Created by Badar-e-Alam-Anwar

1. Effective of Project Management 2012
Effective of Project
Management
Chapter-1 Notes
Made By Badar-e-Alam –Anwar
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2. Effective of Project Management 2012
Project Management
What is Project?
Projects have a purpose: projects have clearly-defined aims and set out to produce clearly
defined results. Their purpose is to solve a “problem”, and this involves analysing needs
beforehand. Suggesting one or more solutions, it aims at lasting social change.
Projects are realistic: their aims must be achievable, and this means taking account both of
requirements and of the financial and human resources available.
Projects are limited in time and space: they have a beginning and an end, and are
implemented in a specific place and context.
Projects are complex: projects call on various planning and implementation skills, and
involve various partners and players.
Projects are collective: projects are the product of collective endeavour. They are run by
teams, involve various partners and cater for the needs of others.
Projects are unique: all projects stem from new ideas. They provide a specific response to a
need (problem) in a specific context. They are innovative.
Projects are an adventure: every project is different and ground-breaking; they always
involve some uncertainty and risk.
Projects can be assessed: projects are planned and broken down into measurable aims,
which must be open to evaluation.
Projects are made up of stages: projects have distinct, identifiable stages.
What is Project Management?
Project management is the science (and art) of organizing the components of a project,
whether the project is development of a new product, the launch of a new service, a
marketing campaign, or a wedding. A project isn't something that's part of normal business
operations. It's typically created once, it's temporary, and it's specific. As one expert notes, "It
has a beginning and an end." A project consumes resources (whether people, cash, materials,
or time), and it has funding limits.
Project Management Basics
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No matter what the type of project, project management typically follows the same pattern:
1. Definition
2. Planning
3. Execution
4. Control
5. Closure
Projects are singular, but non-routine, events with precise objectives which must be achieved
within a set timeframe. Projects are broken into a set of activities designed to fulfil the stated
objectives. Examples of projects include the building of a house, the holding of an event like
a party or even something as simple as completing a school assignment.
Project Management requires the organisation of people, equipment and procedures in an
appropriate way to get a project completed within a set timeframe and budget. A Project
Manager is responsible for the coordination of all these resources in order to achieve the
project objectives.
The following need to be considered when planning a project
• Purpose and aim of the project
• Resources available both human and material
• Costing, human and time constraints
• The tasks, procedures or activities required to complete the project
Project management techniques are used by organisations because they ensure that
organisational objectives and system objectives are being met in a timely, accurate, relevant
and complete manner. They provide a way of controlling people, resources and procedures,
and clearly identify the tasks that must be completed and the desired completion time.
What is a program?
A program is a portfolio comprised of multiple projects that are managed and coordinated as
one unit with the objective of achieving (often intangible) outcomes and benefits for the
organization.
Difference between a Project and a Program
The following table summarizes the main areas of difference between a project and a
program.
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Project Program
1. A project is a collaborative enterprise, • A program on the other hand is the act
frequently involving research or of creating and managing multiple
design that is carefully planned to projects where in most cases the
achieve a particular aim. projects are related.
2. A project is usually short term with • A program is an ongoing process in
time constraints. order to achieve major objectives.
3. Outputs – tangible; relatively easy to • Outcomes – often intangible; difficult
describe, define and measure; tending to quantify; benefits often based on
towards objective. changes to organizational culture and
behaviors; introducing new
capabilities into the organization;
tending towards subjective.
4. Strictly limited; tightly defined; not • Not tightly defined or bounded; likely
likely to be subject to material change to change during the life cycle of the
during the life of the project. program.
5. Relatively short term; typically three • Relatively long term typically
to six months. eighteen months to three years.
6. Project risk is relatively easy to • Program risk is more complex and
identify and manage. The project potentially the impact on the
failure would result in relatively organization if a risk materializes will
limited impact on the organization be greater relative to project risk.
relative to program risk. Programme failure could result in
material financial, reputational or
operational loss.
7. A relatively limited number of • Ill-defined; often disagreement
potential solutions. between key stakeholders on the
nature and definition of the problem.
8. A relatively limited number of • A significant number of potential
stakeholders. solutions with often with
disagreement between stakeholders as
to the preferred solution.
9. Environment within which the project • Environment is dynamic; and
takes place is understood and programme objectives need to be
relatively stable. managed in the context of the
changing environment within which
the organization operates.
10. Environment within which the project • Resources are constrained and
takes place is understood. limited; there is competition for
resources between projects.
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Project Parameters
Five constraints operate on every project:
- Scope
- Quality
- Cost
- Time
- Recourses
Scope
Scope is the agreed scope of the work to be performed. Scope is rather subjective and needs
to be carefully defined if it is to be clearly understood and agreed.
Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken. This consists of a list of deliverables
which need to be addressed by the project team. A successful project manager will know to
manage both the scope of the project and any change in scope which impacts time and cost.
Quality
Quality is the agreed quality of the project outcomes everything from the requirements and
design documents to the project products or services e.g., a new computer system, a bridge,
or whatever is being produced.
Quality is not a part of the project management triangle, but it is the ultimate objective of
every delivery. Hence, the project management triangle represents implies quality.
Time
Time in this perspective represents the total time to deliver a project, based on the agreed
Scope and Quality constraints. As such time is very easy to measure, once the Scope and
Quality is agreed and understood.
OR
Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable. On the other hand, failure to meet the
deadlines in a project can create adverse effects. Most often, the main reason for
organizations to fail in terms of time is due to lack of resources.
Cost
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Cost is the total cost to deliver the project. Again, cost is very easy to define and measure and
is a function of the project management effort required to deliver the Scope of work to the
Quality required in the Time agreed.
OR
It's imperative for both the project manager and the organization to have an estimated cost
when undertaking a project. Budgets will ensure that project is developed or implemented
below a certain cost.
Sometimes, project managers have to allocate additional resources in order to meet the
deadlines with a penalty of additional project costs.
Resource
Resources are required to carry out the project tasks. They can be people, equipment,
facilities, funding, or anything else capable of definition (usually other than labour) required
for the completion of a project activity. The lack of a resource will therefore be a constraint
on the completion of the project activity. Resources may be storable or non storable. Storable
resources remain available unless depleted by usage, and may be replenished by project tasks
which produce them. Non-storable resources must be renewed for each time period, even if
not utilised in previous time periods.
Resource scheduling, availability and optimisation are considered key to successful project
management.
Allocation of limited resources is based on the priority given to each of the project activities.
Their priority is calculated using the Critical path method and heuristic analysis. For a case
with a constraint on the number of resources, the objective is to create the most efficient
schedule possible - minimising project duration and maximising the use of the resources
available.
What is Creep?
Creep (as in functionality-creep, feature-creep, mission-creep and scope-creep) is a problem
in project management where the initial objectives of the project are jeopardized by a gradual
increase in overall objectives as the project progresses.
The need to achieve the new objectives can overwhelm the capacity of the resources allocated
to the project resulting in the project missing deadlines, budgets or failing completely.
Write a note on following.
1. Scope creep
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2. Hope creep
3. Effort creep
4. Future creep
1. Scope Creep
Scope creep is defined as adding features and functionality (project scope) without
addressing the effects on time, costs, and resources, or without customer approval.
(PMBOK)
Other definitions:
“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.”
• Poor implementation of change control.
• Incomplete gathering of requirements before project execution begins.
• Insufficient involvement of critical stakeholders (including customer)
Lack of support from executive sponsor and enforcement power in project manager
• Scope Creep is one of the main reasons why projects fail.
• A variety of reasons can be responsible for scope creep.
• Scope verification is key.
2. Hope creep
Yes hope creep is different from scope creep. In short, hope creep is lying about the status of
the project/task until you're caught.
For project managers, hope creep happens when the project manager starts lying about the
status of the project (which is behind schedule and over-budget) to the stakeholders and the
client, while hoping that he will be able to get the project on track before anyone discovers
the truth. Since hope creep involves lying to important people either inside or outside the
company, the project manager will always be in panic mode because he knows that he'll most
likely be fired when the truth comes out, and it usually does.
Similarly to scope creep, nothing good comes out from hope creep. In fact, it is nearly
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impossible for the project manager to get the project on track (schedule and budget wise)
once he starts lying.
3. Effort creep
It is not really related to scope creep with the exception that they're both creeps and they both
negatively affect the project.
Effort creep is when one of your team members makes a huge effort on a task that is nearly
done, but cannot finish it. For example, a task is 80% done in one week, and the team
member is working on the remaining 20% for several weeks, with no end in sight. This is
very common in software projects, and the perfect remedy for effort creep is to assign the
remainder of the task to someone else who has more experience in the particular area of the
task.
Alternatively, the project manager can talk to the team member about the difficulties facing
him while working on this task, although this is normally useless, as the reason is always
related to the team member's inexperience and inadequacy for the task, and most team
members are reluctant to admit it.
4. Future creep
Feature creep, also called scope creep, refers to the tendency of project requirements to
exceed their original estimations. It is common with the development of major computer
projects, in which engineers decide that additional features should be added to the product
before release to make it more usable and enjoyable for the target market. It can also happen
when the client contracting the project keeps adding to the wish list. Feature creep can affect
the overall budget for a project, as well as delaying the release time considerably, causing
frustration to company executives. It can also ultimately weaken a product by clogging it
with interesting but unneeded features, so companies need to take care to avoid it.
The problem can be mitigated by having a tightly organized project team which recognizes
the exact requirements of the project and works together to meet them. A
project manager who is aware of the risks of feature creep can help to head it off at the pass
by refocusing the team or reminding the client of the original goals of the project. On
occasion, feature creep is actually necessary, especially with large projects in which
engineers are exploring new concepts. In these instances, several team members should meet
together to evaluate the feature creep which is occurring and decide whether or not it is a
valid result of the direction in which the project is moving.
Q: Write a note on the Scope of Triangle?
Answer:
Scope Triangle
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Called the ‘Scope Triangle’ or the ‘Quality Triangle’ this shows the trade-offs inherent in any
project.
The triangle illustrates the relationship between three primary forces in a project. Time is the
available time to deliver the project, cost represents the amount of money or resources
available and quality represents the “fit-topurpose” that the project must achieve to be a
success.
In reality the normal situation is that one of these factors is fixed and the other two will vary
in inverse proportion to each other. For example “Time” is often fixed in a project and the
“Quality” of the end project will depend on the “Cost” or resources available. Similarly if you
are working to a fixed level of “Quality” then the “Cost” of the project will largely be
dependent upon the “Time” available (if you have longer you can do it with fewer people).
A phenomenon known in project management circles as “scope creep” can be linked to the
triangle too. Scope creep is the almost unstoppable tendency a project has to accumulate new
functionality. Some scope creep is inevitable since early on, your project will probably be
poorly defined and will need to evolve. A large amount of scope creep however can be
disastrous.
When the scope starts to creep new functionality must be added to cover the increased scope.
This is represented by the quality arm of the triangle, representing the ability of the ‘product’
to fulfil users’ requirements. More requirements fulfilled = a better quality product.
In this situation you have three , and only three options:
1. Add time – delay the project to give you more time to add the functionality
2. Add cost – recruit, hire or acquire more people to do the extra work
3. Cut quality – trade off some non-essential requirements for the new requirements
If the art of management lies in making decisions, then the art of project management lies in
making decisions quickly! When faced with such a dilemma you should not hesitate to take
one of the three options listed above. Delaying raises the risk of your project failing.
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