Section 1 - Project Fundamentals Flashcards
What is a project?
A unique, transient endeavour undertaken to bring about change and to achieve planned objectives
What is the difference between a project and BAU activity?
Projects are NOT repetitive nor static.
Key Characteristics of projects
- In order to derive benefit, the project will be required to produce a set of products/deliverables
- Projects are transient and there is finite time for everything to be delivered
- They are of varying sizes and risk levels
- They operate within a pre-determined and planned project budget
- Projects are unique and only occur once
Success Criteria Definition
The satisfaction of stakeholder needs for the deployment of a project. This is a different performance measure to benefits which are focused on the strategic intent and delivering beneficial change
What are the 3 key criteria?
Time, Cost & Quality
What is Scope?
It covers everything that the project will produce and all the work involved to produce it.
When is the success criteria developed?
This is done after it has been agreed and documented in the business case and PMP
BAU
An organisation’s normal day-to-day operations. Also referred to as ‘steady state’.
Features of Projects
- Seek to introduce change
- Limited by time. The timescale is decided based on the business needs
- Teams work with unique bespoke plans & risks
- Produce specific, one-off deliverables
- Have a discrete number of steps called a ‘project lifecycle’
- Seek step change & transformation
- Require a specific authorised business case
BAU - Characteristics
- Seek to maintain a stable platform for efficient production
- Repetitive and continues indefinitely
- Highly procedural working practices to enable complex operations to be delivered in a consistent way
- Produce specific deliverables but repeatedly and in similar timescales
- Products go through a lifecycle from build, through operations to disposal, called a product lifecycle
- BAU seeks continuity, consistency and slow incremental improvement
- Normally funded through operational budgets rather than capital
Life Cycle
A framework comprising a set of distinct high-level stages required to transform an idea or concept into reality in an orderly and efficient manner. It offers a systematic and organised way to undertake project-based work and can be viewed as the structure underpinning deployment.
It can be viewed as describing the project journey and the processes working throughout that life cycle.
Linear Project Life Cycle
- Allows to consider a managed and evolutionary progression through the phases of a project
- The length of each phase can vary considerably between different projects
- Useful for sequentially structured projects with clearly defined outputs. APM defines these as stable, low-risk projects with greater structure.
- The expectations of each phase are known
- It provides a clear framework which allows for early definition of requirements and maximum control and governance.
- Controls and information can easily be passed on to the next phase subject to milestones being reached and accomplished
The 4 phases of the linear project life cycle
- Concept Phase
- Definition Phase
- Deployment Phase
- Transition Phase
Concept Phase
- Encompasses everything up to and including the production of the business case
- Includes the feasibility and optioneering to arrive at the chosen single solution for deployment into the project
- Overseen by the sponsor and the PM may well be appointed to develop the business case. The business case sets the baseline for the project.
Definition Phase
- This includes the production of the PMP and all its component plans such as the risk management/quality plan etc.
- Culminates in the approval to proceed to deployment
- The primary output is the PMP. This documents the entirety of the project and what it will produce
- The plan will undergo changes throughout the project in line with changing circumstances and may or may not have an impact on the business case
Deployment Phase
- Covers the construction of the various components that comprise the end product of the project
- There may be many sub-phases (separated by a stage review) to allow for proper evaluation of progress
- The results are the primary outputs of the project
Transition Phase
This is the process of commissioning the products and the migration of them to practical use in BAU operations. It encompasses the administrative closure of the project including things such as the final accounts, final drawings, agreement from the sponsor that the project has finished etc.
Benefits of structuring projects in phases
- Gives us an understanding of which resources may be required and when. This helps to plan the necessary levels of resource requirements
- Provides a high-level initial breakdown so that the detailed planning can be carried out in each phase prior to moving to the next
- Provides an indication of when the key project reviews can take place. This ensures that the relevant authorities are in place and co-ordinated to proceed
- Ensures proper attention is given to the early stages by demanding that the project goes through a number of phasegates
- Enables us to link progress directly to these and recognise the completion of a phase which will in turn give greater confidence to the stakeholders
- Provides clear identification of priorities
- Achieves early understanding of requirements through spending adequate time developing the initial idea or detailed plan
- Delivers more effective stakeholder communication and regular project reviews
- Achieves maximum transparency by assessment of achievements against requirements at end of phase (pre-defined milestones)
- Allows for maximum control and governance over the project
Iterative life cycle
- Doesn’t allow for pre-determined flow unlike linear
- Assumes that there is always going to be change
- Allows for evolution as more becomes known
- It is important that the assumption isn’t made that there is no need to plan and that everything can change indefinitely
- Best for projects with evolving objectives or where the project scope is vague
- More frequent reviews of progress and decision making. If all goes well, has the potential to deliver benefits earlier than may otherwise be the case. This is due to products being streamed out in an incremental way, each building on the previous one.
- Allows to consider more dynamic and evolutionary progress.
Hybrid life cycle
- A mixture of linear and iterative
- Offers adaptability within a more structured approach
- Project team are able to choose the best of both to best suit the project
When should each life cycle be used?
Linear - When the scope is fixed. Allows to work through the different phases with a clear idea of what the outcome is
Iterative - Suitable for projects that don’t have a fixed scope. There will be fixed resources and budget along with a fixed timeline. There will also be the opportunity to flex the scope to suit these factors
Hybrid - Suitable for projects that are governed by a linear process but might contain an iterative element such as design or process that needs to be worked out
Extended Project Life Cycle
- Goes beyond the transition phase and allows consideration of additional phases. This includes operation, adoption and benefits realisation.
- Along with the consideration of the product lifecycle it means there is a focus on whole life costing (i.e recognition that the cost of producing the asset must be considered alongside the cost of operating it).
- Particularly suited to projects that are funded within the org and are making a change to the business. This is so that the project team can support the outputs being embedded into BAU after transition and provide timely feedback on benefits back to the organisation.
- In this life cycle, governance and accountability stay within the project until the change has been fully embedded. This hopefully minimises boundaries between the project and BAU.
Factors to consider with context and culture
- Values & Objectives
- Structure - Can influence the preference for a particular life cycle.
- Governance and decision making process - How decisions are made and who makes them can dictate the choice of lifecycle
- Cultural factors - The culture, including attitudes towards risk, collaboration and change can affect the choice of lifecycle
Needs of a specific project
Each project will have unique requirements, constraints and stakeholder needs that influence the choice and possible adaptations of the project life cycle:
- Project complexity and uncertainty
- Stakeholder involvement
- Regulatory and compliance requirements
- Resource constraints
- Concurrency or simultaneous engineering - Where different development steps are allowed to be performed, an iterative approach would be required
Transition Management
This is the process of managing the handover of the project outputs, commissioned and accepted by the sponsor, into BAU, culminating in formal project closure
What does CIA help us to understand?
- The winder organisational impacts on people, performance, processes, systems and culture
- Feelings about the change
- Knowledge gaps or skills that need to be addressed
It helps to support the planning and communication of change effectively, identifying potential issues and highlighting the resources required to do so
Basic requirements needed to support a successful transition
- Early Planning
- Understanding BAU
- Clear communication and stakeholder engagement
- Training and support
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Quality assurance and testing
- Monitoring and feedback
- Compliance and documentation
- Alignment with strategic objectives
Change Impact Analysis
This is a method of analysing the scope and scale of the change to the new BAU state
Benefits of knowledge transfer
- Enhancing organisational capability
- Learning from experience
- Continuous improvement
- Risk mitigation
- Cost efficiency
- Facilitating smooth transition
- Building a knowledge-based culture
- Supporting stakeholder engagement
What should transition planning detail?
- Acceptance of all relevant documentation relating to the project deliverables incl. process maps, procedural documentation, ongoing licensing agreements, guarantees and warranties
- Approval by the sponsor in the form of signed acceptance certificates that required tasks have been completed and the agreed criteria has been met
- Formal transfer of responsibility and/or ownership for the deliverables from the project team to the sponsor or users, including ownership of supplier relationships.
The following needs to be considered during transition planning
- Identifying key stakeholders
- Strategic alignment of goals and understanding of the future state
- Develop a comprehensive transition plan
- Facilitate open communication
- Communicating benefits
- Articulate the risks and their transfer
- Seek stakeholder input
- Build consensus
- Document agreements
- Provide regular updates
- Review and reflect
Assurance
The process of providing confidence to stakeholders that projects, programmes and portfolios will achieve their objectives for beneficial change.
The particular processes will be agreed between the sponsor and key stakeholders in line with the overall assurance strategy. It should increase the chances of the project meeting its objectives, deliver value and adhere to agreed standards and regs.
Assurance Activities
These can be broadly divided into three categories:
- Controls
- Compliance
- Independent Review
It is crucial to understand the scope, priorities and strategic aims of the assurance activities. This helps to effectively manage the project and enhance stakeholder confidence
Key requirements of an assurance plan
- Be independent, objective and proportionate
- Target the greatest risks
- Show clear accountabilities for assurance arrangements, activities and outputs
- Show that timings of assurance activities are planned and coordinated
- Show a clear governance route for reporting outcomes and resolving issues
Project Reviews
These provide an independent perspective ensuring that important details aren’t overlooked and that the project is on track whilst evaluating any positive or negative outcomes. These should be conducted throughout the life cycle to ensure progress is where we expect it to be and to give a better overview of any deviations or risks arising.
Decision Gate Review
Comes at the end of both concept and definition. The purpose is to review the project against the business case (concept) and PMP (definition) and decide if the project should proceed to the next phase.
Stage Reviews
Take place through the deployment phase. These reviews evaluate the progress of the project against the agreed plans with the aim of identifying variance and corrective actions.
Post-project Review
Carried out at the end of the transition phase to ensure complete handover of the project to the customer and to learn lessons for future projects.
Benefits Review
This will happen after adoption and during benefits realisation. They happen after the work has been completed and seek to determine whether the benefits set out in the business case have been achieved as expected.
What should be reported on as part of the review process?
- Progress against the schedule
- Project spend - actual vs planned
- Earned value - tracking project spend and understanding the value of the work achieved
- Audit findings and number of non-conformances
- Risks and issues
Basic principles around information reporting
- Keep it accurate
- Keep it relevant
- Keep it timely
- Keep it clear
Types of reporting
The importance of producing information and collecting data may be considered in the following circumstances:
- Status reporting
- Estimating the project
- Risk identification
- Problem solving and option appraisals
- Availability of information/knowledge and information management
Why may projects have to be re-planned after a review
- If achieving the planned scope is not to the required quality
- If team members have low motivation and satisfaction
- If contractor performance and relationships in the supply chain are poor
- If committed costs and cashflow are higher than expected
- If new risks are identified or existing risks change
- If stakeholder communication is ineffective or lacking
How can leaders speed up and ensure the team is heading in the right direction?
- A good leader will be able to spot the area where poor motivation is in evidence and through adapting their leadership style, can better align to help address this. This will help to focus the team and provide direction to those who need it
- A leader who recognises the different phases of the team development cycle can use motivation techniques to make it as easy as possible
- A good leader is able to provide a vision for the team which will help provide focus. This will improve the team ethos and attention to the strategic objectives and the bigger picture
What can poor motivation lead to?
- Interpersonal conflict
- High staff attrition rates
- Difficulty in recruiting
- Absence & sickness
- Poor quality of work
What are Herzberg’s ‘True Motivators’?
These are psychological needs to achieve and grow.
Examples are below:
- Achievement
- Recognition
- Work itself
- Responsibility
What are Herzberg’s ‘Hygiene Factors’?
These are physiological needs eg. we need money to buy food and shelter.
Examples include company policy (whether you get a company car etc), supervision (how closely are you monitored and does that affect motivation?), work conditions and salary.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
From the bottom up:
- Physiological
- Safety
- Love
- Esteem
- Self-actualisation
McGregor Theory X & Y
Theory X workers are usually those who dislike work and are naturally unmotivated to work. In contrast, Theory Y workers tend to be described as self-motivated and creative. They tend to enjoy their work and take pride in what they do.
PM’s who are Theory X may adopt a more authoritative approach whereas, in contrast, Theory Y tend to lean towards more collaboration and empowerment
Autocratic Leadership
Strong one-dimensional leadership style where one leader has full authority
Democratic
Leader involves the team members in the decision making progress
Laissez-faire
Self-rule where employees are empowered to make decisions
Benefits to approaching with a coaching and mentoring style
- Helps to understand an individuals strengths and weaknesses
- Helps to understand the situation better
- Helps to deal with uncertainty
- Emotional intelligence in developed
