Study Notes - COPJA4-44 (2025)

1.1. Notes
2. Relevance Connection
Read: Pinto, (2022: 23–24): Development Projects that are Transforming Africa

Read: Pinto, (2022: 30): Royal Mail: Moving with the times

3. The Basis of a Project

According to Clement and Gido (2011:4), a project is “an endeavour to accomplish a specific
objective through a unique set of interrelated tasks and the effective utilisation of
resources”. Projects are temporary, they exist for a limited period and then cease to be. The
PMBOK (2014:21) defines a project as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result. Furthermore, a project is a unique, transient endeavour
undertaken to achieve a desired outcome. The above definitions are similar in content,
where temporary and transient indicate the project has a predetermined duration, thus
must have a start and finish and particularly unique in the sense that they create distinctive
goods or services (Burke, 2014).

4. What is a Project?
A project is acting outside the day-to-day work routine, and it is not process oriented.
Projects are unique and have their own set goals and should be contributing towards
transformation and innovation. PMI (2020) indicated that “a project is temporary in that it
has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources”.
Please refer to page 24 of your prescribed textbook for more information.

5. Characteristics of Projects
All the above definitions have common characteristics for project, and these are:

 Temporary life span

 Defined start and end
 Achieve an outcome
 Unique
 Use resources
 Result in change
 Evolve
 Turn ideas into reality
 Investment opportunities
  Projects should have a clear life span
 Projects are linked to overall organisational strategic intents
 Projects contribute towards transformation and innovation
 Projects provide a philosophy for management of change
 Projects should satisfy customer needs and wants

Source: Pinto (2020).

Source: Newton, R. (2013).

Projects are defined through various elements. There are common attributes that projects
share. For project managers to excel, they need to understand the common attributes the
project shares to better understand the difference between day-to-day activities and
project-based activities. Please refer to your prescribed textbook Chapter 1, page 26 to
better understand the in-depth of project characteristics.

6. Types of Projects
There are various projects taking place in the world. Projects are not only run-in businesses,
in our personal lives we also carry out different projects. Project managers today are
managing a multiplicity of lager scale capital projects, within the construction industry,
defence, petrochemical, banking, IT. Whatever the sector, project management techniques
are used to plan and execute the projects and deliver a product that meets and exceeds
client and stakeholder expectations.

Examples of South African projects includes:

 Construction of FNB Stadium

 Petrochemical projects
 Arms deal project
 Event Management: Opening ceremonies for the World cup e.g., 2010 FIFA
World cup held in South Africa

7. Difference Between Project Management and Production

(Other Forms of Endeavours)
Projects are different from day-to-day work. According to the PMBOK®, production line
work includes permanent initiatives that produce repetitive results, with resources assigned
to do the same set of tasks and produce a standard output. Unlike the ongoing nature of
operations, projects are temporary endeavours (Burke, 2014: 23). Projects are different
from production because of the following elements, they have:

 Objectives
 Complexity
 Uniqueness
 Uncertainty
  Life cycle
 Temporary in nature

It is easy to assume that a process is similar to a project, because we are used to the routine
of day-to-day activities within the workplace. It is very important to understand the
difference between a process and a project. Processes are there to ensure that the needed
products or services are produced, where projects are there to innovate and create
efficiencies within the day-to-day routine. Please refer to the prescribed textbook: Chapter
1, p. 27.

Difference between process and project management

Process Project
Repeat process New process
Ongoing Limited life
Part of line organisation Outside of line organisation
(Pinto, 2020: 28)

8. Project Management Techniques

Techniques in project management includes the tools used in planning and managing
projects and these include:

 PERT (project evaluation and review techniques)

 CPM (critical path method)
 WBS (work breakdown structure)
 GANTT (Gantt charts)

9. Benefits of Using Project Management Techniques

Project management is achieved by applying integrated processes. A structured approach to
project management has been well-proven over time to deliver projects successfully. There
are many benefits to using project management techniques. According to Burke (2014:33),
project management techniques help avoid overlaps and underlaps through a single point of
responsibility. The approach is particularly important to stakeholders as their needs and
expectations are addressed by the one person accountable for the entire project. Another
benefit of project management technique is project plans are determined and underpinned
by quick and precise estimates. The critical path method which helps calculate the activities
from start to finish dates, together with the critical activities which determine the duration
of the project – delaying a critical activity will delay the project. PM Techniques help the
project manager to co-ordinate and integrate the contribution of all the project participants
(Pinto, 2020).

10. Importance of Project Management

1. Shortened product life cycles
 2. Narrow product launch windows
3. Increasingly complex and technical products
4. Emergence of global markets
5. Economic period marked by low inflation

(Pinto, 2016)

2.1. Notes
2. Relevence Connection
For more information and further reading on Project Management, search for the
following:

Internet Reading: Cook, C. R., and Pritchard, C. L. 1998. Why project management? in
Cleland, D.I. (Ed.), The Project Management Field Guide. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold,
pp. 22–33.

[Link]

3. Modern Project Management

In today’s market, businesses are under pressure to produce new or improved products at
an increasingly rapid pace. Growing global markets, consumer tastes, and competition
demand that products constantly be improved to be better, faster, and sleeker and offer
more features. Most organisations are planning their next product or product improvement
as their latest innovation is just on its way out the door. Under conventional business
practices, keeping up with this demand for innovation can be difficult. Project management
offers companies a way to become more innovative and to develop products at a faster
pace (Pinto, 2020).

The PMBOK (2014:29) defines project management as, the application of knowledge, skills,
tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. The APM BoK
(2014) defines project management as the process by which projects are defined, planned,
monitored, controlled, and delivered such that agreed benefits are realised. Burke (2014:
29) states that the PMBOK and APM BoK definitions introduce several new terms which, in
the context of project management, mean the following:

 Knowledge: This refers to expertise and skills acquired by project managers.

 Skills: This is the ability or aptitude to perform well. This includes the ability to
influence people to support the project, negotiating agreements to satisfy the
project needs, overcoming resistance to change, etc.
 Tools and Techniques: This refers to templates and checklists used to track and
accomplish specific tasks, e.g., information management systems, expert
judgment, meetings.
4. Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
“Project Management Institute is the world's leading not-for-profit professional
membership association for the project, program and portfolio management
profession” (PMI, 2014).

PMI’s Pulse of the Profession (contains useful articles):

[Link]

PMI was founded in 1969 and supports project management professionals in almost every
country. It offers support to almost 3 million project management professionals and focuses
on career advancement to improve the success of organisations in project management
practices. PMI aims to advance the profession and its standards are recognised globally. It
offers certifications and engages in research and education, among other activities (PMI,
2014). PMI has developed globally recognised project management standards and has its
own certification programmes, among other initiatives. The following list is a short summary
of how PMI supports project management on a global scale (PMI, 2014):

 Certification: Seven certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP)

 Global standards: A large amount of PMI volunteers update these standards, and it
offers a global, common project management language for the profession
 Chapters and communities of practice: PMI members can join in these communities,
led by the volunteers who focus on networking and sharing knowledge
 Training and education: Professional development in the form of eLearning courses,
congresses and seminars, etc.

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

“The PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition is the preeminent global standard for project
management. It provides project managers with the fundamental practices needed to
achieve organizational results and excellence in the practice of project management. Like
previous editions, this standard presents generally recognized good practices and reflects
continually evolving knowledge” (PMI, 2014).

Useful website:

PMBOK® Guide and Standards [Online] Available at: [Link]

[Link]

The PMBOK Guide and Standards supports project managers and organisations globally in
conducting professional project management work. These standards are globally accepted
and recognised, and include guidelines and specific rules for project, programme and
portfolio management (PMI, 2014). The current edition is the fifth edition and can be
purchased from the PMI website. PMI updates the guide and standards when required and,
in this way, supports the advancement of the project management profession.
5. Inter-related Concepts of Project Management
 Goals
 A way of thinking
 Lifecycles
 Practices and approaches
 Methodologies
 Styles of behaviour
 A community of practitioners

6. The Project Management Triangle

The project management triangle is used by managers to analyse or understand the
difficulties that may arise due to implementing and executing a project. All projects
irrespective of their size will have many constraints. According to Burke (2013: 43), the
integration of time cost preference and quality was initially presented as a triangle of
balanced requirements – where a change in one parameter could affect the others. The
triple constraint says that cost is a function of scope and time or that cost, time, and scope
are related so that if one changes, then another must also change in a defined and
predictable way. Project managers often talk of a “triple constraint” – project, scope, time,
and cost – in managing competing project requirements (Burke, 2014:29).

7. Unpacking the Triple Constraint

Every project is constrained in different ways by its:

 Scope: What work will be done as part of the project? What unique product, service,
or result does the customer or sponsor expect from the project?
 Time: How long should it take to complete the project? What is the project’s
schedule?
 Cost: What should it cost to complete the project? What is the project’s budget?

It is the project manager’s duty to balance these three often competing goals.

Schwalbe, K. 2006. Introduction to Project Management. 4th Ed. Boston: Thomson Course
Technology, p. 25.

3.1. Notes
2. Relevance connection
Read: Meenam B.P. 2019. Project Life Cycle. (Online) Available
at: [Link]
3. Definition of a Project Life Cycle
Pinto (2020) indicated that “a project life cycle refers to the stages in a project’s
development”. Project life cycle provides a standard stage process which any project should
undergo. The project life cycle helps to inform project managers of which stage the project
has undergone.

Please refer to your prescribed textbook, Chapter 1, page 34 onwards.

4. Stages of the Project Life Cycle

A project consists of sequential phases, which are extremely useful in planning a project
since they provide a framework for budgeting, labour hours and resource allocation, and for
scheduling project milestones and project reviews. The project life cycle includes the stages
of the project’s development. The basic elements of the cycle include:

 Initiation: Identify a need, outline the project goal, scope of work, and identify
the required resources and stakeholders.
 Planning: A proposal solution, specifications, timetables, and other plans are
created, work packages are broken out, assignments are made and the process
for completion is defined.
 Execution: Perform the project. The actual work of the project takes place, the
majority of teamwork is performed and, characteristically, the majority of costs
are incurred.
 Closing project: The project is completed and passed on to the customer,
resources are reassigned, and team members disbanded.

Life cycles provide a guiding point for determining the scope and resource requirements of
specific projects. By outlining a project’s life cycle, many challenges and potential pitfalls can
be pinpointed. More generally, an understanding of life cycles lends itself to a better
understanding of how projects function within an organisation and how they differ from
conventional forms of corporate process (Pinto, 2016).

4.1. Components that might change.

There are 5 components of a project that can change over the course of its life cycle (Pinto,
2020: 35).

The characteristics of a project can evolve during the course of completing a project. The
five components of a project may change over the course of its life cycle.

The components are:

 Client interest
 Project stake
 Resources needed
 Creativity
  Uncertainty

4.1. Notes
2. Relevance Connection
Read the following:

Barber, E. & Warn, J. 2005. Leadership in Project management: from firefighter to

firelighter. Management Decision. Vol. 43 No. 7/8. pp. 1 032–1 039. Emerald Insight.

3. The Role of a Project Manager

The role of a project manager is dissimilar from that of a functional manager or
production/operations manager. The project manager is central to the success or failure of
the project. Important aspects of the role of project manager include:

 Execution of the project management process

 Dealing with human nature
 Retaining focus
 Providing expert help
 Dealing with risk and complexity
 Coaching and guiding the project team

(Burke, 2014; Newton, 2013)

4. The Responsibilities of a Project Manager

Project leaders are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring active involvement in work
activities by team members. Employee engagement takes the center of project managers’
responsibility because it is hard to be taught to employees; it is more of an internal emotion
held by employees. The project manager is tasked with fighting the status quo and mindset
of employees, hence employees must want to be engaged for them to be actively involved.
The project manager is tasked with identifying the motivations for employees; for some it
could be monetary compensation, and for some it could be an intrinsic value that comes
with the project.

For further information on the responsibility of project managers, refer to your prescribed
textbook, Chapter 4.

5.1. Notes
2. Relevance Connection
Rolls-Royce Corporation

Although the name Rolls-Royce is inextricably linked with its ultra-luxurious automobiles,
the modern Rolls-Royce operates in an entirely different competitive environment. A
leading manufacturer of power systems for aerospace, marine, and power companies,
Rolls’s market is focused on developing jet engines for a variety of uses, both
commercial and defense related. In this market, the company has two principal competitors,
General Electric and Pratt & Whitney (owned by United Technologies). There are a limited
number of smaller, niche players in the jet engine market, but their impact from a technical
and commercial perspective is minor. Rolls, GE, and Pratt & Whitney routinely engage in
fierce competition for sales to defense contractors and the commercial aviation industry.

The two main airframe manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, make continual multimillion-
dollar purchase decisions that are vital for the ongoing success of the engine makers. Airbus,
a private consortium of several European partner companies, has drawn level with Boeing in
sales in recent years. Because the cost of a single jet engine, including spare parts, can run
to several million dollars, winning large orders from either defense or commercial
aircraft builders represents an ongoing challenge for each of the “big three” jet engine
manufacturers. Airlines in developing countries can often be a lucrative but risky market for
these firms. Because the countries do not maintain high levels of foreign exchange, it is not
unknown, for example, for Rolls (or its competitors) to take partial payment in cash with
assorted commodities to pay the balance. Hence, a contract with Turkey’s national airline
may lead to some monetary payment for Rolls, along with several tons of pistachios or other
trade goods!

To maintain their sales and service targets, these jet engine makers routinely resort to
creative financing, long-term contracts, or asset-based trading deals. Overall, however, the
market for jet engines is projected to continue to expand at huge rates. Rolls-Royce
projects a 20-year window with a potential market demand of 70 000 engines, valued at
over $400 billion in civil aerospace alone. When defense contracts are factored in as well,
the revenue projections for jet engine sales are likely to be enormous. As Rolls sees the
future, the single biggest market growth opportunity is in the larger, greater thrust engines,
designed to be paired with larger jet aircraft.

Rolls-Royce is currently engaged in a strategic decision that offers the potential for huge
payoffs or significant losses as it couples its latest engine technology, the “Trent series,”
with Airbus’s decision to develop an ultralarge commercial aircraft for long-distance travel.
The new Airbus design, the 380 model, seats more than 550 people, flying long-distance
routes (up to 8 000 miles). The Trent 900, with an engine rating of 70 000 pounds thrust per
engine, has been created at great expense to see service in the large jet market. The project
reflects a strategic vision shared by both Airbus and Rolls-Royce that the commercial
passenger market will triple in the next 20 years.

As a result, future opportunities will involve larger, more economically viable aircraft. Since
2007, Airbus has delivered a total of 40 A380s to its customers, with 17 in 2010. Their total
order book currently sits at 234 aircraft ordered. Collectively, Airbus and Rolls-Royce have
taken a large financial gamble that their strategic vision of the future is the correct one.
 Source: Pinto (2020:84)

3. Stakeholder Analyses
“Stakeholder analysis is a useful tool for demonstrating some of the seemingly irresolvable
conflicts that occur through the planned creation and introduction of new projects.”

“Project stakeholders are defined as all individuals or groups who have an active stake in the
project and can potentially impact, either positively or negatively, its development.”

Source: Pinto (2020: 65)

4. Stakeholder Management
Categories of stakeholders are identified by the roles they play in the execution of a project
and include:

 Project requirements owner

 Enterprise requirements owner
 Pay master
 Resource provider
 Business case owner
 Benefits recipient
 Sponsor
 Steering group
 Deliverables users or end-users
 The project teams
 Other affected parties (Newton, 2013) and Pinto (2016:63)
5. Stakeholder Balance

Which stakeholders are more important? For projects to be successful, there should be the
right balance. The key for a project is to find the right balance, ensuring:

 All critical interests are reflected in the project’s work.

 The set of stakeholders is broad enough, but no broader. Too few stakeholders
may mean important needs are missed out. Too many stakeholders create
inefficiencies – sometimes huge inefficiencies.
 There is alignment between the interests of different stakeholders.

Source: Newton (2013)

6. Project Stakeholders
It is in the best interests of project managers to be able to identify project stakeholders.
Stakeholders are any individuals who are affected by the project and have a vested interest
in the project. Project managers should be able to study the vested interest that internal
and external stakeholders have in the project.

Project stakeholders are divided into two – internal and external.

Internal project stakeholders:

 Top management
 Accountants
 Other functional managers
 Project team members

External project stakeholders:

 Clients
 Competitors
 Suppliers
 Environmental and other intervenor groups.

According to Schwalbe (2006), stakeholders are the people involved in, or affected by,
project activities.

Stakeholders include:

 The project sponsor

 Project manager and project team
 Support staff
 Customers
 Users
  Suppliers
 Opponents to the project

6.1. Activity

Activity

From eNatis to eTolling

People who have prepaid coupons are being sent accounts and threatening letters. People
are receiving statements with reams and reams of paper. People who live in Cape Town are
receiving accounts for having driven through tolls when they haven’t been to Gauteng in
five years (Schwalbe, 2006).

Question: What is the reason for the project’s failure?

6.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project
Go to [Link]/master_contract/statements/[Link] to see a process for
describing and creating a Statement of Work for the Minnesota Job Bank Upgrade project.

Work in groups of 5 and discuss some of the critical elements in this Statement of
Work? Why?

3. Defining a Project
Three factors should be considered in defining a project:

 Objectives
 Scope
 How clear and stable the objectives and scope are

See Figure 1.2: Objectives, scope, and requirements (Newton, 2013:27).

4. Objectives
An objective is a definable result, output or product which is defined in terms of cost,
quality, and timing (Burke, 2004:9). A project is carried out to provide a solution to a
problem or a need. Why are you carrying out the project? Objectives answer the question
why the project is being done, but not what or how it will be done. A project should have at
least one objective written in the form of short statements or one long sentence but should
be very clear to all stakeholders.
5. Project Scope Definition
Scope refers to the boundaries of a project (‘whats in’ and ‘whats out’). According to the
Clements and Gido (20111:90), scope refers to all the work involved in creating the products
of the project and the processes used to create them. It defines what is, or is not, to be
done (Burke, 2018). To clearly define your scope, one must ask questions.

See Figure 1.3 – Sample scoping questions (Newton, 2013:31).

6. The Project Scope

Scope involves defining and controlling what work is, or is not, included in a project. It is a
synthesis which provides a roadmap for project planning (Burke, 2018:197). Change does
take place, and project scope management includes the process to manage scope changes
and make sure the project will still come in on time and within budget. Burke (2018) further
advances that project scope management processes includes the following (Burke, 2018):

 Scope Management: the process of creating a scope management plan that

documents how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled.
 Collect Requirements: the process of determining, documenting, and managing
stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.
 Define Scope: the process of developing a detailed description of the project and
product.
 Create WBS: the process of subdividing project deliverables and project work
into smaller, more manageable components.
 Validate Scope: the process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project
deliverables.
 Control Scope: the process of monitoring the status of the project and product
scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.

6.1. Scope creep

“Scope creep is the piling up of small changes that by themselves are manageable, but in
aggregate are significant.”

“Scope creep refers to the change in a project's scope after the project work has started.
Typically, the scope expands by the addition of new features to an already approved feature
list.”

Source: Reh, J.F. 2019. Basic Project Management 101. The Balance, 31 October 2019.
[Online] Available at: [Link]

Causes of scope creep

According to Larson and Larson (2009), the top causes of scope creep are:
 1. Lack of clarity and depth to the original specification document.
2. Allowing direct [unmanaged] contact between client and team participants.
3. Customers trying to get extra work “on the cheap”.
4. Beginning design and development of something before a thorough
requirements analysis and cost-benefit analysis have been done.
5. Scope creep “where you do it to yourself” because of lack of foresight and
planning.
6. Poorly defined initial requirements.
7. “Management promises the sun and the moon and breaks the backs of the
developers to give them just that in impossibly tight time frames.”

7. The Work Breakdown Structure

The WBS is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by
the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
It organises and defines the total scope of the project. Each descending level represents an
increasingly detailed definition of the project work (PMBOK Guide, 2004).

8. Rules and Guidelines for the WBS

There are some basic rules or guidelines to consider for the WBS (Nokes & Kelly, 2007
and Horine, 2005):

 Ensure that team members assist the drafting of the WBS in a systematic manner.
 Make sure that only the work required to meet the project’s deliverables is
included and each level should be established before breaking it down further.
 The WBS is a top-down decomposition and is logical.
 The WBS should be organised in a manner that emphasises the most important
aspects of the project and that the best communicates the entire scope of the
project to your stakeholders.
 The WBS should be deliverables focused, and all deliverables should be explicit in
the WBS.
 The lowest level is the work package or activity level and is used for schedule and
cost development.
 Continue breaking down the work until an appropriate level of the project to
be managed is reached.
 WBS elements should be consistent with organisational and accounting structures.
 The coding scheme should clearly represent a hierarchical structure.
 Unique identifiers are assigned to each item in the WBS to allow for better
management reporting of costs and resources.
 Each WBS element represents a single deliverable and should be an aggregation of
lower level WBS elements.
 Each WBS element has only one parent.
 Upper levels of the WBS represent major deliverables or project phases.
 The WBS should include project management tasks and activities.
  The WBS should include and isolate any work needed to integrate components or
deliverables.
 The WBS should account for any subcontracted or externally committed
deliverables.
 The WBS should represent all work needed to ensure completeness, correctness,
and acceptance of deliverables.
 Review and refine the WBS until all key project stakeholders are satisfied.

8.1. The reasons for creating a WBS

 It echoes project objectives.

 It is the organisational chart for the project.
 It creates the logic for tracking costs, schedule and performance.
 It communicates project status.
 It improves communication.
 It demonstrates how the project will be controlled.

Source: Pinto (2020:187–188)

8.2. Activity

Activity

Find a project of your choosing and create a WBS for it.

9. Objectives, Deliverables and Tasks

Objectives relate to why the project is being done. Objectives must be translated and
decomposed to execute a project. Translation converts the why into what, how, who and
when: what is needed to achieve the why, how can this be developed, who will do the
development, and when they will do it. This further develops into the process of planning
which explains the who and the when. A set of objectives can be translated into a ‘big’ what
and a ‘big’ how. In decomposition, the what and the how are broken down into smaller and
smaller constituents until they are small enough to understand, plan and control. For
example, if the objective is to stay safe, dry, and warm, this can be fulfilled by having a
house, and that can be achieved by building it. A what of ‘a house’ and a show of ‘build it’
are decomposed into a detailed description of the design of the house and all the steps
needed to build it. The project can then be planned. The combination of translation and
decomposition converts an understanding of objectives into clearly actionable tasks that can
be allocated to named individuals, estimated, and controlled. Accurate and suitable
translation and decomposition are essential for good planning and successful project
delivery (Newton, 2013).

See Figure 1.4 – Translation and decomposition (Newton, 2013:33).

Week 1: Project planning
7.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Read the following article: Why planning is the most critical step in project management |
TechRepublic

3. Introduction
Many people have heard the following sayings:

 If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

 If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
 What gets measured gets managed.

4. Why a project plan?

A Project Plan (PMP) is a formal, approved document used to manage project execution.
The PMBOK (2013) defines the project management plan as, a plan which brings together all
the plans for a project. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project
management plan as an object which ‘defines how the project is executed, monitored and
controlled, and closed’. The purpose of a project plan is to document the outcomes of the
planning process and to provide the reference document for managing a project. The
project plan is owned by the project manager. The PMP is a communication tool for
ensuring that key stakeholders share an understanding of the project. The PMP is NOT a
project schedule. A project schedule lists planned dates for performing tasks and activities
to meet milestones identified in the project plan. In summary a plan is a set of structured
information that defines what, when and who: what needs to be done, when it will be done,
who will do it.

5. Uses of a project plan

According to Newton, (2013:40), planning is the foundation of any project. It differentiates
project management from any other forms of management. Plans are used to:

 provide an understanding of the activities and risks in a project.

 show how long a project will take, what resources will be required and how much it
will cost to do.
  help communicate and explain the project-to-project stakeholders and project team
members.
 facilitate the allocation of work to project team members.
 enable monitoring and controlling projects towards successful completions.
 enable co-ordinating dependencies between projects.
 support expectation management, business planning, management decision and
commitment making.

6. Steps in planning
According to Newton, (2013:41), the following steps are involved in project planning:

 Decompose: convert the project deliverables into tasks. Then break the tasks
into smaller tasks until the tasks can be allocated to individual owners and the
time, they will take estimated.
 Structure: arrange the activities into a meaningful hierarchy. Ideally, this
hierarchy enables key milestones to be identified.
 Identify dependencies: link tasks by the appropriate dependencies.
 Identify resources required: identify the resource types and quantities to fulfil
the plan.
 Determine timescales: work out how long each task will take with the resources
required.
 Align to resources available: align what you theoretically need with what is
available.
 Add contingency: contingency reflects the degree of risk in a plan (and should
not reflect the planner’s skill level!).
 Iterate the plan: work to align the activities in the plan with the resources
available and the timescale required. This is usually about making compromises.
Planning will not make the impossible possible, all it does is make the reality of
the situation clear.

Figure 1.5: Planning steps.

Source: Newton, (2013:42)

7. Who is involved in planning

Planning should involve all stakeholders for the projects. The project team should be
involved in the planning process. Techniques such as planning poker can be used for
planning. A plan is not a static document that never changes. As soon as the project starts
actual progress and resource usage will vary from what is defined in the plan. The plan must
be maintained and updated as the project progresses. Yet you do not want a plan that is
altering every day as then it loses its value as a tool for prediction and control. The normal
approach is to keep an original baseline plan which is used to report formal progress relative
to objectives. A separate plan is maintained to see where you are and to make accurate
forward-looking predictions. There is a tendency for the variance between the actual and
baseline plan to grow over time. On a periodic basis, with the approval of the sponsor and
stakeholders the baseline plan is updated to bring it in line with the actual plan (Pinto,
2016).

8. Challenges in project planning

For further reading please refer to the following article: 9 Project Management Challenges
and How to Overcome Them.

Source: [Link] [Online] Available at: [Link]

management-challenges/ [Accessed: 15 February 2025]

Major constraints that may cause challenges in project management include:

 Time
 Project scope
 Budget

Within this context the following major challenges are summarised in this article with some
recommendations of how to deal with each challenge.

Challenges include the following:

1. Scope creep
2. Lack of communication
3. Lack of clear goals and success criteria
4. Budgeting issues
 5. Inadequate skills of team members
6. Inadequate risk management
7. Lack of accountability
8. Limited engagement of stakeholders
9. Unrealistic deadlines

Explore real life projects and investigate if you could find evidence of these challenges and
research how the challenges were overcome.

9. Estimating and resource loading

Planning a project cannot be completed if timelines and resources are not indicated. The
types and quantities of resources required in a project can be known through estimates.
Time required for each activity is determined by such tools as the CPM, Gantt chart and
project review techniques. Only after estimates are made the duration and quantities of
resources for each activity can be determined.

10. Roles and responsibilities

Projects consume resources and it is important to do adequate resource planning for each
project. Buttrick (2009:219) emphasises the importance of conducting total resource
planning and for organisations to have visibility of resources available for a project.

10.1. Resourcing

Role Responsibility
Project board (if required) Supports the project sponsor in realising the project benefits.
Project sponsor Accountable for realising the benefits for the organisation.
Project manager Accountable for managing the project on a day-to-day basis.
Accountable for supporting the project manager, sponsor and
Project coach/facilitator
board.
Team manager (if an Accountable to the project manager and for completing the
extended team) project work packages and deliverables.
Accountable to the project manager and for completing the
Team members
project work packages and deliverables.
Provides support and administrative services to the project
Project support
manager.

Source: Buttrick (2009:74–84)

11. How to estimate and resourcing

Estimating: 1. Identify the goals and objectives of the project. 2. Break down the project into
manageable tasks. 3. Estimate the cost of each task, including labor and materials. 4. Estima
te the total cost of the project.
Resourcing: 1. Identify the resources needed for the project. 2. Review the skills and experie
nce required for each task. 3. Assign roles and responsibilities to the project team. 4. Deter
mine the resources available, including personnel, equipment, and materials. 5. Develop a b
udget and timeline for the project. 6. Monitor progress and adjust resources accordingly.

8.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Read the following case=study: dawlish emergency works - network [Link] ([Link])

3. High performance project teams

Project teams are one of the critical success factors in any project. According to the Burke
(2018: 7), a project team is defined as several people who work closely and share the same
purpose or goal. Their skills and experiences complement each other to fulfil the project’s
objective. The PMBOK® Guide (2013:33) posits that a team consists of individuals from
different groups with specific subject matter knowledge otherwise a specific skill set to
execute work of the project. It is the responsibility of the project manager to put together a
high performing team. Project teams are an efficient and effective way of managing
projects, where efficiency performs the work well, effectiveness performs the right work.
High-performance teams deliver substantially more than poorly performing or even average
teams, sometimes several times as much. Experiencing truly high-performance teams is
exciting, fun and provides real learning (Burke, 2013).

4. Developing project teams

How you develop a high performing team is underpinned on the choice of people in the
team. The structure and characteristics of a project team significantly differ, but one
constant is the project manager’s role as the team leader regardless of what authority the
project manager may have over its members. The project should be defined well enough to
determine the appropriate participants and /or members. Every team member should
understand the desired outcome and be clear about their role and responsibilities. Most
important is clarity about the expected behavior and how the project will work. Team
members who are empowered to resolve issues and gaps in responsibilities. It is the project
manager’s responsibility to sustain the team. Once the project is completed- the team can
be disbanded. According to Pinto, (2016), characteristics of effective project teams include:

 a clear sense of project mission

 an understanding of team interdependencies
 cohesiveness
 a high level of trust
 a shared sense of enthusiasm
 a “results” orientation
(Pinto, 2016)

5. Managing global and offshore teams

High-performing teams need to have a clear sense of mission, an understanding of the
team’s interdependence and be results oriented. They also need to create cohesiveness,
trust, and enthusiasm. A clear sense of mission means that all team members understand
and accept the purpose of the project. A strong understanding enables team members to
be more effective individually (i.e., without the PM) in solving problems. For example, a
team member who understands the goals of the project can provide input about what to do
regarding conflicting resources use, whereas a team member who lacks understanding will
not be able provide constructive advice (Pinto, 2016). The team’s interdependence
represents the capabilities of individual members and their interrelatedness in relation to
accomplishing project goals. It also requires members to set aside preconceived notions
about other functional departments and to appreciate the strengths of others. With
globalisation of production and globalisation of markets More and more projects use
resources globally. Offshore suppliers are an increasingly important part of many projects,
especially IT projects. Globalization and improvements in communications technology make
worldwide teams a cost-effective way of delivering projects (Newton, 2013:61).

6. The difference between global projects and local projects

According to Newton, (2013:64), there are six main ways global projects differ from locally
based projects.

 Communications
 Relationships
 Verifying progress
 Power and influence
 Culture and languages
 Logistics and legal

7. Challenges with global and offshore teams

According to Newton, (2013:64), compared to a team working in one location, in global
projects or those with offshore teams:

 communications may be inhibited

 relationships are harder to develop
 the ability to check and confirm progress is limited
 the power of the project manager is restricted
 culture and linguistic differences are a source of risk
 logistics and legal issues need to be worked out carefully

With care and planned effort these challenges can be overcome (Newton, 2013)`
9.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Watch the following video: Project Stakeholder Management | Project Management | PMP
Certification | PMP Tutorial | Edureka - Bing video

3. The effective sponsor

A sponsor is the one who provide resources for the project usually financial resources that
are used in a project. Effective project sponsorship is an important aspect of successful
projects. Unfortunately, many sponsors do not fully understand the requirements of the
role and make poor sponsors. According to Newton, (2013:66), the main elements of the
project sponsor’s role are to:

 identify the business need for a project.

 act as an evangelist for the project.
 provide senior support to a project during execution, especially help with
accessing resources, overcoming problems, making decisions, and
communicating about and retaining support for the project.
 set the business context for a project.
 ensure that the project manager is managing in a competent fashion.
 take accountability for delivery of business benefits.

Project sponsors’ roles must adapt to the unique characteristics of the situation. According
to Newton, (2013:67), there are four core factors in this adaptation:

1. The specific needs of a project.

2. The relationship between the project manager and sponsor and how they see their
respective roles.
3. The role, level of engagement and skills of other stakeholders.
4. The personality, style, and availability of the project sponsor.

4. A productive stakeholder community

Project stakeholders are either internal to the firm or external. Each of these stakeholders
must be managed in a systematic manner where their needs are identified and assessed for
a project to be done. Stakeholders may micro-manage, interfere, ignore the project’s needs,
be indecisive, keep changing the project’s direction, lack consensus, openly mistrust, or
disregard the project team and so forth. Stakeholder management is then a painful and
seemingly pointless overhead on the project. Yet it does not need to be like this. In the best
situation, stakeholders actively contribute to the project’s success. For projects to be
successful, the following ideal situation should exist:
  Stakeholders actively support the project, removing roadblocks and providing
resources.
 Project team members understand the stakeholders’ perspectives, needs,
priorities and constraints clearly.
 Stakeholders are willing to do tasks on behalf of the project, working as an
extended resource pool to be drawn upon.
 Stakeholders have a good understanding of project capabilities and demand a
realistic set of outcomes, being willing to drop nice-to-have, peripheral and
unrelated requirements. The aim is usually not to fulfil every single requirement
of every stakeholder. This leads to over-engineered solutions. The aim is to
quickly deliver the essentials at low risk.
 Stakeholders understand the sort of behavior that helps projects and what
hinders them and are willing to take guidance from the project manager as to
what to do.
 The project team have the capability to satisfy the stakeholders.

5. Stakeholder management
Newton, (2013:75) posits that, more generally, the following actions should be taken for
effective stakeholder management:

 Engage and interact with stakeholders. Stakeholder management is not a

theoretical exercise and cannot be achieved by the project team working in an
office without talking to stakeholders.
 Make the process for interaction explicit and agreed with the stakeholders. Try
to avoid undertaking stakeholder management as an ad hoc activity.
 Manage them and their expectations, trying to avoid surprises. It is much better
to give bad news early than to surprise with it late in the project. Build trust by
keeping to commitments and by being open.
 Take time to educate stakeholders on how they can help the project to deliver
effectively and efficiently.
 Make clear that a successful project needs stakeholders to do things, as well as
present requirements and needs to the project team.
 Try to give something back to the stakeholders, so they see the value of active
engagement.

6. Benefits of effective stakeholder management

According to Newton, (2013:77), there are important reasons to perform stakeholder
management, but there are other benefits:

 Proactive stakeholders effectively provide an extended team of additional

resources (for free!).
 Good stakeholder management reduces some risks and makes other risks, which
may otherwise be unnoticed, transparent.
  It increases the likelihood of a project being perceived as a success. Irrespective
of actual project outcome, stakeholders who have been engaged and whose
expectations have been managed are far likelier to perceive a project as a
success than those who have been ignored.
 It eases benefits realization and the transition phase at the end of a project
when deliverables are handed over to their owners.

Week 2: Project planning

10.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Read the following article:

A guide to project monitoring and evaluation | [Link] Blog

3. Managing progress: perform, deliver, accomplish

Projects are temporary, they exist for a limited period and then cease to be. During their
time, projects should be managed. Managing projects involve planning, organising, leading,
and controlling the project. According to Newton, (2013:80), two important elements in
managing projects include: monitoring and control. Monitoring is concerned with regularly
assessing the progress of the project and comparing it with the expected status as defined in
the plan. Ideally progress matches the plan, but there is often a variance between plans and
reality – the project is off track. Control is concerned with making deliberate and
appropriate interventions in the project when the project is off track, or when the plan and
approach can be enhanced. The latter occurs as understanding improves and lessons are
learned during the project’s progress (Newton, 2013)

4. Delivery
In monitoring a project, the project manager is mainly focusing on activity: what are the
project team members doing and is this as defined in the plan? Additionally, the project
manager should ensure this activity is leading to the desired outcome. Progress monitoring
goes from cause to effect. This result in the process of delivery.

Figure 1.6: The process of delivery.

Source: Newton, (2013:81)

According to Newton, (2013:82), the project manager should confirm that:

 The plan is being followed: the project team members are performing the tasks
allocated to them in the time and budget estimated.
 There were no gaps or overlaps in the decomposition: all the necessary tasks
are in the plan, and only the necessary tasks are in the plan.
 The original translation was accurate: the tasks being performed are
progressing to the creation of the expected deliverables and the
accomplishment of the anticipated objectives.

5. Monitoring progress
Project Monitoring and Control is necessary to identify actions such that the project stays
on track. According to Burke (2018:319), the project control cycle is presented as a
sequence of steps to guide the project to a successful completion. The baseline plan is the
starting point for project control as it outlines a plan for managing the project. The project
control cycle monitors project performance and compares it against the baseline plan - it
also includes a mechanism for incorporating scope changes. Monitoring Progress: the data
capture system records the progress and status of all the work packages and activities. The
accuracy of the data capture has a direct bearing on the accuracy of all the subsequent
reports (project status, trends, and forecast). Additionally, good progress monitoring is not
just about asking people what they have done, it seeks evidence and builds in quality
reviews of work and outputs

The frequency of review varies and depends on the scale, urgency, and complexity of a
project.

According to Newton, (2013:83), typical process with indicative timings is as follows:

 Check that tasks are being done (frequency: daily to weekly).

 Reflect on whether the tasks are resulting in progress towards the development
of deliverables (frequency: weekly to monthly).
 Check that the tasks being done, and deliverables produced remain in scope
(frequency: weekly to monthly).
 Reflect on whether progress is being made towards the achievement of
objectives (frequency: monthly to quarterly).

Monitoring progresses involve a process of linking performance to accomplishment as

follows:

Source: Newton, (2013:83)

6. Interventions
Monitoring enables progress reporting and includes appropriate interventions to be taken
to keep the project on track or to amend it in some way. There is no fixed list of controlling
actions a project manager should take; it depends on the situation. Project management
practices, processes, and tools show when interventions are required, but they do not
determine what those interventions should be. That is up to the skill, creativity, experience,
and insight of the project manager. According to Newton, (2013:84), the following are the
main generic categories of interventions a project manager can make (in a rough order of
increasing seriousness):

 Nothing – let the project carry on as is but keep monitoring (this is the right
option in many situations).
 Alter the allocation or prioritisation of work amongst project team members.
 Tweak the plan or approach.
 Escalate to sponsor or other stakeholders for help.
 Release contingency.
 Raise a change request.
 Change team members.
 Seek additional resources.
 Revise the scope or objectives.
 Radically revise the approach.
 Stop the project (rare, but occasionally necessary).

7. Challenges in monitoring projects

According to Newton, (2013:85) challenges in monitoring projects include:

 Incomplete tasks breakdown due to poor decomposition or translation from

deliverables: this is a regular occurrence. Understanding improves as the
project’s progress and tasks need to be revisited. This problem must be
minimized but happens to some extent on all projects.
 Forgotten/wrong deliverables due to poor translation from objectives or bad
design: hopefully forgetting deliverables is rare, although some individual
requirements are often missed out. It is best if this is identified and resolved
early. If recognized only late in a project’s lifecycle it can be difficult, expensive
and time consuming to resolve.
 Incorrect or incomplete objectives due to poor analysis of business needs: this is
serious! It may be resolved if the required alteration is small and identified
quickly. But if it is significant, it may be best to abandon the project.

7.1. What project managers need to know

There are three categories of knowledge required by project managers to deliver projects

These are the process and practices of project management. Second category involves
specialist knowledge of the type of project – whether it is developing an IT system,
designing a car, building a bridge, or creating a new product, etc. This is the content of a
project. Lastly, there is knowledge of the environment in which projects are run – such as
the culture of the organization and country in which the project is run. This is the context of
a project (Newton, 2013:87).

Source: Newton (2013:90)

Process and practice knowledge is what is typically taught on project management courses
and is associated with project management accreditations. The degree of knowledge
required depends on the scale, complexity, and risk of a project. Content means a need for a
good understanding of the content of the project, whilst not necessarily being a deep expert
in every aspect. For example, a project manager working in civil engineering or construction
would expect to understand contracts, contract negotiation, and managing sub-contractors;
an IT project manager often needs to be able to manage offshore teams; and a project
manager in new product development needs familiarity with marketing and sales. Yet what
each of these project managers regards as core, the others may have no knowledge of.
Project managers may be content experts, but if they are their role on the project is not to
be the content expert. Having deep content knowledge can be very helpful – if project
managers remember their role is to project manage not deliver the content of
the project. Newton, (2013:91), posits that

context means an understanding of organisational culture requires sensitivity to the

characteristics of individual organisations. How are decisions made? How do things really
get done? What are the right and wrong ways of getting sponsor support? What sort of
behavioural expectations does the organisation have?

11.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
CASE STUDY 1: Visit the web page below for additional reading:

Managing and mitigating environmental risks at Medupi

[[Link]

CASE STUDY 2 – New medical office building- R300 million

Risk description: To commission the building at the completion of construction, the

utilities needed to be connected to the utility system (gas and electric). Throughout
the project, the team could not get a commitment from the utility company for when they
would complete the connection. This risk was never communicated beyond the project
team and there was no analysis of the impact for a delay, or an alternative plan developed
to address the risk.
Impact: The risk ultimately did occur and resulted in the need for temporary generators,
an increase in the contractor’s general conditions and several months delay to the
project completion.

Source: KPMG (2014: 4)

3. Risk management
Risk management, as an integral part of project management and is an ongoing process.
Project risk management is a continuous process that commences during the planning
phase and ends once the project is successfully commissioned and turned over to
operations. Project Risk Management encompasses the processes of conducting risk
management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a
project. The ultimate objectives of project risk management are to decrease the likelihood
and impact of negative events in the project (KPMG, 2014:2). It is risk that makes projects
challenging and to a large extent interesting. It takes skilled project management and
experience to deal fully with risk, and risk management is an essential element of delivering
a project. The foundation of risk management is an appreciation for and identification of
risks (Newton, 2013). There are two key dimensions to project risk: likelihood and impact.
The likelihood is the probability that a risk will be realised. The impact is a measure of effect
on the project should the risk occur.

4. Understanding project risk

All projects are vulnerable to risks. It is not possible to eliminate risk from a project
regardless of planning. The role of risk management is to identify and analyse potential risks
associated with a project. Once risks have been identified, preventative action or
contingency plans may be established to reduce the impact of the risk on the success of the
project. While this presents a way to help control the effects of risk, it does not eliminate
risk from the project management equation.

5. Approaches to risk
There are various ways to support the identification of risk. The foundation of risk
management is risk identification. Specific risk identification techniques include
brainstorming, stakeholder interviews and root cause analysis. Experience is often the best
way to identify relevant risks. If you are involved in running a project in a domain you have
no experience of, engaging someone who has run similar projects before in risk
identification workshops or interviews is recommended. Risk identification determines what
might happen that could impact the project and how those things might happen. It
produces a deliverable — the project risk register (Caltrans 2012:13).

Risk registers should typically include the following fields: Risk type; Description;
Cost impact. Probability; Risk level; Possible responses; and Action owner. Risk identification
is probably the hardest and most important part of the risk management process, because if
you cannot identify a risk, it will be excluded from further analysis and therefore you will
probably not respond to it. The process of risk identification should not be once off, but
rather continuous process, its frequency depending on the level of risk on the project and
the schedule of meetings.

6. Risk Identification
Project managers must be familiar with different types of risks and the methods that can be
used to identify project risk. The project manager should also involve key project team
members when identifying potential sources of risk (Gido, 2009: 88). The types of risks
include:

 Financial risk
 Technical risk
 Commercial risk
 Execution risk
 Contractual or legal risk

These risks will often manifest as the following problems:

 Absenteeism
 Resignation
 Staff being pulled away by management
 Training not as effective as desired
 Enhancements taking longer than expected

Project managers can use the following methods for identifying risk:

 Brainstorming meetings
 Expert opinion
 History
 Multiple assessments

7. Sources of risk
According to Newton, (2013:95), there are various sources of risk on projects, which can be
summarized into four overlapping groups:

1. Assumptions: we make assumptions all the time. Sometimes they are

reasonable and turn out to be right, sometimes they are wrong. Risk is
associated with the likelihood and impact of wrong assumptions. Project
assumptions should be identified and assessed as risks.
2. Actions, or consequences of actions, impacting the project: for example, the
behavior of stakeholders in response to proposed project plans. Stakeholder
assessments are a good way to identify risk.
3. Uncertainties and unknowns: the more innovative, unusual, or experimental a
project is, the greater the number of unknowns. Unknowns are hard to manage
as individual risks but can be accounted for in terms of
 contingency. Uncertainties include factors such as whether suppliers will deliver
on time or whether a project budget will be maintained for the life of the
project.
4. Errors: human error is a fact of life. In a complex activity like building a project
plan it is likely there will be mistakes in some areas.

(Burke, 2014; Newton, 2013)

8. Categories of risk
According to Newton, (2013:96), preject risks fall into these categories:

 Project risk: risks that threaten the project being delivered to time, cost or
quality. These are the core risks, directly relevant to and managed by the project
manager and team.
 Outcome risk: risks that threaten the achievement of the desired outcomes or
business benefits from a project. This category extends beyond project risks.
These risks are relevant to project sponsors and customers. Project managers
are often not responsible for achieving the business benefits from a project and
may not be concerned with outcome risks. In contrast, programme
managers usually are and must consider outcome risks. (This is one key area
where the roles of project and programme managers vary.)
 Design, architectural or integration risk: risks that the implementation and use
of project deliverables will impact other components of an organization. For
example, a new IT system or new process disrupting existing IT systems or
processes. This sort of risk is normally the responsibility of the solutions designer
or architect and is identified through design reviews as part of the project.
 Operational risk: risks that the running of the project, or implementation of
deliverables from it, will disrupt the wider operations of the business, or impact
the total cost of ownership of business operations in unforeseen, unbudgeted,
or unplanned ways. These risks are most relevant to operational managers in an
organization. This is often a point of tension between projects and operational
managers.
 Organizational culture risk: risks that the project will have an unforeseen or
unplanned impact upon the culture or behaviors of people in the organization.
In my experience this is often forgotten, but change projects have significant
impacts on the consistency of behavior in organizations.
 Social risk: risks that the project will have a cultural, environmental, or ethical
impact on the wider community in which an organization operates. Most
projects do not need to consider this, but some, such as launching new products
or those with environmental impact should and often do. This is usually the area
of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sometimes statutory regulation and
acts.

9. Risk management process

Project risk is defined as any possible event that can negatively affect the viability of a
project. Risk management is the art and science of identifying, analysing and responding to
risk factors throughout the life of the project and in the interest of its objectives (Pinto,
2020: 265).

Project risk is based on the following simple equation:

Risk = (probability of an event) × (Consequences of that event)

Risk management consist of the following four distinct steps:

 Risk identification
 Analysis of probability and consequences
 Risk mitigation strategies
 Control and documentation

Figure 1.8. Risk Management process

Source: Newton, (2013:98)

10. Analysis of the probability and consequences

The next step in the process consists of:

 Attaching a reasonable estimate of the likelihood of each of the risks actually

occurring.
 Estimating the consequences to the project if they do occur.
 These factors can be assigned a rating of High, Medium or Low by the project
manager in consultation with appropriate team members.

Factors that affect the probability or likelihood of an event occurring are:

 Maturity –is it a new project or an old one?

 Complexity – the more complex the project, the greater the likelihood of risk.
 Dependency – is the project dependent on other outcomes of systems or is it a
stand-alone project?

In consequences of failure, we are concerned with issues that highlight the effects of project
failure. These may occur in the following areas:

 Cost
 Schedule
 Reliability
 Performance

11. Risk mitigation strategies

The next stage in risk management is the development of effective risk mitigation strategies.
The strategy developed to reduce the impact or the likelihood of each risk. A project
manager can adopt the following four possible alternatives to address risk:

 Accept the risk

 Minimise the risk
 Share the risk
 Transfer the risk

12. Control and documentation

Control and documentation methods help project managers to classify and codify the
various risks that the firm faces, its response to these risks, as well as the outcome of its
response strategies. The documentation should highlight the following:

 What: What is the source of the risk?

 Who: Who is assigned to resolve the risk?
 When: When is the risk likely to be resolved?
 Why: Why has the risk occurred; what are the reasons for the risk?
 How: A detailed plan of how the risk is to be abated.

13. Conclusion
Project risk management demonstrates he value of proactive planning for projects to
anticipate and mitigate serious problems that could negatively affect the project. There are
four phases of project risk management: Risk identification, analysis of probability and
consequences, risk mitigation strategies and lastly control and documentation.

12.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Read the following article:

How to Write a Project Report: [Templates + Guide] ([Link])

3. The importance of Project Reporting

Designing project management reporting is important to ensure projects are completed on
time and on budget (Jones, 2018). It also helps to monitor the progress of a project, identify
any potential delays, and track the costs associated with the project (Smith, 2017). By creati
ng reports, project managers can identify any areas of improvement and take corrective acti
on if needed (Wilson, 2019). This helps ensure project deliverables are met and that the proj
ect is successful.

4. Project reporting
Project management reporting is the practice of providing stakeholders with timely and
accurate information about the progress and performance of a project (Fernández, 2017). It
is a core component of successful project management, allowing for informed decision-
making and successful project outcomes (Rad, 2016). Reports can provide a range of
information, including financial data, status updates, and resource utilization (Mertz, 2018).
Project management reporting can be used to assess whether a project is on track, identify
risk factors, and analyze performance (Lee et al., 2019).

Reporting is a central part of project delivery. There is a variety of reports to produce: status
reports, budget updates, steering committee packs and so on. Reporting can take up a
significant proportion of project resources and is often a point of dissatisfaction for project
managers, project sponsors and other stakeholders. Project reporting causes project
sponsors’ and project managers’ eyes to roll – for different reasons. Sponsors are often
unhappy with the reports they get. Project managers are often unhappy about the effort
expended in reporting. Sponsors claim they cannot understand what is going on. Project
managers complain about drowning in documents and PowerPoint presentations and being
unable to do ‘any real work’ (Burke, 2014).

According to Newton, (2013:101), the two basic goals in project reporting are:

1. Meeting the needs of both project stakeholders and the project itself.
2. Achieving this efficiently and effectively by maximising value from and
minimising the overhead of reporting.

The reports should be designed to assist problem-solving and decision-making by the

various levels of management so that they can ensure the project will meet its stated goals
and objectives. Performance reporting involves collecting and disseminating
performance information to provide stakeholders with information about how resources are
being used to achieve project objectives (PMBK®, 2013). Reports may be prepared
comprehensively or on an exception basis.

4.1. Tools and Techniques for Performance Reporting include:

1. Status reports simply quantify the position of the project. This data capture function is the
first link in the information and control system - all subsequent evaluations are based on this
data. Status reports may be specific and focus on the key areas of the project, like time,
cost, and quality, or they may be general and include a much wider scope.

2. Variance analysis. Variance analysis involves comparing actual project results to planned
or expected results. Cost and schedule variances are the most frequently analysed, but
variances from plan in the areas of scope, quality, and risk are often of equal or greater
importance.
3. Trend analysis. Trend analysis involves examining project results over time to determine if
performance is improving or deteriorating.

4. Exception Reports: Exception reports are designed to flag an occurrence or event which
are outside predetermined control limits? This threshold can be set by the project manager
as a guideline for the planner to follow and filter out the important information

5. Monthly Reports: The monthly report should roll up the weekly progress meetings and
any other special meetings to give an overall picture of the project.

6. Reporting Period: The agreed timing of the reports should link with a schedule
of meetings and report roll-ups. This would generally be weekly, but should also include key
milestones and be adjusted to accommodate risk and the level of control required (PMBK®,
2013).

5. Audiences for project reports

According to Newton, (2013:101), there are different audiences for project reports, but we
can simplify them into two: interested external parties in a project, known as stakeholders,
and the project and project team itself. Their needs are conceptually simple.

 Stakeholder needs are:

o To understand progress towards achieving goals.
o To ensure their needs are being met by the project.
o To prepare for any decisions or actions they need to take because of
the project.
 Project team needs are:
o To manage stakeholder expectations, maintain their awareness of
project team performance, and develop their confidence in the
project.
o To highlight risks and issues stakeholders should be aware of or need
to act over.
o To facilitate decision making and approvals by sponsors and
stakeholders.
o To gain and maintain access to resources and prioritization.

6. Factors to consider in Designing reports

When designing project management reports, there are several factors that need to be
taken into account (Verma, 2020). These include the type of information that should be
reported, the frequency of the reporting, the format of the report, and the stakeholders
who will receive the report (Larson and Gray, 2019). Additionally, the report should be
tailored to the needs of the project, such as highlighting important successes, identifying
emerging risks, and tracking progress against goals (Kerzner, 2017). Finally, a clear and
effective communication plan should be established to ensure the report is distributed to
the appropriate stakeholders in a timely manner (PMI, 2017).
According to Newton, (2013:103), in project management one cannot present a report
without considering certain factors such as,

 Whether the project is politically contentious or not: contentious projects

usually must do more stakeholder management and associated reporting.
 Whether the project operates in a situation with generous or constrained
resourcing: when resources are constrained, reporting needs tend to increase to
maintain access to resources and appropriate prioritization.
 Whether the project needs regular support from senior managers (e.g., to take
actions, make decisions or give approvals) or is largely self-contained: the more
active sponsors and stakeholders need to be, the greater the reporting overhead
to steer this activity.
 Whether the culture of the organization is formal or informal: this is less about
the reporting needs and more about the frequency and style of reports. Less
formal organizations tend to have regular updates in the form of conversations.
More formal organizations tend to insist on formalized periodic reports.
 How homogeneous the stakeholders are: when stakeholders have similar needs,
levels of understanding and attitudes, one report may satisfy all. If the
stakeholder community is varied, the number and range of reports tends to
increase.

7. Additional references
Fernández, R. 2017. Project Management Reporting: The Ultimate Guide. Retrieved
from [Link]

Jones, A. 2018. The importance of project management reporting. Project Management Insti
tute.

Lee, A., Koo, D., & Lee, J. 2019. A Study of Project Management Reporting for Project
Performance Evaluation. International Journal of Project Management, 37(7), 935–
943. [Link]

Mertz, C. 2018. Best Practices for Project Management Reporting. Retrieved

from [Link]
reporting

Rad, A. 2016. The importance of effective project reporting. Retrieved

from [Link]

Smith, J. 2017. The importance of project management reporting. Project Management Wor
ld Journal, 8(2), 11-14.

Wilson, R. 2019. Benefits of project management reporting. Project Management Institute.

13.1. Notes
2. Collaborative Project / Case Study / Relevance
Connection
Watch the following video:

Qualitative Risk Analysis | What Is Qualitative Risk Analysis? | PMI-RMP Course | Simplilearn
- Bing video

3. Typical symptoms of poor risk management

Poor risk management can manifest in various ways. Common symptoms include lack of
coordination between departments or teams (Jansen, 2018), a lack of clarity about roles and
responsibilities (DeVellis, 2017), inadequate communication (Gibson, 2020), and inadequate
documentation (Tavakoli, 2020).

According to Newton, (2013:109), ccommon symptoms of poor risk management:

 There is no understanding of the risks. This is a surprisingly common reality for

many projects. Ask a group of project managers to tell you the risks on their
projects and to see the risk log. Often nothing has been done about risk and
managers have difficulty in clearly identifying the key risks.
 There is an old, outdated risk log. We have all been guilty of this on some
projects. Some form of risk assessment is done at the start of the project. Risks
are identified, categorized, assessed and some vague words are written down
about what to do about them. The log is then filed away and largely forgotten
about. Should anyone ask to see the risk log, an old dusty document is
produced. It has never been updated since the start of the project! Be honest –
you have seen this lots of times.
 There is compliance to risk management, but no action. This is the hardest to
spot, and is a common trait, especially with less capable project managers. A risk
management process is defined, is active and a risk log is regularly maintained.
Risk review meetings are held, but no real action ever occurs in response to
those risks, and everyone looks very bored at the meetings. Risk management is
done to achieve compliance to standards, rather than to achieve better project
outcomes. In a way this is the worst situation of all, as effort is made, but
nothing useful is done.

4. Making it real
According to Newton, (2013:110), five fundamental characteristics of a project in which risk
management is real:

1. The project manager has the right mindset. One of the reasons we need project
management in the first place is because of the inherent risk in projects. If there were no
risks, we would probably need fewer project managers. The ability to overcome risks is a key
trait of great project management. Successful project managers are orientated towards risk,
constantly aware of it and alert for new risks. Unless the project manager really believes in
the existence of risk, the value of risk management, and has a feel for risk – risk
management will not happen.

2. The risk management process results in action. Too many risk management processes are
about creating paper trails, logs, and spreadsheets – and ticking compliance boxes. Unless
risk management results in deliberate action it is adding no value.

3. Risk management is continuous. Risk management is often pursued on a periodic basis,

for example once a month as part of a risk review session. Of course, this is much better
than nothing, but the most effective risk management is an ongoing part of daily project
management.

4. The project plan reflects risks. There are small risks and big risks. All the big risks need to
have some sort of mitigating actions. Those actions should be reflected in the project plans
(or project backlog). The point of the plan is to shape the activity of the project team. If
there are risks that need to be managed, this activity needs to include those related to risk
management.

5. The project manager understands the risk profile. Risks come and go. Events happen
which increase or decrease risk. Some of these events are under the control of the project
manager and some are not. But in simple terms, at the start of a project, the project has a
certain maximum risk profile. At the end of a successful project the risk, or at least the
project delivery risk, is zero.

4.1. Figure 1.9. Making risk management real

5. Typical risk factors

According to Pinto, (2016:248), a risk assessment matrix can be used to analyse and quantify
risks under the following types:

1. Financial Risks
2. Technical Risks
 3. Commercial Risks
4. Execution Risks
5. Contractual or Legal Risks

6. Types of risk assessment

Qualitative risk assessment

This matrix beneficial in providing a visual depiction of potential risk factors. The matrix
enables the project team to prioritize risk based on severity of consequences and likelihood
of occurrence. For instance, those that rest in the “high” portion of both consequences and
likelihood would be top priorities during project planning. Drawbacks of the matrix may
revolve around differences in opinion as to where risk variables should be placed on the
matrix. It may also create tunnel vision where the team fails to acknowledge the
significance of tasks that fall outside of the high-priority areas (Pinto, 2019).

Quantitative risk assessment

One benefit of such tools is in the ability to set thresholds based on calculations of
probability and consequence. A numerical point system creates an easy way to compare
different risk variables. This point system also provides more detail than a matrix in
depicting the level of risk. Additionally, once the point system is designed, it can be used
over and over to compare risk factors of future projects. Problems with these tools may
arise in disagreement over assigning points and creating thresholds. Also, the point system
is not an exact science. It relies on rules of thumb and may be subject to interpretation
(Pinto, 2019).

7. Nine phases of a comprehensive project risk assessment:

Define
There is a high need to clearly indicate the project goals and objectives. The scope of work
should be clearly known and communicated to the team members. The team member
should be aware of what his or her work is contributing towards; this creates a better
active involvement.

Focus
Ensure that you put plans for risk management; determine the best methods for
addressing project risk. The method should be unique as per the project undertaken.

Identify
Ensure that you have measures in place to track and assess the sources of risk and
establish structures that will respond to and address the risk. The first step to take would
be to identify the causes of risk and ask yourself questions about what could possibly
contribute to the risk – it could be internal or external.

Structure
 You can reconsider the way sources of risks are classified within the firm. Determine where
there are common causes of risks; it will make it much easier to address them.

Clarify ownership of risks

Be able to determine who will own the risks incurred; distinguish between risks that
project organisations are willing to handle. Ensure that you allocate responsibility to team
members to manage the risk.

Estimate
Estimate the potential costs that the firm will incur in relation to the risk and evaluate the
likelihood of scenarios that are likely to happen in results to the project risk.

Evaluate
Prioritise risks, identify which risks will have the most impact and which needs an urgent
response, then identify which team members will be responsible for handling and
managing those risks.

Plan
Produce a project risk plan management that proactively offers risk mitigation strategies
for the project as needed.

Manage
Measure and monitor progress done on managing the project risk and develop plans that
will address future project risks.

(Pinto, 2020: 261).

8. Additional references
DeVellis, R.F. (2017). Scale Development: Theory and Applications. Sage Publications.

Gibson, K. (2020). The Risk Manager’s Guide to Effective Communication.

Wiley. Jansen, H. (2018). Risk Management and Governance: Principles and Best Practices.
Elsevier.

Tavakoli, S. (2020). Risk Management Documentation. John Wiley & Sons.

14.1. Notes
2. Case Study
Read "The Problems of Multitasking", case study 12.1 - (Pinto, 2020: 468-469)
3. Introduction
Multitasking in project management is the ability to manage and coordinate multiple tasks si
multaneously. It involves organizing resources, managing time, and identifying and mitigatin
g risks. Multitasking is essential for successful project management, as it allows for multiple
tasks to be completed in a timely manner, while still ensuring the quality of the work. In ord
er to successfully multitask, project managers must have a good understanding of the projec
t, its goals, and its timeline. They must also be able to prioritize tasks and manage their reso
urces efficiently. Multitasking can help managers to effectively manage their projects and m
eet deadlines without sacrificing quality.

4. Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking is about juggling multiple activities and working on them in parallel.
Multitasking decreases employee efficiency because employee time is divided among
multiple projects. This division creates down time as employees shift from one project to
the next. Simple things such as time spent getting to a new location or time switching from
onset of thought processes to another eat up time that employees could be spending on
task accomplishment. Therefore, scheduling may become difficult because employees’ time
devoted to one project begins to affect their time availability for other projects. Managers
in charge of scheduling need to be aware that an employee has multiple responsibilities and
not assume that he or she can devote their full number of working hours to one project
(Newton, 2013).

5. Importance of multitasking
Team members may work on multiple aspects of the project in parallel or juggle their
involvement in the project with other projects and non-project activities. We seem to take
such multitasking for granted. We present the people who multi-task most as the objects of
veneration. Yet, multi-tasking reduces project team productivity, sometimes significantly. By
optimising the levels of multi-tasking in project teams, project managers can improve
productivity (Newton, 2013).

6. Impact of multi-tasking
Project managers and project teams should seek to minimise the level of multi-tasking.
Some project management techniques, specifically some forms of agile and approaches like
Kanban have this thinking ingrained into them. Unfortunately, the culture of juggling
multiple activities is firmly entrenched in many organisations’ ethos, and this carries over
into projects.

According to Newton, (2013:114), there are two underlying assumptions which need to be
challenged:

1. Being 100% busy is the ideal to strive for and leads to the greatest output.
2. The best performers always work on many things at once.
Both assumptions are wrong. Whilst it may be counterintuitive, the busiest are not always
the most productive. In a project it is productivity we should measure success by, not hours
of exertion. Secondly, whilst we should have sympathy for and perhaps admire the people
who must and can effectively multi-task, we should not seek to emulate them.

One reason for multi-tasking is poor prioritisation. If we do not decide which is the most
important task out of all the tasks we can do, then the result is typically to divide our time
across a wide set of activities in parallel. This is a reason why prioritisation is so important

Example (Newton, 2013:115)

Four 25-day tasks are to be performed by one person, and each of these tasks produces a
valuable deliverable. If the tasks are done in parallel, it seems logical that after 100 days
they will all be complete, and four deliverables will be available. However, if instead they
were done in series, one deliverable would be complete every 25 days. After 25 days one
deliverable is ready, after 50 days two and so on until after 100 days all four are ready. It
seems that after 100 days the result is the same – but in the interim by working in parallel
nothing was available, whilst by working in series there was a growing set of valuable
deliverables from 25 days onwards.

6.1. Figure 1.10. Impact of multi-tasking.

7. Resource Loading
Resource Loading: The process of assigning people, materials, and other resources to tasks d
uring the scheduling process (Pinto 2020: 487).

Resource loading identifies the number of resources needed over the project baseline. It is
a process that assigns resources in the required amount to each project activity. Resource
loading maps out resource use over the duration of the project. It is a useful tool for team
members to determine conflicting uses and over allocation of resources prior to the start of
the project. It is critical to effect project management in that it provides a better picture of
resource availability, constraints, and misallocation. This allows managers to determine
more accurately if extra resources are required and if the project baseline is reasonable.
When a resource is over allocated, meaning it is needed to perform multiple tasks at one
time or is needed in a greater quantity than the current supply, time/cost trade-off decisions
must be made. Due to the over allocation, project managers must decide to either increase
the overall time of the project by extending the schedule to allow extra time to complete
both tasks and increase the budget to allow for employment of additional resource use.
Either way, the project is going to run over projected figures, it is simply a matter of whether
the budget or timetable will be extended (Burke, 2018).

15.1. Notes
1. The right and wrong uses of a project plan
Project plans are complex. One of the challenges for project managers is to communicate
complex plans to the stakeholders. Showing a detailed MS Project plan with several hundred
lines to key stakeholders is generally may not be helpful. Additionally, referring to a complex
backlog, managed through a tool like Jira, in a steering committee meeting is also not
particularly useful. In both cases, there is too much detail in such complex plans for senior
managers to gain the high-level picture of the project they require. Sponsors and senior
managers interested in or sponsoring a project are a critical audience to understand plans,
but usually only at a relatively shallow level of detail. One good way to explain the project to
this group is to produce a plan on a page which gives them a view of the key chunks of work
on the project, and usually has a timeline which shows only months or even quarters of
time. The plan on a page can be tailored to different audiences to stress the elements of the
project they are most interested in. There is a difference between the plan on a page as a
communication device, and the plan on a page being used as the project plan. For
communication, one page can be excellent. It can give an overview, understanding and a
sense of a project’s direction. It is also critical in setting management expectations, and
sometimes commitment making. But that is about all. It is a communications and
stakeholder management tool rather than a project management tool (Newton, 2013:119).

Furthermore, Newton (2013), posits that the critical point with any plan is to design it based
on what it will be used for. Project plans have multiple uses, which include:

o Providing an understanding of the activities involved in a project.

 o Enabling the project team, sponsor, and stakeholders to understand how
long a project will take, what resources will be required and how much it will
cost to do.
o Facilitating communicating and explaining the project-to-project stakeholders
and project team members.
o Allowing the project manager to allocate work to different people in the
project.
o Explaining the project to external audiences impacted by the outcome of the
project.
o Providing the basis for managing projects to successful completion.
o Supporting wider business planning and management commitment making.

2. Relevance connection
Project Management Plan: An Overview - Bing video

2.1. Right use

A project management plan is an integral tool for the successful completion of any project (
Pinto, 2020: 10). It should provide a clear timeline and budget for the project and should be
used to communicate the project’s goals and objectives, as well as the tasks that need to be
completed to achieve these goals (Pinto, 2020: 11).

Right Uses

1. To monitor and control the activities of a project (Pinto, 2020: 28).

2. To provide a single source of truth for the project team (Pinto, 2020: 28).
3. To provide an effective communication tool for project stakeholders (Pinto, 2
020: 28).

A project management plan can be used to set project objectives, define roles and responsib
ilities, provide a timeline for tasks, outline the budget, and identify risks (Pinto, 2020: 13).

The right uses of a project management plan include (Pinto, 2020: 74-75):

 Establishing a comprehensive baseline and schedule to track performance

 Assigning tasks, roles and responsibilities to project team members
 Determining the necessary resources to complete the project

2.2. Wrong use

A project management plan should not be used as a substitute for actually doing the work r
equired to complete the project (Pinto, 2020: 14). It should also not be used to replace the n
eed for team members to collaborate and work together (Pinto, 2020: 15). The plan is only a
guide and should not be used as a substitute for actual project management. A project man
agement plan should not be used to replace face-to-face communication (Pinto, 2020: 14). It
should also not be used as a substitute for creative problem-solving or decision-making (Pint
o, 2020: 14).

The wrong uses of a project management plan include (Pinto, 2020: 76):

 Using the plan as a rigid document and not allowing for changes or updates
 Using the plan to micromanage the project team
 Using the plan to dictate how team members should complete their tasks
 Not allowing for feedback and collaboration from the project team

3. Various ways in which plans are used

o Project plans have multiple uses and are of interest to different audiences
o Each use and audience may require a different plan, or at least a different
presentation of the plan
o The plan on a page can be a useful way to present the project plan to senior
audiences
o The plan on a page is not sufficient to manage most projects
o If the only plan is a plan on a page, it indicates insufficient understanding of
the project

According to (Pinto, 2020) various ways in which project plans are used:

1. To define project scope, deliverables, and work breakdown structure: Project plans c
an be used to define the scope of the project, identify the deliverables, and create a
work breakdown structure that breaks down the project into manageable componen
ts.

2. To create a timeline and set milestones: Project plans can be used to create a timelin
e and set milestones that must be completed in order to ensure that the project is de
livered on time.

3. To manage resources and budgets: Project plans can be used to allocate resources a
nd manage budgets, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that costs are k
ept within budget

4. To communicate project goals and objectives: Project plans can be used to communi
cate the project goals and objectives to all stakeholders, ensuring that everyone is w
orking towards the same objectives and that the project is successful.

5. To track progress and make adjustments: Project plans can be used to track progress
and make adjustments as needed to ensure that the project stays on track.

6. To manage risks and issues: Project plans can be used to identify and manage risks a
nd issues that could impact the project. This helps to ensure that any potential probl
ems are addressed before they become major issues.
4. The right type of plan for the right situation
You cannot estimate resources, assess the impact of dependencies, or work out critical
paths with a plan on a page. Such a plan does not assist in managing project risk, nor does it
provide sufficient detail to assess and control external dependencies. More fundamentally,
having only a plan on a page indicates that the project manager and project team have not
thought through the project. Developing a project plan is essential in estimating resources,
timelines, and risks and so on. But it is not just the output from planning that is important, it
is the process itself. Developing a detailed project plan forces the project manager and the
project team to think about and understand the project. If you have not developed your
own detailed plan, you do not fully understand your project. Of course, there are sometimes
small projects of limited complexity that can fit a fully detailed plan on a page. But using a
plan on a page as the only project plan, for an initiative of any complexity, is either laziness
or incompetence (Newton, 2013).

The right type of project plan for the right situation according to (Pinto, 2020):

Strategic Plan: This type of plan is used for major initiatives or goals that require long-term p
lanning and execution. It includes the identification of objectives, strategies, and tactics for a
chieving the desired results.

Business Plan: This type of plan is used to guide the development of a business, from the for
mation of a new business to the growth of an existing one. It outlines the goals, objectives, a
nd strategies necessary to build a profitable business.

Project Plan: This type of plan is used to guide the execution of a specific project. It outlines
the steps, resources, and timeline necessary to complete the project and achieve its objectiv
es.

Operational Plan: This type of plan is used to guide the day-to-day operations of an organiza
tion. It outlines the tasks, procedures, and resources necessary to effectively and efficiently
execute the organization’s mission.

16.1. Notes
2. Case Study
(PDF) QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT: EMPIRICAL STUDY OF
COVENANT UNIVERSITY SPORTS COMPLEX ([Link])

This study explores the interplay between quality management and project management, th
rough a case study of a large organization in the manufacturing industry. The authors explor
e the different approaches to quality management that were used in the case study organiza
tion, the relationship between quality and project management, and the challenges encount
ered by the organization in managing quality in its projects. In addition, the authors discuss t
he benefits of integrating quality management into project management and offer suggestio
ns for improving the organization's quality-management practices.

3. Quality management
Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfil requirements (Rose,
2005:6). According to Newton, (2013:122), quality management (QM) covers a range of
options, including governance, quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC), management or
peer reviews, coaching and project audits. In setting up a project there are choices to be
made about how to approach QM which affect the cost, timescale and resulting quality of
the project.

The starting point for QM is to understand the QM goals you have. Newton, (2013:123)
argues that there are three different outcomes from any form of QM intervention in a
project:

 To provide confidence to external parties (managers, stakeholders, regulators, etc.),

that a project is being well run and/or it will achieve its desired outcome.

 To reduce the risk of project failure: this may be achieved by ensuring the right
process is being used, or that suitable deliverables or work products are being
created (closely related to the first point but is not the same).

 To improve the skills or capabilities of the project team through feedback,

instruction, or coaching (Newton, 2013)

4. The QM choices
According to Newton, (2013:124), there are two common elements to QM. A degree of
disagreement exists about the precise meanings, but essentially the different types of
intervention are:

o Quality assurance (QA): activities designed to ensure the project is following the
right process.

o Quality control (QC): activities designed to ensure the deliverables or work

products produced by the project are fit for purpose (which includes, but is not
limited to, testing).

5. Finding the right balance

According to Newton, (2013:125), there is no one way to apply QM which fits all
circumstances, but some general guidance can help in deciding the right balance of audit,
assurance, control, or reviews:
 Make QM proportionate to the needs of the project. In many organisations
larger projects tend to automatically have a greater QM overhead. It is better if
QM is proportionate to the risk of the project and capability of the team, rather
than just project size. A novice team on a critical, high-risk, small project need
more QM support than a highly experienced team on a large, low-risk project.

 Avoid QM being just about ticking boxes. It should be a goal-directed activity and
designed to achieve your goals – whether that is greater confidence, reduced
risk, or improved team capabilities. QM should be part of the project not just an
overhead, but it does absorb resources so the aim should be to do enough and
only enough QM.

 Optimise the timing of QM interventions. Do not leave everything to a post-

implementation review or when a project is going off the rails. These are
important learning opportunities, but experience shows that earlier
interventions are better. They will identify and fix problems sooner, reducing the
cost and impact of that fix. A problem fixed early in a project’s life costs a small
fraction of a problem fixed late. However, not everything can be identified at the
start and QM interventions should be regular throughout the project’s life.

 Minimise specially produced QM review artefacts. Ideally, any QM reviews

should be of standard project work products. If the right project artefacts for
reviews are hard to produce, this is a sign of a poorly run project or badly
designed QM approach. Occasionally, QM seems to need specific artefacts for
quality reviews – but this should be avoided as the aim is to review the project,
not the QM artefacts. If this is not done you risk creating ‘shadow projects. This
happens when there is a hidden un-reviewed project doing the actual work and
a visible parallel project creating unrelated artefacts for compliance checking or
box ticking.

 Try to develop a positive attitude to QM activities. Ideally, the project team sees
reviews as an opportunity to get better, not as criticism. People performing
reviews should approach them as ways to reduce project risk, not a mechanism
to catch people out or do performance management. As a reviewer, if you
mingle project reviews with performance management, you risk having key
information hidden from you.

 Apply a range of interventions with different styles. QA and QC both add value –
but they identify different issues and problems. Coaching and auditing can both
be helpful. If you want the team to learn then emphasise coaching, if you need
to prove external compliance perform audits.

 Balance internal and external reviewers. Ideally, you want a self-improving, self-
correcting project team. But some level of external reviews remains important.
You want to avoid the ‘marking your own homework’ scenario. Plus, external
reviewers often provide fresh insights. Mingling reviewing with coaching is
difficult, and it is usually better to separate coaching from reviewing roles.
Finally, whilst an experienced peer project manager can add value by reviewing
the project management approach, for QC activities you generally need content
expertise in the deliverables of the project.