Project Management

01 Introduction to Project
Management
Project – conception to execution

What was delivered

 Project
o A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end
undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives.
o The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to Operations which are
repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce
products or services.
o In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite
different.
o Therefore it requires the development of distinct technical skills and the
adoption of separate management.
 Project Management
o What is Project Management?
• It is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to
bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
• The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project
goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints.
• The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs
necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.
 3 Constraints
o Time
• The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project.
• It is neither considered a cost nor a resource, since the project manager cannot control the rate at
which it is expended. This makes it different from all other resources and cost categories.

o Cost
• Cost allocated to develop a project which could depend on several variables

o Scope
• The overall definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish, and a specific description of
what the end result should be.

o Together, these three constraints have given rise to the phrase "On Time, On Spec, On
Budget"
 Quality
o A major component of scope is the quality of the product.
• The amount of time put into individual tasks determines the
overall quality of the project.
• Some tasks may require a given amount of time to complete
adequately, but given more time could be completed
exceptionally.
• Over the course of a large project, quality can have a significant
impact on time and cost (or vice versa)
 Time
oFor analytical purposes, the time required to produce a deliverable is estimated using
several techniques
• Identify tasks needed to produce the deliverables documented in a work breakdown structure.
• The effort for each task is estimated and those estimates are added to get the final deliverable
estimate.
• The tasks are also prioritized, dependencies between tasks are identified, and this information is
documented in a project schedule.
• The dependencies between the tasks can affect the length of the overall project (dependency
constrained), as can the availability of resources (resource constrained).
• Time is not considered a cost nor a resource since the project manager cannot control the rate
at which it is expended. This makes it different from all other resources and cost categories.
 Cost
o Cost to develop a project depends on several variables :
• resource quantities
• labor rates
• material rates
• risk management
• plant (buildings, machines, etc.)
• equipment
• cost escalation
• indirect costs and profit.
 Scope
o The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result
with the specified features and functions.
o Scope creep is a term which refers to the incremental expansion of the scope
of a project, which may include and introduce more requirements that may not
have been a part of the initial planning of the project, while nevertheless
failing to adjust schedule and budget.
o Scope creep management is important for effective project management.
Projects are expected to meet strict deadlines with resource restraints, and an
unapproved change in the scope can affect the success of the project. Scope
creep sometimes causes cost overrun
 Project Objectives
o S.M.A.R.T. approach
• Specific,
• Measurable (or at least evaluable) achievement,
• Achievable (recently Acceptable is used regularly as well),
• Realistic and
• Time terminated (bounded).

o The evaluation (measurement) occurs at the project closure.

However a continuous guard on the project progress should be kept
by monitoring and evaluating
 Project Manager
o What Does a Project Manager do?
• Achievement of planned benefits

o  Project Management is the responsibility of an individual project manager.

• Envision the entire project from start to finish and ensure that it is realized.
• Ensures that the key issues of cost, time, quality, and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.
• Maintains the progress and productive mutual interaction of various parties in such a way that overall
risk of failure is reduced.
• Client representative - determines and implements the exact needs of the client.
• Adapts to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and forms close links with the
nominated representatives

o Any type of product or service may have its implementation overseen by a project manager
and its operations by a product manager.
 Project Development
o Initiation
• understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary
controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported
and a recommendation should be made to fix them.

o Planning and Design

• Prototype of product/process is built and tested. Controls ensuring that the final
product/process will meet the specifications of the project charter.

o Closing and Maintenance

• Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof

• Maintenance is an ongoing process

 Project Development
o Initiation plan:
• Study analyzing the business needs in measurable goals.
• Review of the current operations.
• Conceptual design of the operation of the final product.

• Equipment requirement.
• Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget.

• Select stake holders, including users, and support personnel for the project.
• Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule

• Prototype of product/process is built and tested.

• Controls ensuring that the final product/process will meet the specifications
 Project Development
o Planning and Design:
• The results of the design stage should include a
product/process design that:
• Satisfies the project sponsor, end user, and business
requirements.
• Functions as it was intended.
• Can be produced within quality standards.
• Can be produced within time and budget constraints.
 Project Development
o Closing and Maintenance:
• Administrative activities in closing include the archiving of the files
and documenting lessons learned.
• Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes:
• Continuing support of end users
• Correction of errors
• Updates of the software over time

• In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and

quickly user problems are resolved.