Project Management
Overview
What is a Project
Projects can be identified by the following
characteristics:-
a project is a unique undertaking: each one will differ from
every other in some respect
Projects have specific objectives (or goals) to achieve
projects require resources
projects have budgets
projects have schedules
projects require the effort of people
measures of quality
projects are designed to change something
What is a Project (cont)
This phase encompasses:
• They all have a start and finish date, a life cycle, a
single point of responsibility. They may also have
team roles and relationships that are subject to
change and need to be developed, defined and
established.
• The success of a project can be measured be
how closely it comes to meeting the goal or
objectives within the defined parameters of its
budget and schedule.
What is Project
Management?
• Definition of project management:- making a project
happen.
• It is the planning, scheduling and controlling of project
resources, tasks, budgets and quality to achieve the
project’s objectives.
• Project Management may also be defined as a way of
developing structure into a complex situation, where the
independent variables of time, cost, resources and human
behaviour come together.
• Effective planning and control of projects requires a
panoramic view, logical thinking, a feel for detail, good
communication skills and a commitment to meet the
challenge to make it happen.
What does a
Project Manager do?
• Estimating and planning
• Assembling a team
• Reporting and liaising
• Putting tools in place
• Managing and coordinating work
• Managing change
PRINCE 2 Vs PMBOK
PRINCE2 PMBOK
• is a process based project • is a knowledge based approach to
management methodology project management –using the 9
• Has a clear process, steps and functions of project management
templates • consists of the tools and
• emphasis is more on the project techniques of project management
governance, defining the onset of and is a guide telling how things
quality requirements, acceptance could be done
criteria and clear responsibility of • focus on the skill sets
the project board development and situation
• Focus on clear definition of handling for a project manager
products • Focus on detailed planning to task
• Soft projects or R & D where the level before implementation
end result is known but not the • Construction or engineering
exact process projects
Roles (PRINCE2)
Roles – Project Board
The joint overall responsibilities of all members of the
Project Board are to:
• approve all major plans within program constraints,
• sign-off completion of each stage of work as
acceptable,
• ensure that required resources are committed to the
project, and
• arbitrate on conflicts within the project or negotiate a
solution to any problems that arise between the
project and external bodies.
Roles – Project Executive
The Project Executive's overall responsibilities are to:
• ensure that the project delivers value for money to the
organisation, by representing the business perspective as
custodian of the project business case;
• approve the project Business Case;
• authorise project expenditure;
• maintain the Benefits Realisation Register;
• balance the demands of the business, user and supplier
perspectives; and
• chair the Project.
Roles – Senior User
Responsibilities
A Senior User is accountable for ensuring the Project's products are fit for their
intended purpose and the solutions meet user needs and fall within the constraints of
the Business Case. Specifically, the Senior User is responsible for:
• ensuring that the project adequately considers and addresses the needs of all
users, being those:
– who will directly use the products to be delivered by the project;
– for whom the project will achieve an objective; and
– who will need the project products in order to be able to deliver benefits;
• ensuring the desired outcome of the project is correctly and completely specified;
• committing user resources, including user assurance members, to the Project;
• monitoring the outcome of the Project outputs against user requirements agreed
by the Board;
• ensuring the desired outcome of the project is correctly and completely specified;
and
• setting priorities on any proposed changes to the specification or acceptance
criteria and contribute user opinions on Project Control Group decisions on
whether to implement such changes.
Roles – Senior Supplier
Responsibilities
A Project Board Senior Supplier ensures the proposals for designing and
developing the products are realistic and likely to achieve the results required by
the Senior Users within the cost and time parameters of the Business Case. A
Senior Supplier's overall responsibilities are to:
• represent the interests of those supplying (Supplying includes, but is not
limited to, designing, developing, facilitating, procuring and implementing.) the
project products;
• commit supplier resources to the project; and
• ensure appropriate specialist skills are involved in supply of the project
product(s)
Roles – Project Manager
Responsibilities
The overall responsibilities of the Project Manager are to
• ensure that the project produces the required products, to the required
standard of quality and within the specified constraints of time and cost;
• ensure that the project products are capable of achieving the benefits
stipulated in the agreed business case; and
• control each stage, delegating technical control of product creation / delivery
to the Team Managers
Roles – Project Manager
Deatailed Responsibilities
The specific responsibilities of the Project Manager are to
• plan and monitor the project;
• obtain Project Board approval for who will undertake Project Assurance roles;
• agree the technical and quality strategy with appropriate members of the
Project Board;
• define level and content required of the Project Initiation Documents, oversee
production of the documents, and agree content with Project Board;
• set targets for production of Project, Stage and, if necessary, Exception Plans
by the Team Managers, Project Assurance and Project Support, and agree
content with Project Board;
• set targets for production of products by Team Managers;
• manage business and project risks, including the development of any
contingency plans required by Project Board;
Roles – Project Manager
Detailed Responsibilities (cont)
• be accountable to the Project Board for overall progress and use of resources,
and initiate corrective action where necessary;
• report to the Project Board through Highlight Reports and stage assessments;
• liaise with the Project Boardand Project Assurance roles to assure the overall
direction and integrity of the project;
• undertake or delegate formal communications with external suppliers; and
• prepare the End Project Report, Lessons Learned Report, and any Follow-On
Action Recommendations required.
Roles – Team Manager /
Leader Responsibilities
The Team Manager's prime responsibility is
• to ensure production of those products defined by the Project Manager to an
appropriate quality in a timescale and at a cost acceptable to the Project
Control Group.
• The Team Manager reports to and takes direction from the Project Manager.
Roles – Team Manager /
Leader Detailed Responsibilities
The specific responsibilities of the Team Manager(s) are to
• direct and motivate the team;
• prepare plans for the team's work and agree these with the Project Manager;
• assist in drafting Project, Stage and, if necessary, Exception Plans for the
Project Manager, in conjunction with Project Assurance and Project Support;
• arrange and lead team work progress reviews for progressing the team's work
and making the optimum use of team resources;
• initiate corrective action, where necessary, within the constraints laid down by
the Project Manager;
• advise the Project Manager of any deviations from project plan (stage-level)
and recommend corrective action;
• ensure that quality controls of the team's work are planned and performed
correctly;
Roles – Team Manager /
Leader Detailed Responsibilities
Continued
• deliver completed work packages and keep the Project Manager informed of
such deliveries;
• ensure that suitable change control and configuration management
procedures are applied to products;
• ensure all Project Issues are reported to Project Support for logging, ensuring
they are evaluated, and recommend action to the Project Manager;
• Identify risks and advise the Project Manager of them, ensuring that they are
logged;
• manage specific risks as allocated by the Project Manager;
• liaise with Project Assurance members, as necessary, to assure the integrity
of the team work; and
• ensure that team files are maintained.
Roles – Project Assurance
Responsibilities
The jointly held overall responsibilities of all Project
Assurance members are to provide assurance that:
• the agreed procedures and standards are being used in
the project;
• the appropriate people are involved in the project;
• there is an audit trail of quality control being performed;
and
• time-scales, costs and risks are being appropriately
managed.
Roles – Specialist Assurance
Responsibilities
Specialist Assurance overall responsibility is to provide
assurance that the correct approach is being taken to
implement the project.
• provide assurance that the project has selected the appropriate
strategy for implementing the project.
• provide assurance that any specialist procedures and standards
defined for the project are met and used to good effect;
• provide assurance that the correct procedures are being followed in
the provision of products;
• provide assurance that the needs of specialist interests; eg, security,
are being observed;
• monitor potential changes and their impact on the implementation of
the project;
• monitor any risks in the specialist aspects of the project;
Roles – Specialist Assurance
Responsibilities (cont)
• provide assurance that the appropriate people are being involved in
product creation; and
• provide assurance that internal and external communications are
working.
• provide assurance that quality control procedures are used correctly
so that products adhere to specialist requirements.
• provide assurance that there is adherence to quality assurance
standards.
The responsibilities of Specialist Assurance at the end of the Project are
to
• contribute specialist perspectives to the End Project Report; and
• provide assurance of the ongoing viability of the delivered products
and the infrastructure to support those products.