PROJECT MANAGEMENT

One of the main reasons for exposure to project management is to provide young
undergraduates with district advantages when it comes time to look for jobs.
More and more employers are looking fir graduates with project management
skills. The logical starting point for developing these skills is understanding the
UNIQUENESS of a project and of project managers.
What do the following headlines have in common?
(i) Citywide Wi-Fi system set to go live.
(ii) Apple’s new iPhone hits the market.
(iii) Hosting of the 2022 world cup
(iv) Construction and opening of the 4th mainland bridge, or ShopRite mall.
(v) 1000-acre wind farm turns on the juice.

All of these events represent PROJECTS definition.

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service
or result.
The major goal of a project is to satisfy a customer’s needs.

The major characteristics of a project are as follows:

1. An established objective
2. A defined life span with a beginning and an end.
3. Usually the involvement of several departments and professionals.
4. Typically, doing something that has never been done before.
5. Specific time, cost and performance objectives/requirements.

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 workover and
over, while a project is done only once. e.g. a new product or service exists
when the project is completed.

The table below examines the list that compares routine, repetitive work with
projects;
s/n Routine repetitive work Projects
1. Taking class note. Writing a term paper.
2. Daily entering sales receipts Setting up sales kiosk for a professional
into the accounting ledger. accounting meeting.
3. Practicing scales on a piano Writing a new piano piece
4. Attaching tags on a Wire-tag projects for General Electric
manufactured product and Walmart.
5. Routine manufacture of an Designing an iPod that is approximately
Apple iPod 2x4 inches, interfaces with pc and stores
10,000 songs.

AN OVERVIEW OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

A team-based approach for managing projects.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM GENERAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
(i) Limited time frame
(ii) Narrow focus, specific objectives
(iii) Less bureaucratic

WHY IS IT USED
(i) Special needs that don’t lend themselves to functional management.
(ii) Pressures for new or improved products or services, and cost reduction.

WHAT ARE THE KEY METRICS?

(i) Time
(ii) Cost
(iii) Performance objectives

WHAT ARE THE KEY SUCCESS FACTORS?

(i) Top-down commitment
(ii) A respected and capable project manager.
(iii) Enough time to plan
(iv) Careful tracking and control
(v) Good communications
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES?
1. Executive responsibilities
a. Project selection
b. Selecting of a project manager.
c. Organizational structure (to whom will the project manager report).
2. Organizational alternatives:
a. Manage with functional unit
b. Assign a coordinator
c. Use a matrix organization with a project leader.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN TOOLS?

1. Work breakdown structure: An initial planning tool that is needed to
develop a list of activity sequences and a realistic budget.
2. Network diagram: A “big picture” visual aid that is used to estimate project
duration, identify activities that are critical for timely project completion,
identify areas where slack time exists, and develop activity schedules.
3. Gantt charts: A visual aid used to plan and monitor individual activities.
4. Risk management: Analysis of potential failures or problems, assessment of
their likelihood and consequences and contingency plans.

KEY DECISIONS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Much of the success of projects depend on
(i) Deciding which projects to implement: This involves determining the
criteria that will be used, factors include budget, availability of
appropriate knowledge and skill personnel, cost-benefit considerations.
(ii) Selecting the project manager: This is the control person in the project.
He is responsible for managing:
a. The work
b. Human resources – those working have direction and motivation
c. Communications: everybody has the information needed to do the
work.
d. Quality
e. Time: Project is completed on schedule.
f. Costs: completed within budget.
The position of project manager has high visibility.
 (iii) Selecting the project team: how will the person work with others.
(iv) Planning and designing the project: requires decisions on project
performance goals,
a. Timetable for prompt completion, the scope of the project, what
work needs to be done, how it will be done, if some portions will be
outsourced, a budget and what resources will be needed.
(v) Managing and controlling project resources: involves managing
personnel, equipment and the budget.
(vi) Deciding if and when a project should be terminated: important,
consideration is likelihood of success, termination costs and whether
resources could be better used elsewhere.

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

Projects go through a life cycle which typically consists of four phases:
1. Definition:
a. Concept: the organization recognizes the need for a project,
responds to a request for a proposal from a client.
b. Feasibility analysis: examines the expected costs, benefits and risks of
undertaking the project.
2. Planning: This spells out the details of the work and provides estimates of
the necessary human resources, time and costs.
3. Execution: Here, the project is done. This phase accounts for the majority of
time and resources consumed by a project.
4. Termination: Closure is achieved. Deals with leftover, materials, equipment
and any other resources associated with the project.
It should be noted that phases can overlap. This can reduce the time necessary to
move through the life cycle and therefore generating cost savings.
Project Life Cycle
Definition Planning Execution Delivery
Level of Effort
1. Goals 1. Schedules 1. Status Reports 1. Train Consumer
2. Specifications 2. Budgets 2. Changes 2. Transfer Documents
3. Feasibility 3. Resources 3. Quality 3. Release Resources
4. Tasks 4. Risks 4. Reassign staff
5. Responsibilities 5. Staffing 5. Lessons learned
6. Teams

PLANNING AND SCHEDULING WITH GANTT CHARTS

The Gantt chart is a popular tool for planning and scheduling simple projects. It
enables a manager to initially schedule project activities and then to monitor
progress over time by comparing planned progress to actual progress.
Its advantage is that it is simple.

Activity 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Locate New Facility

Interview Prospect Staff

Hire & Train Staff

Select & Order Furniture

Remodel & Install Phones

Furniture Received & Set up

Move in & Start Up

PERT AND CPM

PERT (PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE) and CPM (CRITICAL
PATH METHOD) are the two most widely used techniques for planning and
coordinating large-scale projects.

By using these 2 techniques, managers are able to obtain:

 (i) A graphical display of project activities.
(ii) An estimate of how long the project will take.
(iii) An indication of which activities are the most critical to timely project
completion.
(iv) An indication of how long any activity can be delayed without delaying
the project.

NETWORK DIAGRAM
Diagram of project activities that shows sequential relationships by use of arrows
and nodes.

Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
Network diagram convention in which arrows designate activities.

ACTIVITY-ON-NODE (AON)
Network diagram convention in which nodes designate activities.

PATH
A sequence of activities that leads from the starting node to the finishing node.

CRITICAL PATH
The longest path; determines expected project duration.

CRITICAL ACTIVITIES
Activities on the critical path.

SLACK
Allowable slippage for a path, the difference between the length of a path and the
length of the critical path.
Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Diagram
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Activity-on-Node (AON) Diagram

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Example
Given the additional information on the bank network below, determine
(a) The length of each path
(b) The critical path
(c) The expected length of the project
(d) The amount of slack time for each path.

(AOA Diagram)

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(a)
(i) Path 1 – 2 – 4 – 5 – 6 = 8 + 6 + 3 + 1 = 18weeks
(ii) Path 1 – 2 – 5 – 6 = 8 + 11 + 1 = 20 weeks
(iii) Path 1 – 3 – 5 – 6 = 4 + 9 + 1 = 14 weeks

(b) Path 1 – 2 – 5 – 6 is the longest path (20 weeks), so it is the critical path.

(c) The expected length of the project is equal to the length of the critical path
(i.e., 20 weeks)

(d) We find the slack for each path by subtracting its length from the length of
the critical path

Path Length (Wks) Slack (Wks)

1 -2 – 4 – 5 – 6 8 + 6 + 3 + 1 = 18 20 – 18 = 2
1–2–5–6 8 + 11 + 1 = 20 20 – 20 = 0
1–3–5–6 4 + 9 + 1 = 14 20 – 14 = 6