1. 1 Lesson 1: Initiating a Project

2. 2 Introduction to Project Management

3. 3 Project Management Statistics $2.3 trillion  The U.S. spends $2.3 trillion on projects every year, an amount equal to one-quarter of the nation’s gross domestic product. $10 trillion  The world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion of its $40.7 trillion gross product on projects of all kinds. sixteen million  More than sixteen million people regard project management as their profession *PMI, The PMI Project Management Fact Book, Second Edition, 2001

4. 4  IT Projects have a terrible track record –A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found 16.2%successful only 16.2% of IT projects were successful 31%canceledand over 31% were canceled before completion, costing over $81 B in the U.S. alone  The need for IT projects keeps increasing –In 2000, there were 300,000 new IT projects, and –In 2001, over 500,000 new IT projects were started Why Project Management?

5. 5 Advantages of Using Formal Project Management  Better control of financial, physical, and human resources  Improved customer relations  Shorter development times  Lower costs  Enhanced product quality and increased reliability  Improved productivity  Increased profitability  Better internal coordination  Higher worker morale

6. 6 Significant Improvement in IT Project Success Since 1995:  Time overruns significantly decreased to 63% compared to 222%  Cost overruns were down to 45% compared to 189%  78,000 U.S. projects were successful compared to 28,000  28% of IT projects succeeded compared to 16% (2001 Standish Group Report )

7. 7 What Is a Project?  A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to accomplish a unique purpose  Attributes of a project: –unique purpose – well-defined objective –temporary – has definite start and finish, deadlines –requires resources, hardware, software, labour –has a primary sponsor and/or customer, normally a business area manager –involves uncertainty in terms of clear objectives, cost and duration

8. 8 The Triple Constraint  Every project is constrained in different ways by its –Scope goals: What is the project trying to accomplish? (Scope = all the work to be done) –Time goals: How long should it take to complete? –Cost goals: What should it cost?  It is the project manager’s duty to balance these three often competing goals

9. 9 What is Project Management? Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements” (PMI*, Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 2000, p. 6) *The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional society. Their web site is www.pmi.org.

10. 10 Gathering Project Information

11. 11 Project Stakeholders  Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities  Stakeholders include: –the project sponsor and project team –support staff –customers –users –suppliers –even the opponents to the project

12. 12 Project Stakeholders  Important to identify stakeholders early in project’s initiation  Their inputs and requirements can ensure project’s success

13. 13 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 1  Does the project have an exact result? –Define clearly what the project should produce. and the results that signal the end of the project. –Think systematically : be clear about the inputs, processes and output –Gather information from stakeholders, eg sponsor and end users –Be clear about what is excluded from the project

14. 14 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 2  Are there industry or government standards/regulations to consider?  Non-adherence may prove costly in terms of litigation?

15. 15 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 3  Are the deadlines reasonable? –Be aware of the project calendar : specific to project as a whole - hours in which project can take place –and resource calendar : specific to team members – individual working hours, vacations

16. 16 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 4  How powerful is the sponsor? –Should have power to assign team members, allocate funds, approve decisions on project work –He/she is typically above the functional managers of team members working on the project

17. 17 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 5  Does the project have a firm financial commitment ? –Ensure that there is an approved budget

18. 18 Questions to consider when planning a project : Question 6  Are there competing projects in existence? –If there are similar projects, they should be co- ordinated by a Program manager

19. 19 Scrutinising the Project  Scrutinise the project optimistically, pessimistically and realistically. Consider the following issues: –User effect, benefits, acceptance? –Compatibility with other software? –Compatibility with other OSs? –Tested and tried by other companies? –Vendor track record and support? –Network utilisation? –Worst case scenarios? –Consider the following issues:

20. 20 Consider all Appropriate Technologies  Project technologies – – eg communications, charting tools, evaluation tools, controls  Product technologies – –Development software, OS, routers, cabling

21. 21 Interviewing Management  Understand management vision and need  How will the company benefit? Will the project support strategic goals?  Solicit a strong commitment to the project from management  Do not question their decision-making abilities, question their vision for the project  Ask questions that require specific answers  Think like an executive: invent a project that creates wealth for the company, satisfies customers and streamlines processes to achieve those goals

22. 22 The Importance of Management Commitment  Several studies cite top management commitment as one of the key factors associated with project success –Top management can help project managers: – secure adequate resources – get approval for unique project needs in a timely manner – receive cooperation from people throughout the organization –be better leaders through mentoring them

23. 23 Interviewing the Stakeholders  The users comprise the largest group of stakeholders.  Possible strategies to gauge user needs: –Focus groups use sample users from various departments. Focus groups need to be controlled –Intranet site using online surveys –Delphi technique where participants and responses are anonymous. The participants discuss the responses and reach a consensus. Can be used with intranet for speedy automation.  Study the existing system and document user responses to mock-ups of envisaged system.

24. 24 Suggestions for Better Understanding of User Input  Develop a good project selection process and insist that sponsors (they provide direction and funding) are from the user organization  Have users on the project team in important roles  Have regular meetings  Deliver something to users and sponsors on a regular basis  Keep users and developers in close proximity

25. 25 Suggestions for Limiting Changing Requirements  Develop a good project selection process and insist that sponsors (they provide direction and funding) are from the user organization  Develop and follow a requirements management process with definite procedures for identifying requirements  Use approaches like prototyping and JAD to get more user involvement  Put requirements in writing and keep them current  Provide adequate testing and conduct testing throughout the project life cycle  Review changes from a systems perspective  Emphasize completion dates to help focus on what’s most important  Allocate resources specifically for handling change requests/enhancements

26. 26 Identifying Project Needs

27. 27 Difficulties in Managing IT projects:  IT changes rapidly  Keeping teams, budget and goals focused  Demands by stakeholders  Flux in team member’s commitment to their own career

28. 28 Why do Projects Fail?  Other projects take precedence  Members lose sight of project’s purpose  Poor leadership – lack of delegation  Poor vision of the intangible, and the actions required to get there  Lack user involvement  Lack of executive management support  Poorly defined statement of requirements  Poor communication skills

29. 29 Always Create Goals  Goals should be: –clear –well-defined –reasonable –founded on preliminary research

30. 30 Project Management Areas and Tools

31. 31 Project Charter  A document that formally recognizes the existence of a project  Provides direction on the project’s objectives and management.  It formally authorizes the project  It clearly defines the project, its attributes and end results  Key project stakeholders  It assigns authority to the project manager on behalf of the project sponsor  Makes project manager accountable for the project  Do not confuse the project charter with the project plan, which follows later

32. 32 Project Charter Sections  Introductory information –Project name –Project sponsor and contact information –Project manager and contact information –Team members names  Purpose of project  Business case for project(Why is the project necessary?)  High-level results and deliverables of the project (objectives)  General statement about how the team will approach the work  Basic timeline Project resources, budget and vendors  Sign-off and comment sections

33. 33 Finding an End Date  Flexible end dates increase time and cost and decreases morale  Firm date creates a sense of responsibility towards the project and confirms that the project will end  Based on facts research and planning  The end date is determined by the duration of each step and the manner in which the steps are sequenced

34. 34 Factors Impacting on Projected Deadlines  Business cycles, eg Christmas rush  Financial situations, eg fiscal year endings when taxes have to be paid  Times of the year, eg team member availability, vacations

35. 35 Project Management Areas and Tools

36. 36 Project Management Areas  Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must develop –4 core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives (scope, time, cost, and quality) –4 facilitating knowledge areas are the means through which the project objectives are achieved (human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management –1 over-arching knowledge area (project integration management) affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas

37. 37 Project Management Framework Enterprise Success Enterprise Success

38. 38 How Project Management (PM) Relates to Other Disciplines  Much of the knowledge needed to manage projects is unique to PM  However, project managers must also have knowledge and experience in –general management –the application area of the project  Project managers must focus on meeting specific project objectives

39. 39 Project Management Tools and Techniques  Project management tools and techniques assist project managers and their teams in various aspects of project management  Some specific ones include: –Project Charter and WBS (scope) –Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, (time) –Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)

40. 40 Sample WBS for Intranet Project in Chart Form

41. 41 Sample Gantt Chart The WBS is on the left, and each task’s start and finish date are shown on the right using a calendar timescale.

42. 42 Sample Network Diagram Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any tasks on the critical path take longer than planned, the whole project will slip unless something is done.

43. 43 Growth in the Project Management Profession

44. 44 History of Project Management  Modern project management began with the Manhattan Project, which the U.S. military led to develop the atomic bomb  In 1917 Henry Gantt developed the Gantt chart as a tool for scheduling work in job shops  In 1958, the Navy developed PERT charts  In the 1970s, the military began using project management software, as did the construction industry  By the 1990s, virtually every industry was using some form of project management

45. 45 The Project Management Profession  A 1996 Fortune article called project management the “number one career choice”  Professional societies like the Project Management Institute (PMI) have grown tremendously  Average salaries for project managers are over $81,000

46. 46 Project Management Certification  PMI provides certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP)  A PMP has documented sufficient project experience, agreed to follow a code of ethics, and passed the PMP exam  The number of people earning PMP certification is increasing quickly  PMI and other organizations are offering new certification programs

47. 47 Growth in PMP Certification, 1993-2000