Various perspectives

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
IN SOCIAL WELFARE AND
DEVELOPMENT

AMELYN L. LARO, RSW, MASW

Social Welfare/Social Work
Administration
-is the process of transforming social policies into
social services.

-is the process of efficiently providing resources

and services to meet the needs of the individuals,
families, groups and communities to facilitate
social relationship and adjustment necessary to
social functioning.

-may be thought of as the action of staff members

who utilize social processes to transform social
policies of agencies into the delivery of social
services
 Principles of Social Welfare/Social Work
Administration
Principles related to Principles related to General principles
professional values administrative
function
SW values Agency purpose Agency totality
Community/client Planning Growth
needs Organization Change
Cultural setting Delegation
Human relationship Coordination
Professional Resource utilization
responsibility Leadership
Participation
evaluation
 Levels of Social Administration
and their corresponding functions (Rose Mary Sarri)

Institutional level
-deciding about problem to be
TOP LEVEL/INSTITUTIONAL addressed
LEVEL -establishment of organizational
domain
-determination of organizational
boundaries
-management of organization-
environment relations
-reporting and interpretation to
the community
-development of a particular
public image
Managerial level
-mediation between clients and
MIDDLE professionals LEVELS OF SOCIAL
LEVEL/MANAGERIAL -procurement and allocation of
LEVEL resources
ADMINISTRATION
-direction and coordination of staff AND
-over-all recruitment, selection, CORRESPONDING
training, supervision
FUNCTIONS
Technical/lower level
-performing technical activities
LOW LEVEL/ -selecting and experimenting
TECHNICAL viable technologies
LEVEL -continuous staff development
Functions of Social Welfare Administration
Under Two Headings

Enterprise determination Enterprise execution

Fact-finding Setting up organizational
Analysis of the situation and structure
services Staffing the agency
Decision on the best ways of Supervising and controlling
reaching the goals personnel and finances
Planning and allocation of Recording and accounting
resources Supplying the financial resources
SOCIAL PLANNING
Social planning emphasizes the application of rational problem-
solving techniques and data-driven approaches to identify,
determine, and help coordinate services for target populations.

Social planning is carried out by a myriad of organizations—from

federal agencies to community organizations—attempting to solve
problems ranging from child welfare to aging.
Social planning
involves the design, delivery and assessment of
public/private organizations and programs aimed
to empower citizens to enhance their quality of
life. The fundamental tenets of social planning
include:

•securing public health and safety;

•presenting opportunities for economic growth and
security;
•creating standards and directions in education;
•supporting community/family functions.
SOCIAL PLANNING INVOLVES THE FF:
Determination, analysis and projection of community need

Development of specific plans for target populations

Effectively balancing and managing stakeholder interests

Community engagement challenges and tools

Social infrastructure assessment tools

Social impact assessment guidance and tools

Integrated planning and reporting: statutory requirements,

challenges and opportunities

Social and integrated planning synthesis, implementation,

sustainability and review.
From a policymaker's point of view, social
planning is appropriate when:
•The community asks for it. A community problem may have
reached the point where the community feels something
needs to be done, and doesn't feel it knows what that is, or
that it has the resources to do it. It may ask policymakers or
an outside source for help.

•An issue or problem has reached crisis proportions, and it's

obvious to everyone that something must be done. It
sometimes takes one or more specific events - the riots in
many American cities in the spring of 1968, for instance, or
the 9/11 terrorist attack - to set a social planning process in
motion. In other cases, however, the process may be a
response to an ongoing condition ( e.g., rising
unemployment, or increasing youth crime).

•There is a long-standing major issue - poverty, violence,

housing, hunger, etc. - that has attracted policymakers'
attention. Because of media publicity or public opinion,
"Sustainable development
is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. It contains within it two key
concepts:

•the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of

the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be
given; and
•the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology
and social organization on the environment's ability to
meet present and future needs.“

All definitions of sustainable development require that we

see the world as a system—a system that connects space;
and a system that connects time.
 Boundar Preindust
Earth-system Current Boundary
Control variable [25]
y rial Commentary
process value crossed
value value

Atmospheric carbon dioxideconcentration (ppm by volume)[26]

350 387 yes 280 [27]

1.
See also: Tipping point (climatology)
Climate change

Alternatively: Increase inradiative forcing (W/m2) since the

1.0 1.5 yes 0 [28]
start of the industrial revolution (~1750)

2.
Extinction rate (number ofspecies per million per year) 10 > 100 yes 0.1–1 [29]
Biodiversity los
s (a) anthropogenic nitrogen removed from the atmosphere
35 121 yes 0 [30]

3. (millions oftonnes per year)

Biogeochemica (b) anthropogenic phosphorus going into the oceans (millions
l 11 8.5–9.5 no −1 [31]
of tonnes per year)

4. Global mean saturation state of aragonite in surface seawater

2.75 2.90 no 3.44 [32]
Ocean acidifica (omega units)
tion
5. Land use Land surface converted to cropland (percent) 15 11.7 no low [33]

6. Freshwater Global human consumption of water (km3/yr) 4000 2600 no 415 [34]

7.
Stratospheric ozoneconcentration (Dobson units) 276 283 no 290 [35]
Ozone depletio
n
8. Overall particulateconcentration in the atmosphere, on a
not yet quantified [36]
Atmospheric ae regional basis
rosols Concentration of toxic substances, plastics,
9. Chemical
endocrine disruptors, heavy metals, and not yet quantified [37]
pollution
radioactive contamination into the environment
“Participatory development
a process through which stakeholders can influence and share control
over development initiatives, and over the decisions and resources that
affect themselves.” - Framework for Mainstreaming Participa

These stakeholder groups are:

General public: those who are directly or indirectly affected by the project
(women’s groups, individuals and families, indigenous groups, religious)
Government: civil servants in ministries, cabinets, etc. Representative
assemblies: elected government bodies (parliament, national and local
assemblies, district and municipal assemblies, elected commity leaders

Civil society organizations: networks, national and international NGOs,

grassroots organizations, trade unions, policy development and research
institutes, media, community based organizations.

Private sector: umbrella groups representing groups within the private

sector, professional associations, chambers of commerce.

Donor and international financial institutions: resource providers and

development partners
PARTICIPATION – OWNERSHIP - EMPOWERMENT
Participation, in the development context, is a process through which all members of
a community or organization are involved in and have influence on decisions related
to development activities that will affect them. That implies that development
projects will address those community or group needs, and that all phases of the
development process will have active involvement of community members.

Ownership, in the development context, refers to a group's right to decide how and
in what order it will address its development needs and to control the design and
implementation of projects they intend to meet those needs. Moreover, it means that
all individuals, who comprise the group, are able to influence and participate in the
decision making processes associated with each of the phases of the development
process. Finally, with ownership comes a sense of responsibility and motivation
needed to actively and persistently work toward project success even when faced
with obstacles.

Empowerment When individuals in a community have access to and can manage

their own development resources, they develop a sense of control over their lives,
which can ultimately lead to stronger involvement in their community's health and
their own growth.
GQAL-DIRECTED
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
(GDPM )
offers a valuable perspective on project management.
- offers effective ways for teams to collaborate in the
achievement of projects with comprehensive goal sets.
-advocates the central concepts of milestones and
responsibility charts in project management.

-focuses on how teams can achieve high quality in project work

and develop a good project culture within an organization.
-increase the focus on clarifying the purpose of projects:
Mission Breakdown Structure as a tool to support this task;
GDPM – needs a broader ‘PSO’
perspective.

-PSO stands for People, System and Organization;

PSO projects simultaneously develop a ‘system’

(for example, a physical product or object),
develop people and develop the organization.

Projects failing to address these objectives will

find implementation difficult. Therefore it is wise
for project professionals to develop a ‘PSO way of
thinking’.
GDPM

Project mandate provides the background for

the project and shows its purpose and goals.

Mission breakdown structure assists in

setting the boundaries of the project and
defining the scope of the project and the
goals precisely.

Stakeholder analysis helps in understanding

the needs of the many stakeholders and
setting goals that appeal to them.

Cost–benefit analysis shows the economic

Principle responsibility chart shows the division of
work between different parties involved in
managing the project, especially the
responsibilities of the project and the organization
providing resources to the project.

Milestone plan is a global plan for project

progress, with checkpoints in the form of
milestones to be achieved.

Project budget shows how the economic resources

of the project are divided among the milestones.

Milestone responsibility chart shows the roles

necessary for attaining the different milestones.

Uncertainty analysis reveals elements that could

make it difficult to achieve the milestones and
Milestone report shows where the project is in
relation to the milestone plan and the
Corresponding financial report reveals the
situation in relation to the budget.

Activity responsibility chart shows the specific

people needed to work on the activities
necessary for reaching a milestone. It also
shows when the different activities must be
performed.

Activity report is used to show the detailed

work progress supporting milestone
accomplishment. On the activity level we also
have a detailed budget and corresponding
reporting.
 People
development

Organization System
development PSO development
 Purely
Purely Process-
Specialist PSO Projects
oriented
projects projects

In a PSO project the deliverables

consist of some technology
(which may be physically
inspected), but also of people
with new knowledge and
attitudes and of an organization
and environment within which
the system and the people can
In PSO projects goal management is
absolutely essential. One must not
lose sight of the composite goal.
With PSO projects the goal is more
abstract.

In order to underline how important

it is to remain continually aware of
the composite goal, we have called
the book and the method we
present Goal Directed Project
Management (GDPM).
Characteristic features of
a project
-unique task
-designed to attain a specific result
-requires a variety of resources
-limited in time
Characteristic features of a
project reformulated
-involves new and unknown tasks
-leads to changes in people’s daily work or living
conditions
-might find it difficult to get the right people at
the right time, and, if they are available, they
have different backgrounds and are not used to
working together.
-subject to strict deadline
Project management
– Tasks
-establish foundation for the project
-plan project work
-organize project work
-control project work
Projects are divided into six
stages:
•Definition.
•Initiation.
•Planning.
•Execution.
•Monitoring & Control.
•Closure.
GDPM's beauty is in its simplicity answering the
three fundamental questions: Why, What and
How precisely and in the correct order:

Why! Project definition view: Clearly links the project to

the intended organizational goals (Mandate) and the
high level organizational standard principles and
procedures for managing the project.

What! Deliverables view: Milestones with relationships

reflect the results on a macroscopic level. The
milestone plan gives a stable total overview of the
whole project with deadlines on one page! Roles are
also made exceptionally clear for project sponsors and
stakeholders.

How! Activities view: Tasks and specific responsibilities

are reflected in a simple responsibility matrix and
empowers team members to make realistic estimates
of effort and durations for the actual work needed to
reach each milestone.
GDPM
is a management philosophy accompanied by a
set of tools and principles for planning, organizing,
leading and controlling projects.

The method is characterized by its practical and

“psychological” approach to focusing a project
group to reach common goals. GDPM allows
project sponsors and team members focusing on
project issues instead on project management
methodologies and tools.
What is crucial for project success?

Clear objectives

Identified milestones which are relevant for

achieving the end goal

The right team and assigned responsibilities for

achieving the milestones

And all above in agreement with the major

stakeholders and the project team
Approach
Layered Approach
GDPM is devided in 3 major layers:
The project definition layer
(mandate)
The milestone layer with
responsibilities
The activity layer with
responsibilities
The layering allows the allocation of
adequate level of detail for the different
organization levels involved in a project:

-Steering Board care about overall project goals

and status

-Project Manager manages milestones and reports

their achievement

-Project Team manages the activities which are

required the achieve the milestones
Benefits of applying GDPM
GDPM is a straight forward approach to project management and
has been successfully applied in many different projects. GDPM
reduces the paperwork to a minimum and lets the project leader
focus on the most critical issues for the success of the project - the
team and the results.

The main benefits of using GDPM are:

Balanced focus on all areas of project achievement (IT systems,
Organization and People)
Plan and reported progress are easy to communicate in a non-expert
language to all involved parties
Consensus on goals and results is achieved through a democratic
planning process
Plans are stable due to a separation of milestones and activities
A clear definition of the roles each individual shall play to reach
agreed goals
Well proven procedures for measuring the progress
Encourages simple non-bureaucratic project management
GDPM Process
The GDPM process describes the
full life cycle of the project with
the major steps
-Justifing the project
-Planning the project
-Set-up the project
-Run and deliver the project
-Close the project
 Project Mandate
The project mandate describes the the

GDPM purpose and the the approach of a

planned project. The proposed content of
a project mandate document looks as
ELEMENTS follows:

Summary
Objectives of the project (objective
breakdown structure)
Scope of the project (what is in and what
is out)
Benefits of the project
Delivery approach (e.g big bang or step by
step)
Project Organization
Major stakeholders
Project Resources (Financial, Personnel,
Infrastructure)
Constraints
High level Project Plan (Milestone Plan)
Risks and Mitigation actions
Milestone Plan
The milestone plan is a central element of the GDPM method. It
contains the milestones the dependencies and the deadlines
together with a short description of the content of the
respective milestone.
Milestone
Milestones are the heart of GDPM. They represent an important
achievement which is described in a way that everybody who is
involved in the project has the same understanding. It is important
that it is easily controllable whether the milestone has been reached.
Responsibility Chart

The responsibility chart shows for each milestone what

organizational unit or project group is involved in achieving
the respective milestone. There are eight distinguished roles a
group, department or function can assume:

D: takes Decicions solely or ultimately

d: take decisions jointly or partly
P: manages Process and controls progress
X: eXecutes the work
C: must be Consulted
I: must be Informed
T: provides Tuition on the job
A: is avaible to Advice

Additionally you can define "project principles" and the

associated responsibilities e.g. who is in charge for allocation
of additional resources.
Activity Plan
The Activity Plan captures all activities
which are required to achieve a
particular milestone. Depending on the
size and duration of the project one
normally applies a "rolling wave"
approach, meaning you just plan the
activities of the next period and do not
plan all detailed activities for all
milestones at the beginning of the
project.
Classically you have one activity plan
(sheet) per milestone, but you can also
use standard PM Tools for task
management and link your activities to
Goal directed project management
Goal Directed Project Management (GDPM) is a
pragmatic, light-touch, non-bureaucratic and people based
approach originally introduced in the 1980s by a group of
project management consultants1.

It not only improves effectiveness, but also increases the

chance of project success through the use of a few simple
techniques, templates and a small documentation set. GDPM
can be used either as a stand-alone approach, in conjunction
with the Praxis Framework or other methods such as
PRINCE2™ or the PMBoK™.

GDPM focuses on the project end goal

identifying what outcomes (not deliverables) are required
rather than getting immersed in the detailed activities
of how they will be achieved. It is a well tried and cost
effective approach without the need for expensive systems,
licences, qualifications, accreditation or extensive learning.

It is a highly interactive and collaborative approach, ensuring

engagement of the sponsor, project manager and the project
team. It is very effective when used in conjunction with the
THE END