1. Project Management Week-1 [8/3/2009]

2. Operations versus Projects
Operations are repetitive, ongoing activities
Projects are unique one time initiatives that drive business innovation and change
In 50’s GM’s single model would sell in millions and in 2003 GM offered 89 models; selling an average of 50,000 /model

3. What has fuelled this change?
Compression of the product life cycle
Global Competition IT
Knowledge Explosion ( Product complexity has increased the need to integrate divergent technologies )
Corporate Downsizing ( outsourcing the projects)
Increased Customer Focus ( Customer satisfaction)
Operational efficiency has an upper limit
Quality is taken for granted

4. Project
Projects are a temporary organization and process set up to achieve a specified goal under the constraints of time, budget and other resources
A project is complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources, and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs.
A project can be considered to be any series of activities and tasks that have a specific objective, start and end dates, funding limits, ( if applicable), consume resources

5. Recap-Project Management
Project Management, on the other hand, involves project planning, and project monitoring, and includes such items as:
Definition of work requirements
Definition of quantity and quality of work
Definition resources needed
Tracking progress
Comparing actual outcome to predicated outcome
Analyzing impact
Making adjustments

6. Most Projects Still Fail
Only about 28%of IT projects were successful
Out 0f $382 billion spent on IT projects in US 82 billion were straight down the drain, 1/3rd either failed or missed targets with overruns of 200 to 300%
Another study on new product development revealed 46 % of resources allocated to projects that were cancelled or failed to yield financial return
In UK 75% of IT projects missed deadline, 55% exceeded budget and 37% did not project requirements

7. Why even well managed projects fail
Examples:
Denver International Airport started in 1989 to takeover Denver Stapleton Airport was delayed by 16 months with overrun of $1.5 billion
Segway made unnecessary huge investments in infrastructure
NASA Mars Climate Orbiter failed due to use of metric units in one of ground software
Common feature of all above: dedicated mangers top of line teams absence ability to assess uncertainty and complexity

8. Why Traditional PM Often fails?
Triple constraint or iron triangle
One size fits all

9. Traditional versus Adaptive
Approach
Traditional project management
Adaptive project management
Project goal
Getting the job done on time, on budget, and within requirement
Getting business results, meeting multiple criteria
Project plan
A collection of activities that are executed as planned to meet the triple constraint
An organization and a process to achieve the expected goals and business results
Planning
Plan once at project initiation
Plan at outset and replan when needed Flexible, changing, adaptive
Managerial approach
Rigid, focused on initial plan
Flexible, changing, adaptive
Project work
Predictable, certain, linear, simple
Unpredictable, uncertain, nonlinear, complex
Environment effect
Minimal, detached after the project is launched
Affects the project throughout its execution
Project control
Identify deviation from plan, and put things back on track
Identify changes in the environment, and adjust the plans accordingly
Distinction
All projects are the same
Projects differ
Management style
One size fits all
Adaptive approach; one size does not fit all

10. The Diamond Approach
a diamond-shaped framework to help managers distinguish among projects according to four dimensions: novelty, technology, complexity, and pace (NTCP).
a disciplined tool for analyzing the expected benefits and risks of a project
diamond analysis is also helpful in assessing a project in midcourse, identifying possible gaps in a troubled project, and selecting corrective actions to put the project back on
Provides common language for discussion among executives, managers, teams, and customers during the project approval, contracting, and monitoring process

11. NTCP
Novelty. This base represents the uncertainty of the project’s goad, the uncertainty in the market, or both. It measures how new he project’s product is to customers, users, or to the market in general and thus how clear and well defined the initial product requirements are. Novelty includes three types: derivative, platform, and breakthrough.
Technology. This base represents the project’s level of technological uncertainty. It is determined by how much new technology is required. Technology includes four types: low-tech, medium-tech, high-tech, and super-high-tech.
Complexity. This base measures the complexity of the product, the task, and the project organization. Complexity includes three types: assembly, system, and array (or system of systems).
Pace. This base represents the urgency of the project – namely, how much time there is to complete the job. Pace includes four types: regular, fast/competitive, time-critical, and blitz.