1. Week 2 Basic Project Management Concepts and the Project Charter

2. Project Failure Studies (One Example of Many Studies)
KPMG, Canada (1997) conducted a project survey
From the information technology industry and
In which 61% of projects were deemed to be failures (
There are dozens of studies in a variety of industries that show similar results.
Progress is being made through implementation of rigorous project methodologies, but there is still much work to be done.

3. The IBM White Paper – “Making Change Work” (accessed on 6/10/09)
“Even though just 41 percent of projects were described as successful, those with the highest project success rate (the top 20 percent of our 1,500 manager sample) – we call them Change Masters – reported an 80 percent project success rate, nearly double the study’s average. In sharp contrast, the bottom 20 percent of our sample – the group we describe as Change Novices – reported a disappointing project success rate of 8 percent.” ?

4. The IBM White Paper (Continued)
What accounts for these vastly different rates of project success?
“We found in our detailed analysis of study results that achieving project success does not hinge primarily on technology – instead, success depends largely on people. But what is more illuminating is the discovery that four common factors helped these practitioners address their greatest project challenges. When used in combination, these factors provided a synergistic benefit that was even greater than the sum of their individual impacts, resulting in higher rates of project success.”

5. The IBM White Paper – Four Factors
Real Insights, Real Actions
You should strive for a full, realistic awareness and understanding of the upcoming challenges and complexities, then follow with actions to address them.
Solid Methods, Solid Benefits
Use a systematic approach to change that is focused on outcomes and closely aligned with a formal project management methodology.

6. The IBM White Paper – Four Factors (Continued)
Better Skills, Better Change
Leverage resources appropriately to demonstrate top management sponsorship, assign dedicated change managers, and empower employees to enact change.
Right Investment, Right Impact
Allocate the right amount for change management by understanding which types of investments can offer the best returns, in terms of greater project success.

7. Project Success is Usually:
Meeting the triple constraint
Time
Cost
Scope (meeting the requirements of customer product/service specifications, needs, and quality),
Properly allocating project resources (efficiency, effectiveness, no burn-out, and no adverse organizational effects), and
Determining it at the end of the project, not later.

8. Terminology: Project Phases and Project Processes
Phases – The breaking of the project down into logical major deliverables. Phases should be kept to a minimum. The number of phases in a project should be determined by upper management or the sponsor, often based upon reporting needs. (Examples are the feasibility phase or the prototype phase.) Many projects have a single phase.
Processes – Each phase/project should be managed using the five standard processes, namely: initiation, planning, execution, monitor & control, and close-out. Phases have processes. Processes do not have phases.

9. Terminology: Project Management Knowledge Areas
PMBOK Guide Chapters 4 through 12 address specific project management knowledge areas (for example, time, risk, or quality).
These knowledge areas transcend project processes as outlined on page 43 of the PMBOK Guide, Fourth Edition.

10. Some Important Introductory Project Management Terms (See PMBOK Guide Glossary for Definitions)
Baseline
Change Control Board (CCB)
Configuration Management System
Deliverable
Enterprise Environmental Factors
Lessons-Learned
Matrix Organization
Methodology
Portfolio
Program
Progressive Elaboration
Scope Creep
Sponsor
Stakeholder
Virtual Team

11. JUST DO IT
PMI says Plan, Plan, Plan, Collect and Analyze Data, Implement, Develop Reports, and Conduct Project Post-Mortems.

12. Maybe it’s just a marketing thing!
meetings/meeting_pdfs/020419_breakfastw.pdf
Nike project managers make multiple presentations at PMI breakfast meetings.
“Just Do It”
Maybe it’s just a marketing thing!

13. The Project Charter Among other things, the project charter:
Outlines the business need,
Identifies high-level requirements,
Provides a summary budget/schedule, and
Assigns the project manager and outlines her responsibility/authority level.
The project charter is generally a short project document, often only a page or two in length.

14. The Project Charter (Continued)
Organizations which are just starting to embrace a formal project management methodology generally do not have:
Measureable success criteria and objectives, or
Identification of who will approve the project.
In these organizations, things just happen and conflicts are resolved on a case by case basis. This is inefficient and often ineffective.

15. The Project Charter (Continued)
The previously described factors that determine project success are also included in the charter.
Measurable project success factors (also called objectives) frequently include the following:
The project was finished on time.
The project was finished within budget.
The project was finished according to scope (requirements/quality).
The project, when completed, did not have an adverse effect upon the larger organization.

16. The Project Charter (Continued)
It should be remembered that project success should be evaluated at the end of the project, not at some later date during operation of the project product/service deliverable. Consider the Sydney Opera House.
It is recognized around the world and is often thought of when one thinks of Australia. It is a stunning success.
However, as a project it was a complete failure. It was delivered over budget, late, and not according to specifications.

17. The Project Charter (Continued)
Sydney Opera House
The original architect of the opera house was fired.
The interior of the opera house was originally designed to contain wide open spaces which would give it the same open majestic feel as the outside. Due to lack of funding, a less expensive more office-like interior structure was built.
It is only forty years later that there are plans to rebuild the interior to the original specifications.

18. The Project Charter (Continued)
As another example, consider a project to build a restaurant. You have built it on time, within budget, and according to specifications.
You probably would not want the evaluation of the success of your project to be dependent upon the success of the restaurant.
The success of the restaurant is beyond your control and could be affected by such things as location, the menu, employee friendliness, or operating management.

19. End of Basic Project Management Concepts and the Project Charter