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Lecture 1 - project management
PROJECT MANAGEMENT (MAN3104)
University of Surrey
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Introduction to project management
Projects are only done once. It has an output, known as a deliverable- such as a new product, service, or report that exists once the project is complete.
Introduction to projects
Projects have a life cycle- ‘Life is one big project.’ The trick is managing it
There are many successful projects:
Fixed duration, array of interlinking activities, definable benefits, achieve change Managing them is an art and science- because we need to establish a methodology to manage projects. It is vital to define what is and what is not a project and also justify why the chosen project management methodology is best suited (a profession with a career path) Projects represent significant parts of all business/economic activity, they are important to individuals, organisations, and society
What is a project?
A project is an undertaking that has a beginning and end and is carried out to meet established goals within costs, schedule, and quality objectives Resources are the finances, facilities, supplies, services and people allocated to a project. – projects are an expenditure- projects may take up people’s time and may remove them from their daily work routine So what is so special about projects? Projects deliver a specific outcome- they solve a specific problem. But in practice, they are always really, truly unique to that project
Basic definitions
“Projects are unique, transient endeavours undertaken to achieve a desired outcome” – association of project management, 2004
“A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” – project management institute, 2004
“A unique set of coordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific performance objectives with defined schedule, cost and performance parameters” – British standard 6079, 2000
“A project is a temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed business case” – PRINCE2, 2010
- A common theme in these definitions: there is a time-constraint, an objective, and output. Points that projects must have an agreed business case, regardless if they are commercial or non-commercial in nature.
- A business case is used to measure the value for money spent on projects. This value may not necessarily be financial, but valuable nonetheless
Based on themes from definitions- project management objectives
To deliver the following:
Required scope
Within cost On time Meets performance targets (quality/specifications)
Project management objectives- performance target success/failure
These objectives are really ‘contraints’
Time Cost Scope Quality/specification
**they are interrelated to form what we refer to as the triple constraints or project management triangle
The project management triangle is popularly known as the iron triangle- a popular metaphor- pointing out that the project manager often has to reach a reasonable level of trade-off between the constraints to achieve success
project managements objectives are not the project’s objectives The projects objectives are specific statements of unexpected outcome or benefits realised (deliverables) The project management’s objective is to make sure that it is delivered successfully around the triple constraint- on time, within cost, and meet the required standard
Common themes from different definitions- (traits)
Unique- or aspects of uniqueness Specific- scope, time, cost, performance Temporary (life span)- organisation, finances An objective/focus- delivering a result (product or service) Business case (PRINCE2)- justification, or at least a mission to deliver benefits Risk-based- known predictable events that can impact success Uncertainty- the future is unpredictable. Unknowns: achievable objective, cost, durations
Put a plan together What is required? What actions need to be performed? When will the actions be performed? 3. Delivering the solution ‘deliverable’- product/service
Projects exist in all types of organisations
Competition in the global markets influences rapid changes, changes in innovation and time to market- means organisations manage more and more projects. Therefore, there is a need to coordinate and manage projects effectively in a changing environment. as a result, projects are often aligned with an organisation’s strategy. Decentralisation of project management processes and practices has been the practical outcome of what many organisations do. So, it may feel or seem like they are running an operation. But within those operations are the continuous changes and the frequency of changes to go through. But most of these changes are managed as projects.
Project management: socio-technical discipline
Managing projects is a multi-dimensional process and we need to balance the technical and the socio-cultural dimensions of the project. The technical dimension includes things such as planning, costs, and scheduling, and controlling the project. The social-cultural is the complete contrast of living in an orderly world of project planning. This dimension is messier, challenging, very grey/unclear at times, and it is often contradictory and paradoxical concepts of how implementation should work. It involves working with people, communication, negotiating, and meeting customers’ expectations.
Introduction to projects and project management Challenges and issues Types of projects
TRANSPORT PROJECTS:
Gotthard base tunnel in Switzerland
£6 (same as London Olympic 2012) On schedule Cuts travel time between Zurich and Lugano by 45 mins
Edinburgh trams
£375m over budget Probably will not alleviate transport problems
INFRASTRUCTURE/EVENT BASED PROJECTS:
Hosting Olympics games
Fyre festival
TECHNOLOGY/ SOFTWARE BASED PROJECTS:
Google glasses
Fastest selling drugs
Some reasons for these issues
- Poor requirements
- Stakeholder issues
- Bad planning
- Poor project management
- Resource issues- human, technology, finance
- Too big?
- Project team ineffectiveness
- Expected problems
- Unexpected problems
- Sponsor pressure
- External specialists
- Conflicting expectations
- Poor communications
- Definition of failure
Managing projects
‘Projects, like life’, is tricky to manage Managing projects is an art and science Sometimes needs leadership (not always management) Similar constraints but not identical
Types of projects- based on characterisation
Challenges faced by project managers in business operations management
Ambiguous contingency plans- external environment is dynamic, so small changes can impact business scope Problems with team members- business analysts may depend on other people to draw analyses e., number/data/trends/research
Lecture 1 - project management
Module: PROJECT MANAGEMENT (MAN3104)
University: University of Surrey
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