Unit -3 (Project Management)

Project management meaning

● Project management is the application of processes, methods,
skills, knowledge and experience to achieve specific project
objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within
agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables
that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.
● Project management is the process of leading the work of a team
to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This
information is usually described in project documentation, created
at the beginning of the development process. The primary
constraints are scope, time, and budget.

Project management is the discipline of using established principles,

procedures and policies to successfully guide a project from conception
through completion.

Often abbreviated as PM, project management requires the application

of those principles and procedures as well as tools and technologies to
ensure that a project can be completed in a way that meets all
articulated outcomes, from spending limits to end-goal objectives.

The project management plan is expected to effectively and efficiently

guide all aspects of a project from start to finish, with the ideal goal of
delivering the outcome on time and on budget.

A project plan often begins with a project charter, and it is expected to

identify potential challenges in advance. Risk management is needed to
anticipate and handle any roadblocks or surprises that arise so that the
project keeps on schedule.

Project management commonly involves overseeing teams from

multiple functional areas within an organization as well as overseeing
teams and workers from multiple organizations who are expected to
work together for part or all of the project's duration to reach the
common goal.

Project managers, thus, need to be able to communicate effectively

across many disciplines and inspire unity of action among many workers
in order to deliver a successful project.

Scope
Scope is the defined features and functions of a product, or the scope
of work needed to finish a project. Scope involves getting information
required to start a project, including the features the product needs to
meet its stakeholders' requirements.

● Project scope is the work that must be done in order to deliver a

product according to the product's scope (required functions and
features)
Project scope is the common understanding among stakeholders about
what goes into a project and the factors that define its success. A
project's scope is made up of the functionalities or specifications
outlined in its requirements.
Project scope is documented in a scope statement, which is an integral
part of any project plan. And what is a scope statement exactly? It's a
written document that is used as the basis for project decisions down
the line. The scope statement clearly delineates what is in scope (the
work required). Everything else is out of scope. What does out of scope
mean in project management? Simply put, this is anything that does not
fall within the required functionalities and specifications that are
documented in the scope statement.

The PMBOK recognizes six major scope management processes involved

in managing and defining a project's parameters. These are:
1. Planning scope management: A scope management plan is created
based on input from the project plan, the project charter, and
consultation with stakeholders.
2. Collecting requirements: A requirements management plan is created
based on the scope management plan plus stakeholder input.
Interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and more will be used to
understand requirements. This will all be documented.
3. Defining scope: A project scope statement is produced based on all
the requirements documentation plus the project charter and the scope
management plan. This definition will be the basis for all project
activity.
4. Creating the Work Breakdown Structure: A Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS) is built after analyzing the project scope statement and
the requirements documentation. The WBS is basically the entire
project broken down into individual tasks, and deliverables are clearly
defined.
5. Validating scope: Here, deliverables are inspected and reviewed.
Either they're accepted as complete or further revisions are requested.
6. Controlling scope: As the project is executed, scope must be
controlled. Performance reports are compared against project
requirements to see where gaps exist, which may result in changes to
the project plan.

Importance
Project management is important because it brings leadership and
direction to projects. Without project management, a team can be like a
ship without a rudder; moving but without direction, control, or
purpose. Leadership allows and enables team members to do their best
work.

While project management skills are not easy to learn in theory alone,
doing a course does come with benefits. It is worth investing your time
in learning project management skills as all employers are giving PM
high priority. Project management also brings leadership and direction
to projects.

Here are a few reasons why project management is essential:

A Clear Project Plan and Process

The more multifaceted the project, there is more scope for chaos in the
organization. That is where proper planning and the importance of
project management come in. The primary function of project
management is to avoid confusion by outlining a clear plan and a
process from the beginning to the end.
Establish Plan and Schedule

Having agreed on a project schedule, sticking to it inculcates the

discipline required to avoid delays. A pre-determined process through
the project lifecycle gives the project a clear path.

Teamwork

People are made to work in a team on a project, due to the benefits

that accrue through sharing and knowledge of skills. It inspires team
0members to collaborate on a project.

Maximize Resources

It is well known that human and financial resources are likely to be

expensive. Project risk management and project tracking with regular
reporting ensure economic and efficient use of all the resources.

Keep Control of Costs

Based on the project scope, some projects may incur high costs. So, it is
essential to keep track of the budget. Incorporating project
management strategies eases the budget overrun risks.

Build on Knowledge

When businesses embark on more projects, they will acquire more

experience over time. Project management serves as a knowledge asset
to a company and helps to build on both experience and knowledge.

Manage Quality
It is crucial to ensure top-quality results. Project management identifies,
controls, and manages standards. This results in a high-quality product/
service and a satisfied client.

Continuous Oversight

Project management methods ensure that organizations gain

control over ongoing projects and make sure they are on the right
track and within the stipulated budget. Project deliverables should
be managed well so that you do not lose track of the progress of
the project.

A single failed project may not seem like a great thing to the company;
nevertheless, when we talk about large organizations with multiple
projects in the pipeline, the importance of project management
increases manifold.

The absence of project management leads to chaos in the organization,

which gradually induces higher rates of failure, uncertainty, and stress.

Role of project manager

The project manager is the individual responsible for delivering the

project. The individual leads and manages the project team, with
authority and responsibility from the project board, to run the project
on a day-to-day basis. In the NI public sector,
Projects IN Controlled Environments2 (PRINCE2(external link opens in a
new window / tab)) is the standard project management method and is
applicable to all project types.

As well as the formal responsibilities set out in methods such as

PRINCE2, the project manager has an important role in interfacing
between the project and the business area. This is important
for communicating and encouraging the need for transformation
and change within the business area in tandem with the delivery of new
capabilities from the project. The readiness of the business to exploit
the new capability is crucial to success. Without this state of readiness
in the business, there are likely to be disruptions and delays in the plan
for benefits realization.

The project manager, operating within agreed reporting structures, is

responsible for:

● designing and applying appropriate project management

standards for incorporation in the NI Gateway Review Process
● managing the production of the required deliverables
● planning and monitoring the project
● adopting any delegation and use of project assurance roles within
agreed reporting structures
● preparing and maintaining project, stage and exception plans as
required
● managing project risks, including the development of contingency
plans
● liaison with program management (if the project is part of
a program) and related projects to ensure that work is neither
overlooked nor duplicated
● monitoring overall progress and use of resources, initiating
corrective action where necessary
● applying change control and configuration management processes
● reporting through agreed lines on project progress
through highlight reports and end-stage assessments
 ● liaison with appointed project assurance representatives to assure
the overall direction and integrity of the project
● maintaining an awareness of potential interdependencies with
other projects and their impact
● adopting and applying appropriate technical and quality strategies
and standards
● identifying and obtaining support and advice required for the
management, planning and control of the project
● managing project administration
● conducting a project evaluation review to assess how well the
project was managed
● preparing any follow-on action recommendations

In construction projects the project manager also provides the interface

between the project sponsor and the supply side of the project team.

Project life-cycle Project appraisal

The project life cycle includes the steps required for project
managers to successfully manage a project from start to finish.

There are five phases to the project life cycle. Each of these project
phases represents a group of interrelated processes that must take
place for a successful project.

1. Initiating phase

The initiating phase of the project life cycle consists of two separate
processes: the project charter and stakeholder register. This phase is to
determine the vision for your project, document what you hope to
accomplish through a business case, and secure approvals from a
 sanctioning stakeholder. The key components of the project charter
include:

● Business case
● Project scope
● Deliverables
● Objectives
● Resources needed
● Milestone plan and timeline
● Cost estimate
● Risks and issues
● Dependencies

Taking the time to get your goals and objectives clearly defined will
mean that the project will be easier to work on.

Everyone involved will be able to discuss their own suggestions or

concerns and the budget and costs can be agreed and signed off
upfront. Having this initiating phase is important not only for the
project, but for all the teams involved to have their say on what is
needed for the project.

2. Planning phase

During the planning phase, it is important that the first thing to do is

outline and define the reason for the project. By answering the
following questions, you can clearly see what the project needs to
achieve.

1. What exactly are we going to do?

2. How are we going to do it?
3. When are we going to do it?
4. How will we know when we’re done?

As part of the planning phase, you will need to work with the team to
put the full infrastructure in place and delegate certain tasks. This plan
should include:

● Project management plan

● Project scope
● Work breakdown structure
● Resource plan
● Budget estimation

Getting the plan in place, with the whole team’s involvement can be
tricky to work out. But giving every department a chance to be involved
in the plan will mean that there are fewer issues further down the line.

3. Executing phase

The executing phase should involve the following vital parts:

● Team development
● Stakeholder engagement
● Quality assurance
● Communications
● Client management

This phase is where the magic happens — where most of the budget is
allocated and most of the project deliverables are produced. You take
your project plan and put it into action, whether that takes weeks,
months, or even years.
Villanova University defines the goal of this phase as, “managing teams
effectively while orchestrating timeline expectations and reaching
benchmark goals.”

During this time, communication is important; there will be times

where the client or stakeholders will want to updates and progress
reports.

Having a reliable project management system in place will save a lot of

headaches for you and your team. It will be easier for tasks to be
crossed off, see where deadlines and deliverables are up to and give you
and the team insight into what still needs to be done.

With Adobe Work front, you can keep the whole project team updated
and make reporting to clients and stakeholders easier.

4. Monitoring and controlling phase

When in the monitoring and controlling phase you will need to make
sure that you can keep an eye on the overall progress of the project as
well as individual aspects.

You will always need to stay vigilant and keep up to speed with tracking
and reporting with the team, so you are aware of any potential
problems before they get out of hand.

It is also worth having another member of the project team (or one
from each department) to act as another quality controller or reporter,
they can help you keep track of everything in their team and have
regular meetings to update on all aspects, so everyone is kept on track.
 5. Closing phase

The final phase of the project life cycle is the closing phase. It is more
than simply checking off the project as done and closing the project
down. It’s essential to formally close the project and secure a sign-off or
approval from the customer, stakeholders, and/or project sponsor.

This process might include:

● Delivering the project

● Hosting a post-mortem meeting
● Archiving project records
● Celebrating or acknowledging the achievement
● Officially disbanding or releasing the team

The importance of this final step of the project life cycle can’t be
overstated, especially as more organizations are adopting the
Hollywood model of work, where temporary teams come together
around a specific project, and then disband and regroup for another
project. This is important for project management teams, especially
those that involve freelancers or consultants.

Preparation of a real time project feasibility report containing

Technical appraisal

Technical feasibility is a standard practice for companies to conduct

feasibility studies before commencing work on a project. Businesses
undertake a technical feasibility study to assess the practicality and
viability of a product or service before launching it. Whether you are
working as a product engineer, product designer or team manager,
there may be plenty of situations in your career where you have to
prepare a technical feasibility study. In this article, we discuss what
technical feasibility is, explain how to conduct one and share tips on
writing a feasibility study report.

Environmental appraisal
Environmental appraisal means to analyze all the factors of business
environments. Following are the main stages involved in environment
appraisal.

1st Stage: Factors Affecting Environmental Appraisal. Following are the

main factors affecting environmental appraisal. a) Factors relating to
environment. We cannot evaluate equally two organizations in same
environment. We have to study every organization’s complexity and
flexibility.

b) Factors relating to Organization

Age of organization will affect our environmental appraisal. We also see

the organization's size for doing business and its market type. What are
the services and products, it is providing?

c) Factors Relating to Strategies

Policy makers play important role in appraisal. Age, education and

experience of policy maker will affect the environmental appraisal.
2nd Stage: Identification of Environmental Factors

In second stage we have to identification of environmental factors on

the basis of following issue

a) Critical Issues

b) High Priority Issues

c) Low Priority Issues

3rd Stage: Structuring the Environmental Appraisal

This is the third stage of environmental appraisal. In this stage, we

create the structure of environmental appraisal. One side of structure
will be our strengths and other side will be our weaknesses. By
comparing both, we estimate our surviving power in the environment
of business.

Market appraisal (including market survey for forecasting

future demand and sales)
There are four steps in any total-market forecast:
1. Define the market.
2. Divide total industry demand into its main components.
3. Forecast the drivers of demand in each segment and project how
they are likely to change.
4. Conduct sensitivity analyses to understand the most critical
assumptions and to gauge risks to the baseline forecast.
Defining the Market
In defining the market, an understanding of product substitution is
critical. Customers might behave differently if the price or performance
of potential substitute products changes. One company studying total
demand for industrial paper tubes had to consider closely related uses
of metal and plastic tubes to prevent customer switching among tubes
from biasing the results.
Finally, careful quantification of the economic value of alternative
products to different customers can yield deep insights into potential
switching behavior—for example, how oil price movements would
affect plastics prices, which in turn would affect plastic products’ ability
to substitute for metal or paper.
Dividing Demand into Component Parts
The second step in forecasting is to divide total demand into its main
components for separate analysis.
There are two criteria to keep in mind when choosing segments: make
each category small and homogeneous enough so that the drivers of
demand will apply consistently across its various elements; make each
large enough so that the analysis will be worth the effort. Of course,
this is a matter of judgment.
Forecasting the Drivers of Demand
The third step is to understand and forecast the drivers of demand in
each category. Here you can make good use of regressions and other
statistical techniques to find some causes for changes in historical
demand. But this is only a start. The tougher challenge is to look beyond
the data on which regressions can easily be based to other factors
where data are much harder to find. Then you need to develop a point
of view on how those other factors may themselves change in the
future.
Conducting Sensitivity Analyses
Managers who rely on single-point demand forecasts run dangerous
risks. Some of the macroeconomic variables behind the forecasts could
be wrong. Despite the best analysis, moreover, the assumptions behind
the other demand drivers could also be wrong, especially if
discontinuities loom on the horizon. Imaginative marketers who ask
questions like “What things could cause this forecast to change
dramatically?” produce the best estimates. They are more likely to
identify potential risks and discontinuities—developments in competing
technologies, in customer industry competitiveness, in supplier cost
structures—than those who do not. So once a baseline forecast is
complete, the challenge is to determine how far it could be off target.
Determining an Appropriate Effort
The forecasting framework outlined above can work for both
comprehensive and simple assessments,
but there are different ways to carry out these analyses. A big challenge
in demand forecasting (just as with other types of market analysis) is to
gauge the appropriate effort for the project’s purpose. It’s useful to ask:
“How much do I need to know to make the decision at hand?”
Even when the work is sound, though, uncertainties will remain:
discontinuities will still be difficult to predict, especially if they are
rooted in momentous political, macroeconomic, or technological
changes. But managers who push their thinking through the steps in
this framework will have a better chance of finding these discontinuities
than those who do not. And those who base their business strategies
on a solid knowledge of demand will stand a much greater chance of
making wise investments and competing effectively.
Managerial appraisal
Manager appraisal is the evaluation of managers' performance in the
company. Professionals conduct these evaluations out to raise
productivity to an optimum level. Organizations conduct manager
appraisals to help both managers and the company reach a common
ground and work towards the company's development. These
appraisals also play a determining role in offering promotions and salary
increases.
Deciding the time and categories of review are the first few steps
toward organizing a manager appraisal. Including managers in this
decision creates space for communication, which helps each party
understand each other's expectations and perspectives. The number of
appraisals conducted in a year depends on company policies and other
decision-makers.
Different ways to conduct manager appraisal
Here are some different methods professionals use to conduct manager
appraisals:
Target-oriented appraisal
This is a result-oriented method where the reviewer and manager
under review set objectives together using the SMART method
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-sensitive). Then,
the reviewer evaluates the manager's performance periodically based
on these target goals.
360-degree evaluation
The 360-degree evaluation combines feedback from many sources. This
allows this method of appraisal to be as unbiased as possible. The
essential elements of this method are peer review, self-assessment,
supervisor review and customer review.
Conventional performance appraisal
A conventional approach involves a review by senior staff members.
Companies often assign a specific senior member of management to
perform these evaluations to ensure consistency in reviewing standards.
Professionals base their reviews on the analysis of all the available proof
of performance.
Assessment center review
The assessment center method is another process of assessment that
uses a series of exercises to quantify the skills of the manager under
assessment. Supervisors or assessors commonly used this method, as it
provides a deeper insight into employees' potential than an interview.
During the assessment, managers may perform duties related to their
job and answer hypothetical questions about how they would address
certain situations.
Appraisal with Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)
Many reviewers use BARS to rate the performance of the manager.
These help reviewers gather data for a robust assessment. This
performance measurement allows for consistent results, as each
manager is set to the same standard of performance measures.
Future assessment appraisal
Also known as psychological appraisal, this method focuses on the
future assessment of the employee's potential by evaluating the
candidate's soft skills like emotional quotient and interpersonal skills.
Psychologists conduct future assessment appraisals. This is a beneficial
method for companies that are interested in learning the full potential
of their managers rather than just their current performance. Future
assessment appraisals are also valuable team-building tools.
Cost-based Evaluation
In this method, the reviewers consider the cost of keeping the
employee in the company. Also known as the cost accounting method,
this method factors in the contributions of the manager to the company
in monetary terms. This allows the reviewer to determine if the
manager is a monetary asset to the company.