Transcript Project Management and Organizations

Project Management and
Organizations
The name of the game, the players, and
the rules
Goals
Understanding what is a project, what is the life cycle of a
project and how it differs from other types of works
Understanding the influences organizations exert on
project and project executions
Understanding the players and the relationships among
them
Detailing the process groups and the knowledge areas
Internet References
Books
 http://www.esse3.unitn.it
 http://www.pmi.org
 http://www.sybex.com
Historical References: http://www.wikipedia.org;
look for:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_project_management
 Frederick Winslow Taylor,
 Henry Laurence Gantt
What is a project
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service, or result
What is a project
 Temporary:
 definitive begin and end (either because the goals are met or the
project is closed - goals cannot or will not be met)
 projects’ results are not necessarily temporary (see project and
product lifecycle)
 Unique products, service, or result:
 A product which is quantifiable (e.g. a component, …)
 A capability to perform a service, such a business function
 A result, such as knowledge (collected in documents,
presentation, …)
 Progressive elaboration
 Development by steps and in increments (need for keeping
project scope)
Projects and Operational Work
Work can be categorized either as project or operational.
Common characteristics:
 Performed by people
 Limited resources
 Planned, executed, and controlled
Differences:
 Project: obtain goals and termimate
 Operational Work: sustain the business
Examples
Cooking dinner
Preparing a dinner for friends
Mass producing a car
Designing a car
Publishing papers
Developing a software system
Projects vs. Strategic Planning
Projects are a means of organizing activities that cannot be
achieved using organization’s normal operation limits and
are often used to achieve an organization’s strategic plan
Typically authorized by:
A market demand
An organizational need
A customer request
A technological advance
A legal requirement
Project Management Context
Project and Program Management
 set of projects managed in a coordinated way in order to
achieve some sort of benefit
 Programs may be cyclical (fundraising, publishing a newspaper,
…)
Portfolios and Portfolio Management
 A collection of projects or programs and other work grouped
together to facilitate management and meet strategic objectives
Project Management Context
Subprojects
 Projects may be divided in subprojects (altough the sub-projects
may be referred to as “projects” and managed as such).
 Examples: (based on the process) a phase of a project, (based
on skills) plumbing or wiring in building a house, (based on
technologies) automated testing of a software product.
Characteristics of a Project (Part
II)
(some of) The rules
(and the board game)
Project Life Cycle
Projects are usually organized in phases
Typically (but not necessarily) organizations define (or
adopt) their own life cycles, namely
 The technical work to be done in each phase
 The deliverables to be produced by each phase (a deliverable
is a measurable and verifiable work products)
 Who is involved
 The rules of transition from one phase to the next
Project Life Cycle
Inputs
Phases
Idea
PM Team
Initial
Charter
Outputs
Intermediate
Plan
Scope
Statement
Final
Progress
Baseline
Acceptance
Handover
Approval
Product
Project Life Cycle
Initial Phase
Initial Phase
Closing Phase
Cost and Staff
Influence of stakeholder
Cost of change
Project Life Cycle and Product
Life Cycle
Upgrade
Business Plan
Operations
Idea
Product
Phases Initial
Intermedi
ate
Final
Divestment
What is a project (part 2)
 Projects can be seen from (at least) two points of view:
 As a sequence of phases
 As a variation of the plan-do-act-check loop
 Some common characteristics and relationships:
 Hierarchical (each major process is decomposed in smaller processes)
 Iterative (it may repeat over time)
 (sort of) mutually recursive (think, e.g., of subprojects)
Process Groups
If we take a slightly different point of view, we can
start organizing the activities necessary to carry
out a project in process groups
The organization is a variation of the plan-do-act
cycle
Process Groups
Monitoring &
Controlling
Planning
Closing
Initiating
Executing
Process Groups
 Initiating: defines and authorizes the project
 Planning: defines and refines the project objectives and plans the
course of actions
 Executing: integrates people and resources to carry out the project
management plan
 Monitoring and controlling: measures and monitors progress to
identify variances
 Closing: formalizes acceptance of the product, service, or results
and brings the project to an orderly end.
Levels of Activity
Execute
Plan
Closing
Initiate
Process Groups and Project
Boundaries
Monitoring &
Controlling
Deliverables
End User
Planning
Project
Project
Initiator/Sponsor Inputs
Closing
Initiating
Executing
Project
Records
Process
Assets
Project and Organizations
(Some of) the players and (some of) the
rules
Functional/Hierarchical
Remarks
Operational decisions originate at the top of the hierarchy
and propagate
Sharp distinction of functions and rigid structure
Good for small firms, geographically concentrated, with a
small set of standard products, mainly focused in
operational work
Organization of work in projects is clumsy (unless project
managers are in the Direction)
Divisional
Remarks
First example: Du Pont (1921)
Strategy located in the Direction
Responsibility and operational decisions are taken
by the Division
Allows for specialization to specific
markets/sectors (e.g. expert in the A.I.)
Profits and losses are shared
Remark
(Fierce) competition among divisions
Divisions tend to operate on smaller term goals
Duplication of functions may increase costs
Projects within Division are relatively simple.
Interdivisional projects more complex.
Projectized
Project is central
Disadvantages:
General
Direction
Administration
and Finance
Proj ect 1
Proj ect 2
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Proj ect 3
 lack of specialization
 continuity of work and
reallocation of people after
the project ends
Matricial
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General
Direction
Marketing
Proj ect A
Proj ect B
Proj ect C
Proj ect D
Producti on
Administration
and Finance
Sales
Personnel
Matricial
General
Direction
PMO
Marketing
Producti on
Administration
and Finance
Proj ect A
Proj ect B
Proj ect C
Proj ect D
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Sales
Personnel
Matricial
Structural “accommodation” of projects
May or may not contain a PMO (Project Management
Office) for sharing resources, monitoring and control
Two bosses “syndrome”
The point is where the decisions are taken:
 Weak matrix
 Balanced matrix
 Strong matrix
Weak Matrix
Responsibility mainly located in the functional areas
PM more as a facilitator (helps keeping focus, monitor and
control) and negotiator
Useful in structures where products are standardized but
production is complex
Facilitates an orientation of the organization towards a
project management culture
Strong Matrix
 PM is responsible of:
 Planning operational activities (it “tells” functional areas what
has to be done - in practice slightly weaker than that!)
 Coordinating people
 Monitoring and Controlling progresses
 Friction between PM and Functional Areas:
 PM focused on shorter term goals
 Functional area responsible inclined to think of the lending
personnel as a “favour”.
 Necessity of mediating requests of different projects and project
managers for the Functional Areas
 Good for complex products with standard production cycles
Balanced Matrix
Something between Strong and Weak
Need for a PM
PM hasn’t got all the authority of a Strong Matrix
(usually embedded in a functional unit - it may
report to the person responsible of an area)
Dedicated Team
Dedicated Team
 A special unit is created for the duration of the project. PM has complete
responsibility over the planning, team, etc.
 Similar to projectized organization
 Example: Lockheed-Martin (sixties):
 60 C54 airplanes (milliard dollars contract), 12000 pieces per airplane,
several subcontractors
 Dedicated team with ~ 11000 hundred people
 Disadvantages include:
 Strong focus on shorter term goals
 Re-allocation of people after the project’s end
 Integration in the company (e.g. evaluation of people, feeling of
belonging to the company)
Summing up…
Functional
Weak Matrix
Balanced Matrix
Strong Matrix
Projectized
PM Authority
Little or none
Limited
Low to Moderate
Moderate to
High
High to almost
Total
Resource
Availability
Little or none
Limited
Low to Moderate
Moderated to
High
High to almost
total
Who controls the
project budget
Functional
Manager
Functional
Manager
Mixed
Project Manager
Project Manager
Project Manager
Role
Part-time
Part-time
Full-times
Full-time
Full-time
Project
Management
Administrative
Staff
Part-time
Part-time
Part-time
Full-time
Full-time
A side remark…
Changes in a structure are subjected to the
Organisational Lag (organizations and personnel have
“hysteresis” - Kerzner)
Technology/changes
organization
personnel
Strategy for introducing new
techniques (Swartz and Davis)
Strategic importance
High
Medium
Low
Resistance to change
Low
Medium
High
Strategy for introducing new
techniques (Swartz and Davis)
Strategic importance
High
Medium
Low
Resistance to change
Low
Medium
High
Projects and their Environment
The players
The players
Project
Sponsor
Project
Manager
Project
Management
Team
Project Team
Project Stakeholder
The Players
Stakeholders:
 who is involved in the project and/or people whose interest may
be affected by the project
Stakeholders:
 may have different influence and varying level of responsibility
during the project
 may have positive or negative influence on the project
 may be difficult to identify
The Players
 Customer/User: person or organization that will use the results of a project.
There may be multiple layers of users.
 Performing Organization: the organization mostly involved in the project
 Project team members: the group performing the work
 Project management team: the members of the team directly involved in
project management
 Sponsor: person or group providing the financial resources
 Influencers: people or groups not directly related to the project who could
influence the course of a project
The Players (ctd)
There may be overlaps among different
stakeholders (the customer may also be the
sponsor)
There are other characterisations:
Internal/external
Sellers and contractors
…
The Players (you)
 Project Manager:
 person responsible of managing the project
 person responsible of managing stakeholder expectations
 a negotiator and a facilitator
 the reference person for a project
 Some skills
 communication and negotiation skills
 a little predisposition to risk
 goal oriented
 Leadership
 Summing up (according to Sernia):
 Solid know-how
 A lot of common sense
 Professional correctness
 A bit of style
The role of the PM
The PM ensures that the
project goals are met
according to the
constraints
Cost
Time
Quality
The PM and its environment
sponsor
Expectations,
resources
performing
organization
Achievable goals
Constraints, opportunities
resources
results
influencers
PM
Goals, plan, …
Products,
Services, or results
requirements
customer
Achievable goals,
Information,
Commitment
…
project
team
Process Groups and Knowledge
Areas
Process Groups and Knowledge
Areas
Process Groups defines the activities necessary to
carry out a project
Knowledge areas organize the skills necessary to
carry out the project groups
Project Management
Integration
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Monitoring and
Controlling
Closing
Develop Project
charter and
preliminary
scope statement
Develop project
management plan
Direct and manage
project execution
Monitor and control
project work;
Integrated control
change
Close project
Project Scope Management
Scope planning, scope
definition, create WBS
Scope verification;
scope control
Project Time Management
Activity Definition,
sequencing, resource
and duration
estimation, schedult
development
Schedule control
Project Cost Management
Cost estimation, cost
budgeting
Cost control
Project Quality Management
Quality planning
Quality assurance
Quality control
Project Human Resource
Management
HR planning
Acquire project team,
develop project team
Manage project team
Project Communication
Management
Communications
planning
Information distribution
Performance reporting,
stakeholder
management
Project Risk Management
Risk Management
planning, risk
identification, qualitative
and quantitative risk
management, risk
response planning
Project Procurement planning
Plan purchases and
acquisition; plan
contracting
Risk monitoring and
control
Request seller
responses; select
sellers
Contract administration
Contract closure