Resource 11.
TRAINING MODULE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
(Created by the Institute for Development Management, Botswana for the
NGO Institute, STF. (Some materials in this module have been extracted from “A Guide
to Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd. edition, 2004)
What is a project?
“A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.”
The Three P’s



Program- operates over the long-term, and is designed to use the
organization’s resources to impact a specific subject area that is part of an
organization’s mission to improve public health.
Project- has a beginning and end, defined resources, and creates a unique
product or service.
Process- part of the ongoing operations of the organization; may be introduced
or changed over time, but once established, an organizational process operates
on a continuous basis without a specified end.
Working definition of project management
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.
(Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Project Management Institute 2004)
Project Management in Your Organization
•
What are the current methods of project management in your organization?
•
What project management issues is your organization facing?
Important Characteristics of Real Life Projects
• Accomplish with shared resources often only available on part-time basis
• Require cross-functional team work
• Involve uncertainty and are subject to change during execution
• Subject to specific deadlines and time and resource constraints
• Project manager often lacks functional authority over team members
Proven Benefits of Project Management
 Provides clear roles, responsibilities, activities and schedules for team efforts
 Includes a method for considering the consequences of decreasing or increasing funds,
resources, time, or quality
 Specifies a detailed plan of how to achieve our objectives
 Assists in the realistic assignments of tasks and responsibilities to team members
according to the skills and resources available
 Gives structure to communicating the progress of projects
 Allows teams to identify potential problems and take preventive action early
 Keeps management officers and project stakeholders well-informed and supportive
 Helps manage pressure for expanding the scope of projects without proper decision
criteria and analysis of changes
Diverse Skills Needed for Project Management
•
Planning skills—the ability to plan the use or organizational resources of time,
personnel, budget, facilities, equipment, and supplies to achieve organizational
objectives
•
Technical skills—the specific professional technical skills needed for a project.
•
People skills—the ability to manage and motivate people who will implement the
project activities, communicate effectively with stakeholders, and resolve conflicts and
interpersonal problems.
What skills make the best project managers so good?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Communication: listening, persuading, negotiating
Organizational: planning, goal-setting, analyzing
Team building: empathy, motivation, team spirit
Leadership: sets example, energetic, vision, delegates, positive attitude
Coping: flexibility, creativity, patience, persistence
Technical: experience, project knowledge
Project Management Method
Step 1: Select project
Define project scope: Selecting Priority Projects
•
•
•
•
Where do we begin?
Project selection can be a difficult process, especially when there are a large number of
potential projects competing for scarce dollars.
Some selection methods are highly intuitive; some very political.
Others try to add rigor through more scientific selection processes.
Two rules to follow:
1. Make selection process transparent (who is involved, process used)
2. Make criteria used to evaluate projects explicit (spend time defining your criteria
clearly)
Selection Criteria Matrix: Un-weighted Criteria
Item
Project A
Project B
Project C
4
5
3
0
0
2
3
5
0
0
Stakeholder
acceptance
5
4
2
0
0
New and
innovative
4
4
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total: 15
Total: 16
Total: 15
Total: 0
Total: 0
Criteria
Cost
Available
technical
support
Our Winner!!
Project Agreement
What: A written description that clearly communicates what the project is (and is not)
When: Ideally, at the beginning of a project. Also useful to develop one for a project already
started. Update it as needed.
Why:
• Establish agreement between project team members and stakeholders about what the
project is (and is not)
• Build team member commitment – team should write the charter together
• Foundation for project planning
• Helps in managing expectations
• Communicate project to others
Project Stakeholders
1. Within the team
• Project manager
• Team members
2. Within the organization
• Internal customers
• Project sponsor
• Senior managers
• Functional managers
3. Outside the organization
• External customers
• Collaborating organizations
• Affected organizations
• Vendors
The Rule of Unmanaged Expectations
Stakeholder Acceptance and Success
Remember our working definition of project management…
… the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to
meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations.”
Q
x
A
=
S
Quality
x
Acceptance
=
Success
What you
think is good
(technically)
1-10
Acceptance
of the project
results
by
stakeholders
1-10
Project Agreement Development Meeting
Success
of the
project
effort
1-100
•
•
•
•
•
Allow 2 ½ hours to half day, depending on complexity or project
Recognize that the process and team involvement is as important as document
Ensure participation by all team members
Use group techniques such as brainstorming and consensus
Do not let the project manager dominate the meeting
Project Deliverables
•
Define the measurable, tangible items that must be produced to complete the project
•
When all deliverables are completed the project is complete
•
Usually subject to approval or project manager, sponsor, or customer
Project Quality:
Critical Success Factors
•
•
•
•
•
Factors critical to the success of the project
Outcomes or quality requirements
If not achieved, will jeopardize success
Internal and external factors
– Stakeholder interests
– Technical requirements
Helps team focus efforts on most important aspects of project
Project Assumptions
•
•
•
Factors the team considers to be true, certain, and necessary for a successful project
Should be documented and validated that they are true
Create a risk to project if they are not true
The Triple Constraint
What do project managers really manage?
Cost
Time
how much?
how fast?
Quality/Scope
how good?
Managing the Triple Constraint: Set Priorities
•
•
Need to discuss with customer and sponsor near startup and agree on priority order.
May change over time, but a change is a significant event!
Constraint
Time
Cost
Quality/Scope
1
2
3
Measurement
Clinical monitoring software must be
completed by October 31 of this year
to accommodate multi-site start-up.
X
X
X
Costs for the project must not
exceed $1.5 million.
Must provide monitoring software
that meets specifications for 120
clinics.
Change Management
•
•
•
•
•
Request for changes to project elements or scope need to be analyzed and approved
Impact of changes on project need to be documented
Changes that impact project need to be negotiated (they may require more budget, time)
Approved changes need to be recorded
Tools: Change Request Form Change Log
Step 2: Define project activities
Work Breakdown Structure
•
Based on project scope, objectives, and/or deliverables
•
Organizes and defines work to be done
•
•
Divides work into logical, manageable segments
May be organized
– By phase of the project
– By component
Objective is to identify all project tasks that must be completed with action verbs
•
Work Breakdown Structure
Graphical Format
Project
Project
Description
Description
Conduct
Conductaaone-year
one-yearHIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDSawareness
awarenessand
andprevention
prevention
media
campaign
targeted
toward
youth
ages
media campaign targeted toward youth ages12-16.
12-16.
Deliverables
Deliverables
Youth
YouthAdvisory
Advisory
Board
Board
Activities
Activities
1.1.Establish
Establish
Youth
YouthAdvisory
Advisory
Board
Board
Tasks
Tasks
1.1
1.1 Meet
Meetyouth
youth
organization
organization
stakeholders
stakeholders
1.2
1.2 Write
Writepolicy
policy
memo
memo
1.3
1.3 Select
Selectyouth
youth
board members
board members
1.4
1.4 Hold
Holdfirst
firstboard
board
meeting
meeting
Youth
YouthMedia
Media
Campaign
Campaign
1.1.Develop
Develop
Media
MediaPlan
Plan
2.1
2.1
2.2
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.4
2.4
Select team
Select team
Audit
Audityouth
youth
media
mediastrategies
strategies
Write-up
Write-up22year
year
media
mediaplan
plan
Obtain
Obtain
management
management
approval
approvalofofplan
plan
2.2.Launch
Launch
Tabloid
TabloidYouth
Youth
Magazine
Magazine
3.1 Select
3.1 Select
magazine
magazineteam
team
3.2
3.2 Bid
Bidcontract
contract
3.3
Develop
3.3 Develop
samples
samples
3.4
3.4 Select
Selectdesign
design
3.5
Develop
3.5 Develop
content
contentplan
plan
3.6
3.6 Develop
Develop
distribution
distributionplan
plan
Determine Time for Each
Task
Activities
Activities
Tasks
Tasks
1.1.Establish
Establish
Youth
YouthAdvisory
Advisory
Board
Board
1.1
1.1Meet
Meetyouth
youth organization
organization
stakeholders
stakeholders(5
(5days)
days)
1.2
Write
policy
memo
1.2 Write policy memo(1
(1day)
day)
1.3
Select
youth
board
members
1.3 Select youth board members
(5
(5days)
days)
1.4
Hold
1.4 Holdfirst
firstboard
boardmeeting
meeting(5
(5
days)
days)
Work Breakdown Structure
Indented List Format
Tasks
HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaing
for Youth
1. Establish Youth Advisory
Board
Time
Estimate
(Days)
1.1 Meet youth organization
stakeholders
5
1.2 Write policy memo
1
1.3 Select youth board
members
5
1.4 Hold first board meeting
5
Work Breakdown Structure
•
Level of WBS detail depends on audience and the scale of intervention
•
Larger intervention = more complex WBS
•
•
Eliminate any tasks not absolutely necessary
Foundation for schedule and staff responsibility assignments
Step 3: Determine task dependencies and critical
path
A simple example:
Let’s have a party!
Clean room
(30 minutes)
Begin party!
(0 minutes)
Start Project
(0 minutes)
Buy food &
beverage
(90 min)
Make food
(90 min)
Set up
tables and
chairs
(30 min)
Mix
beverages
(30 min)
Compose menu
(45 minutes)
A simple example
Network Diagram
•
Start by writing each task from the WBS on a sheet of paper
•
Create a network diagram that shows how the activities can be implemented step-bystep
Network Diagram
Clean room
Set up tables
and chairs
Begin party!
Start
Project
Make food
Compose
menu
Buy food &
beverage
Mix beverages
Critical Path Analysis
•
Critical path = the longest path from the beginning of the network to the end.
–
–
–
If the activities on the critical path are delayed, the project is delayed
Critical path activities represent the activities that the project manager has to
oversee the closest.
Slack or Float = those where there is extra time built into the schedule
Critical Path Analysis (3)
Start
0
Duration
30 min
Finish
30
Duration
0
Duration
30 min
Finish
60
Set up tables
and chairs
Clean room
Start
0
Start
30
Start
225
Finish
0
Start
135
Start
Project
Duration
90 min
Finish
225
Duration
0 min
Begin party!
Make food
Start
0
Duration
45 min
Finish
45
Compose
menu
Start
45
Duration
90 min
Finish
135
Buy food &
beverage
Start
135
Duration
30 min
Finish
165
Mix beverages
Ways to Reduce Project Duration
•
•
•
•
•
Do activities at the same time instead of in sequence
Overlap activities (start the next activity before proceeding one is fully finished)
Reduce project scope
Change technical approach
Add additional resources to ‘crash’ project activities (make them move faster)
Criteria to ‘Crash’ Activities
¤
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Activities on the critical path!
Less expensive to crash
Less likely to have negative impact on quality
Earlier vs. later in the project
Longer vs. shorter duration
Bottleneck activities
Labor intensive – low skill
Under management control
Finish
225
Step 4: Develop schedule
Built upon the previous tools…
•
•
•
Work breakdown structure
Network analysis
Critical path
Why is it so important?
Gantt Chart
Use the Gantt Chart to…
•
Communicate project plan easily to a variety of audiences
•
Update project progress efficiently
•
Monitor task implementation and make adjustments
•
Monitor the critical path!
Project Schedule:
Gantt Chart
Tasks
(1a) Cultural belief vaccine not safe
Monthly meetings on immunizations
with women's cooperatives
Schedule
Start
Date
Finish
Date
31-Jan
4-Feb
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8
Develop curriculum
Assess needs among audience
Create content based on assessment
Obtain approval for curriculum
Design evaluation
Meet w ith evaluation staff
Develop evaluation instrument
Test and revise
Schedule meetings
Meet w ith cooperatives' scheduling officer
Determine staff availability
Schedule meetings at coops
Meetings at Coops Completed
1
Activity key
Planned
Actual
Reporting Progress:
Milestone
Milestone Chart
Time elapsed
Week1 Week2 Week3 Week4 Week5 Week6 Week7 Week8
Monthly education meetings on
HIV/AIDS with women's cooperatives
Curriculum completed
Evaluation plan and tools completed
Meetings Scheduled
Meetings at Coops Completed
Step 5: Assign Staff Responsibilities
•
Critical for ensuring success; must be clear to everyone
•
One staff person (only) responsible for ensuring a task is completed
•
Three categories of responsibilities:
•
•
•
Responsible – lead staff person
Participant – other staff participating
Approval – staff who must approve final product or action (only if
needed)
Assign Responsibilities
Tasks
Schedule
Start
Date
End
Date
31-Jan
4-Feb
Project
Status
Responsibilities
Participant
Approval
Janna
Team
Mike
Janna
Janna
James
James
James
James
Janna
Janna
Mike
Mike
Mike
Complete
Laurel
Laurel
Anisa
Anisa
Dave
Dave
Dave
Complete
Test and revise
Anisa
Anisa
Brian
Brian
Schedule meetings
Sandi
Janna
Mike
Complete
Sandi
Audrey
Janna
Staff
Kathy
Monthly education meetings on
HIV/AIDS with women's
cooperatives
Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12
Develop curriculum
Assess needs among audience
Create content based on assessment
Obtain approval for curriculum
Design evaluation
Meet with evaluation staff
Develop evaluation instrument
Meet with cooperatives' scheduling
officer
Determine staff availability
Responsible
As of (date)
Schedule meetings at coops
Meetings at Coops Completed
1
Critical
Path
Planned
Actual
Activity key
Milestone
Step 6: Develop project budget
Developing Program Budgets
•
What needs to be done? (easy to know with a good work breakdown structure)
•
Who should do it?
•
What physical resources do they need to do it?
•
How much will it cost?
(project team member, outside contractor, other?)
Decide on how much, how many, & why?
Personnel: professional, administrative, support staff
Facilities: office space, clinics, special requirements
Equipment: computers, copiers, fax machines, medical
equipment, vehicles
Supplies: vaccines, medical supplies, office supplies,
petrol
Contracts: special services, maintenance, other
Travel: who, where, how, length of stay, how many times
Calculate the financial resources needed
Physical Resources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Personnel
Facilities
Equipment
Supplies
Contracts
Travel
Financial Resources
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
Salaries, fringe benefits, etc.
Rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.
Rental, purchase, maintenance
Estimate unit cost
Estimate annual cost
Transportation, lodging, meals, per diem, etc.
Estimated Project Cost
Year 1
Budget Item
Activity
Activity
Activity
Total cost
Personnel
Equipment
Supplies
Facilities
Contracts
Travel
Other
Total
How to Present a Budget
•
May need a variety of formats
•
Level of detail depends on audience
•
When presenting for funding approval include:
–
–
–
Budget Summary
Detailed Budgets by Program Intervention
Budget Justification
Summary Budget
Budget Item
Variance Analysis
Planned
Budget
Actual
Expenditures
Quarter 1/Year 1
Budget
Variance
(Actual –
Planned)
Personnel
Equipment
Supplies
Facilities
Contracts
Travel
Other
Total
Risk Management
You have planned your project down to the last detail….what could possibly go wrong???
Quite a lot!
How to manage risk…
 Identify
 Quantify
 Prioritize
 Develop risk reduction strategies
Areas of Risk
•
Schedule (unrealistic)
•
•
•
•
Resources (not available when needed; under qualified people)
Budget (when resources are uncertain)
Scope (technical requirements and changes)
External Events (policy changes, crises)
Uncertainty = Risk
Step 7: Risk Management Plan
1. Review project plan with team and identify risks that could impact project in
these areas:
–
–
–
–
What could cause delays to the schedule?
What might threaten the quality of the project’s end product?
What factors or events might increase costs beyond the budget?
What is risk of people or resources not being available when needed?
2. Evaluate the probable causes of each risk
3. Evaluate the importance of each risk by asking:
–
–
–
What is the probability that this risk will occur?
What would be the impact if the risk should occur?
How much control do we have over this risk?
4. For risks with high risk index, create management plan that includes:
–
–
–
–
Preventive plan to prevent the risk from occurring
Contingency plan to define what we will do if the risk occurs
Trigger point for contingency plan
Assign a risk manager for each risk
Risk Management Plan
•
Enter risk scenario (how an event could jeopardize project outcome)
•
Rate probability, impact, and degree of control using rating scale of:
1 = Low
2 = Medium
3 = High
•
Compute risk index using formula:
Risk Index =
•
•
•
•
Probability * Impact
Control
If possible, enter financial impact.
Determine actions to take:
– Ignore (do nothing)
– Eliminate (sidestep)
– Manage
For managed risks, indicate mitigations and contingencies and assign risk manager.
Log actions taken as they occur.
Risk Identification Worksheet
Scenario:
Probability
Impact
Control
Index
Ignore
Eliminate
Manage
Financial Impact:
Action to be Taken:
Prevention plan:
What to do if risk occurs:
What is
event
the trigger
will cause
to act?
us to take action?
Manager of This Risk:
Actions Taken
Action:
Date:
Create plan to communicate with stakeholders
Communication Plan
•
•
•
•
•
Keep stakeholders up to date on project progress
Need to write it down in a formal plan and follow it
Helps entire team communicate effectively about project
Important to define responsibilities
Maintain delivery schedule once it is established
Keep Communication Simple
“The Two-Floor Rule”
• Every stakeholder should receive information at just the right level of detail for
them.
• High-level managers won’t want to see all the details of the project.
• Your team members need to see a great deal more.
• If your level of reporting is appropriate, and one of your stakeholders steps into
the elevator and asks about the status of the project, you should be able to brief
him or her by the time the elevator stops two floors away.
Communication Requirements
 Project sponsor and customers are fully aware of state of project
 All other stakeholders who need to be informed of project progress are receiving
adequate information
 Team members are fully aware of state of project, including any revisions or changes
 Team members understand their specific assignments and how they fit into the overall
project
 Project team meets on regular basis to discuss accomplishments, status, share new
information, and plan near term activities
Communication Plan
Stakeholder
Important
issues for this
stakeholder
Chief Financial Project is
completed on
Officer
budget
Types of
communication we
will use with them
Budget variance
report; milestone
chart
How often we
will
communicate
Monthly
Person
responsible
Track and manage the project
Execute and control
Execution and control happen at the same time.
Purposes of project control:
– Finding and resolving problems before they have a negative impact
– Tracking costs and resources
– Generating revised plans
– Maintaining team member commitment
Project Management
Life Cycle
Level of
Activity
(3) Executing
(2) Planning
(1) Initiating
(4) Controlling (5) Closing
Time
Project Control
Day-to-day effort to keep project work on track and according to plan
•
•
•
•
•
Control based on completed work (not completed % of work)
Control data must be built into work process—only data needed!
Control data must go to person who does the work
Control of a complex process through breaking down levels of control
Control system must focus on response, otherwise it is ineffective
Control vs. People
•
•
•
Projects are managed through people
Control applied to project plan, not to people
People require participative management and use of soft skills
Result
Role of effective communication in facilitating project results
Three Kinds of Project Reviews
•
Project status reviews
•
Project design reviews
•
Project process reviews
Three basic questions:
1. What is the actual status of the project?
1. If a difference between actual and planned exists, what caused it?
1. What should be done about it?
Open Task Reports
•
•
•
•
Use subset of project plan listed tasks that were required for the period
Add tasks for next period (time between project meetings)
Using open task report, get status of every task that should have been completed since
last meeting
Use entire team to identify issues and make plan to resolve them– write it down!
Open Task Reports
Project period:
Tasks Due
Person
Budget Variance:
•
Plan start Plan finish Status/Actions
A Critical Project Control Tool
Develop a system of budget monitoring and reporting (monthly and/or quarterly)
•
Include schedule and responsibility for budget reporting tasks in Gantt Chart
•
Control budget variances (planned vs. actual expenditures) on a regular basis
Project Budget Variance Analysis
Time Period: ________________________
Budget Item
Planned
Budget
Actual
Expenditures
Budget
Variance
(Actual – Planned)
Total
Project Design Reviews
•
Applies only to projects in which a new product or process is being designed
•
– Does it meet agreed upon specifications?
– Is it customer or user friendly?
– Can we produce/maintain it?
– Are product specifications still appropriate?
– Does it meet the needs?
Focus is on how the team is doing the project work
–
–
–
–
–
What part of our work process is going well?
Does everyone have what they need?
Are we working well as a team?
Are stakeholders involved and satisfied?
What do we want to improve?
Project meetings should…





Be structured to increase team cohesion
Keep the team fully informed of new developments about sources external to team
Ensure the team works together to decide necessary changes
Help the entire team share responsibility for meeting all of the project objectives
Be evaluated periodically by participants to make sure they are effective and meeting
the project needs
Change Management
•
•
•
•
•
Request for changes to project elements or scope need to be analyzed and approved
Impact of changes on project need to be documented
Changes that impact project need to be negotiated (they may require more budget, time)
Approved changes need to be recorded
Tools: Change Request Form Change Log
Principles of Effective Project Control
 Always have an updated plan
 Hold regular project control meetings
 Have team members regularly report progress
 Ensure team members are accountable to each other
 Correct small deviations as they occur
 Focus on team problem-solving
Types of Projects Difficult to Control
•
•
•
•
•
Large projects with complex communications
Geographically dispersed projects
Projects requiring high technical standards
Long duration projects with personnel turnover
Projects with multiple subcontractors
Five Essential Elements
•
•
•
Function to be controlled
Control standard
Control authority
•
•
Control mechanism
Variance indication
Effective Control Processes
•
•
•
•
Relevant
Efficient
Simple
Timely
Close-out and post-project review
Post-project Review
•
Critical process for learning from organizational experience
•
Important to document knowledge gained for others who come later
•
Important time for self-reflection and analysis after the project
Close-out Activities
1. Project review and feedback from customers and sponsors
2. Team analysis of project process and ideas for improvements
3. Create final close-out report