Project management revised

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Project:
A project is a unique venture with a well defined beginning and end. It consists of a set of tasks be
formed in a definable time period to meet a specific set of objectives. Example of different types of
Project: Construct a building, bridge, factories, Develop a new product, weapon, aircraft, planning for a
concert, marriage ceremony occasion, cricket tournament.
Features of a project:
1. A project is goal oriented.
2. It consists of a set of interrelated tasks.
3. Each project has a well defined life cycle. That is, it has a well defined beginning and end.
4. Each project must be certain degree unique (distinctive/new) in nature.
5. It involves use of multiple resources.
6. A project consists of non-repetitive, non-routine, one-off (one time) activities.
7. A project may require a special management setup.
8. It should have a budget.
Project Management:
Project management is the management of the work to develop and implement an innovation or change in
an existing operation.
It encompasses planning the project and controlling the project activities, subject to resource and budget
constraints, to keep the project on schedule.
Triple Constraints to Project Management
A project is successful when it is completed within the given time schedule and within the given budget,
and if it meet the technical performances or quality standards. So the three constraints project parameters
are
1. Time or Schedule
2. Budget or Cost
3. Technical performance or quality standards.
Failure to manage any constraints consequently can lead to project failure. So a project manager should
concentrate on these triple constraints to make the project successful.
Technical Performance or quality Standards
Cost or Budget Time or Schedule

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The Project Manager:
The most important member of the project team is the project manager. Managing a project is the subject
to lots of uncertainty and the distinct possibility of failure.
Once the project is selected, a project manager must be chosen. The qualities of a good project manager
should be well aligned with the roles a project manager must play.
Facilitator: The project manager often must resolve conflicts between individuals or departments to
ensure that the project has the appropriate resources for the job to be completed. Successful project
managers have good leadership skills and a systems view, which encompasses the interaction of the
project, its resources, and its deliverables with the firm as a whole.
Communicator: Project progress and requests for additional resources must be clearly communicated to
senior management and other stakeholders in a project. The project manager must also frequently
communicate with the project team to get the best performance.
Decision Maker: Good project managers will be sensitive to the way the team performs best and be ready
to make tough decisions, if necessary. The project manger must organize the team meetings, specify how
the team will make decisions, and determine the nature and timing of reports to senior management.
The Project Team:
The project team is typically cross functional, consisting of a group of individuals selected from other
areas in the organization or from outside the organization because of their special skill, expertise, and
experience related to the project activities. Selecting the project team is just as important as the selection
of the project manager. Several characteristics should be considered.
Technical Competence: Team members should have the technical competence required for the tasks to
which they will be assigned.
Sensitivity: All team members should be sensitive to interpersonal conflicts that may arise. Senior team
members should be politically sensitive to help mitigate problems with upper-level management.
Dedication: Team members should feel comfortable solving project problems that may spill over into
areas outside their immediate expertise. They should also be dedicated to getting the project done, as
opposed to maintaining a comfortable work schedule.
Key Decisions in project management:
Deciding which projects to implement: This involves determining the criteria that will be used to decide
which projects to pursue. Typically factors include budget, availability of appropriate knowledge and
skill personnel, and cost benefit considerations.
Selecting a project manager: The project manager is the central person in the project. The following
section on project managers discusses this topics
Selecting a project team: The team can greatly influence the ultimate success or failure of a project.
Important considerations include not only a person’s knowledge and skill base but also how well the
person works with others, enthusiasm for the project, other projects the person is involved in, and how
likely those other projects might be to interfere with work on this project.

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Planning and designing the project: Project planning and design require decisions on project
performance goals, a timetable for project completion, the scope of the project, what work needs to be
done, how it will be done, if some portion will be outsourced, what resources will be needed, a budget,
and when and how long resources will be needed.
Managing and controlling project resources: This involves managing personnel, equipment, and the
budget; establishing appropriate metrics for evaluating the project; monitoring the progress; and talking
corrective action when needed.
Deciding if and when a project should be terminated: Sometimes it is better to terminated a project than
to invest any more resources. Important consideration here are the likelihood of success, termination
costs, and whether resources could be better used elsewhere.
Project Life Cycle:
A project has a finite (limited) and well-defined life cycle. The life cycle of a project can broadly be
classified into four stages:
Stage I: Conceptual
Stage II: Planning
Stage III: Implementation
Stage IV: Termination or Phase out.
I. Conceptual Stage: Generating the project ideas and select the best one by using defferent
evaluating and selecting process involves in this stage. Actually the project is in conceptual
from in this stage.

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II. Planning: In this stage the detail plan is prepared to done the project. Output of the plan is
planning. Planning consists of project appraisal which takes place at the end of the planning
stage and before implementation stage. Project appraisal seeks in determining the viability or
investment worth of a project. This is, it tries to assess whether a project is feasible or viable
(sound) enough from managerial, marketing, technical, financial and socio-economic points of
view.
III. Implementation: If project appraisal is positive and the promoters are agreed to launch that .
The project enters into the implementation phase. What was prepared in papers, this is take
place in physical from is implementation.
Project monitoring is a continuous process that takes place during the implementation stage of
a project. It tries to continuously assess the actual progress status compared to the planned
progress status of activities, schedule quality and resources. If there is any deviations seen
between actual and planned progress status, then corrective action is need to be undertaken.
Project monitoring can be classified as
Time Monitoring: Time management is the process of making sure the project schedule
does not slip and it is on time. This requires the monitoring of individual activity
schedules and frequent update.
Cost Monitoring: Cost management is often closely tied to time management because of
the time cost tradeoff occurrences that we mentioned previously. If the schedule is
delayed, costs tend to increase in order to get the project on schedule.
Quality Monitoring: Quality Management and control are an integral part of the project
management process. The process requires that project work be monitored for quality and
that improvements be made as the project progresses just the same as in a normal
production or manufacturing operation.
Performance Monitoring: Performance management is the process of monitoring a project
and developing timed (daily, weekly, monthly) status reports to make sure that goals are
being met and the plan is being followed.
Techniques that can be used to monitor a project are:
 Site visit, involving physical inspection.
 Submission of progress reports periodically. i.e, daily, monthly etc.
 Progress review meeting.
 Project monitoring formats
Tools that can be used to monitor a project is
Work breakdown structure: An initial planning tool that is needed to develop a list of activities, activities
sequences, and a realistic budget.

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Network diagram: A big picture visual aid that is used to estimate project duration, identify activities that
are critical for timely project completion, identify areas where slack time exists, and develop activity
schedules.
Gantt charts: A visual aid used to plan and monitor individual activities.

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IV. Termination/transfer or Phase out: It involves winding-down the project by releasing staff,
handing over deliverables to the customer and completing a post implementation review.
Project Management and Operations Management
Project Management: A project is a unique venture with a well defined beginning and end. It consists of
a set of tasks performed in a definable time period to meet a specific set of objective. So with the help of
technical resources, timely finished a project together with quality standards and within given budget is
called project management.
Operations Management: Operations Management may be defined as the design, operations and
improvement of the production system that create the firm’s primary products or services according to the
need of the customer.
Project Management Operations Management
1. Short term oriented.
2. Self destructive.
3. Project Management is relatively more
difficult, stressful and challenging.
4. Higher intensity of conflicts.
5. Greater consequences of error.
6. Shifting targets.
7. Characterized by non routine, non-repetitive
activities.
1. Long term oriented.
2. Aimed to be sustainable / self sustainable.
3. Relatively less stressful, less challenging
and simpler to manage.
4. Less intensity of conflicts.
5. Less consequences of error.
6. Continuing targets.
7. Characterized by routine and repetitive
activities.

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