2025

1
Project Management Training

Training Objectives

• Understand the growing need for better project management

• Describe project management and discuss key elements of the project management framework.

• Explain the scope planning process and describe the contents of a scope management plan.

• Understand the role of communication for projects

• Understand time management of projects

• Understand cost and change management of projects

• Understand different quality management techniques of projects

• Explain the importance of good human resource management on projects,

• Understand what risk is and the importance of good project risk management.

• Explain how projects are managed in integration

• Understand techniques of decision making

2
TRAINING OUTLINE Allotted Time

SESSION I: OVERVIEW OF PROJECT CONCEPTS ………………………………….8 hrs

 Introduction……………………………………………………….…………..……1hr
 Project – Definitions and Descriptions……………………………………..………2hr
 Characteristics of a project……………….………………………………..……….1hr
 Skills for Project Managers……………………………………………………..….1hr
 Project lifecycle models ……………………...…………………………………....1hr
 Project identification…………………………………………………….…………1hr
 Feasibility Study....…...……………………………………………………………1hr
 Appraisal and Selection……………………………………………………………1hr

SESSION III: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION (PM FRAMEWORK) ………………. 26 hrs

 Project Scope Management ………………………………………………….…….2 hrs
 Project Time Management ………………………………………………….………4 hrs
 Project Cost and Change Management …………………………………………… 3hrs
 Project Quality Management……………………………………………….…….… 2hrs
 Project Human Resources Management…………………………………….……… 4 hrs
 Project Communication Management……………………………………………… 2 hrs
 Project Risk Management………………………………………………………….. 3hrs
 Project Procurement Management…………………………………………………..2hrs
 Project contract management ……………………………………………………….2hrs
 Project Integration Management…………………………………………………….2hrs

SESSION IV: PROJECT MONITORING, EVALUATION AND CLOSE OUT………..6 hrs

 Decision making …………………………………………………………….2hrs
 Relationship of Monitoring to Evaluation…………………………………..2 hrs
o The Purpose and Use of Evaluation
o Different Kinds of Evaluation
o Evaluation Criteria
 Closeout Activities………………………………………………………….2 hrs
o Turnover to Operation
o Administrative Closure
o The Final Report
Total Time Required ………..….……………………………………………………………..40 hrs

3
Session One: Overview of Project Concepts

SESSION OBJECTIVES
 The objective of this training is to introduce the basic concepts of project and project
management. It covers the project management framework, characteristics of project, project
life cycle models, project idea identifications, and feasibility studies and appraisal.

What is a Project?

• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result (PMI)

• Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project
activities to meet project requirements.” (PMI)

• Operation is work done to sustain the business.

• A project ends when its objectives have been reached, or the project has been terminated.

• Projects can be large or small and take a short or long time to complete.

• A project is a unique, complex, and non-routine endeavor or effort to produce a set of deliverables
within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints to meet customer needs.

4
The Triple Constraint
Every project is constrained in different ways by its:

• Scope goals: What work will 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.

Characteristics of a project

• A project involves a single, definable purpose, end-item, or result, usually specified in terms of
cost, schedule, and performance requirements.

• Every project is unique in that it requires doing something different than was done previously.
Even in “routine” projects such as home construction, variables such as terrain, access, zoning
laws, labor market, public services, and local utilities make each project different. A project is a
one-time activity, never to be exactly repeated again.

5
• Projects are temporary activities. An ad hoc organization of personnel, material, and facilities is
assembled to accomplish a goal, usually within a scheduled time frame; once the goal is achieved,
the organization is disbanded or reconfigured to begin work on a new goal.

• Projects cut across organizational lines because they need the skills and talents from multiple
professions and organizations. Project complexity often arises from the complexity of advanced
technology, which creates task interdependencies that may introduce new and unique problems.

• Project is the process of working to achieve a goal; during the process, projects pass through
several distinct phases, called the project life cycle. The tasks, people, organizations, and other
resources change as the project moves from one phase to the next. The organization structure and
resource expenditures slowly build with each succeeding phase; peak; and then decline as the
project nears completion.

• Flexibility: Change and projects are synonymous. Always a project witnesses’ multiples of
modifications and changes in its original plans, programs and budgets.

Why project?
Projects are typically initiated for one or more of the following reasons:
 When starting a new business/job/ any activity
 In order to develop/modify a product or service/Responses to competition/Desire to be more
competitive
 For relocating and/or closing a facility
 For regulatory mandate/ New laws and regulations
 In order to re-engineer the process so as to reduce complaints, reduce cycle time, and
eliminate errors /For implementing a new system or process
 To introduce new equipment, tools or techniques
 Market demand/At the request of a customer

6
Project Management Framework

Project Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities.
Key Stakeholders
• Project Manager/s
• Customers/ End Users
• Performing Organization
• Project Management working on the Project
• Project Team Members
• Sponsors
• Influencers

Stakeholders are important to a project because:

• They can be critical in its success or failure
• They can have a much better understanding of the feasibility of different actions and the resources
required to reach certain objectives than an outsider to the project
• Their expectations need to be managed
• They can provide important information on the progress of the project

7
Nine Project Management Knowledge Areas
Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must develop.
• Core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives
 scope, time, cost, and quality
• Facilitating knowledge areas are the means through which the project objectives are achieved
 human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management
• Project integration management- affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
 All knowledge areas are important!

Project Management Tools and Techniques

Project management tools and techniques assist project managers and their teams in various aspects of
project management.
Specific tools and techniques include:
• Project charters, scope statements, and WBS (scope).
• Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical chain scheduling (time).
• Cost estimates and earned value management (cost).
• Quality management tools
Project Portfolio Management
Many organizations support an emerging business strategy of project portfolio management:
Organizations group and manage projects as a portfolio of investments that contribute to the entire
enterprise’s success.

Project Success Factors*

. Executive support
. User involvement
. Experienced project manager
. Clear business objectives
. Minimized scope
. Infrastructure
. Firm basic requirements
. Formal methodology
. Reliable estimates

8
 . Other criteria, such as small milestones, proper planning, competent staff, and ownership
The Role of the Project Manager
Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities such as planning, scheduling, coordinating,
and working with people to achieve project goals.
NB: 97 % of successful projects were led by experienced project managers.

Fifteen Project Management Job Functions*

• Define scope of project.
• Identify stakeholders, decision-makers, and escalation procedures.
• Develop detailed task list (work breakdown structures).
• Estimate time requirements.
• Develop initial project management flow chart.
• Identify required resources and budget.
• Evaluate project requirements.
• Identify and evaluate risks.
• Prepare contingency plan.
• Identify interdependencies.
• Identify and track critical milestones.
• Participate in project phase review.
• Secure needed resources.
• Manage the change control process.
• Report project status.
*The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS” (2001).
Suggested Skills for Project Managers
Project managers need a wide variety of skills.
They should:
o Be comfortable with change.
o Understand the organizations they work in and with.
o Lead teams to accomplish project goals.
Project managers need both “hard” and “soft” skills.
• Hard skills include product knowledge and knowing how to use various project management tools
and techniques.

9
• Soft skills include being able to work with various types of people.
Specific Suggested Skills for Project Managers include:
 Communication skills: Listens, persuades.
 Organizational skills: Plans, sets goals, analyzes.
 Team-building skills: Shows empathy, motivates, promotes esprit de corps.
 Leadership skills: Sets examples, provides vision (big picture), delegates, positive, energetic.
 Coping skills: Flexible, creative, patient, persistent.
 Technology skills: Experience, project knowledge.

Most Significant Characteristics of Effective and Ineffective Project Managers

Effective Project Managers Ineffective Project Managers
• Leadership by example • Sets bad example
• Visionary • Not self-assured
• Technically competent • Lacks technical expertise
• Decisive • Poor communicator
• Good communicator • Poor motivator
• Good motivator
• Stands up to upper
management when
necessary
• Supports team members
• Encourages new ideas

Importance of Leadership Skills

 Effective project managers provide leadership by example.
 A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives while inspiring people to reach
those goals.
 A manager deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals.
 Project managers often take on both leader and manager roles.

10
 Activity
Discussion on Success & Failure Stories of Projects in Ethiopia
Why many Ethiopian projects fail in time, cost and quality? And why others are successful?
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
What is the success and failure history of projects in Ethiopian Electric utility? What factors are unique
to your company? If there are problem of failure what strategies you propose
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE – MODELS

It is the cycle that defines distinct but interdependent phases through which a project passes from its
point of initiation to its completion.

There are many valid ways based on which the project cycle may be classified. Various models deal
with the project cycle. However, here we give more emphasis on the basic models:
 Baum’s model of project cycle
 UNIDO Project cycle
 DEPSA’s cycle
Baum’s model of project cycle: Initiated by Baum in 1970, was improved in 1978 and has been
adopted by the World Bank ever since. Initially recognized four main stages, namely:
• Identification
• Preparation

11
 • Appraisal and Selection
• Implementation
At later stage (1978) the author has added an additional stage called “evaluation.”
Identification: the first stage in the cycle which deals with finding potential project ideas. Project
ideas can be originated from:
• Resources
• Market
• Need
• Well-experienced technical specialists
• Existing projects
Preparation (Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies):
is a key process that justifies whether to go ahead with a certain or particular project idea or to
disregard it. In other words, a feasibility study is an analysis of the viability of an idea from
different dimensions like:
 Market analysis,  Environmental analysis
 Technical analysis,  Organization and management
 Financial analysis, analysis.
 Socio-economic analysis

Project appraisal:
• involves a careful checking of the basic data, assumptions and methodology used in project
preparation, an in-depth review of the work plan, cost estimates, and proposed financing, an
assessment of the project's organizational and management aspects, and finally the viability of
project.
It provides an opportunity to re-examine every aspect of the project plan to assess whether the
proposal is appropriate and sound before large sums are committed. should cover at least seven
aspects: technical, financial, commercial, incentive, economic, Managerial and organizational.
Implementation
• a critical stage of project work & perhaps the most important part of the project cycle.
• funds are actually disbursed to get the project started and keep running.
• Priority is to ensure that the project is carried out in the way and within the period that was
planned.

12
 • Is where many of the real problems of projects are first identified.
Evaluation
• Compares actual progress with the plans, and judges whether the decisions and actions taken were
responsible and useful.
• The main purpose is to learn lessons for the design of future projects and help ensure
accountability.
• Provides a comprehensive and detailed review of the elements of success and failure of the project
for enhancing the impact of project work.
• May take place at several times in the life of a project.
Who handles evaluation?
o Project management
o The sponsoring agency,
o the project's administrative structure

UNIDO PROJECT CYCLE

 The Pre-Investment Phase
 Investment Phase
 Operational/Normalization Phase
1) The Pre-Investment Phase: includes
a) Identification of investment opportunities (opportunity study)
 General opportunity studies (sector approach)
 Specific Project Opportunity Studies (enterprise approach)
b) Pre-feasibility studies
• A further assessment of the project idea might be made in a pre-feasibility study. This is to
see if:
• All possible project alternatives are examined
• The project concept justifies detail study
• All aspects are critical and need in-depth investigation
• The project idea is viable and attractive or not.
• Its structure should be the same as that of a detailed feasibility study.
c) Support (functional) studies

13
 • Prerequisite for, or in support of, a pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, particularly large-
scale investment proposals. They include:
 Market studies of products
 Raw materials and factory supplies studies
 Laboratory and pilot plant tests
 Location studies
 Environmental impact assessment
 Economies of scale studies
 Equipment selection studies
d) Feasibility studies
 Defines and critically examines the commercial, technical, financial, economic, and
environmental prerequisites for an investment project on the basis of alternative
solutions already reviewed in the pre-feasibility study. It should provide all data necessary
for an investment decision.
e) Appraisal report
• It is considered as an independent stage of the pre-investment phase, marked by the final
investment and financing decisions taken by the project promoters.
• It is carried out when a feasibility study is completed, where various parties will handle
their own appraisal of the investment project in accordance with their individual objectives
and evaluation of expected risks, costs, and gain.
2) The investment (construction or implementation) phase
• Negotiations and contracting
• Technology acquisition and transfer
• Engineering and contracting
• Construction
• Pre-production marketing
• Recruitment and Training personnel
• Plant commissioning and start-up

3)The operational (normalization) phase

• Objective: to produce goods and services for which a project is established.
• Problems: of this phase need to be considered from both a short-term & long-term viewpoint.

14
Project Identification
Definition and meaning project identification
Project identification is the systematic process for finding or locating and screening promising
project ideas from their respective sources.
In other words, project identification is the first stage in any project cycle which is concerned about
generation or incubation of promising project ideas using appropriate method.
Sources of project idea
 Macro level
 Micro level
Macro-level Project Ideas
At the macro-level, project ideas emerge from:
• National policies, strategies & priorities as may be enunciated by government from time to time;
• National, sectoral, sub-sectoral or regional programs supplemented by special studies, sometimes
called opportunity studies, conducted with the explicit aim of translation of national and sectoral, sub-
sectoral and regional programs into specific projects;
• Constraints on the development process
• Government decision to correct social and regional inequalities
• A possible external threat
• Unusual events such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, hostilities, etc.
• At the macro-level, project ideas can also originate from multilateral or bilateral development agencies

At the micro-level, the variety of sources is equally broad. Project ideas emanate from:
• The existence of unsatisfied demand or needs.
• The existence of unused or underutilized natural or human resources and the perception of
opportunities for their efficient use.
• Analyze the performance of existing industries;
• Review imports and exports;
• Attend Trade fairs, exhibitions and conferences.
At the end of the preliminary screening, the analyst should eliminate project ideas that:
 Are technically unsound and risky;
 Have no market for the output;
 Have inadequate supply of inputs;
 Are very costly in relation to benefits;
15
Activity
Generate your Project own Idea that you believe important for your company and make preliminary
screening
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT FEASIBILITY STUDY

• It is an analysis of the viability of a project idea from different parameters.
• It is a process for determining the viability of a proposed initiative or service and providing a
framework and direction for its development and delivery.
• It is a process for making sound decisions and setting direction.
• The study focuses on helping answer the essential question of “should we proceed with the proposed
project idea?”

REASONS TO DO A FEASIBILITY STUDY

• To give focus to the project and outline alternatives by narrowing them
• To surface new opportunities through the investigative process
• To identify reasons not to proceed
• To enhance the probability of success
• To provide quality information for decision making
• To help to increase investment in the company
• To provide documentation that the business venture was thoroughly investigated
• To help in securing funding from lending institutions and other monetary sources

CONSEQUENCES OF POOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES

• Overstatement of returns, market share, sales volume, etc.
• Underestimated costs, resources, risk, etc.
• Omission of a necessary component
• Failure to consider the variability of environment
• Optimistic calendar for implementation,
• Low capacity utilization, Heavy costs overruns, hence deteriorated financial profitability,
16
PROCESS + COMPONENTS OF FEASIBILITY STUDIES
Market Analysis
• General Indicators of the Economy
• Product
• Demand
• Supply
• Marketing Environment
• Marketing mix/Strategy
Technical Analysis
• Materials inputs and utilities
• Product mix
• Plant capacity
• Location site
• Machinery and equipment
• Structure and civil work
• Project chart and layouts
• Work schedule
Financial Analysis
• Cost of project
• Means of financing
• Estimates of sales and production
• Working capital requirement and its financing
• Projected cash flow statements
• Break even points
• Projected profits

Socio economic Analysis

• The contribution of the project for the society and the general economy
Environmental analysis
• Whether the project is environmentally friendly or not
Organization and management analysis
• The organizational system
• The human resource plan

17
PROJECT APPRAISAL AND SELECTION
1. It is a systematic and comprehensive review of the economic, environmental, financial, social,
technical and other such aspects of a project to determine if it will meet its objectives.” It is the
process of assessing and questioning proposals before resources are committed.
Features: Appraisal involves
• a careful checking of the basic data,
• assumptions and methodology used in project preparation,
• an in-depth review of the work plan, cost estimates, and proposed financing,
• an assessment of the project's organizational and management aspects,
• finally, the viability of project.
NB. Components in appraisal are same as components in feasibility study. It is rechecking of the
results of feasibility study.
Activity
• Appraise your project to recheck the accuracy of the result of your feasibility study
• Based on the result of your feasibility study develop a proposal (business Plan) for your project
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

18
 Session III
Project Planning and Implementation (Project Management Framework)

2.1 . Project Scope Management

Scope refers to all the work involved in creating the products of the project and the processes used to
create them.
A deliverable is a product produced as part of a project
Project scope management includes the processes involved in defining and controlling what is or is
not included in a project.

Project Scope Management Processes

 Scope planning: Deciding how the scope will be defined, verified, and controlled.
 Scope definition: Reviewing the project charter and preliminary scope statement and
adding more information as requirements are developed and change requests are approved.
 Creating the WBS: Subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more
manageable components.
 Scope verification: Formalizing acceptance of the project scope.
 Scope control: Controlling changes to project scope.

19
Scope Planning and the Scope Management Plan
The scope management plan is a document that includes descriptions of how the team will:
 Prepare the project scope statement
 Create the WBS
 Verify completion of the project deliverables
 Control requests for changes to the project scope.

Approaches to Developing WBSs

 Guidelines: Some organizations provide guidelines for preparing WBSs.
 Analogy approach: Review WBSs of similar projects and tailor to your project.
 Top-down approach: Start with the largest items of the project and break them down.
 Bottom-up approach: Start with the specific tasks and roll them up.
 Mind-mapping approach: Write tasks in a non-linear, branching format and then create the
WBS structure.
Figure: Sample Mind-Mapping Approach

The WBS Dictionary and Scope Baseline

Many WBS tasks are vague and must be explained in more detail so people know
o What to do
o How long the work will take
o What it will cost.
 A WBS dictionary is a document that describes detailed information about each WBS item.
 The approved project scope statement and its WBS and WBS dictionary form the scope
baseline, which is used to measure performance in meeting project scope goals.

20
Advice for Creating a WBS and WBS Dictionary
 A unit of work should appear in only one place in the WBS.
 The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the WBS items below it.
 A WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even though many people may be
working on it.
 The WBS must be consistent with the way in which work is actually going to be performed; it
should serve the project team first, and other purposes only if practical.
 Project team members should be involved in developing the WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in.
 Each WBS item must be documented in a WBS dictionary to ensure accurate understanding of
the scope of work that is included and not included in that item.
 The WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate inevitable changes while properly
maintaining control of the work content in the project according to the scope statement.
Scope Verification
 It is very difficult to create a good scope statement and WBS for a project.
 It is even more difficult to verify project scope and minimize scope changes.
 Many projects suffer from scope creep and poor scope verification.

Scope creep/feature creep or “kitchen sink syndrome” (as in, including everything and the kitchen
sink), is basically where, over the course of the project, more and more features are added to the
point where the allotted budget, time, and resources can no longer cover the workload and the
project starts to flounder.
It happens for various reasons, but the two main causes are:
 Clients asking for more features.
 “Gold plating” – the situation where the development team decides to add more features in
order to impress the client (or themselves).

21
Scope Control
Scope control involves controlling changes to the project scope.
Goals of scope control are to:
 Influence the factors that cause scope changes.

22
  Ensure changes are processed according to procedures developed as part of integrated
change control.
 Manage changes when they occur.
Variance is the difference between planned and actual performance.

Suggestions for Improving User Input

 Develop a good project selection process and insist that sponsors are from the user
organization.
 Place users on the project team in important roles.
 Hold regular meetings with defined agendas, and have users sign off on key deliverables
presented at meetings.
 Deliver something to users and sponsors on a regular basis.
 Don’t promise to deliver when you know you can’t.
 Co-locate users with developers.
Suggestions for Reducing Incomplete and Changing Requirements
Develop and follow a requirements management process.
 Use techniques such as prototyping, use case modeling to get more user involvement.
 Put requirements in writing and keep them current.
 Create a requirements management database for documenting and controlling requirements.
 Suggestions for Reducing Incomplete and Changing Requirements (cont’d)
 Conduct adequate 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 and enhancements.

Activity 2.1
Create your own project and develop a WBS for the project. The WBS should include
Project Charter

• Project title

• Start and finish date

• Project manager

• Project objective

23
 • Approaches of implementation

• Roles and responsibilities

Detail activities and milestones of the project
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

2.2 Project Communications Management

Importance of Good Communications
o The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to communicate.
o Most professionals are not good communicators.
o Professionals must be able to communicate effectively to succeed in their positions.
o Strong verbal skills are a key factor in career advancement for professionals.

Project Communications Management Processes

o Communications planning: Determining the information and communications needs of the
stakeholders.
o Information distribution: Making needed information available to project stakeholders in a
timely manner.
o Performance reporting: Collecting and disseminating performance information, including
status reports, progress measurement, and forecasting.
o Managing stakeholders: Managing communications to satisfy the needs and expectations of
project stakeholders and to resolve issues.

Communications Planning
o Every project should include some type of communications management plan, a document
that guides project communications.
o Creating a stakeholder analysis for project communications also aids in communications
planning.

24
 Communications Management Plan Contents
o Stakeholder communications requirements.
o Information to be communicated, including format, content, and level of detail.
o The people who will receive the information and who will produce it.
o Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the information.
o Frequency of communication.
o Escalation procedures for resolving issues.
o Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan.
o A glossary of common terminology.

Sample Stakeholder Analysis for Project Communications

Performance Reporting
Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve
project objectives.
 Status reports describe where the project stands at a specific point in time.
 Progress reports describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of
time.
 Forecasts predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends.

25
Managing Stakeholders
 Project managers must understand and work with various stakeholders.
 Need to devise a way to identify and resolve issues.

Two important tools include:

 Expectations management matrix
 Issue log

Expectations Management Matrix

Issue Log

26
Activity- 2-1
Identify the communication tools of your project
_______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

27
2.3 Project Cost Management

What is Project Cost Management?

Project cost management is a processes required to ensure that a project team completes a project
within an approved budget.

There are four project cost management processes:

1. Resource planning
 What resources (people, equipment, and materials)
 Quantities of each resource
 The nature of the project affect resource planning

2. Cost Estimating
 Estimating costs of the resources needed
 Outputs of the cost estimating process are:
 Cost estimates
 Supporting detail
 The ground rules and assumptions used in creating the estimate
 Basis for the estimate: scope statement, WBS, and so on
 Details on the cost estimation tools and techniques used to create the estimate.
 A cost management plan: a document that describes how the organization will
manage cost variances on the project.

Cost Estimation Tools & Techniques

Top-down estimates
 Using the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the cost of the
current project
 Requiring much of expert judgment
 Being generally less costly but less accurate than others are

Bottom-up estimating
 Estimating individual work items and summing them to get a project total
 Being more accurate with smaller work items
 Being usually time-intensive and therefore expensive to develop

Parametric modeling
 Using project characteristics (parameters) in a mathematical model to estimate project costs
 Being most reliable when:
 The historical information that was used to create the model is accurate
 The parameters are readily quantifiable
 The model is flexible in terms of the size of the project

28
 3. Cost Budgeting
Allocating the overall project cost estimate to individual work items to prepare budgetary estimates
and to establish a cost baseline for measuring project performance.

 These work items are based on the WBS (a required input to the cost budgeting process) for the
project.

Output: cost baseline

A cost baseline is a time-phased budget that project managers use to measure and monitor
cost performance.

4. Cost Control
Cost control involves controlling changes to the project budget.
Project cost control includes:
 Monitoring cost performance
 Ensuring that only appropriate project changes are included in a revised cost baseline
 Informing project stakeholders of authorized changes to the project that will affect costs.

 The inputs to the cost control process are:

 The cost baseline
 Performance reports
 Change requests
 The cost management plan.
 The main outputs of the cost control process are:
 Revised cost estimates
 Budget updates
 Corrective action
 Revised estimates for project completion
 Lessons learned.

Activity-3
• Identify resources needed to implement the project
• Estimate cost of each of the resources needed for the project
• Allocate the overall project cost estimate to individual work items and prepare budgetary
estimates

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

29
Project Integration Management
The Key to Overall Project Success: Good Project Integration Management
Project integration management involves coordinating all of the other knowledge areas throughout a
project’s life cycle

Many new project managers have trouble looking at the “big picture” and want to focus on too many
details
Project Integration Management Processes
– Develop the project charter
– Develop the project management plan
– Direct and manage project execution
– Monitor and control project work
– Perform integrated change control
– Close the project or phase
Figure: Project Integration Management Summary

30
Develop the project charter:
A document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the
project’s objectives and management. a signed charter is a key output of project integration
management
Inputs for Developing a Project Charter
– A project statement of work
– A business case
– Agreements
– Enterprise environmental factors
– Organizational process assets, which include formal and informal plans, policies,
procedures, guidelines, information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons
learned, and historical information

Developing a Project Management Plan

A project management plan is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and
help guide a project’s execution and control
Plans created in the other knowledge areas are subsidiary parts of the overall project management
plan

Common Elements of a Project Management Plan

• Introduction or overview of the project
• Description of how the project is organized
• Management and technical processes used on the project
• Work to be done, schedule, and budget information

Directing and Managing Project Work

• Involves managing and performing the work described in the project management plan
• The majority of time and money is usually spent on execution
• The application area of the project directly affects project execution because the products of
the project are produced during execution

31
Coordinating Planning and Execution
• Project planning and execution are intertwined and inseparable activities
• Those who will do the work should help to plan the work
• Project managers must solicit input from the team to develop realistic plans

Monitoring and Controlling Project Work

• Changes are inevitable on most projects, so it’s important to develop and follow a process to
monitor and control changes
• Monitoring project work includes collecting, measuring, and disseminating performance
information
• A baseline is the approved project management plan plus approved changes

Performing Integrated Change Control

Three main objectives are:
– Influencing the factors that create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial
– Determining that a change has occurred
– Managing actual changes as they occur

Change Control System

A change control system is a formal, documented process that describes when and how
official project documents and work may be changed
Describes who is authorized to make changes and how to make them

Change Control Board (CCB)

A change control board is a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes
on a project
CCBs provide guidelines for preparing change requests, evaluate change requests, and manage the
implementation of approved changes
Includes stakeholders from the entire organization

Making Timely Changes

Some CCBs only meet occasionally, so it may take too long for changes to occur
Some organizations have policies in place for time-sensitive changes
32
– “48-hour policy” allows project team members to make decisions, then they have 48 hours to
reverse the decision pending senior management approval
– Delegate changes to the lowest level possible, but keep everyone informed of changes

Table: Suggestions for Performing Integrated Change Control

Closing Projects or Phases

To close a project or phase, you must finalize all activities and transfer the completed or cancelled
work to the appropriate people
Main outputs include
– Final product, service, or result transition
– Organizational process asset updates

Project Quality Management

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines quality as “the degree to which a
set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements” (ISO9000:2000)
Other experts define quality based on:
 Conformance to requirements: The project’s processes and products meet written specifications
 Fitness for use: A product can be used as it was intended

What Is Project Quality Management?

Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was
undertaken
Processes include:

33
  Planning quality management: Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the
project and how to satisfy them; a metric is a standard of measurement
 Performing quality assurance: Periodically evaluating overall project performance to
ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards
 Performing quality control: Monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply
with the relevant quality standards
Figure: Project Quality Management Summary

Planning Quality
 Implies the ability to anticipate situations and prepare actions to bring about the desired
outcome
Important to prevent defects by:
 Selecting proper materials
 Training and indoctrinating people in quality
 Planning a process that ensures the appropriate outcome

Performing Quality Assurance

 Quality assurance includes all the activities related to satisfying the relevant quality
standards for a project
 Another goal of quality assurance is continuous quality improvement. Kaizen is the Japanese
word for improvement or change for the better

34
  Lean involves evaluating processes to maximize customer value while minimizing waste
 Benchmarking generates ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project
practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside the
performing organization
 A quality audit is a structured review of specific quality management activities that help
identify lessons learned that could improve performance on current or future projects

Controlling Quality
The main outputs of quality control are:
 Acceptance decisions
 Rework
 Process adjustments
There are Seven Basic Tools of Quality that help in performing quality control
1. Cause-and-Effect Diagrams

Sample Cause-and-Effect Diagram of IT Project

Cause-and-effect diagrams trace complaints about quality problems back to the responsible
production operations
 They help you find the root cause of a problem
 Also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams

35
 Can also use the 5 whys technique where you repeated ask the question “Why” (five is a good
rule of thumb) to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause
2. Quality Control Charts
 A control chart is a graphic display of data that illustrates the results of a process over time
 The main use of control charts is to prevent defects, rather than to detect or reject them
 Quality control charts allow you to determine whether a process is in control or out of control.
When a process is in control, any variations in the results of the process are created by random
events; processes that are in control do not need to be adjusted

When a process is out of control, variations in the results of the process are caused by non-
random events; you need to identify the causes of those non-random events and adjust the
process to correct or eliminate them
 The Seven Run Rule
 You can use quality control charts and the seven run rule to look for patterns in data
 The seven run rule states that if seven data points in a row are all below the mean, above the
mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be examined for non-random
problems
Figure: Sample Quality Control Chart

36
 3. Check sheet
 A check sheet is used to collect and analyze data
 It is sometimes called a tally sheet or checklist, depending on its format
 In the following figure, most complaints arrive via text message, and there are more complaints
on Monday and Tuesday than on other days of the week
 This information might be useful in improving the process for handling complaints

Figure: Sample Check sheet

4. Scatter diagram
 A scatter diagram helps to show if there is a relationship between two variables
 The closer data points are to a diagonal line, the more closely the two variables are related
Figure: Sample Scatter Diagram

5. Histograms
 A histogram is a bar graph of a distribution of variables
 Each bar represents an attribute or characteristic of a problem or situation, and the height of the
bar represents its frequency

37
Figure: Sample Histogram

6. Pareto Charts
 A Pareto chart is a histogram that can help you identify and prioritize problem areas
 Pareto Analysis is a statistical technique in decision-making used for the selection of a limited
number of tasks that produce significant overall effect.
 Pareto analysis is also called the 80-20 rule, meaning that 80 percent of problems are often due
to 20 percent of the causes
 Or by doing 20% of the work you can generate 80% of the benefit of doing the entire job.

Figure: Sample Pareto Chart for IT Project

7. Flowcharts
 Flowcharts are graphic displays of the logic and flow of processes that help you analyze how
problems occur and how processes can be improved
 They show activities, decision points, and the order of how information is processed
38
Figure: Sample Flowchart

Run Charts
 In addition to flowcharts, run charts are also used for stratification, a technique that shows data
from a variety of sources to see if a pattern emerges
 A run chart displays the history and pattern of variation of a process over time.
 We can use run charts to perform trend analysis and forecast future outcomes based on historical
results
Figure. Sample Run Chart

Statistical Sampling
 Statistical sampling involves choosing part of a population of interest for inspection
 The size of a sample depends on how representative you want the sample to be
 Sample size formula:
Sample size = .25 X (certainty factor/acceptable error)2
 Be sure to consult with an expert when using statistical analysis

39
Table: Commonly Used Certainty Factors

Six Sigma
 Six Sigma is “a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing
business success.
 Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts,
data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing
business processes
 Basic Information on Six Sigma
 The target for perfection is the achievement of no more than 3.4 defects per million
opportunities
 The principles can apply to a wide variety of processes
 Six Sigma projects normally follow a five-phase improvement process called DMAIC
DMAIC
 DMAIC is a systematic, closed-loop process for continued improvement that is scientific and
fact based
 DMAIC stands for:
 Define: Define the problem/opportunity, process, and customer requirements
 Measure: Define measures, then collect, compile, and display data
 Analyze: Scrutinize process details to find improvement opportunities
 Improve: Generate solutions and ideas for improving the problem
 Control: Track and verify the stability of the improvements and the predictability of the solution
How is Six Sigma Quality Control is Unique?
 It requires an organization-wide commitment.
 Training follows the “Belt” system
 Six Sigma organizations have the ability and willingness to adopt contrary objectives, such as
reducing errors and getting things done faster

40
 It is an operating philosophy that is customer focused and strives to drive out waste, raise levels
of quality, and improve financial performance at breakthrough levels

Six Sigma and Project Management

 Joseph M. Juran stated, “All improvement takes place project by project, and in no other way”
 It’s important to select projects carefully and apply higher quality where it makes sense;
companies that use Six Sigma do not always boost their stock values
 As Mikel Harry puts it, “I could genetically engineer a Six Sigma goat, but if a rodeo is the
marketplace, people are still going to buy a Four Sigma horse.”
 Six Sigma projects must focus on a quality problem or gap between the current and desired
performance and not have a clearly understood problem or a predetermined solution

Six Sigma Projects Use Project Management

 The training for Six Sigma includes many project management concepts, tools, and techniques
 For example, Six Sigma projects often use business cases, project charters, schedules, budgets,
and so on
 Six Sigma projects are done in teams; the project manager is often called the team leader, and the
sponsor is called the champion

Six Sigma and Statistics

 The term sigma means standard deviation
 Standard deviation measures how much variation exists in a distribution of data
 Standard deviation is a key factor in determining the acceptable number of defective units found
in a population
 Six Sigma projects strive for no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities, yet this number
is confusing to many statisticians

Six Sigma Uses a Conversion Table

 Using a normal curve, if a process is at six sigma, there would be no more than two defective
units per billion produced
 Six Sigma uses a scoring system that accounts for time, an important factor in determining
process variations
 Yield represents the number of units handled correctly through the process steps
 A defect is any instance where the product or service fails to meet customer requirements

41
 There can be several opportunities to have a defect
Figure: Normal Distribution and Standard Deviation

Table. Sigma and Defective Units

Table 8-3: Sigma Conversion Table

42
Six 9s of Quality
 Six 9s of quality is a measure of quality control equal to 1 fault in 1 million opportunities
 In the telecommunications industry, it means 99.9999 percent service availability or 30 seconds
of down time a year
 This level of quality has also been stated as the target goal for the number of errors in a
communications circuit, system failures, or errors in lines of code

Modern Quality Management

Modern quality management:
 Requires customer satisfaction
 Prefers prevention to inspection
 Recognizes management responsibility for quality

Leadership
 As Joseph M. Juran said in 1945, “It is most important that top management be quality-minded.
In the absence of sincere manifestation of interest at the top, little will happen below”
 A large percentage of quality problems are associated with management, not technical issues.

The Cost of Quality

 The cost of quality is the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance
 Conformance means delivering products that meet requirements and fitness for use
 Cost of nonconformance means taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality
expectations
 Empirical study: software bugs cost the U.S. economy $59.6 billion each year and that one third
of the bugs could be eliminated by an improved testing infrastructure

Five Cost Categories Related to Quality

 Prevention cost: Cost of planning and executing a project so it is error-free or within an
acceptable error range
 Appraisal cost: Cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure quality
 Internal failure cost: Cost incurred to correct an identified defect before the customer receives
the product

43
 External failure cost: Cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to
the customer
 Measurement and test equipment costs: Capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention
and appraisal activities

Activity-2-4
Identify quality assurance standards and quality control tools of your Project
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

2-5. Project Procurement Planning/Management

Procurement means acquiring goods and/or services from an outside source.
Other terms include purchasing and outsourcing.
Why Outsource?
 To reduce both fixed and recurrent costs.
 To allow the client organization to focus on its core business.
 To access skills and technologies.
 To provide flexibility.
 To increase accountability.

Contracts
 A contract is a mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide the specified
products or services and obligates the buyer to pay for them.
 Contracts can clarify responsibilities and sharpen focus on key deliverables of a project.
 Because contracts are legally binding, there is more accountability for delivering the work as
stated in the contract.
44
 A recent trend in outsourcing is the increasing size of contracts.

Types of contracts
Different types of contracts can be used in different situations:
 Fixed price or lump sum contracts: Involve a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service.
 Cost reimbursable contracts: Involve payment to the seller for direct and indirect costs.
 Time and material contracts: Hybrid of both fixed price and cost reimbursable contracts, often
used by consultants.
 Unit price contracts: Require the buyer to pay the seller a predetermined amount per unit of
service.
A single contract can actually include all four of these categories, if it makes sense for that particular
procurement.

Procurement management: Acquiring goods and services for a project from outside the performing
organization.
Project Procurement Management Processes Project

1.
Planning Purchases and Acquisitions
 Identifying which project needs can best be met by using products or services outside the
organization.
 If there is no need to buy any products or services from outside the organization, then there is no
need to perform any of the other procurement management processes.

Make-or-buy analysis: General management technique used to determine whether an organization

should make or perform a particular product or service inside the organization or buy from someone
else.
 Often involves financial analysis.
 Experts, both internal and external, can provide valuable inputs in procurement decisions.
45
Make-or-Buy Example
 Assume you can lease an item you need for a project for $800/day. To purchase the item, the cost
is $12,000 plus a daily operational cost of $400/day.
 How long will it take for the purchase cost to be the same as the lease cost?

Make-or Buy Solution

 Set up an equation so both options, purchase and lease, are equal.
 In this example, use the following equation. Let d be the number of days to use the item:
$12,000 + $400d = $800d
Subtracting $400d from both sides, you get:
$12,000 = $400d
Dividing both sides by $400, you get:
d = 30
If you need the item for more than 30 days, it is more economical to purchase it.

Contract Statement of Work (SOW)

A statement of work is a description of the work required for the procurement.
 If a SOW is used as part of a contract to describe only the work required for that particular
contract, it is called a contract statement of work.
 A SOW is a type of scope statement.
 A good SOW gives bidders a better understanding of the buyer’s expectations.
Figure. Statement of Work (SOW) Template…for IT project

I. Scope of Work: Describe the work to be done to detail. Specify the hardware and
software involved and the exact nature of the work.
II. Location of Work: Describe where the work must be performed. Specify the location of
hardware and software and where the people must perform the work
III. Period of Performance: Specify when the work is expected to start and end, working
hours, number of hours that can be billed per week, where the work must be performed,
and related schedule information.
IV. Deliverables Schedule: List specific deliverables, describe them in detail, and specify
when they are due.
V. Applicable Standards: Specify any company or industry-specific standards that are
relevant to performing the work.
VI. Acceptance Criteria: Describe how the buyer organization will determine if the work is
acceptable.
VII. 46
Special Requirements: Specify any special requirements such as hardware or software
certifications, minimum degree or experience level of personnel, travel requirements,
and so on.
2. Planning Contracting
Involves preparing several documents needed for potential sellers to prepare their responses and
determining the evaluation criteria for the contract award.
 Request for Proposals: Used to solicit proposals from prospective sellers.
 A proposal is a document prepared by a seller when there are different approaches for meeting
buyer needs.
 Requests for Quotes: Used to solicit quotes or bids from prospective suppliers.
 A bid, also called a tender or quote (short for quotation), is a document prepared by sellers
providing pricing for standard items that have been clearly defined by the buyer.

Evaluation Criteria
 It’s important to prepare some form of evaluation criteria, preferably before issuing a formal RFP
or RFQ.
 Beware of proposals that look good on paper; be sure to evaluate factors, such as past
performance and management approach.
 Can require a technical presentation as part of a proposal.

Requesting Seller Responses

 Deciding whom to ask to do the work, sending appropriate documentation to potential sellers,
and obtaining proposals or bids.
 Organizations can advertise to procure goods and services in several ways:
 Approaching the preferred vendor.
 Approaching several potential vendors.
 Advertising to anyone interested.
A bidders’ conference can help clarify the buyer’s expectations.

Selecting Sellers (Also called source selection).

Involves:
 Evaluating proposals or bids from sellers.
 Choosing the best one.
 Negotiating the contract.
 Awarding the contract.
Figure: Sample Proposal Evaluation Sheet
47
Seller Selection Process
Organizations often do an initial evaluation of all proposals and bids and then develop a short list of
potential sellers for further evaluation.
 Sellers on the short list often prepare a best and final offer (BAFO).
 Final output is a contract signed by the buyer and the selected seller.

Administering the Contract

 Ensures that the seller’s performance meets contractual requirements.
 Contracts are legal relationships, so it is important that legal and contracting professionals be
involved in writing and administering contracts.
 Many project managers ignore contractual issues, which can result in serious problems.

Suggestions for Change Control in Contracts

 Changes to any part of the project need to be reviewed, approved, and documented by the same
people in the same way that the original part of the plan was approved.
 Evaluation of any change should include an impact analysis.
 How will the change affect the scope, time, cost, and quality of the goods or services being
provided?
 Changes must be documented in writing. Project team members should also document all
important meetings and telephone phone calls.
 Project managers and teams should stay closely involved to make sure the new system will meet
business needs and work in an operational environment.
 Have backup plans.

48
Closing the Contract
 Involves completing and settling contracts and resolving any open items.
The project team should:
 Determine if all work was completed correctly and satisfactorily.
 Update records to reflect final results.
 Archive information for future use.
 The contract itself should include requirements for formal acceptance and closure.

Tools to Assist in Contract Closure

 Procurement audits identify lessons learned in the procurement process.
 A records management system provides the ability to easily organize, find, and archive
procurement-related documents.

Activity – 2-6
 Set supplier evaluation and selection criteria for your project
 Develop make or buy decision of your project
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

2.7 Project Time Planning/Management

Importance of Project Schedules
 Managers often cite delivering projects on time as one of their biggest challenges.
 Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects, especially during the second half of
projects.
 Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter what happens on a project.
Project Time Management Processes
 Activity definition: Identifying the specific activities that the project team members and
stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables.
 Activity sequencing: Identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities.

49
 Activity resource estimating: Estimating how many resources a project team should use to
perform project activities.
 Activity duration estimating: Estimating the number of work periods that are needed to
complete individual activities.
 Schedule development: Analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity
duration estimates to create the project schedule.
 Schedule control: Controlling and managing changes to the project schedule.

Activity Definition
 An activity or task is an element of work normally found on the WBS that has an expected
duration, a cost, and resource requirements.
 Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that initiate a project.
 The project charter includes start and end dates and budget information.
 The scope statement and WBS help define what will be done.
 Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting explanations to
understand all the work to be done, so you can develop realistic cost and duration estimates.
Activity Lists and Attributes
An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule. The list should
include:
 The activity name
 An activity identifier or number
 A brief description of the activity
Activity attributes provide more information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors,
logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates, and
assumptions related to the activity.

Milestones
 A milestone is a significant event of the project
 It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone.
 Milestones are useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring progress.
 Examples include completion and customer sign-off on key documents and completion of
specific products.

50
Activity Sequencing
 Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies.
 A dependency or relationship relates to the sequencing of project activities or tasks.
 You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis.

Three Types of Dependencies

 Mandatory dependencies: Activities in series
 Inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project; sometimes referred to as
hard logic.
 Discretionary dependencies: Activities in parallel
 Defined by the project team; sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with
care because they may limit later scheduling options.
 External dependencies: Involve relationships between project and non-project activities.

Network Diagrams
 Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing.
 A network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of,
project activities.
 Two main formats are the arrow and precedence diagramming methods.

Figure: Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network Diagram for Project X

Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

 Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) network diagram.
 Activities are represented by arrows.
 Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities.
 Can only show finish-to-start dependencies.
51
Process for Creating AOA Diagrams
1. Find all of the activities that start at node 1. Draw their finish nodes and draw arrows
between node 1 and those finish nodes. Put the activity letter or name and duration estimate
on the associated arrow.
2. Continuing drawing the network diagram, working from left to right. Look for bursts and
merges. A burst occurs when a single node is followed by two or more activities. A merge
occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node.
3. Continue drawing the project network diagram until all activities that have dependencies are
included in the diagram.
4. As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the right, and no arrows should cross
in an AOA network diagram.

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

 Activities are represented by boxes.
 Arrows show relationships between activities.
 More popular than ADM method and used by project management software.
 Better at showing different types of dependencies.

Figure: Task Dependency Types

52
Activity Resource Estimating
Before estimating activity durations, you must have a good idea of the quantity and type of resources
that will be assigned to each activity.
Consider important issues in estimating resources:
 How difficult will it be to complete specific activities on this project?
 What is the organization’s history in doing similar activities?
 Are the required resources available?

Activity Duration Estimating

 Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus the elapsed time.
 Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task.
 Effort does not normally equal duration.
 People doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should review them.

Three-Point Estimates
Instead of providing activity estimates as a discrete number, such as four weeks, it’s often helpful to
create a three-point estimate:
An estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as three weeks for
the optimistic, four weeks for the most likely, and five weeks for the pessimistic estimate.
Three-point estimates are needed for PERT estimates.

Schedule Development
Uses results of the other time management processes to determine the start and end dates of the
project.
Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a basis for monitoring project
progress for the time dimension of the project.
Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, critical path analysis, critical chain scheduling,
and PERT analysis.

Gantt Charts
Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing
project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format.

53
 Figure: Gantt Chart for Project X

Eg. Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project

SMART Criteria
 Milestones should be:
 Specific
 Measurable
 Assignable
 Realistic
 Time-framed

Critical Path Method (CPM)

CPM is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.
A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the
project can be completed.
The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack
or float.
Slack or float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying a succeeding
activity or the project finish date.

Calculating the Critical Path

 Develop a good network diagram.
 Add the duration estimates for all activities on each path through the network diagram.

54
 The longest path is the critical path.
 If one or more of the activities on the critical path takes longer than planned, the whole project
schedule will slip unless the project manager takes corrective action.

Figure: Determining the Critical Path for Project X

More on the Critical Path

 The critical path does not necessarily contain all the critical activities; it only accounts for time.
 There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more paths are the same.
 The critical path can change as the project progresses.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

PERT is a network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a high degree
of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates.
PERT uses probabilistic time estimates:
 Duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity
durations, or a three-point estimate.

55
 PERT Formula and Example
PERT weighted average = optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time
6
 Example:
PERT weighted average = 8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days
6
Where:
o Optimistic time= 8 days
o Most likely time = 10 days
o Pessimistic time = 24 days
Therefore, you’d use 12 days on the network diagram instead of 10 when using PERT for the above
example.

Schedule Control
 Perform reality checks on schedules.
 Allow for contingencies.
 Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100 percent capacity all the time.
 Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and honest in communicating schedule
issues.
 Goals are to know the status of the schedule, influence factors that cause schedule changes,
determine that the schedule has changed, and manage changes when they occur.

Tools and techniques include:

o Progress reports.
o A schedule change control system.
o Project management software, including schedule comparison charts, such as the tracking
Gantt chart.
o Variance analysis, such as analyzing float or slack.
o Performance management, such as earned value.

Reality Checks on Scheduling

 Review the draft schedule or estimated completion date in the project charter.
 Prepare a more detailed schedule with the project team.
 Make sure the schedule is realistic and followed.

56
 Alert top management well in advance if there are schedule problems.

Working with People Issues

 Strong leadership helps projects succeed more than good PERT charts do.
 Project managers should use:
o Empowerment
o Incentives
o Discipline
o Negotiation

Activity-2-8
 Develop a time plan for the project activities you have create before.
o Estimate activity duration of each activities
o Identifying the specific activities of the project
 Identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities.
 Estimating resources a project team uses to perform project activities.
 Estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities
 Create the project schedule using activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity
duration estimates.
o Develop the network diagram depicting activities
o Develop Gantt Chart depicting activities
o Calculate the critical path of the project
_________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2.9 Project Human Resource Management

57
What is Project Human Resource Management? Project HRM is making the most effective use of
the people involved with a project.

Processes include:

◦ Human resource planning: Identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, and
reporting relationships.

◦ Acquiring the project team: Getting the needed personnel assigned to and working on the
project.

◦ Developing the project team: Building individual and group skills to enhance project
performance.

◦ Managing the project team: Tracking team member performance, motivating team
members, providing timely feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating
changes to help enhance project performance.

Keys to Managing People

 Psychologists and management theorists have devoted much research and thought to the field
of managing people at work.
 Important areas related to project management include:

◦ Motivation

◦ Influence and power

◦ Effectiveness
Motivation
 Performance = f (A x M x O)

What is Motivation?
Motivation is a Latin word, which means to move.

Theories of Motivation
 Hierarchy of Needs Theory

58
  Theory-X and Theory-Y
 Two-Factor Theory (Motivation-Hygiene Theory)
 McClelland’s Theory of Needs
 Cognitive Evaluation Theory
 Goal-Setting Theory
 Equity Theory
 Expectancy

Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Abraham Maslow)

Abraham Maslow argued that human beings possess unique qualities that enable them to make
independent choices, thus giving them control of their destiny.

Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, which states that people’s behaviors are guided or
motivated by a sequence of needs.

Managerial Implication: Specify the level of need of each employee

Examples:

59
 ◦ Physiological needs: Provide lunch breaks, rest breaks, and wages that are sufficient to
purchase the essentials of life.

◦ Safety Needs: Provide a safe working environment, retirement benefits, and job security.

◦ Social Needs: Create a sense of community via team-based projects and social events.

◦ Esteem Needs: Recognize achievements to make employees feel appreciated and valued.
Offer job titles that convey the importance of the position.

◦ Self-Actualization: Provide employees a challenge

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)

Managerial Implication
If Theory Y holds true:
 Decentralization and Delegation
 Job Enlargement - Broadening the scope of job
 Participative Management
 Performance Appraisals – self & peer
If Theory X holds true:
People may not have reached the level of maturity assumed by Theory Y and therefore may need
tighter controls that can be relaxed as the employee develops.

Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors

60
Frederick Herzberg’s Two factor theory states there are certain factors in the work place that cause
job satisfaction while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction.

He distinguished between:
Motivational factors: Achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and
growth. These factors produce job satisfaction.

Hygiene factors: Larger salaries, more supervision, and a more attractive work environment. These
factors cause dissatisfaction if not present, but do not motivate workers to do more.
Contrasting Views of Satisfaction-Dissatisfaction

61
Hygiene factors are needed to ensure an employee does not become dissatisfied. They do not lead
to higher levels of motivation, but without them there is dissatisfaction.

Motivation factors are needed in order to motivate an employee into higher performance. These
factors result from internal generators in employees. They create Satisfaction. Without them there is
a state of “no satisfaction”.

Managerial Implication:
If objective is to bring satisfaction: provide motivators
If objective is to avoid dissatisfaction: provide hygiene factors

62
McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory
Specific needs are acquired or learned over time and are shaped by life experiences. The following
are the main categories of acquired needs:

◦ Achievement (nAch): People with a high need for achievement like challenging projects with
attainable goals and lots of feedback.
 Provide challenging jobs with frequent feedbacks

◦ Affiliation (nAff): People with high need for affiliation desire harmonious relationships and need
to feel accepted by others
 So managers should try to create a cooperative work environment for them.

◦ Power (nPow): People with a need for power desire either personal power (not good) or
institutional power (good for the organization).
 Provide institutional power seekers with management opportunities.
Managerial Implications

Achievers:
• Provide them challenging jobs with frequent feedbacks
• Focus on intrinsic motivation
• High achievers are not necessarily good managers.
Affiliation:
• Managers should create a cooperative work environment.
Power:
• Provide institutional power seekers with management opportunities.
• Affiliation and power closely related to managerial success.
• Successful managers are high in need for power and low in need for affiliation.

63
Cognitive Evaluation Theory
 Providing an extrinsic reward for behavior that had been previously only intrinsically
rewarding tends to decrease the overall level of motivation.

Major Implications for Work Rewards

Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are not independent
 Extrinsic rewards decrease intrinsic rewards
 Pay should be non-contingent on performance
 Verbal rewards increase intrinsic motivation, tangible rewards reduce it
Self-concordance
When the personal reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with personal interests and core values
(intrinsic motivation), people are happier and more successful.

Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)

Goals can be a major source of work motivation.
Factors influencing the goals–performance relationship:
• Specific goals - specific goals lead to increased performance.
• Difficult goals - Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher output / motivation than easy
goals.
• Self- Efficacy- the individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.

Managerial Actions for Enhancing Goal Commitment

 Provide valued outcomes for goal accomplishment.
 Raise employees’ self-efficacy about meeting goals by:

◦ Providing adequate training

◦ Role modeling desired behaviors and actions
◦ Persuasively communicating confidence in the employees ability to attain the goal
 Have employees make a public commitment to the goal.
64
 Communicate an inspiring vision and explain how individual goals relate to accomplishing the vision.
 Allow employees to participate in setting the goals.
 Behave supportively rather than punitively.
 Break a long-term goal (i.e., a yearly goal) into short-term sub-goals
 Ensure that employees have the resources required to accomplish the goal.

Equity Theory
Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to
eliminate any inequities.

Justice and Equity Theory: Perceived organization justice affects feeling of equity or
Inequity

65
Responses to Perceptions of Equity and Inequity

Managerial Implication
 Equity is relative
 Understanding the role of comparison people is especially crucial.

66
Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom)
The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the
act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

67
IMPLICATIONS OF EXPECTANCY THEORY
 Clarify expectancies about effort and levels of performance
 Help employees attain desired level of performance, be a coach
 Clearly link rewards and performance
 Know what types of rewards are desired.
 Raise employees’ self-efficacy about meeting goals by:
1. Providing adequate training
2. Role modeling desired behaviors and actions
3. Persuasively communicating confidence in the employees ability to attain the goal
 Have employees make a public commitment to the goal.

Power and Influence

The Meaning of Power
Power is the potential capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others.
 The potential to influence others
 People have power they don’t use and may not know they possess
 Power requires one person’s perception of dependence on another person

Dependency: The Key to Power

The General Dependency Postulate: The greater Bs dependency on A, the greater the power A has
over B

68
What Creates Dependency?

Five Bases or Power

1. Formal/positional Power
It is established by an individual’s position in an organization; conveys the ability to coerce or
reward, from formal authority, or from control of information
a. Coercive Power
A power base dependent on fear of negative results
b. Reward Power
Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable
c. Legitimate Power
The power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an
organization
2. Personal Power
Stems from an individual’s unique characteristics:
a. Expert Power
Influence based on special skills or knowledge
b. Referent Power
69
 Based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits - charisma

Guidelines for Ethical Use of Power

70
Thamhain and Wilemon’s Ways to Have Influence on Projects
1. Authority: The legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders.
2. Assignment: The project manager's perceived ability to influence a worker's later work
assignments.
3. Budget: The project manager's perceived ability to authorize others' use of discretionary funds.
4. Promotion: The ability to improve a worker's position.
5. Money: The ability to increase a worker's pay and benefits.
6. Penalty: The project manager's ability to cause punishment.
7. Work challenge: The ability to assign work that capitalizes on a worker's enjoyment of doing a
particular task.
8. Expertise: The project manager's perceived special knowledge that others deem important.
9. Friendship: The ability to establish friendly personal relationships between the project manager
and others.
Ways to Influence that Help and Hurt Projects
Projects are more likely to succeed when project managers influence people using:
 Expertise
 Work challenge
Projects are more likely to fail when project managers rely too heavily on:
 Authority
 Money
 Penalty
Improving Effectiveness: Covey’s Seven Habits
Project managers can apply Covey’s seven habits to improve effectiveness on projects.
 Be proactive.
 Begin with the end in mind.
 Put first things first.
 Think win/win.
 Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
 Synergize.
 Sharpen the saw.
Empathic Listening and Rapport
 Good project managers are empathic listeners, meaning they listen with the intent to understand.
 Before you can communicate with others, you have to have rapport, which is a relation of
harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity.

71
  Mirroring is the matching of certain behaviors of the other person, and is a technique used to
help establish rapport.
Acquiring the Project Team
 Acquiring qualified people for teams is crucial.
 The project manager who is the smartest person on the team has done a poor job of
recruiting!
 Staffing plans and good hiring procedures are important, as are incentives for recruiting and
retention.
Developing the Project Team
 The main goal of team development is to help people work together more effectively to
improve project performance.
 It takes teamwork to successfully complete most projects.
General Advice on Teams
 Be patient and kind with your team.
 Fix the problem instead of blaming people.
 Establish regular, effective meetings.
 Allow time for teams to go through the basic team-building stages.
 Limit the size of work teams to three to seven members.
 Plan some social activities to help project team members and other stakeholders get to know
each other better.
 Stress team identity.
 Nurture team members and encourage them to help each other.
 Take additional actions to work with virtual team members.
Project managers must:
 Treat people with consideration and respect.
 Understand what motivates people.
 Communicate carefully with people.
 Focus on your goal of enabling project team members to deliver their best work.
Activity – 2.9
Identify and document project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships. Motivation and
reward systems of employees of the project.
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
72
2.10. Project Risk Management
Definition
 A dictionary definition of risk is “the possibility of loss or injury”
Definition of Project Risk
 An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on the
project objectives.
 The goal of project risk management is to minimize potential negative risks while maximizing
potential positive risks
 Risk management helps to improve project success by helping select good projects, determining
project scope, and developing realistic estimates.

Project Risk Management Processes

Risk management planning: Deciding how to approach and plan the risk management activities for
the project. Output: plan that documents the procedures for managing risk
Risk identification: Determining which risks are likely to affect a project and documenting the
characteristics of each.
Risk Analysis: Estimating the effects of risks on project objectives.
Prioritizing risks based on their probability & impact of occurrence.
Risk response planning: Taking steps to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to meeting
project objectives.
Risk monitoring and control: evaluating the effectiveness of risk strategies throughout the life of
the project.

Broad Categories of Risk

Market risk
 If the project is to produce a new product or service, will it be useful to the organization or
marketable to other?
 Will user accept and use the product or service?
 Will someone else create a better product or service faster?
Financial risk
 Can organization afford to undertake the project?
 How confident are stakeholders in the financial projections?
73
  Will the project meet NPV, ROI, and payback estimates?
Technology risk
 Is the project technically feasible?
 Will it use mature, leading edge, or bleeding edge technologies
 Will the technologies function properly?
 Will the technology be available in time to meet project objectives?
People risk
 Does the organization have or can they find people with appropriate skills to complete the
project successfully?
 Do people have the proper managerial and technical skills?
 Do they have enough experience?
 Does senior management support the project?
Structure/process risk
 What is the degree of change the new project will introduce into user areas and business
procedure?
 How many distinct user groups does the project need to satisfy?
 Does the organization have processes in place to complete the project successfully?

Potential Negative Risk Conditions Associated With Each Knowledge Area

Knowledge Area Risk Conditions
Integration Inadequate planning; poor resource allocation; poor integration
management; lack of post-project review
Scope Poor definition of scope or work packages; incomplete definition
of quality requirements; inadequate scope control
Time Errors in estimating time or resource availability; poor allocation
and management of float; early release of competitive products
Cost Estimating errors; inadequate productivity, cost, change, or
contingency control; poor maintenance, security, purchasing, etc.
Quality Poor attitude toward quality; substandard
design/materials/workmanship; inadequate quality assurance
program
Human Resources Poor conflict management; poor project organization and
definition of responsibilities; absence of leadership
Communications Carelessness in planning or communicating; lack of consultation
with key stakeholders
Risk Ignoring risk; unclear assignment of risk; poor insurance
management
74
Procurement Unenforceable conditions or contract clauses; adversarial relations
Risk Identification Tools and Techniques
Risk identification is the process of understanding what potential events might hurt or enhance a
particular project.
Risk identification tools and techniques include:
 Brainstorming
 The Delphi Technique
 Nominal Group Technique
 Interviewing
 SWOT analysis
 Cause and Effect Diagram
 Influence Diagram
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a technique by which a group attempts to generate ideas or find a solution for a
specific problem by amassing ideas spontaneously and without judgment.
An experienced facilitator should run the brainstorming session.
Be careful not to overuse or misuse brainstorming.
Psychology literature shows that individuals produce a greater number of ideas working alone than
they do through brainstorming in small, face-to-face groups.
Group effects often inhibit idea generation.

Delphi Technique
The Delphi Technique is used to derive a consensus among a panel of experts who make
predictions about future developments. It provides independent and anonymous input regarding
future events.
It uses repeated rounds of questioning and written responses and avoids the biasing effects possible
in oral methods, such as brainstorming.

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

a. Each individual silently writes her or his ideas on a piece of paper
b. Each idea is then written on a board or flip chart one at a time in a round-robin fashion until each
individual has listed all of his or her ideas.
c. The group then discusses and clarifies each of the ideas.

75
d. Each individual then silently ranks and prioritizes the ideas.
e. The group then discusses the rankings and priorities of the ideas.
f. Each individual ranks and prioritizes the ideas again.
g. The rankings and prioritizations are then summarized for the group.

Interviewing
Interviewing is a fact-finding technique for collecting information in face-to-face, phone, e-mail, or
instant-messaging discussions.
Interviewing people with similar project experience is an important tool for identifying potential
risks.

SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) can also be used during risk
identification. It helps identify the broad negative and positive risks that apply to a project.

Cause and Effect Diagram

76
Influence Diagram
It is a simple visual representation of a decision problem.

This simple influence diagram shows how decisions about the marketing budget and product price
influence expectations about its uncertain market size and market share. These, in turn, influence
costs and revenues, which affect the overall profit.
The diagram provides a high-level qualitative view under which the analyst builds a detailed
quantitative model.

Risk Register
The main output of the risk identification process is a list of identified risks and other information
needed to begin creating a risk register.
A risk register is:
 A document that contains the results of various risk management processes and that is often
displayed in a table or spreadsheet format.
 A tool for documenting potential risk events and related information.
Risk events refer to specific, uncertain events that may occur to the detriment or enhancement of the
project.
 Risk Register Contents
 An identification number for each risk event.
 A rank for each risk event.
 The name of each risk event.
 A description of each risk event.
 The category under which each risk event falls.
 The root cause of each risk.
77
  Triggers for each risk; triggers are indicators or symptoms of actual risk events.
 Potential responses to each risk.
 The risk owner or person who will own or take responsibility for each risk.
 The probability and impact of each risk occurring.
 The status of each risk.
Table. Sample Risk Register
No. Rank Risk Description Category Root Triggers Potential Risk Probability Impact Status
Cause Responses Owner

R44 1

R21 2

R7 3

Risk Analysis
Qualitative Risk Analysis
Assess the likelihood and impact of identified risks to determine their magnitude and priority.
Tools and techniques include:
 Probability/impact matrixes
 The Top Ten Risk Item Tracking
 Expert judgment
Probability/Impact Matrix
A probability/impact matrix or chart lists the relative probability of a risk occurring on one side of
a matrix or axis on a chart and the relative impact of the risk occurring on the other.
List the risks and then label each one as high, medium, or low in terms of its probability of
occurrence and its impact if it did occur.

Can also calculate risk factors:

 Numbers that represent the overall risk of specific events based on their probability of
occurring and the consequences to the project if they do occur.

78
Figure: Sample Probability/Impact Matrix

Figure: Chart Showing High-, Medium-, and Low-Risk Technologies

Top Ten Risk Item Tracking

 Top Ten Risk Item Tracking is a qualitative risk analysis tool that helps to identify risks
and maintain an awareness of risks throughout the life of a project.
 Establish a periodic review of the top ten project risk items.
 List the current ranking, previous ranking, number of times the risk appears on the list over a
period of time, and a summary of progress made in resolving the risk item.
79
Risk Response Planning
After identifying and quantifying risks, you must decide how to respond to them.
Four main response strategies for negative risks:
 Risk avoidance
 Risk acceptance
 Risk transference
 Risk mitigation

Results of Good Project Risk Management

 Unlike crisis management, good project risk management often goes unnoticed.
 Well-run projects appear to be almost effortless, but a lot of work goes into running a project
well.
 Project managers should strive to make their jobs look easy to reflect the results of well-run
projects.
Activity
Identify the sources and exposures of risk of your project and risk identification tools and techniques
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

80
 Session III
Project Termination and Evaluation
 Project Termination
Project termination (sometimes called project closeout) is the last phase in the project lifecycle.
Closeout begins when the user accepts the project deliverables and the project oversight authority
concludes that the project has met the goals established.

Project closeout includes the following key elements:

 Turnover of project deliverables to operations;
 Redistributing resources—staff, facilities, equipment, and automated systems;
 Closing out financial accounts;
 Completing, collecting, and archiving project records;
 Documenting the successes of the project;
 Documenting lessons learned; and
 Conduct Post Implementation Review.

 Project Evaluation
What is Project Evaluation?

Evaluation is judging, appraising, or determining the worth, value, or quality of a project, whether it
is proposed, ongoing, or completed. This is done in terms of its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency,
and impact. (Relevance refers to the appropriateness and importance of goals and objectives in
relation to assessed needs. Effectiveness refers to the degree to which goals have been achieved.
Efficiency refers to the cost-effectiveness of activities. And impact refers to the broad, long-term
effects of project.)

The Purpose and Use of Evaluation

There are many different reasons why evaluations are carried out. Some good reasons are:
- To measure progress and effectiveness;
- To look at costs and efficient use of resources;
- To find out if it is necessary to change the way things are being done; and
- To learn from what has happened in order to make plans for the future.

81
Uses of evaluation
o To improve performance
o To make choices and decisions
o To learn lessons
o To increase accountability

Different Kinds of Evaluation

 Appraisal or ex-ante evaluation- before a project starts, or in the very early stages

 On-going evaluation

 Mid-term evaluation

 Termination evaluation (Post Implementation Evaluation)

 Ex-post evaluations
These happen sometime after a project has finished. They look at impact and sustainability.
They also consider broader 'policy' issues.

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria that are commonly used as a focus for shaping evaluation questions are:

 Effectiveness: how far is the project achieving objectives?

 Efficiency: what is the cost of achieving the objectives?
 Relevance: is the project relevant?
 Impact: what are the effects of the project?
 Sustainability: will project activities and benefits continue after external support is
withdrawn?
 Progress: is the project achieving the original objectives, or have these changed?

The Steps in Doing an Evaluation

Step 1: What/Who is it for?

82
Detailed planning should start well in advance. Check that the plans for evaluation made at the
assessment stage of the project are still valid; it may be that the passage of time and the development
of the project, or the quality of monitoring, make the original plans redundant.

Many different people will use the findings of the evaluation exercises. It is therefore necessary to
determine at the beginning how the results will be used. This will help to determine the objectives of
the exercise, what information is needed, what approach should be used, how the information should
be gathered, what degree of accuracy is needed, and how and to whom the results will be presented.

An evaluation is necessary to:

 Assess the objectives and their relevance
 Assess the progress in achieving the objectives
 Evaluate the impact of the project
 Assess the long-term sustainability of the project
 Provide a basis for further decision-making
 Influence donors, governments, and other actors
 Look at external factors that may affect the project

An internal evaluation is used within the organization to bring about improvements in project
implementation. An external evaluation is undertaken by outside evaluators, often at the request of
donor agencies, because they are usually considered to be reliable, objective, and unbiased.

Step 2: Who will do it?

As noted above in Step 1, internal evaluation is used within the organization to bring about
improvements in project implementation and thus project staff can conduct it while external an
outside consultant may conduct evaluations.

Step 3: Preparation
In this step, the ground preparations are made for the monitoring or evaluation exercise. This
includes finalizing the objectives of the exercise, looking at information already gathered, and
deciding on data collection and analysis methods.
 Objectives
For any monitoring or evaluation exercise, objectives should be set depending on the overall purpose
of the exercise, and for whom it is being conducted. The objectives should always be SMART.

83
Objectives for an evaluation include assessments of the following:
 Is the project progressing toward its objectives?

 What has the impact been?

 Who has benefited, and how?
 Are the objectives of the project still relevant?
 Is the project cost-effective?
 Is the project sustainable?
Objectives also include recommendations, such as:
 How the project can be improved

 How the goal and objectives can be changed

 Key questions

Next, key questions to be answered during the exercise should be developed. Key questions should
focus the exercise on the objectives of the project or the part of the project being analyzed.
Key questions must always be realistic. Therefore, when formulating the questions for the exercise,
it is important to take into account the resources available to answer the question, the importance to
the project of answering the question, and what is already known about the issue.

Indicators are integral to the formulation of key questions and how they will be answered.
Indicators, which should be developed during the project planning stage, are very useful for the
evaluation of the project. These indicators can measure project processes, progress made in
achieving the objectives and the project’s impact.

 Background information
Background information about the project is useful when planning evaluation exercise. Worthwhile
information to examine includes: a) details about the issue, such as information about the local
context, services and resources that already exist, and how the issue affects the target group; and b)
details about the project, such as its history, its progress and process, and its impact thus far.

Developing means for obtaining information should include brainstorming about:

 What information is needed?
 Where can the information be found?
 What methods should be used for collection?
 What information is available from previous monitoring or evaluation?

84
  What information can be gathered from a field visit?
 How will the information be analyzed?
 What skills and technical expertise are needed to gather and analyze the information?
 What sort of communication skills and language abilities are needed for interviewing
people?
 What equipment will be needed, and how will it be obtained?

 Drawing up the terms of reference (TOR)

Many evaluations suffer from the over-wide scope of the exercise. The terms of reference (TOR)
become a shopping list, rather than a guide to focus the work.

The TOR set out the formal agreements about the evaluation, its scope, purpose, and the methods to
be used, and outline the specific tasks of the evaluation team leader. Those managing the evaluation
process are responsible for drawing up the TOR.

Good TOR pave the way for a good evaluation, acting as a point of reference throughout. They
should be drawn up well in advance of the date of the evaluation, in order to allow adequate time for
planning, selecting and employing evaluators, sorting out the logistics, and briefing everyone
involved. The TOR should reflect both the needs of staff and others involved to learn from their
experience, and the need of the organizations to improve performance and accountability. Evaluators
may help to draw up the TOR and should be asked to review and comment on them before beginning
the evaluation. A good evaluator is likely to raise questions about the initial TOR.
Sample Contents of the TOR
Terms of reference should cover:
1. Background: purpose and objectives of activity, work, project or program to be evaluated.
2. Objectives: major issues to be addressed, what the evaluation is expected to find out, the
questions to be answered.
3. Methods: visits, review of documentary material, data collection, interviews, workshops.
4. Timetable: schedule for the major activities (e.g. pre-visits, field work, writing, feedback) of the
evaluation and its completion date.
5. Products: the products required from the evaluation exercise, (e.g. report, workshop), who is
responsible for producing them, who will present them, who the reports are for. The length,
format and language of the main report and executive summary should be indicated. The team
leader is usually the person responsible for the completion of the formal report. The process of
follow-up should be noted.
85
6. The evaluation team: the person specifications (mandatory and desired) of each team member,
the number of team members, the ideal combination of skills and experience at team level
(including language requirements, gender balance, and understanding of gender issues).
7. Budget and logistics: details of the main expenses (e.g. salaries, expenses, travel, lodging,
communications). Financial reporting requirements (e.g. reimbursement for actual, or perdiems).
Logistical support being offered (e.g. vehicles, office space, computer facilities, secretarial help),
and how, where and by whom this will be made available.
8. Use of information: extent of confidentiality, ownership of the report.
9. Terms of reference: for evaluation leader the team leader of the evaluation must be given an
individual TOR outlining his/her specific tasks and responsibilities, particularly any writing and
managerial tasks.
Step 4: Collecting information
Collecting information is central to the monitoring and evaluation processes. It includes analyzing
existing information, conducting field visits, interviewing people, organizing meetings, and ensuring
all key stakeholders are included.
It should be noted that there is no single correct way of conducting evaluation exercise. Ideally, use
more than one method for collecting data. Two or three methods that complement each other can
provide the most complete picture possible.

Step 5: Analyzing the information

It is very important that the collected data is accurately analyzed. Analysis may include entering
data, use of computer projects, recording information, summarizing findings, and translating
documents. The analysis should be unbiased, and should take into consideration different points of
view. The project planning must be done correctly, as the indicators and tools used during the
planning phase will be used again for evaluation.
Step 6: Report preparation, presentation and feedback

I. Drawing conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions can be drawn as a result of the monitoring and evaluation exercises. These conclusions,
which are always based on the exercise results, will reflect the information gathered and the course
of future directions to take. Conclusions can also reflect differing opinions, if applicable. It is often
useful to use case studies or quotes to illustrate points.

Recommendations are then made based on the conclusions.

86
Recommendations should:
 Propose a course of action
 Demonstrate how, when, and by whom the actions should be taken
 Mention the inputs and resources required for the action
 Discuss obstacles that may be faced in implementation
 Propose follow-up and monitoring systems necessary for ensuring that action is taken

II. Report preparation and presentation

It is best to decide on your report format as early as possible. A mixture of print and visual reports
can clarify your messages. The type of report depends on whom it is for. That is the report should be
written with the main users in mind: who needs what information in what form?
There is no set rule about the length of a report, but it should not be so long that nobody would read
it! Supporting information should be in the form of accompanying documents, or appendices, rather
than overloading the main report.

Sample evaluation report format

Here is an outline of what a report should cover:

Front cover
 Name of organization, name of project, location

Summary page
 Name of organization, project, and location
 Who carried out the evaluation
 Purpose of the exercise
 Dates it was undertaken
 Date of report completion
 Acknowledgments of those who contributed
Table of contents
Executive summary
 A brief summary of the report, including the goal and objectives of the exercise, who it
was for, and how it was undertaken. In addition, conclusions and recommendations
should be listed.
Background information
 Information about the local context (political, economic, social) as well as project history,
objectives, etc.
87
Purpose and methodology of the evaluation
 Objectives and key questions
 Data collection methods chosen
 Data collection process, including who was interviewed, where, the duration, etc.
 Any data collection constraints and how they were overcome
Results
 What the findings were (categorized into subheadings)
 Utilization of case studies and quotes
Conclusions
 Based on the results, draw main conclusions which reflect the original objectives and key

questions
Recommendations
 What should be done and how it should be undertaken

Appendices (if applicable)

 Data collection methodologies used (e.g. questionnaire, interview format, etc.)

 Actual data collected

 Terms of reference for evaluators
III. Dissemination and feedback
After the report is complete, it should be disseminated to the people for whom it was written
(depending on if it is internal or external) and also to all who participated in the process. It is usually
best to write a draft report, receive feedback, and then finalize it. The report should then be stored so
that it will be available to people currently working on the project, as well as for future projects and
evaluation exercises.
Step 7: Follow-up
Follow-ups to recommendations are integral to any evaluation exercise. Thus, when planning an
exercise, it is crucial to allow time and resources to be spent on following up the recommended
changes and actions to be taken. These actions are extremely important for project improvement.
Furthermore, the information must be shared with all concerned parties, so that they are kept
informed on your project’s process and impact, and can make any necessary adjustments to their
own projects. Results should be shared with all stakeholders.

88