Project Management

Project : Meaning & Concept

• The word project is derived from Latin where, “pro”

means forward and, “ject” means throw. Thus the
original meaning of the term project is something that
in a figurative sense and has thrown forward a
proposal. The concept of project is defined as an
aggregation constructed from mainly “resources”,
”products”, and one “customer”.
 Definition of Project
• A project is defined as an effort to create or modify a specific product or service.
Projects are temporary work efforts with a clear beginning and end. Projects can be
completely contained with in a specific unite or department, or include other
organization and vendors.

• According to PMI : A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique

product, service or result. A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and
end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.
• According to Harison, a project can be defined as non-routine, non-repetitive, one-off
undertaking, normally with discrete time, financial and technical performance goals.

• According to Dr. S. Kar : The word “PROJECT” means,

P: Planning, R: Revising, O: Organizing, J: Justification, E: Execution, C: Cost, T:
Time
• A project can be define as ‘ Planning for a specific mission, revising the plan in an
organized way with justification as well as execution of the plan within stipulated
cost and time frame to fulfill the mission.’
 Essential Elements of Project
• A project can be a new structure, plant, process, system,
replacement, renewal or removal of an existing utility. The
key elements of projects are:

Time: A typical feature of project is fixed completion time. The

success of project is governed by the time factor.
• Te=(To+4Tm+Tp)/6
• Te = Estimated time
• To= Optimistic time
• Tm=Most likely time
• Tp= Pessimistic time
 Essential Elements of Project

Cost: Is the budgeted expenditure which the client has agreed to

commit for the creation of the desired facilities.
1. Capital Cost-All the costs incurred in the project before it
becomes ready to start the commercial production.
2. Working cost – The fund required to maintain various inventories
in the form of raw material, operating supplies, intermediate
products, finished products and other miscellaneous expenses.
3. Operating Cost – The cost incurred to operate the project. Like
raw materials, labour, utilities, repairs and maintenance and other
expenses.
4. Material Cost - Are involved in the purchase of raw materials
required for the particular project.
 Essential Elements of Project
• Quality: of the product to be achieved is started in terms of
designing, drawing and specification of a particular project. It
is important to maintain the quality standard to make a
successful project.

• Resources: The most essential resources among the five

resources (Manpower, Material , Method, Machinery &
Money) the manpower is usually classified by the skills. For
example, project manager, electrical engineer, carpenter,
supervisors and managers.
 What is Project Management?
• According to PMI Project management is the practice of using
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to complete a series
of tasks to deliver value and achieve a desired outcome.

• The British standard BS 6079:2000, defines project

management as the planning, monitoring and controlling of
all aspects and the motivation of an those involved in it to
achieve the objective on time and at the specified cost,
quality and performance.
 16 Project Management Tools & Techniques for Project Managers

• 1. Gantt Charts: Gantt charts facilitate the process of creating a project timeline. If you’re
using the online Gantt chart in Project Manager, you simply need to add tasks and due dates
to automatically create interactive project plans. Then you can adjust your project schedules
as needed and link dependent tasks by clicking and dragging items on the timeline.
• 2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a way to organize
work into smaller, more manageable pieces.
• 3. Project Network Diagrams: Network diagrams work well as a project management
technique as they must have a start and finish, just like a project. There isn’t one way to draw
a network diagram, however, the most common are the precedence diagramming method
(PDM) and arrow diagramming method (ADM).
• 4. Kanban Boards: Kanban boards let project managers visualize their workflows, assign tasks
and report on their progress. Kanban boards can be used for workflow management by a
variety of teams, from marketing to agile software development.
• 5. Risk Matrix: A risk matrix is another key project management tool that any project manager
should know. They’re a simple tool that helps you to figure out the likelihood and severity of
potential project risks. By having the means to access risk this way, you can chart their impact
on the project.
• 6. Timesheets: In project management, timesheets do more than just facilitate payment.
They’re used as project controls to record the amount of time that the team member has
spent on their specific tasks, though they can also track time on a project or for a particular
client.
 16 Project Management Tools &
Techniques for Project Managers
• 7. Project Dashboards: This is a key tool for getting high-level data on the project or
conducting a project management audit. It’s a visual tool that turns hard data into easy-to-read
charts and graphs, which helps make the information more digestible.
• 8. Project Reports: Project reports are simply documentation that detail either an overview or
details of a project. There are many different types of project reports, each serving a different
purpose, but all give a project manager data on the progress and performance of their project.
• 9. Agile Project Management: Agile is a way to approach projects in an iterative fashion with
short durations of work. These periods are called sprints. Agile sprints begin with planning,
which is typically done using task lists and kanban boards. A product owner requests the
work and the development team decides on what work will be done during the sprint.
• 10. PERT: It manages probabilities by using network diagrams and simple statistical methods.
PERT breaks down tasks into detailed activities, by using the WBS discussed above, then adds
these to a PERT diagram to identify those activities that are interdependent. From that data,
you create an illustrative map of the network of activities and their interdependencies.
• 11. Critical Path Method (CPM): CPM involves the use of network diagrams, WBS and Gantt
charts. CPM consists in using these tools to create a project timeline and identify the critical
path, which is the longest sequence of activities in the project. The activities in the critical
path are known as critical tasks and have the highest priority in terms of project schedules.
16 Project Management Tools & Techniques for
Project Managers
• 12. Cost-Benefit Analysis: It looks at the investment into a project and what that return might
be. The idea is simple: add the costs of the project and then the value from a business
perspective, whether that’s benefits or opportunities. If the benefits outweigh the costs, then the
project is more likely worth pursuing. If not, you might save yourself a loss by turning it down.
• 13. Earned Value Management: It is used in project management to integrate schedules, costs
and scope as a way to measure project performance. By looking at planned and actual values,
EVM can help make predictions that allow project managers to better manage projects. Project
managers use tools like WBS, Gantt charts and project dashboards as they implement EVM.
• 14. Stakeholder Mapping: Stakeholders have a vested interest in the project, but they can also
influence your project. Therefore, project managers need to know who the project stakeholders
are and how they might influence the project.
• 15. Feasibility Study: A feasibility study looks at whether you have the resources to complete
the project and if the ROI makes it beneficial or financially advantageous to take on the project.
A feasibility study will commence after the project has been pitched but prior to any work has
started. It’s part of the planning phase of the project and is done with a SWOT analysis or
project risk assessment. A feasibility study looks at things such as market opportunities, pros
and cons and so forth.
• 16. Project Pipeline Management: A project pipeline is a system that allows organizations to
keep track of its current and upcoming projects in their project portfolio. This project
management technique helps project management offices (PMOs) during the process of
selecting and prioritizing new operational and strategic projects for a business.
 Common Project Management Challenges
• 12 main problem areas of project management are:
• - Scope creep
• - Poor communication
• - Unclear goals
• - Poor budgeting
• - Skill gaps
• - Insufficient risk analysis
• - Lack of accountability
• - Stakeholder disengagement
• - Unrealistic deadlines
• - Technological shortcomings
• - Scheduling conflicts
• - Uncertainty
 Scope creep
• Scope creep occurs when a project's scope grows beyond its original
definition or goals. It typically happens when stakeholders ask for
changes to the project. Any alteration to a project's plan can cause
confusion, increase the cost of resources and make it difficult to meet
deadlines.
To prevent or manage scope creep, consider the following
strategies:
• Clearly define project requirements and goals.
• Create a schedule that includes every step of the process.
• Involve clients or stakeholders in project planning.
• Use tools such as Gantt charts to plan and track projects.
• Communicate to stakeholders how scope changes might affect
deadlines and budgets.
• Refuse project changes that might cause delays or unreasonable costs.
 Poor communication

• Communication is one of the keys to completing a project

successfully. With well-developed written and verbal communication
skills, a project manager can effectively give instructions, gather
information and update stakeholders. Otherwise, their team can
become confused, leading to delays.
Improve communication between all of the parties involved in a
project by:
• Using collaborative tools and project management software to update team
members
• Giving frequent feedback concerning employee performance
• Developing a communication plan and status report schedule for stakeholders
• Doing team-building activities to improve relationships and communication
between team members
• Being transparent about project progress
 Unclear goals
Projects can be successful only if the team has well-defined and
measurable goals to work toward. Ideally, every member of the
team is aware of each project objective and the stakeholders' exact
expectations concerning each. Otherwise, they may spend undue
time and resources trying to accomplish something that doesn't
provide the desired value.
Devise and communicate clear project goals by:
• Using the SMART method to set goals
• Determining the project's specifications, including the timeline,
before implementation
• Meeting with your team to define and discuss the goals
• Using project planning software to specify goals and each team
member's role in achieving them
• Identifying ways to monitor progress, such as with milestones
 Poor budgeting

• Smart financial planning and skillful cost management are

essential for ensuring that you use funding appropriately.
Preventions:
• Review similar projects to compare their budgets to yours.
• Get advice from experts, such as software developers or
quality assurance specialists, who are familiar with cost
and time estimates for your type of project.
• Reassign resources or change suppliers, services or
vendors as needed.
 Skill gaps
• You may find that the skill levels of some of your team members
aren't enough to satisfy the required competencies to realize project
goals. This situation is known as a skill gap.

Ensure your team members have adequate skills for your project
by:
• Creating a list of the skills or knowledge a project requires
• Assessing current employee skills and providing training as needed
• Assigning employees to project tasks based on their strengths and
experience
• Outsourcing or hiring additional staff to complete specialized tasks
 Insufficient risk analysis
• Risk analysis is the process of predicting the potential
factors that may arise that can jeopardize the success of a
project.
Improve your risk analysis by:
• Researching the possible issues a project or the team might
encounter during every stage of the project
• Developing control measures to prevent potential risks
• Creating replacement plans you can use if the project
changes
• Knowing what resources you have to minimize or control
risks
 Lack of accountability
• Accountability means taking ownership of actions and their outcomes,
particularly when it comes to mistakes. Thus, an accountable person is
willing to face the consequences of what they've done and make every
effort to resolve the subsequent issues that have arisen.
Improve your team's accountability on a project by:
• Assigning every team member clear tasks
• Establishing a common goal and helping your team work toward it
• Building accountability into the project's workflow so team members
understand their roles and responsibilities
• Leading by example so that your team members understand it's
acceptable to make mistakes as long as they take responsibility for them
• Building trust between the members of the team so everyone feels
comfortable being honest with one another
 Stakeholder disengagement
• Stakeholder engagement is the process by which a project's
stakeholders—those who have a vested interest in the project, such as
the client—collaborate and communicate with the team.
• The involvement of the stakeholders is important because they can
provide input that guides the project toward the best possible outcome.
Several of the other challenges that projects face, such as unclear goals
and insufficient risk analysis, arise when the stakeholders aren't
sufficiently engaged.
Follow these steps to ensure stakeholder engagement:
• Involve stakeholders in the project planning process.
• Communicate with stakeholders frequently, and give them regular
project updates.
• Directly ask clients for their feedback on every project phase.
 Unrealistic deadlines
• An unrealistic deadline is a project due date that is impossible or
unreasonable to meet given the specifications and requirements. When a
team faces unrealistic deadlines, they find themselves forced to
condense their activities in such a way that compromises the quality of
their work. As a result, the finished state of the project is likely to fall
short of client expectations.
Make sure you set realistic deadlines by:
• Prioritizing tasks
• Building extra time into your deadline to account for potential obstacles
• Finalizing deadlines with relevant team members
• Discussing deadline concerns with stakeholders before starting the
project
• Using a project calendar to plan and manage schedules and deadlines
 Technological shortcomings
• Nowadays, project management software is essential for planning, organizing
and managing project progress. It's not uncommon for project teams to
encounter issues with the software and other tech tools they've chosen to help
manage the project life cycle.
Avoid or address technological shortcomings by choosing an effective
program that meets specific needs, such as:
• Tracking time
• Functionality on multiple devices
• Customization
• Integration with existing tools and software
• Team communication channels
• Scheduling
• Search ability
• Notifications
• Easy to use
 Scheduling conflicts
• A scheduling conflict is a situation in which two or more priorities
compete for your time and attention. If your team or company is working
on multiple projects at once, you might experience scheduling conflicts.
As a result, one or several projects may face delays and difficulties
concerning resource allocation.
Share project resources effectively and keep your project on schedule
by:
• Coordinating your project schedule and needs with other project
managers
• Checking team members' vacation and time-off schedules to avoid
unexpected absences
• Using an online calendar planner to organize multiple projects and their
resources simultaneously
 Uncertainty
• Uncertainty is a condition in which stakeholders, including the
members of the team, are unsure about any aspect of the project on
which they're working. They may feel unconfident about the team's
ability to meet goals, the potential impact of the project when
completed or the use of resources associated with the project. When
uncertainty arises, it can affect the morale of everyone involved,
which can lead to poor project outcomes.
Reduce uncertainty by monitoring progress and tracking metrics,
such as:
• Burn rate, or how quickly you are spending your budgeted resources
• Estimated hours and costs versus actual hours and costs
• Employee workload to ensure each team member has a balanced
number of tasks
 10 common problems project teams face

• 1. Lack of trust
• 2. Conflict and tension
• 3. Not sharing information
• 4. Low engagement of Stakeholder
• 5. Lack of transparency
• 6. No long-term thinking
• 7. Badly perceived, not delivering
• 8. Poor change management
• 9. Working in silos
• 10. Not going in the same direction
 What is the Project Life Cycle?
• The project management lifecycle is a step-by-step
framework of best practices used to shepherd a
project from its beginning to its end.
• According to the PMBOK Guide (Project Management Body of
Knowledge) by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a
project management life cycle consists of 5 distinct
phases including initiation, planning, execution,
monitoring, and closure that combine to turn a
project idea into a working product.
 The 5 Phases of Project Life Cycle
1. Project Initiation Phase
• This is the start of the project for the project manager, who is responsible for defining the
project at a high level. This usually begins with a business case, feasibility study, cost-
benefit analysis and other types of research to determine whether the project is feasible and
should or shouldn’t be undertaken. Stakeholders provide input. If the project is approved,
then a project charter is created, which provides an overview of the project and sets up the
stage for your project plan.
2. Project Planning Phase
• This is where the project plan is created, and all involved in the project will follow it. This
phase begins by setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals.
The scope of the project is defined and a project management plan is created, identifying
cost, quality, resources and a timetable. Some of the features of this phase include a scope
statement, setting of milestones, communication, risk management plans and a work
breakdown structure.
3. Project Executing Phase
• Now begins the part of the project that most people think of as the project: executing the
tasks, deliverables and milestones defined in the project scope. Some tasks that make up
this phase include developing the team and assigning resources using key performance
indicators, executing the project plan, procurement management and tracking and
monitoring progress. If needed, you can set status meetings and revise the schedule and
plan.
 The 5 Phases of Project Life Cycle
4. Project Monitoring and Controlling Phase
• The project monitoring and controlling phase consists of setting up controls and
key performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of the project execution.
The monitoring and controlling project phase is very important to make sure the
execution goes as planned in terms of schedule, scope and budget baselines.
5. Project Closing Phase
• It’s not over until the project closure phase it’s over. Completing the deliverables
to the satisfaction of your stakeholders is key, of course, but the project manager
must now disassemble the apparatus created to fulfill the project. That means
closing out work with contractors, making sure everyone has been paid and
ensuring that all project documents are signed off on and archived to help with
planning future projects.
• Once this has been done, the project manager often has a post-mortem with the
project team to highlight what worked and what didn’t work, so that successes
can be repeated and mistakes avoided.
The Project Management and System Development
Lifecycles (According to PMI)
 What Is Waterfall Methodology?
Waterfall methodology is a widely used project management method with a
simple, straight , linear approach. In Waterfall, each stage of the workflow
needs to be completed before moving on to the next step.
 Phases of Waterfall Methodology

There are five phases of the Waterfall methodology: Requirements,

Design, Implementation, Verification and Maintenance. Below, we
discuss each phase and the purpose for each one.
• Requirements: During this phase, you outline the big picture of your
project’s requirements.
• Design: Once you understand the project requirements, the next
step is to come up with ways to design solutions that meet them.
• Implementation: During this phase, you select one of your
candidate designs and use technology to implement them.
• Verification: During this phase, you take the implementation you
created in phase four and test whether it validates your
requirements.
• Maintenance: The project isn’t over once it has gone through
validation and verification. The system still needs to be maintained.
 FAQs
• 1. Meaning and definition of project.
• 2. What is project Management? Write the 3 major tools of
project management.
• 3. Explain project life cycle. Write 5 important phases of
project management.
• 4. Draw different project life cycle phases .
• 5. Write a short note on: a) Planning, b) Controlling, c)
Closing
• 6. Briefly discuss the project Waterfall methodology.
• 7. What are the Common Project Management Challenges?
Discuss main 5 challenges.