Project Management

Dr Huda Hassan Mohamed Hassan

5th January 2009

Khartoum, Sudan

Learning Objectives

• Will understand the basic principles of project management

• Understand the project management phases

• Project management tools

• Organization and project management environment

• Skills for project manager

A Project

A project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale. It has a clear beginning and end.

What is Project Management?

‘Project Management is a process by which projects are defines, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered such that agreed benefits are realised

Characteristics of a Project

Usually a project involves:1. Clear objectives (quality/time/cost)

2. A fixed time scale

3. A team of people

4. Change

5. Resource expenditure

6. No practice or rehearsal

7. Four phases

Why it is important

• Clear and transparent of all the projects within the organisation

• Ensure all projects support and achieve the organisations objectives and strategy

• Establish a clear sense of direction• Capacity planning ensure appropriate skills and

resources are available at the right place and time• Control of expenditure

Project Environment

• Political• Economic• Organisational• Regulatory• Technological• Ecological These shape the issues that the Project Management

has to deal with It may assist or restrict the attainment of the project

objectives

The Art of Japanese Management

• Seven S framework known as McKinsey 7S

1. Structure

2. System

3. Style

4. Staff

5. Skills

6. Strategy

7. Super ordinate goals

The triangle of balanceThe scope

Time/Function/Cost

Five dimensions of a project

• Scope

• Quality

• Time

• Cost

• Risk

How do projects start

• Idea

• Mandatory

• Organisational needs

• Discretionary

• Opportunity

Starting the project

• Key roles within a project:

- Sponsor

- Users

- Steering group

- Project manager

The four phases to be managed

• Defining / initiating

• Planning

• Implementing

• Completing

Defining / Initiating

• Determine objective(s) and agree with Project Sponsor / Project Board (WHAT)

• Select strategy (HOW)

• Feasibility study – is one necessary to test project objectives? (WHY)

Initiation phase

• Starting a project• There must be a basic business

requirements that triggers the project• Identify roles and responsibilities and key

roles that can be filled• Preliminary information available• An initiation stage plan must be submitted

for approval before planning

• Project mandate

• Approval Project Board

• Project Sponsor

• Project initiation plan

How do managers achieve that

• Vision• Analyse tasks

• Allocate work

• Measure performance

• Develop people

Vision

• Starting point of the entire set of objectives

• It provide the framework within which the strategies are drawn

• It can help develop a sense of purpose and direction for the whole organisation

• They need to be clear and communicated to the whole organisation workforce

Objectives SMART

• S specific

• M measurable

• A achievable

• R realistic

• T timely

Business case

• The business case provide justification for undertaking a project, in terms of evaluating the benefit, cost and risk of alternative options and the rationale for the preferred solution. Its purpose is to obtain management commitment and approval for investment in the project. The business case owned by the sponsor.

Managing People

• Project Sponsor

• Project manager

• Stakeholders

• Team

• Individuals

Stakeholders

‘The organisation or people who have an interest or role in the project or are impact by the project’

Stakeholder Analysis

‘The identification of stakeholder groups, their interest levels and ability to influence the project or programme’

Who are they?

What are their interest?

Is my solution going to satisfy them?

How am I going to manage their expectation?

Project sponsor

‘The individual or body for whom the project is undertaken and who is the primary risk taker. The sponsor owns the business case and is ultimately for the project and the delivering the benefits’

Risk Management

Risk event

• An uncertain events or set of circumstances that should occur would have an effect on the achievement of one or more of the project objectives

Risk Assessment•Identify the risk

what could go wrong

how could it happen

what could be the effect

•how do you decide what is a risk?• Who do you ask for opinions?

Risk assessment

• Identify the risks by category

• Probability of occurrence low=1 high=4

• Impact 1 – 4

• Draw a risk quadrant

• Risk exposure= probability x impact

Risk control

• Risk mitigation

• Measure and control

• Reduce the probability of the risk occurring

• Transfer the responsibility

• Risk register a formal record

Risk Register

• Risks Identified

• Risk Score (Likelihood x Consequence)

• Controls in Place

• Action to be Taken

• Person Responsible for Managing Plan

• Corporate Action Needed Y/N

Resource management

‘A process that identifies and assigns resources to activities so that the project is undertaken using appropriate levels of resources and within an acceptable duration’

• Project Cost Management

• - cost estimating

• - cost budgeting

• - cost control

Resource Allocation

• Draw a resource requirement chart from the Gantt Chart

• Adjust the timings of non-critical activities to smooth the resource requirement

• People and money

Quality management

The discipline that is applied to ensure that both the output of the project and the purposes by which the outputs are delivered met the required needs of the stakeholders’.

Project communication

• Meeting

• Presentation

• Telephone

• Conferencing

• Written

• E-mail

Reporting

• Progress reporting:

- who to report to

- What frequency

- What information is to be provided

Managing time

• Most people have no idea where it goes

• You can’t make more of it.

Time management

• Have goals– Long term – Short term

• Record what you have done– And how long it took

• Review where the time went– Make the biggest changes that you can– Even if they are very small.

Time categorisation

Important / Urgent Important / not urgent

Urgent / not important Not important / not urgent

Project Management Tools

Tools / Techniques

• Calendar• White Board• Gantt Charts (simple, top-line)• Software packages e.g.

– Microsoft Project

• Methodologies– PRINCE (project management in a control

environment)

Assignment chart

• This will include:- Date, name of project, project sponsor, project

manager- Person responsible for each task- Planned finish date for each task- Each task to be listed individually- The actual finish date- Review comments and signatures of sponsor and

manager

Assignment chartsProject……… Person responsible………….. Approved by………code Start dates Finish date Task List

Notes

Planned start day

Planned finish date

Gantt Chart

Task 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

1

2

3

4

5

Force Field AnalysisCurrent State Desired State

Drivers of Change Barriers to change

Force field analysis

Problem and needs statement

Present situation Desired situation

Resisting force Driving forces

Action to reduce Action to increase

Resources Action plan

SWOT analysis

• Strengths

• Weakness

• Opportunity

• Threat

Critical path schedules

Event activity event

Critical path schedule

0 1

2

3

Planning

• Develop outline plan– Brainstorm

– List assumptions

– Analyse risks

– How will you manage people, resources, risk,time

• Develop detailed Business plan• Develop resource and budget requirements• Agree plan and budget with sponsor

Project Planning (1)

• Check: are your objectives/deliverables clearly defined and agreed?

• Break down project into timed stages and functional ‘zones’• Break down tasks/activities within each zone• Does each task contribute to the objectives? If not eliminate it• Understand the logical sequence of each task• Estimate the time for each task based upon:

– Previous experience (yours and others)– Trial– Educated guess (if all else fails)

Project Planning (2)

• Draw up a logic diagram (network chart) if logic is complicated

• Work out the Critical Path (the activities for which there is no leeway or ‘float’)

• Draw up a timed bar chart (Gantt Chart)• Agree and note milestones• Consider resource implications – draw a Resource

Requirement Chart from the Gantt Chart• Adjust activities with float to make best use of

resources (‘smoothing’)

Project Planning (3)

• Cost the plan

• Agree plan and budget with project sponsor / project board

• Re-iterate as required by changes

• Use the plan, it is the means not the end…

Monitoring and Control

• Establish– Checkpoints/milestones

– End stage assessments

• Devise a formal reporting procedure• Where actual progress is drifting away from plan

devise a recovery programme– By running more tasks in parallel

– By increasing resources to the CRITICAL tasks and ‘crashing’ them

Implementing

• Gain agreement, commitment, involvement

• Check understanding

• Implement – GET SOME ACTION!

• Monitor performance

• Take corrective action

• Revise the plan

Completing

• Hand over the ‘deliverables’

• ‘Sign off’

• Complete administrative details

• Review performance

Closure

‘The formal end point of a project, either because it has been completed or because it has been terminated early’

Project reports

• Project Initiation plan

• Project Business Case

• Risk register

• Project Plan

Main outlines of these reports

• Objectives of the totality of the the work that is about to be undertaken

• Identify major outcomes• Identify major activities to deliver the product• Assessing the major risks of the projects and

putting in place the counter measures• Identify resources needed• Identify time-scale

Competences for project management

• Leadership and Management• Building alliances and network – relationships and

influencing• Managing change for health improvement• Formulating strategy to address population needs• Communication – User and public involvement• Management of information and resources• Understanding organisations: development, structure,

function and culture• Reality and Perception

Skills for project manager• Leadership

• Power

• Communication skills

• Team building

• Conflict resolution

• Motivation

The craft of leadership involves

• Knowing yourself

• Understanding people

• Understanding organisations

• Knowing what needs to be done

• Communicating effectively.

Reasons for Project Failure

• Lack of communication• Insufficient resources• Insufficient attention to Business case and quality• Insufficient definition of outcomes leading to

confusion over what is expected to achieve• Clarity of roles• Poor estimation of time and cost• Inadequate planning

Thanks