Project (cont…)

• Change: A project sees many changes through

out its life. While some of these changes may
not have any major impact, there can be
changes which will change the entire course of
the project.
• Risk and Uncertainty: Every project has a
risk associated with it.
The degree of risk and uncertainty will depend
on how a project has passed through the
various stages of its life cycle.

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 Characteristics of Project (cont…)

• Unity in diversity: A project is complex set of

varieties. Varieties in terms of
–Technology
–Equipment and material
–People and machinery
–Work culture and ethics
But they remain interrelated.
High level of sub contracting : A high
percentage of a work in a project is done
through contractors. The more complex is a
project, the more will be the extent of
contracting.

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 1.3. Project Vs Plan/Program

• Some people use the term „project‟ and

„program‟ interchangeably.
• In many cases the term project is used for
what should be termed as program or work
package.
• However, there is a quite difference between
the two.
• A project normally originates from a plan
which can be a national plan or corporate plan.

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 Program
In general, a Program is a group of related
projects that are managed in a coordinated way
to achieve certain objective.
A program is thus,
• larger in scope,
• not necessarily time bounded and
• its objectives are broader

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 Program (Cont …)
Example,
• The national goal/plan: Poverty Eradication
• Strategy: Increase productivity ( in all sectors)
• Development program: Increase agricultural
productivity

This may result in a number of projects like,

• Construction of dams ( irrigation infrastructure)
• Upgrading the skill of agricultural practices
• Construction of training centers

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 Program (Cont …)

Health program may have a number of

projects like,

• Construction of hospitals

• Training of health officers

• Expansion of health centres.

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 1.4. Project Parameters

During a project's life, management

focuses on three basic parameters:
quality, cost, and time.
• Traditionally, it is said that a
successfully managed project is the one
that is completed at the specified level
of quality, on or before the deadline,
and within the budget.

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 Project Parameters (cont…)

.
Project parameters

Quality Cost Time

Performance Budget Schedule

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 Project Management

Q. What is project management?

Project Management is a set of principles,
practices, and techniques applied to lead project
teams and control project schedule, cost, and
performance risks to result in delighted customers.

Cost, time and performance are the focus areas of

project management.
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 Cont…

• Project management includes planning,

organizing, directing, and controlling project
activities in addition to motivating what is
usually the most expensive resource on the
project - the people.

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 cont.…

• Project Management is therefore:-

… the art of directing and coordinating
human and material resources throughout
the life of a project by using modern
management techniques to achieve
predetermined objectives of scope, cost,
time, quality and participant satisfaction’.

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 Project management…Cont’d
 Every person, every organization and every nation is concerned
with project management.
– An individual builds a house. It is a project to him.
– An organization sets up new factory. It is a project for the
organization.
– The government of a country builds high ways, dams, thermal
power plants, hydropower plants, airports, etc. These are all
projects that a country undertakes.

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 Typical Project Problems
1. Scope may not be clearly defined when
commitment is made to a client.
2. There may not be enough resources allocated
(people, money, materials, time, space, etc).
3. Conflict of interest between or among stakeholders
(ops vs. engineers, sales vs. technical support, line
vs. staff).
4. Commitment to unrealistic dates – the PM may be
too optimistic about the completion date of the
project.
5. There may be unclear roles and responsibilities.
6. Things may go wrong for some natural reasons.
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 Functions of the Project Managers
 Project managers perform the following major
functions/roles:
1. Plan work (scope, budget, schedule),
2. Obtain and manage resources,
3. Resolve conflicts and problems,
4. Motivate people
5. Communicate to the team, to the organization, and to the clients,
6. Set priorities,
7. Make decisions,
8. Control technical quality, budget, and schedule
9. Integrate multiple skills

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 .
• .

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