Project Management 4

Module 1: Project delivery strategies and operations

Module 1: Project delivery strategies and operations

• After completing this outcome, you will be able to:– identify project types and nature and provide

guidance on appropriate projects strategies and tactics

– suggest appropriate structures, methods and processes to projects

– check and verify that a project environment is established

1. IDENTIFY PROJECT TYPES AND NATURE AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE ON A APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

After completing this outcome, you will be able to:• define project terminology with regard to concepts,

terms, procedures and techniques

• identify and describe project types and nature

• explain project delivery strategies and tactics

• assess the project strategies and tactics of a given project

1.1 Identify project types and nature and provide guidance on appropriate project

strategies and tactics

1.2 Identify and describe project types and nature

• Business projects 

• Developmental projects

• Technical project 

• Environmental projects

• Social projects

• Humanitarian projects

Activity 1

Make a list of projects recently started or completed in your area or a list of projects that you are familiar with, even if it’s not yet completed.

Example:

•Developing a new product or service

Activity 2• Which of the following are projects?

1.3 Explain project delivery strategies and tactics

• The delivery strategies could be all of or any of the following:– Formulate an idea on which the project planning

will focus on– Break the idea into deliverables, activities and/or

sub-activities as required (with the help of a work breakdown structure – WBS)

– Do an accurate costing of each activity and finalise the project budget

– Do a network analysis to determine the total time duration of the project

1.4 Assess the project strategies and tactics of a given project

2. SUGGEST APPROPRIATE STRUCTURES METHODS AND PROCESSES TO PROJECTS

After completing this outcome, you will be able to:• identify ground rules for project operation

• describe and explain a range of project structures, methods and processes

• document and motivate suggested structures, methods and processes for a given project according to procedures

2.1 Identify ground rules for project management

• Select a project manager that can lead the project to success, a person with good basic management and people skills.  

• Select a team with the required skills and who are 100% committed towards project completion

• Project tasks should be adequately defined to prevent confusion amongst team members and to ensure high quality output

• Projects, like any other task or process, have a goal and therefore follow an organised process in order to meet the specific goal

2.1 Identify ground rules for project management

• A project has a definite start date and a distinct end date 

• Distinguish your project from operations or processes because your project create something unique  

• Projects are based on specific quality standards• Projects use time, money, material and people skills

(resources) that are allocated to the project and must be managed accordingly to ensure project success

• Project success require support from upper management, they should agree that there is a need for a project and then support it

12 Golden rules of project management success

Thou:1. shall gain consensus on project outcomes2. shall build the best team you can3. shall develop a comprehensive, viable plan and keep it up to date4. shall determine how many staff your really need to get things done5. shall have a realistic schedule 6. won’t try to do more than can be done7. will remember that people count8. will gain the formal and ongoing support of management and

stakeholders9. must be willing to change10. must keep others informed of what you’re up to11. must be willing to try new things12. must become a leader

2.1.2 Describe and explain a range of project structures, methods and

processes

Structures

• Project structures– Identifies the relationship between the project

participants, together with defining their duties, responsibilities and authority

Structures

• Purely project organisational structure– The project is separated from the rest of the

parent organisation and becomes a self-contained unit

Project Management

Structures• Advantages of the purely project organisational structure

– The project manager has full authority over the project– Communication is easier when team members are only required to

communicate with other members of the team, rather than with the team and the parent organisation

– With centralised authority decisions are made quickly– Team members report directly to the project manager, instead of

reporting to both the project manager and the functional manager– A project team can develop a stronger sense of commitment, since each

member will not have to worry about commitments to their functional departments as well

– Decision-making is easier, since the entire organisation does not need to be involved

– All members of the workforce report directly to the project manager. There are no functional heads whose permission must be sought

– A pure project presents a simple structure which is easy to understand, implement, and operate

Structure• Disadvantages of the purely project organisational structure

– Pure project groups tend to be inconsistent in the way they carry out policies and procedures, since they do not have a process that tests and reinforces the procedures as the parent organisation does

– Rivalry can develop between the project members and the parent organisation, resulting in bitter competition that impedes project success

– The concerns that project members feel can cause problems, since there might be uncertainty about their future once the current project is completed. This uncertainty occurs primarily as the project nears its end and if another project is not in place on which the team members can work

– When several projects are being worked on simultaneously, there can be duplication of effort in many areas, and resources might be more effectively used if they were shared across projects

Structure

• Work structure• Cost structure• Resource planning• Cost estimating• Cost approximating• Cost budgeting• Cash flow statement• Cost control• Project deliverables• Project objectives / goals

Project processes

• Change

• Control

• Planning

• Procurement

• Communication– Vertical communication

– Horizontal communication

– Diagonal communication

Project processes

• Status reporting

• Payment• Contract administration• Close out / Handover• Resources• Risk

Activity Description Status

A 100 Foundation (of our House Project)

Materials ordered, work started on Monday (10 February 20…)

3. CHECK AND VERIFY THAT A PROJECT ENVIRONMENT IS ESTABLISHEDAfter completing this outcome, you will be able to:• Develop documentation of a given project to meet

project audit requirements

• Develop checklists according to project requirements;

• Explain reasons for checking and verifying

• Develop inspection procedures for checking and verifying

3.1 Develop documentation of a given project to meet project audit

requirements• A project quality audit is an evaluation of a

project quality management system

• Quality audits identify areas that need improvement

• Conducting a credible audit– It is important that the person conducting the

audit be independent from the organisation

3.2 Develop checklists according to project requirements

• Two kinds of checklists– Series of questions: ‘Has x been completed/”

– Inventory checklist composed of activities, or expected characteristics

• The person using a checklist must account for each step before moving onto another activity

3.3 Explain reasons for checking and verifying

• The project must comply with the requirements, rules and expectations laid down by the project manager and other stakeholders

3.4 Develop inspection procedures for checking and verifying

• End products should also go through a final inspection to make sure that they conform to quality standards.