Introduction to Project

Management
Openin
g Clip

Content
Project characteristics and their importance to organisations
Stages of the project life cycle
Knowledge areas and process groups of the project

management body of knowledge (PMBOK).

What is a project?
Project
Project a
atemporary
temporaryendeavor
endeavor undertaken
undertakento
to
create
create aaunique
uniqueproduct,
product, service,
service, or
or result.
result. PMBOK
PMBOK
Guide
Guide
A project requires an organised set of work efforts.
Projects require a level of detail that is progressively
elaborated upon as more information is discovered.
Projects are subject to limitations of
time and resources such as money
and people.
Projects have a defined beginning and
ending.

Stakeholders

A project has a unique combination of

stakeholders
stakeholders
stakeholders persons
persons or
ororganizations
organizations
that
thatare
are
actively
actively involved
involved in
inthe
the project,
project,or
or whose
whoseinterests
interestsmay
may
be
bepositively
positivelyor
or negatively
negatively affected
affectedby
byexecution
executionor
or
completion
completionof
of the
the project.
project. PMBOK
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Guide

Project Management (PM)

PM includes work processes that initiate, plan,
execute, and close work
Work processes require tradeoffs among the
scope, quality, cost, and schedule of the project
PM includes administrative tasks for planning,
documenting, and controlling work
PM includes leadership tasks for visioning,
motivating, and promoting work associates.
PM knowledge, skills, and methods apply for most
projects

Project
Projectmanagement
management the
theapplication
applicationof
ofknowledge,
knowledge,
skills,
skills,tools
toolsand
andtechniques
techniquesto
toproject
projectactivities
activitiesto
tomeet
meet
project
project requirements.
requirements. PMBOK
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Guide

History of Project Management

PM emerged as a formal discipline in the
1950s
Techniques for planning and controlling
schedules and costs were developed for
huge aerospace and construction projects
in the 1950s and 1960s
Early PM involved determining project
schedules based on order of project
activities
Manufacturing, research and development,
government, and construction projects
used and refined management techniques

History of Project Management

Software companies offered software for
planning and controlling project costs and
schedules in the 1980s and 1990s
Risk management techniques for complex
projects have been applied to less complex
projects
Communication and leadership play a major
role in project success
Rapid growth and change in information
technology and telecommunications fueled
use of PM in the 1990s and 2000s

How Can Project Work Be Described?

Projects are temporary and unique;
operations are more continuous.
Project managers need soft skills and
hard skills to be effective.
Project managers frequently have more
responsibility than authority.
Projects go through predictable stages
called a life cycle.

Projects Versus Operations

Projects are temporary
Projects have both routine and unique
characteristics
Operations consist of the ongoing work
needed to ensure that an organisation
continues to function effectively

Soft Skills and Hard Skills

Soft skills include communication and
leadership activities.
Hard skills include risk analysis, quality
control, scheduling, and budgeting work
A successful project manager needs both
soft and hard skills along with the
judgment of when each is more necessary.
Training, experience, and mentoring are
instrumental in developing necessary
skills.

Authority and Responsibility

Projects are most effectively managed with
one person being assigned accountability
Project managers negotiate with functional
managers
A project manager needs to develop strong
communication and leadership skills to
persuade subordinates to focus on the
project
when
other
work
beckons.
Functional manager someone with management

Functional manager someone with management

authority
authorityover
over an
an organizational
organizational unit.the
unit.the manager
manager of
of
any
anygroup
group that
that actually
actuallymakes
makes aaproduct
product or
or performs
performs aa
service.
service. PMBOK
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Guide

Project Life Cycle

All projects go through predictable stages
called a project life cycle.
Life cycle allows for control to assure that
the project is proceeding in a satisfactory
manner and that the results are likely to
serve its customers intended purpose

Project
Project life
lifecycle
cycle a
acollection
collectionof
of generally
generallysequential
sequential
project
projectphases
phaseswhose
whosename
name and
and number
number are
are determined
determined
by
bythe
thecontrol
controlneeds
needsof
of the
the organization
organizationor
or organizations
organizations
involved
involved in
inthe
theproject.
project. PMBOK
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Guide

Project Life Cycle Stages

Selecting and initiating a project is proposed,

planned at a high level, and key participants commit
to it in broad terms
Planningstarts after the initial commitment,
includes detailed planning, and ends when all
stakeholders accept the entire detailed plan.
Executingincludes authorizing, executing,
monitoring, and controlling work until the customer
accepts the project deliverables.
Closing and realizingall activities after customer
acceptance to ensure project is completed, lessons
are learned, resources are reassigned, contributions
are recognized, and benefits are realized.

Project Life Cycle Stages

Most companies insist that a project must
pass an approval of some kind to move
from one stage to the next
The project life cycle is highly formalised
and very specific
Projects are measured at selection,
progress reporting, and benefits realisation
points

Project Life Cycle Stages

Life Cycle for Quality Improvement Projects

The Project Management Institute (PMI)

The largest professional organization
Publishes and regularly updates A Guide to
the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
Established a professional certification Project Management Professional (PMP)
Established a second certification
Certified Associate in Project Management
(CAPM)

aimed at juniors not yet eligible to be a PMP

Project Management Body of Knowledge

(PMBOK

Consists of a project life cycle, five process

groups, and nine knowledge areas

Project
Projectmanagement
management process
processgroup
group a
alogical
logical
grouping
groupingof
of the
theproject
project management
managementinputs,
inputs,tools
toolsand
and
techniques,
techniques, and
andoutputs.
outputs. PMBOK
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Guide

PMBOK Process Groups

Initiatingdefines
Initiatingdefinesand
and authorizes
authorizes aa project
project or
or aa project
project
phase
phase
Planningdefines
Planningdefinesand
andrefines
refines objectives
objectives and
andplans
plans
actions
actionsto
to achieve
achieve objectives
objectives
Executingdirects
Executingdirectsand
andmanages
managespeople
people and
and other
other
resources
resourcesto
toaccomplish
accomplishproject
project work
work
Monitoring
Monitoringand
and controllingcollects
controllingcollectsdata
dataand
andchecks
checks
progress
progressto
to determine
determineany
any needed
needed corrective
corrective actions
actions
Closingformalized
Closingformalizedacceptance
acceptanceof
of project
projectoutcomes
outcomes
and
andending
endingthe
theproject
project

PMBOK Knowledge Areas

Integration
Integrationmanagementprocesses
managementprocessesand
and activities
activities
needed
neededto
to define,
define, combine,
combine, unify,
unify,and
and coordinate
coordinate the
the
various
variousprocesses
processesand
andproject
projectmanagement
managementactivities
activities
Scope
Scope managementprocesses
managementprocessesrequired
required to
toensure
ensure
that
that the
theproject
project includes
includesall
allthe
thework
workrequired,
required, and
and only
only
the
thework
workrequired,
required,to
tocomplete
completethe
theproject
project successfully
successfully
Time
Timemanagementprocesses
managementprocessesrequired
requiredto
tomanage
manage
timely
timelycompletion
completionof
of the
the project
project
Cost
Cost managementprocesses
managementprocessesinvolved
involvedin
inestimating,
estimating,
budgeting,
budgeting, and
andcontrolling
controllingcosts
costsso
sothat
that the
theproject
project can
can
be
becompleted
completedwithin
within the
theapproved
approved budget
budget
Quality
Qualitymanagementprocesses
managementprocessesand
andactivities
activities of
of the
the
performing
performingorganization
organizationthat
that determine
determine quality
quality policies,
policies,
objectives,
objectives, and
andresponsibilities
responsibilitiesso
sothat
that the
theproject
project will
will
satisfy
satisfythe
theneeds
needsfor
for which
whichitit was
was undertaken
undertaken

PMBOK Knowledge Areas

Human
HumanResources
Resourcesmanagementprocesses
managementprocessesthat
that
organize,
organize, manage,
manage, and
andlead
lead the
the project
project team
team
Communications
Communicationsmanagementprocesses
managementprocesses required
required
to
toensure
ensure timely
timely and
andappropriate
appropriate generation,
generation, collection,
collection,
distribution,
distribution, storage,
storage, retrieval,
retrieval,and
andultimate
ultimatedisposition
dispositionof
of
project
project information
information
Risk
Riskmanagementprocesses
managementprocesses of
ofconducting
conductingrisk
risk
management
management planning,
planning,response
responseplanning,
planning, and
and
monitoring
monitoringand
andcontrol
control
to
to increase
increasethe
theprobability
probability and
and
impact
impact of
of positive
positive events
events and
and decrease
decrease the
the probability
probability
and
andimpact
impact of
of negative
negativeevents
eventsin
inthe
theproject
project
Procurement
Procurementmanagementprocesses
managementprocessesnecessary
necessaryto
to
purchase
purchaseor
or acquire
acquire products,
products, services,
services, or
or results
results from
from
outside
outsidethe
theproject
project team
team

Summary

A project is an organised set of work efforts undertaken

to produce a unique output subject to limitations of time
and resources
Project management includes work processes that
initiate, plan, execute, control, and close project work
Tradeoffs are often made between the scope, quality,
cost, and schedule
All projects, regardless of size, complexity, or
application, need to be planned and managed
PMI is a large professional organisation devoted to
promoting and standardising project management
understanding and methods
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK
Guide), is composed of 5 process groups and 9
knowledge areas

References

Kloppenborg, T.J. (2012), Contemporary

Project Management: Organize / Plan /
Perform, 2nd Edition, International Edition,
South Western Cengage Learning, Canada