What’s a Project?
AD642
Why the Emphasis on Project Management?
 Many tasks do not fit neatly into business-as-usual
 Organizations need to assign responsibility and authority
for the achievement of their goals
Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Characteristics of Projects
 Unique
 Specific deliverables
 Specific due date
Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Other Common Characteristics of Projects
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Multidisciplinary
Complex
Often involve conflicts
Part of programs
Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Definition of a Project
“A project is a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique
product or service.”
Project Management Institute, 2007
Definition of Project
Management
“The application of knowledge,
skills, tools, and techniques to
a broad range of activities in
order to meet the
requirements of a particular
project.”
Project Management Institute 2007
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The Triple Constraint
A more realistic view
And even more so…
The Life Cycle of Projects
 All organisms have a life cycle (i.e., they are born, grow,
wane, and die) … and so do projects
 Some projects follow an S-shaped curve … they start
slowly, develop momentum, and then finish slowly
 Other project follow a J-shaped curve … they start slowly ,
proceed slowly, and then finish rapidly
Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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PMBOK Process Groups
 PMI describes the project lifecycle in five groups
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Initiating
Planning
Executing
Monitoring and controlling
Closing
Initiating
 Defining a new project
 Developing charter
 Identifying stakeholders
 Obtaining authorization
Planning
 Scope
 Requirements analysis
 Work Breakdown Structure
 Define activities and milestones
 Estimate resources and duration
 Develop project schedule and budget
Executing
 Manage the project
 Perform quality assurance
 Manage stakeholders
 Manage team
Monitoring and Controlling
 Change management
 Monitor actuals and baseline
 Scope
 Budget
 Schedule
 Risk management
Closing
 Obtain acceptance
 Post-project audit
 Document and archive
Initiating a project: SOW
 Projects typically start with a Statement of Work
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Describes the business need
Has fairly broad scope
Overall strategic plan
SOW is often part of the response to an RFP when a third
party is to be involved
Business case
 Part of the SOW
 The justification for the project
 Might contain competitive analysis, high-level ROI,
opportunities for market expansion, regulatory
requirements, and more
SOW signoff
 A signed SOW is the document that kicks off a project
 In third-party arrangements (such as consulting) it is a
contract
 Information from the SOW is used to develop the
Project Charter
Time for Meetings!
 Once a SOW has been signed, the project formally
exists
 If a PM hasn’t been involved yet, now is the time
 Initial meetings are to help the PM understand the
project, the players, and the resources
 No project plan yet
 A kickoff meeting introduces all the players
Initial Project Coordination and the Project
Charter
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Early meetings are used to decide on participating in
the project
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Used to “flesh out” the nature of the project
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Outcomes include:
 Technical scope
 Areas of responsibility
 Delivery dates or budgets
 Risk management group
Outside Clients
 When it is for outside clients, specifications cannot be
changed without the client’s permission
 Client may place budget constraints on the project
 May be competing against other firms
Project Charter Elements
 Purpose
 Objectives
 Overview
 Schedules
 Resources
 Personnel
 Risk management plans
 Evaluation methods
Starting the Project Plan: The WBS
 What is to be done
 When it is to be started and finished
 Who is going to do it
WBS Constraints
 Some activities must be done sequentially
 Some activities may be done simultaneously
 Many things must happen when and how they are
supposed to happen
 Each detail is uncertain and subjected to risk
Hierarchical Planning
 Major tasks are listed
 Each major task is broken down into detail
 This continues until all the activities to be completed
are listed
 Need to know which activities “depend on” other
activities
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
 A hierarchical planning process
 Breaks tasks down into successively finer levels of
detail
 Continues until all meaningful tasks or work packages
have been identified
 These make tracking the work easier
 Need separate budget/schedule for each task or work
package
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A Visual WBS
Steps to Create a WBS
1. List the task breakdown in successive levels
2. Identify data for each work package
3. Review work package information
4. Cost the work packages
5. Schedule the work packages
6. Continually examine actual resource use
7. Continually examine schedule
Human Resources
 Useful to create a table that shows staff needed to
execute WBS tasks
 One approach is a organizational breakdown structure
 Organizational units responsible for each WBS element
 Who must approve changes of scope
 Who must be notified of progress
 WBS and OBS may not be identical
The Responsibility (RACI)
Matrix
 Another approach is the Responsible, Accountable,
Consult, Inform (RACI) matrix
 Also known as a responsibility matrix, a linear
responsibility chart, an assignment matrix, a responsibility
assignment matrix
 Shows critical interfaces
 Keeps track of who must approve what and who must
be notified
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Sample RACI Matrix
Agile Project Planning and Management
 When scope cannot be determined in advance,
traditional planning does not work
 Agile project management was developed to
deal with this problem in IT
 Small teams are located at a single site
 Entire team collaborates
 Team deals with one requirement at-a-time with
the scope frozen
Interface Coordination Through Integration
Management
 Managing a project requires a great deal of
coordination
 Projects typically draw from many parts of the
organization as well as outsiders
 All of these must be coordinated
 The RACI matrix helps the project manager accomplish
this
Bottom line
 For a PM to succeed, it’s crucial for them to be involved
as early as possible in the project lifecycle
 The reality is that PMs are often brought in well after
the WBS and scheduling is complete
 It’s up to the PM to carefully balance the triple or quad
constraints with the expectations of the stakeholders