MSc in Engineering

Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering

Management
Management School of Engineering and Design
Brunel University

Project Management Module

Dr Harris Makatsoris, CEng

 Chapter

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Introduction to Module

Module Aims

‘To provide a comprehensive understanding and critical awareness of the latest advanced
techniques and strategies for managing projects; including management tools,
management and reporting methods and team building’

Learning outcomes

• Describe what is meant by project management and when to apply it.

• Understand strategic context and importance of project management, and
appropriateness of some techniques
• Recognise problems suited to project management techniques, including team
building and resource planning and management
• Analyse and decide appropriate means of people and resource management for
projects
• Be able to use some tools and techniques for project management
• Appraise the importance of teams and team working in project management

Teaching basis

• Classroom lectures
• Interactive dialogue
• Exercises – group tasks

Assessment methods

• One assignment to be completed in your own time, with access to learning

materials (50% marks)
• One 2-hour examination (50% marks)

Support material, essential

This document, i.e. the lecture notes and the lecture slides.

Support material, recommended

‘Project Management: A Managerial Approach’ by J.R. Meredith and S.J. Mantel Jr.
published by John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1995)
Support material, other

‘Project Management: AND MS Project CD’ by Harvey Maylor (Paperback - 30 Jun 2005)
FT Prentice Hall (30 Jun 2005), ISBN: 0273704311

‘Project Management’, by C.F. Gray and E.W. Larson published by McGraw-Hill, 2000.

‘The Handbook of Project-Based Management’, second edition by TURNER, McGraw-

Hill, ISBN: 0077091612

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Introduction to Project management

Projects are commonplace in commerce and industry. They are used:

• to develop new processes, materials and products
• to change organisational structures, methods of operation and organisational
cultures
• to investigate problems

In all these cases, although the application is different, the planning and implementation of
a project follows a similar pattern.

Project management is an applied subject and there is no narrow set of theoretical

principles that must be followed. Effective project management is a mix of past
experience, analytical techniques and a pragmatic approach to the problem in hand. A
successful outcome to a project cannot be guaranteed but a body of knowledge has
developed that, when suitably applied, lessens the risk of failure. This module outlines the
principles of good project management.

The relative importance of aspects of this module will vary according to the types of
projects considered. Throughout the reading of this module you need to assess the
relevance of the points made to your own situation. You are encouraged to do this through
a series of 'activity' questions.

• Figure 1: Module organisation

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This module consists of ten chapters. The general structure of the module is shown in
Figure 2. This chapter and Chapter 2 provide a background to the module and project
management in general. The presentation of the remaining material follows a project life
cycle approach which is discussed in Chapter 2 (figure 1).

• Figure 2: Project Lifecycle

The initiation of a project - its selection and the setting up of a project team, is presented
n Chapters 3 and 4 and 5. In Chapter 3, we concentrate on the issues and techniques for
selecting a project. In Chapter 4, we discuss the role and skills required by the project
manager while Chapter 5 covers the principles of team working and team building.
The project planning stage is introduced in Chapter 6 together with the key technique of
project planning, critical path analysis. Chapter 7 builds on the planning to develop
schedules and assess resource requirements. These two chapters represent the heart of
the techniques associated with project management. The planning environment needs to
take into account some major constraints that might be imposed by legal or health and
safety considerations. We discuss these issues in Chapter 7 and include a section
outlining the place of computer software in project planning.

The implementation of a project plan leads to the need for control and Chapters 9 and 10
cover this last stage. In Chapter 9, we discuss the issues of developing an effective control
system and present some charting methods. In Chapter 10, we consider the special
circumstances related to closing down or terminating a project. We also examine the
important stage of post-project evaluation where lessons are learnt to allow the next
project to be executed more effectively.

The project lifecycle is summarised in the following table.

Phase What’s involved Issues

Project Initiation • Project evaluation and • Skills of project

selection manager
• Set up project team • Techniques for
selecting a project
• Team working and
team building

Project Planning • How to break the • Techniques to use

project into smaller and how to apply

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 more manageable • Identify constraints
components (Tasks) and take into
• How to allocate consideration
resources to those • Legal and, health &
tasks safety considerations
• How to schedule
tasks and determine
duration of project

Control and • Systems and tools for • Measuring progress

evaluation control against plan
• Finishing a project, • When to close down
closing down or or terminate
terminate • Lessons learned to
• Post-project allow more effective
evaluation execution of next
projects

• Table 1: Project lifecycle summary