15. Project Managment

Question 1

What is a Project?

Answer 1

A project: Is ‘an undertaking that has a beginning and an end and is carried out to meet established goals within the cost, schedule and quality objectives.

It is different from the usual operations of the business, which is normally a function that is ongoing as recurring tasks, goals and deadlines are more general.

Features:

• Have a specific objective
• Have a defined start and end date (timescale)
• Consume resources (people, equipment and finance)
• Be unique (a one-time-only configuration of these elements)
• Have cost constraints that must be clearly defined and understood ensure the project remains viable
• Require organisation.

Question 2

What is project management and the triple constrains?

and

What are the stages of a project life cycle?

Answer 2

Project management:‘Integration of all aspects of a project, ensuring the proper knowledge and resources are available, when and where needed, and above all to ensure that the expected deliverables are produced in a timely, cost-effective manner.

The Triple Constraints?

1. Scope –of the work (deliverables) to be achievedfor the project’s success. The scope is closely connected to the issue ofquality.
2. Time – this concerns the agreed date for the delivery of the project.
3. Cost – this relates to authorised spend on the project. (Budget)

Project Life Cycle:-

• • Initiation
• • Planning
• • Execution
• • Monitoring, Control, Corrective Action
• • Completion

Question 3

What is the project management Process?

Answer 3

Step 1 - Initiation - Building a business case, Define Project goals and create a brief (PID)

Step 2 - Planning/(Replan if needed)

• • Plan detailing the work to be performed
• • Team Roles and Communication plan
• • Work Breakdown schedules, critical path analysis
• • Time Scale, (Gant charts, Milestones)
• • Resource planning, Resource Histograms

Step 3 – Launch and Execution, Perform Tasks – implement the plan and undertake the tasks involved.

• • Status tracking, KPI’s
• • Quality Control
• • Forecasts

Step 4 – Measure Progress – measure completed steps, milestones, costs, time scale

• - Compare Actual Progress to Plan – are we on target to meet deliverables, in the budget and on time
• – Take Corrective Action – if your off-plan, action to get back on track and replan focusing on the priorities of the “3” constraints.

STEP 5 - Project closure, PIR, PPR

Question 4

What are the common challenges project managers face?

Answer 4

• Team Building- from varied experience, views and opinions. They must “gel” and work well together.
• Potential for conflict – between team members because of conflicting views.
• Expected Problems – careful planning to avoid expected issues
• Unexpected Problems – Mechanisms to deal with these quickly (innovative team member)
• Delayed Benefit – No benefit until the project is completed, causing stress and difficulties for the end-user in the meantime.
• Specialists – are likely to join at different stages.

Question 5

How can projects be the key competence for the strategy of a company?

Answer 5

Project management can be a core strategic competence for organisations working in industries such as consulting and construction.

It is of high importance for these companies need to develop key skills associated with project management, in terms of “hard technical skills! and “soft skills” specifically Communication and negotiation skills.

Also the development of resources that can apply to a number of similar projects. e.g. Often projects have a deal with large numbers of stakeholder and can often lead to difficult situations such as redundancies, so policies must be developed for which must be dealt with ethically. Or construction companies have minimum levels of quality of each project.

Question 6

What tasks occur before a project is initiated?

Answer 6

Pre-initiating tasks are the responsibility of the senior managers, they decide that the project should be undertaken.

How it is done?

(a) Determination of project objectives and constraints. setting the project scope, also time or cost constraints.

(b) Selection of the project manager

(c) Identification of the project sponsor

Question 7

Define the role of a Project Manager and what are there responsibilities?

Answer 7

The project manager : Takes responsibility for ensuring the desired result is achieved on time and within budget.

• Are often generalists with wide-ranging backgrounds and experience levels
• Oversee work in many functional areas
• Facilitate and oversee team members, rather than supervise, team members

Responsibilities to management or project sponsor:-

• · Ensure resources are used efficiently – (balance of cost, time and Deliverables)
• · Keep management informed with timely and accurate communications
• · Manage the project to the best of their ability
• · Behave ethically and adhere to policies
• · Maintain a customer orientation (internal or external customer) – customer satisfaction is a key indicator of project success

Responsibilities to the project and the project team

• · Take action to ensure activities stay on target, for a successful project completion
• · Ensure the project has the resources required to perform tasks assigned.
• · Help new team members integrate into the team.
• · Provide any other professional support required when members leave the team, either during the project or on completion. e.g it may involve helping the project team reintegrate into normal teams.

Question 8

What are the duties of a project manager?

Answer 8

• Detailed planning
• Obtain necessary resources
• Team building
• Communication to all stakeholders
• Co-ordinating project activities
• Monitoring and control
• Problem resolution
• Quality control

Question 9

Explain the role and Define the duties of a Project Sponsor?

Answer 9

Senior management is likely to delegate the supervision of the project to a Project Sponsor (owner). The project sponsor will not be involved in the management of the project.

The project sponsor: Provides and is accountable for the resources invested in the project and is responsible for the achievement of the project’s objectives.

Question 10

What is a project business case?

and

What does a business case entail?

Answer 10

If the project manager wants to implement a new project the project needs to be supported
by a strong business case provided in a business case document.

• - Obtain funding for the project
• - Compete with other projects for resources
• - Improve planning
• - Improve project management.

Formal Business case document:

• Introduction - Sets the scent and explains the rationale of why the project is being considered.
• Executive Summary - It will include the key considerations that have been made,
  
  • the options considered
  • the rationale behind the recommendation
  • summary of the key numbers
• Description of the current situation, A strategic and operational assessment, SWOT analysis with the aim to identify problems and opportunities the come faces.
• Options Considered, assessment of all options considered and reasons for rejection and selection.
• Analysis of cost and benefits.
• Impact assessment, on the cultural web of the company.
• Risk assessment
• Recommendations, the justification for the suggested path.
• Appendices, layout details costs and benefits and schedules for the project appraisal.

Question 11

What goes into a Project Initiation document? (PID)

Answer 11

Section 1 - What is the project about and it’s purpose?

• Project Background - Summary of the project and it’s importance.
• Project Goals - Why are you doing this work? what is the desired result of project?
  
  • Aims and objectives
  • Project Outputs
  • Project Outcomes
• Scope - Boundaries for this project (for example, type of work, type of client, type of problem, geographic area covered)? List any areas excluded that you believe stakeholders might assume are included but are not. The more specific you are, the less opportunity there is for misunderstanding at a later stage in the project..

Section 2 - Why is the project going ahead?

• Business Case
  
  • ​Benefits
  • Options
  • Costs and timescale
  • Cost vs benefit analysis
• Stakeholders impact

Section 3 - Who and how the project will be organized and managed.

• Project Organisation -
  
  • ​Key Team members and their roles,
  • Manager
  • Sponsor
  • Chain of command,
  • Benefit and change owners,
  • decision-making process.
• Reporting frameworks

Section 4 - how and when?

• Risks Analysis
• Constraints: What things must you take into consideration that will influence your deliverables and schedule? These are external variables that you cannot control but need to manage
• Assignments: What major tasks (with milestones) will be completed during the project?
• Schedule: Provide a report of the estimated time involved for the project. You’ve probably already prepared a high-level Gantt chart or similar schedule, so the PID simply summarizes the anticipated schedule.
• Human Resources: How many days of activity will be needed to complete the project? How many support staff will be needed? Will you need to bring more people onto the project team?
• Project Control: How will progress be monitored and communicated?
• Quality Control: How will the quality of deliverables be evaluated and monitored?
• PID Sign Off
• Summary

Question 12

What do managers need to consider, Before initiating a project?

Answer 12

The management needs to consider the business case for the project but mainly concerned that will the investment be in the interests of the shareholders of the company.

A Key Part of the business case is to identify what benefits might occur, then they need to compare it to the costs, to see if the project should move forward.

Question 13

What are the stages of benefits management?

and

What is the purpose of it?

Answer 13

Stages of benefits management

1. Identify and structure what benefits are going to be
2. Plan how to realise the benefits
3. Execute the plan
4. Review and evaluate results
5. Establish potential future benefits

Purpose of why identifying and structure the benefits

• Establish agreed objectives for the investment into the project.
• Identify all the potential benefits that may arise if the objectives are met.
• Understand how those benefits could be realised
• Determine ownership of the benefits
• Determine how the benefits can be measured to prove they have occurred
• Identify any issues that could delay the project or cause it to fail
• Produce an outline business case to decide whether to proceed with the project or stop investment at the planning stage

Important to identify who owns the benefits and how it will be measured.

Question 14

How are the benefits measured?

Answer 14

1. Observable: Benefits are those which are measured by experience or judgement. ‘Soft’ benefits such as staff morale fall into this category.
2. Measurable: Benefits relate to an area of performance that could be (or already is being) measured, but it is not possible to quantify how much performance will increase because of the change.
3. Quantifiable: Benefits are those where the level of benefit that will result from the change can be reliably forecast based on the evidence in place. (Pilot scheme)
4. Financial: Benefits are quantified benefits that have had a financial formula (such as cost or price) applied to them to produce a financial value for the benefits.

Most people will focus on the financial benefits as good evidence for the business case, but important not to ignore the observable benefits.

Question 15

What types of costs are considered, for a business case of a Project?

Answer 15

Types of costs to consider: -

1. Purchase costs such as hardware, software, consultancy and materials
2. Internal systems development costs such as developing/purchasing software
3. Infrastructure costs. These are costs that are incurred exclusively for the new system.
4. Costs of carrying out the changes should be included to provide a complete financial view of the investment. This includes costs such as training, recruitment, redundancy, refitting buildings and so on.
5. Ongoing costs. These are the permanent costs involved in new ways of working. They should be either explicitly stated as additional costs or netted off against the benefits.

The project will include both capitals which are usually spent at the beginning of the project and operational costs.

Question 16

How is the cost to benefit of a project evaluated?

Answer 16

• Accounting Rate of Return
• Payback Period
• Net Present Value
• Internal Rate of Return

Question 17

Why is a project plan Important?

Answer 17

Many project failures can be traced to failures of planning. (Scope, Time, Budget, management techniques)

•  communicate what has to be done, when and by whom
•  encourage forward-thinking
•  provide the measures of success for the project
•  make clear the commitment of time, resources (people and equipment),
• and money required for the project
•  determine if targets are achievable
•  identify the activities the resources need to undertake.

Question 18

What goes into a Project Plan?

Answer 18

• - Background to the project – a summary of the background to the project (
• - Aims and objectives
• - Overall approach
• – strategy and/or methodology and how the work will be structured
• – important issues to be addressed
• – scope and boundaries of the work, including any issues that will not be covered
• – link to critical success factors.
• - Project outputs – a list of the tangible deliverables (including reports)
• - Project outcomes – a list of the outcomes (Result/benefit) from the project outputs (Tools, process change, product)
• - Stakeholder analysis a list of the key stakeholder groups and individuals that will be
• interested in your project outcomes,
• - Risk analysis – a list of the factors that could pose a risk to the project’s success
• - Standards – a list of the standards the project will use.
• - Intellectual property rights – who will own the intellectual property created.
• - The project resources part of the plan will contain details of the project partners and project management with a brief description of the project management framework, including:
  
  • Organisation
  • Reporting relationships
  • Decision process
  • The role of any local management committee.
• • A detailed part of the plan will outline:
    
    • The project deliverables and reports
    • When they are due
    • The phasing of the work and any dependencies
      
      • Tools, Work breakdown structure, Budget, Resources histogram, critical path analysis, Gant charts
• - Evaluation plan - will indicate how you will evaluate the quality of the project outputs
• - Dissemination plan will explain how the project will be delivered
• • Exit and sustainability plans, will explain what happens to outputs after the project to make sure they are sustained, maintained preservation, maintenance, documentation.

Question 19

What type of tools are used to help plan a project?

Answer 19

So there are a number of tools that can help a project manager create a detailed plan, such as:-

1) Work Breakdown Structure

2) Project Budgets

3) Gantt Charts

4) Network analysis (or critical path analysis)

5) Resource histogram

Question 20

Explain a Work Breakdown Structure?

Answer 20

Work breakdown structure

Work breakdown structure (WBS): Is the analysis of the work required to complete the project, broken down into manageable components (Stages). considering the outputs (or deliverables).

Analysis of each major benefit and breaking down into larges phases and sub sections allows to better understand, the time scale of each stage, cash flows, quality checks. This very useful for control purposes.

Question 21

How are Project Budgets used as a planning tool? What are the two main approaches?

Answer 21

Project budget: The amount and distribution of resources allocated to a project.

2 main approaches: -

• top-down – Budgets imposed by senior management, mainly used by companies with previous experience of similar projects, or limited funding
• bottom-up - the project manager consults the project team, and others, to calculate a budget based on the tasks that make up the project.

Question 22

Explain What is a Gantt Chart

Answer 22

A Gantt chart: Shows the deployment of resources over time. Tasks/objectives are shown as a stacked bar graph, indicating the time to complete the whole project.

The horizontal line shows the total time scale

A vertical line has a list of all the major (tasks/objectives)

Each action will have bar corresponding to the time taken to complete, if actions are apart of staged processes, they are then stacked upon each other.

There should be 2 bars for each action, to show the estimated comparison with the actual.

Question 23

Explain what is the Critical path analysis (CPA)?

Answer 23

Critical path analysis (CPA): Aims to ensure the progress of a project, so the project is completed in the minimum amount of time.

Used mainly on large construction, R&D and Software Projects.

It pinpoints the tasks on the critical path, Identifying the longest duration sequence of tasks, If these tasks are delayed, will it delay the overall completion of the project? The technique can also be used to assist in allocating resources by identifying keys tasks.

Question 24

Explain what is a Resource Histogram?

Answer 24

A resource histogram: Shows a view of project data in which resource requirements, usage and availability are shown against a time scale.

Looking at the resource requirements on a graph compared to the resources available to identify any potential issues, so we can work it into the plan for e.g. Work Hours Necessary

Question 25

Explain Project Execution and Control?

Answer 25

Project execution and control – step 2 & 3

Project execution and the process of controlling the project are in essence two separate stages but they tend to happen at the same time.

Projects need to be monitored closely to ensure that benefits are being realised and costs kept under control.

Question 26

How are Projects Controlled?

Answer 26

Gateways

• A gateway Is a project review point at which work completed to date is reviewed, on the scope of work completed and how much time and cost it has taken.
• This might mean a review by independent experts.
• Management may decide the Work must be meet a certain level before the project can pass through the gateway and proceed to the next stage.

It aims to prevent ‘scope creep’ whereby the scope of the project becomes expanded without proper consideration, preventing unnecessary expenditure.

Scope creep: Relates to uncontrolled changes in the scope of a project If this occurs the project needs to be realigned with the original business case and plans. e.g.

• Prior to the awarding of contracts to subcontractors
• Prior to going live with a new system
• At key decision points

Progress reports

A progress report: Shows the current status of the project, usually in relation to the planned status.

A common form of progress reports uses two columns – one for planned time and expenditure and one for actual. The report should monitor progress towards key milestones.

A milestone:‘Is a significant event in the life of the project, usually completion of a major

deliverable.’

Question 27

What is Project Slippage?

and

How might project managers address the issue?

Answer 27

Slippage: Occurs when a project is running behind schedule.

Addressing slippage

1. Do Nothing - It might correct itself
2. Add Resources – Increase staff numbers to catch up but it does increases costs.
3. Work Smarter – Trying using new methods
4. Replan - If the original assumptions were proved invalid, a more realistic plan should be devised.
5. Reschedule – You might just need to change the phasing
6. Introduce Incentives – Incentives for staff to meet targets, also ensuring not to remunerate poor performance which should be answered with disciplinary action
7. Briefings and Motivations – Long Projects may find it beneficial Update briefings, to renew energy and enthusiasm.
8. Change the specification (Deliverables) of the project – if the original 3 constraints are unrealistic, it might need to be renegotiated. It could change the number of activities of the level of quality required.

If projects slippage starts to be drastic, but has a fixed deadline and cannot be delayed, Managers may take the following action:-

Fast-tracking - If activities/tasks are normally completed in sequence, but management may decide to do them in parallel. Reduce the overall time spent on the project.

Crashing - involves assigning additional resources to the critical path.

Crashing usually leads to an increase in the cost of the project, but this may be considered an acceptable trade-off for getting the project back on schedule.

Question 28

Why might Project Changes occur?

and

How is Project Changes managed?

Answer 28

Reasons why to change the project deliverables or outcomes: -

• Project slippage
• The availability of new technology
• Changes in staffing personnel
• A realisation that user requirements were misunderstood
• Changes in the environment
• New legislation, e.g data protection act

This process is called Change Control, it ensures that just anyone can make any change and that all changes I viewed objectively.

Earlier the change is actioned, the less expensive it should prove. Project managers should evaluate: -

1. Consequences of not implementing the proposed change
2. Impact of the change on time, cost, and quality
3. Expected costs and benefits of the change
4. Risks associated with the change and with the status quo.
5. Acceptability of the Risk Sponsor

Question 29

How do project managers respond to risk?

Answer 29

All projects carry an element of risk, for example, the risk of an inappropriate system being developed and implemented. Risk management seeks to identify risks of the overall project and what could go wrong and then to implement policies to reduce risks.

6 stages of Project risk management:

Stage 1 – Plan the risk-management approach – (Determine risk appetite of the sponsor)

Stage 2 – Identify and record risks – create the risk register detailing the type, probability and impact (in financial terms) of the risk.

Stage 3 – Assess the Risks - on 2 aspects, the likelihood and consequences if it were to occur. Plotted on a matrix to identify high Impact and high Likelihood.

Stage 4 – Plan and record the risk responses – T.A.R.A

• Avoidance – Avoid the activity e.g. reject an acquisition because of legal liabilities.
• Reduction – Reduce the level of likelihood or impact. e.g. using escrow for staged builds.
• Transfer – Transfer risk impact to another. e.g. Insurance, or penalties attached to supplier contract.
• Absorption – Accept the risk when necessary and can be coped with.

Stage 5 – Implement risk-management strategies

Stage 6 – Review the risk-management approach and actions for the adequacy

The process is ongoing and not a one-off.

Question 30

What is a Project Completion report?

Answer 30

The completion report: Summarises the results of the project and includes client sign-off.

On completion of the project, the project manager should produce a report which details:

• · The outcomes compared to the objectives (Deliverables)
• · The cost compared to the budget
• · The time taken to complete compared to the schedule

Question 31

What is a Post Project Review?

Answer 31

The post-project review: Is a formal review of the project that examines the lessons that may be learned and used for the benefit of future projects.

Typically involves: -

• • Acceptance by the client and dissemination plan
• • Evaluation plan - Review of output to goals
• • Exit and sustainability plan. Disbanding the team and ‘tying up loose ends’
• • Performance review, on how well the project was run
• • Determination of lessons learnt for a future project
• • Formal closure by the steering committee.

It’s done by asking:-

1. Was the project achieved on time and within budget?
2. Was the management of the project as successful? or were there bottlenecks or problems? This review covers:

(i) Problems that might occur on future projects with similar characteristics.
(ii) Performance of the team and individual members.

In other words, any project is an opportunity to learn positive and negative lessons, how to manage future projects more effectively.

Question 32

What is a Post Implementation review?

Answer 32

Post-implementation reviews: PIR focuses on the performance of the product/outcome of the project, to ensure that the maximum benefit is obtained for the organisation through the new project, and to make recommendations if the maximum benefits are not obtained.

Why It is carried out for three main reasons: -

• How well the project met its objectives, did it deliver the expected benefits?
• Consider the working solution to see if further improvements could be made to optimise the benefit delivered.
• To identify lessons that can be learned and fed back into the output production process; e.g. improving processes such as research and development, and operational processes as well as making changes to who is involved in certain processes and the timings at which individual processes are carried out.

Typically involved analysis of :

• The achievement (to date) of business case objectives (effectively a gap analysis)
• Costs and benefits to date against forecast
• Areas for further development
• Consistency of the project with the overall business strategy
• The effectiveness of revised business operations (functions, processes, staff numbers etc.)
• Stakeholder satisfaction (both internal and external).