Project management and
financing of research activities
Wroclaw
March 2014
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
your project?
A project …
SCOPE
what?
TIME
COST
when?
how much?
What is a Project?
A temporary endeavour …
…to create a unique product, service or
result.
Projects have a beginning and end date.
Projects have resources.
The end is reached when:
o the objectives have been achieved or,
o the objectives will not or cannot be met,
or
o the need for the project no longer exists.
How many projects are successfully
completed?
The CHAOS Summary 2010
The Standish Group Report
(IT projects)
21%
37%
Successful
Challenged
failed
42%
Challenged: late, over budget and/or with less than the
required features and functions
How many projects are successfully
completed?
Main reasons for failure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Very low participation of users
Incomplete specifications and requirements
Very frequent changes in requirements
Lack of executive support
Technological incompetence
Lack of resources
Unrealistic expectations
Unclear goals
Unrealistic schedules
New technologies
Main characteristics
 Temporary in nature
o The project is completed when (1) goals have been achieved, (2)
goals cannot be achieved, (3) no need to achieve goals.
o project .vs. research activity / production / …
Main characteristics
 Unique
o The result is not repeatable.
o Serial production is not a project; neither the provision of a
service
o The environment, the technology, the client, …, can
change. Never two identical situations.
Main characteristics
 Fragmented nature
o Results are obtained gradually; in phases
 Dynamism by large!
o A lot of changes and stress.
 Uncertainty
o Time and cost, estimations at the beginning.
o As the project is progressing,the uncertainty is
reduced.
Main characteristics
 No way back
o Knock down a building, an industrial port, build an artificial
lake, a road, etc.
 Risks.
o Not only technical, but also economic, etc.
o Economic loss, image, clients, etc.
In conclusion, a project …
 Set up to achieve some specific goals, which are unique
 Time to achieve them is limited from start to the end
 Done for someone – client
 Resources usually diverse
o Resources in very specific quantities and very specific times.
o Optimised used tends to be a critical aspect for the project
and for the entity.
3D in projects
“Technical” dimension
 Very dependent on the nature of the project
o Building a house, a marketing campaign, pharmacy,
build a telescope.
 Pay attention exclusively to this technical aspect will
cause failure.
o Because resources, time and costs are limited.
“Human” dimension
 Not always evident, but driving towards success or
failure







Directors and governing body
Project manager and Principal investigator
Team project
Heads of Units.
Clients
Providers
Etc.
“Never send an elephant to a glassware”
“Management” dimension
 It is the “catalyser” to put into operation all other
components.
 It is the less common ability (training welcome)
o including cultural changes are needed!
 It is not just to follow a calendar!
 Methodologies and tips!
Project success
Project Objectives
Scope, Time and Cost
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
OBJECTIVES
SMART
FUNCIONAL REQUIREMENTS
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Project Objectives
 Definition and concretion is not always obvious
o Objectives are not needs or wishes
o A proper objectives concretion, and agreement among
parts involved, is a must! to be successful
 There are projects doomed to failure before starting
 Project objective is always TRIPLE
o Many times this is ignored or forgotten during the
execution of the project
Project objectives
QUALITY
what?
TIME
COST
when?
how much?
TRIPLE objective
 Technical objective or expected product/result
o What we want to build, to develop, to produce
o This objective usually is the origin and justification for the project
 Cost objective
o Which is the price we would agree to pay to obtain the product?
o Product is not expected at whatever price
o Pay attention!, costs are not always evident
 Time objective
o When do we need/want the product?
o This is the objective failing first
o Project management quality is usually evaluated based on the
fulfilment of this objective
Project objectives
VALIDATION criteria
 S.M.A.R.T.
o Specific, Measurable, adaptable (Agreed upon),
Realistic and Timely.
 P.U.R.E.
o Positively stated, Understood, Relevant, Ethical!
 C.L.E.A.R.
o Challenging, legal, Environmentally sound, Appropriate,
Recorded.
If the project is not clearly defined…
 The client will try to get as much as possible
o Extra features
 You will never know if you have done enough
Project Objectives
example
The importance of the triple objective
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
New product for coming Christmas
 Sales forecast:
H Christmas: 30,000 units.
A videogame about the new Disney
movie. 100,000 units on sale.
H Next year: 60,000 units.
H Next Christmas : 10,000 units.
H Price: 60€/unit
The product at all
Budget: 2 M€
stores for Christmas
(20 € price per unit put on sale)
New product for coming Christmas
 Sales forecast:
H Christmas: 30,000 units.
A videogame about the new Disney
movie. 100,000 units on sale.
H Next year: 60,000 units.
H Next Christmas : 10,000 units.
H Price: 60€/unit
The product at all
Budget: 2 M€
stores for Christmas
(20 € price per unit put on sale)
A new variety of wine
The company would like to produce a new variety of
wine for exclusive sale, replacing existing products.
Three years, so not to
affect or reduce the
current production of
wine
The expected benefits
for the next two years
A project has been managed successfully once
these three objectives are successfully
achieved:
finish the work according to
specifications,
at expected costs,
in time
A project has not been managed successfully if
one or several of these three objectives were
not successfully achieved:
finish the work according to
specifications,
at expected costs,
in time
A project has not been managed successfully if
one or several of these three objectives were
not successfully achieved:
finish the work according to
specifications,
at expected costs,
in time
Other measures of success or failure
 Expectations fulfilled?
 Success in market?
 Is it used?
 Etc.
o TITANIC movie
 1997. Much more later than expected.
 Final cost 82% above budget (200 M€).
 It was the first movie obtaining more than 1,000 M€ billing
 Can be considered a failure?
Project Objectives
example
Importance of the triple objective
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
Building the Olympic Stadium.
2012 London Olympic Games
o To design and build a world-class multisporting venue with capacity for a large
number of spectators for the London 2012
Olympic Games in Stratford (East London),
to be completed between 2007 and 2011,
with an estimated budget of £496 million.
Building the Olympic Stadium.
2012 London Olympic Games
o To design and build a world-class multisporting venue with capacity for 80,000
spectators for the London 2012 Olympic
Games in Stratford (East London), to be
completed between 2007 and 2011, with an
estimated budget of £496 million.
Project management
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
What does project management
mean?
A management discipline oriented towards the
planification, organisation and optimisation of
resources …
… to successfully achieve the triple project objective.
Project management
objectives
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
1. Put focus on project tasks
 Very challenging, large-scale activity and very relevant for the entity
o Pay special attention! - intensity and continuity.
 Having responsibilities on projects and day-to-day activities: be careful !
o Time is limited and capacity too.
 Very common: day-to-day activities going first than really urgent ones
 TRY TO AVOID THIS PLANNING AND ORGANISING YOUR WORK

And be strict with yourself.
2. Keeping normal activities
o Nobody is waiting at the entity for something to do!
 We cannot forget about normal activities
o They usually constitute the main goal of our entity and
incomes.
 Projects and normal activities should run in paralell
o Project management cannot deteriorate the main
company activity.
To achieve these objectices
 Project manager or leader
o Possibly the most important aspect to be successful
 in my opinion
 Project team
o Diverse, adequate in number and professional skills, and
properly assigned and coordinated with other
responsibilities
 Techniques and methodologies
o Techniques, tools, training and experience.
To DO NOT achieve objectives
 PM without time, not trained, capacity or authority
 A committee instead of a project team
 To create a permanent department
o e.g. New recipients’ department.
 A simple agenda or post-it to manage the project
 To manage the project as we manage the rest of
activities or our own life
 To try to reduce planning to standards or complex
procedures
The Project Management
Body of Knowledge
PMBOK®
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
The Body of Knowledge
 A set of competences grouped into different “body of
knowledge” for project management
 Characteristics and advantages:
o Knowledge and methodologies well proof by experts
o A common lexicon
o Continuous updating
 Different institutions work on their BOK:
 International Project Management Association - IPMA
 Project Management Institute - PMI
PMBOK
 Project Integration Management
 Project Scope Management
 Project Time Management
 Project Cost Management
 Project Quality Management
 Project Human Resources Management
 Project Communications Management
 Project Risk Management
 Project Procurement Management
Planning
Wroclaw
March 2014
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
Main aspects
 Main objectives
 Scope
 Tasks and work packages
 Resources
 Costs
 Risks, procurements, …
o Deliverables
o Milestones
Objectives
 Defined and measurable (triple)
 Functionality and specifications
 Cost
 Schedule
o High-level requirements:
 Commercial requirements
 The expectations from our clients.
 Etc.
Work Breakdown Structure
in project management
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
Work breakdown structure
 Hierarchical decomposition of the work to be done.
 It is a simple and organised representation of the work to
be done.
 It defines the work to be done and the work NOT TO BE
done.
 It is the project “To Do” list.
 To what level of detail?
 It depends.
Work breakdown structure
o Task tree:
 Each descending level represents a more detailed description
of the work to be done.
Project
WP 1
WP
1.1
WP
1.2
WP 2
WP
1...
WP...
Main goals
Scientific requirements, dome, optics, etc.
WP3
WP
3.1
WP
3.2
WP
3...
WP
3.1.1
WP
3.1.2
WP
3.1.3
Primary mirror, secondary mirror, AO,
Actuators, polishing, etc.
Work breakdown structure
 Coding:
o Decimal system
o Easy reference
o Once it is established:
 Do not modify the order
 Do not reuse codes
 The same coding for the whole team.
 Avoid personal coding.
Some tools
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
MS Project
Primavera
Planview
Open Plan Professional
Project Scheduler
iTeamWork
Cost Xpert (Estimación de costes)
Winsight (Earned Value)
Simulación (Arena)
CA-SuperProject
Artemis
ProChain (cadena crítica)
Concerto (cadena crítica)
Sciforma (cadena crítica)
Project Plan Pro (cadena crítica)
projects.com/
o CC-MPulse (cadena crítica)
www.microsoft.com/
www.primavera.com/
www.planview.com/
www.welcom.com/
www.scitor.com/
www.iteamwork.com/
www.costxpert.com/
www.cs-solutions.com/
www.arenasimulation.com/
www.ca.com/
www.aisc.com/
www.prochain.com/index.asp
www.realization.com/
www.sciforma.com/
www.advancedwww.sphericalangle.com/
GANTTPROJECT
http://www.ganttproject.biz/
J. Burgos
Some references
on project management
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
A couple of references in English
“Project Management
for Dummies”
Stanley E. Portny
HUNGRY MINDS
ISBN: 1118497236
“A guide to the Project Management
body of knowledge”
Project Management Institute, (aut.)
Project Management Institute
ISBN: 1933890711
ISBN-13: 9781933890715
Associations, etc.
 Project Management Institute
 www.pmi.org
 International Project Management Association
 www.ipma.ch
 Am. Association for the Advance of PM
 www.asapm.org
 UK - Association for Project Management
 www.apm.org.uk
 Australian Institute for Project Manag.
 www.aipm.com.au
 Instituto Goldratt
 www.goldratt.com
Some methodologies
 Cadena crítica
 www.focusedperformance.com/
 Earned Value PM, Uso y Beneficios
 www.acq.osd.mil/pm/
 Function Point (Software)
 www.ifpug.org/
 Prince 2 (software)
 www.prince2.com/
 Rational Unified Process (software)
 www-306.ibm.com/software/sw-bycategory/
Some methodologies
 Dynamic System Development Method
 (software principalmente) www.dsdm.org/en/
 Structured Project Management (10 pasos. Silver
Bullet)
 www.etpint.com/index.htm
 Extreme Programming XP.org XP.com (software)
 www.extremeprogramming.org/
 Scrum (software)
 www.controlchaos.com/
Financing research activities
Wroclaw
March 2014
SOLARNET, Spring School “Introduction to Solar Physics”
Financing RTD activities
 The best instrument fitting to your needs (never 100%)
 The best possible consortium
 The more you work on “defining” the project, the easier
will be to complete the details.
 Put first others to work, before you start
Financing RTD activities
 Try to harmonize inputs before they are provided
o Templates
 Complete the proposal working on all sections simultaneously
 Time to deadline will force you to adopt not the best solution,
but the best for the situation
 Use some tools to manage all inputs.
Financing RTD activities
 Think as a consortium, decide as a leader.
 The train never stops, never wait. Build on available
information.
 Do not spend too much time on the proposal you could draft
with time, but on the one you are drafting.
 Take decisions!
o Fair decisions for the consortium should be fair for each partner
involved; the contrary does not work.
Financing RTD activities
 Feasible and innovative enough when drafting the scope,
but economic and very realistic when drafting the budget
and the consortium
Final remarks
 Come to you advisor to know better about the project in
which you are involved
 Try to draft a proposal
 Present your project to non-specialised people under the
triple objective
 There is always an associated cost
 And learning form the past.