Lecture 1:

Introduction to Project Management

Information Technology Project Management,

Fourth Edition
 Overview
 Introduction to Project Management
 Integration Management
 Scope Management
 Time Management
 Cost Management
 Quality Management
 Human Resource Management
 Communications Management
 Risk Management
 Procurement Management

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 Introduction to Project Management
 Introduction
 What is a project?
 The project management process
 Project management information systems

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 Objectives
 Define what project is and describe project management
 Understand the history of project management
 Understand the growing need for better IT/IS project
management
 Discuss key elements of the project management framework
 Understand the role of the project manager for information
technology projects.

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 Motivation for Studying Information
Technology (IT) Project Management

 IT projects have a terrible track record.

 A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only 16.2 percent
of IT projects were successful in meeting scope, time, and cost goals.
 Over 31 percent of IT projects were canceled before completion,
costing over $81 billion in the U.S. alone.*

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 Advantages of Using Formal
Project Management
 Better control of financial, physical, and human resources.
 Improved customer relations.
 Shorter development times.
 Lower costs.
 Higher quality and increased reliability.
 Higher profit margins.
 Improved productivity.
 Better internal coordination.
 Higher worker morale (less stress).

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 What Is a Project?
 A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result.”*

 Operations is work done to sustain the business.

 A project ends when its objectives have been reached, or the project has been
terminated.

 Projects can be large or small and take a short or long time to complete.

 A unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and
finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to specific requirements including
constraints of time, cost and resources (Lockyer and Gordon, 1996)

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 Project Attributes
 A project:
 A unique process to achieve an objective.
 Is temporary.
 Is developed using progressive elaboration.
 Requires resources, often from various areas.
 Should have a primary customer or sponsor.
 The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project.
 Involves uncertainty.
 Coordinated and controlled activities
 Start and finish dates
 Specific requirements
 Constraints of time, cost and resources

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 Project and Program Managers
 Project managers work with project sponsors, project teams, and
other people involved in projects to meet project goals.
 Program: “A group of related projects managed in a coordinated
way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing
them individually.”*
 Program managers oversee programs and often act as bosses for
project managers.

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 The Triple Constraint
 Every project is constrained in different ways by its:

 Scope goals: What work will be done?

 Time goals: How long should it take to complete?

 Cost goals: What should it cost?

 It is the project manager’s duty to balance these three often-

competing goals.

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 Figure 1-1. The Triple Constraint of
Project Management

Successful project
management means
meeting all three
goals (scope, time,
and cost) – and
satisfying the
project’s sponsor!

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What is Project Management?
 Project management is the application of knowledge, skills,
tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet
project requirements
 A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve a
particular aim. Project management knowledge and practices
are best described in terms of their component processes

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History of Project Management
 Some people argue that building the Egyptian pyramids was a
project, as was building the Great Wall of China
 Most people consider the Manhattan Project to be the first
project to use “modern” project management
 This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars) project had a
separate project manager and a technical manager

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Project Management Framework
 A set of processes, tools and templates, designed to be used
together to manage a project through its lifecycle

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 Project Stakeholders
 Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project
activities.
 Stakeholders include:
 Project sponsor
 Project manager
 Project team
 Support staff
 Customers
 Users
 Suppliers
 Opponents to the project

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 Nine Project Management
Knowledge Areas
 Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project
managers must develop.
 Four core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives (scope,
time, cost, and quality).
 Four facilitating knowledge areas are the means through which the
project objectives are achieved (human resources, communication,
risk, and procurement management).
 One knowledge area (project integration management) affects and is
affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
 All knowledge areas are important!

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All Projects Should Have:
 Project plan
 Time frame
 Product specification
 Statement of required quality
 Budget
 Cost plan
 Identification of areas of uncertainty
 Risk evaluation and responses
 Project Management Tools and
Techniques

 Project management tools and techniques assist project managers

and their teams in various aspects of project management.
 Specific tools and techniques include:
 Project charters, scope statements, and WBS (scope).
 Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analyses, critical chain
scheduling (time).
 Cost estimates and earned value management (cost).
 See Table 1-1 for other examples.

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 Project Portfolio Management
 Many organizations support an emerging business strategy of
project portfolio management:

 Organizations group and manage projects as a portfolio of

investments that contribute to the entire enterprise’s success.
(For more information, see Chapter 7, Project Cost
Management.)

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 Improved Project Performance
▪ The Standish Group’s CHAOS studies show
improvements in IT projects in the past decade.*

Measure 1994 Data 2002 Data Result

Successful projects 16% 34% Doubled
Failed projects 31% 15% Halved
Money wasted on $140 B out $55 B out of More than
challenged and of $250 B $255 B halved
failed projects

*The Standish Group, “Latest Standish Group CHAOS Report Shows Project Success Rates
Have Improved by 50%” (March 25, 2003).
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 Why the Improvements?
“The reasons for the increase in successful projects vary. First, the
average cost of a project has been more than cut in half. Better
tools have been created to monitor and control progress and
better skilled project managers with better management
processes are being used. The fact that there are processes is
significant in itself.”*

*The Standish Group, “CHAOS 2001: A Recipe for Success” (2001).

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 Project Success Factors*
1. Executive support 7. Firm basic requirements
2. User involvement 8. Formal methodology
3. Experienced project manager 9. Reliable estimates
4. Clear business objectives 10. Other criteria, such as small
5. Minimized scope milestones, proper planning,
6. Standard software competent staff, and
infrastructure ownership

*The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS” (2001).

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 The Role of the Project Manager
 Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities such
as planning, scheduling, coordinating, and working with
people to achieve project goals.

 Remember that 97 percent of successful projects were led by

experienced project managers.

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 Fifteen Project Management Job
Functions*
 Define scope of project.  Evaluate project requirements.
 Identify and evaluate risks.
 Identify stakeholders, decision-
makers, and escalation procedures.  Prepare contingency plan.
 Identify interdependencies.
 Develop detailed task list (work
breakdown structures).  Identify and track critical milestones.

 Estimate time requirements.  Participate in project phase review.

 Secure needed resources.
 Develop initial project management
flow chart.  Manage the change control process.
 Report project status.
 Identify required resources and
budget.

*Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, “Building a Foundation for Tomorrow: Skills Standards
•Information Technology Project Management,
•24for Information Technology,” Belleview, WA, 1999.
Fourth Edition
 Suggested Skills for Project Managers
 Project managers need a wide variety of skills.

 They should:

 Be comfortable with change.

 Understand the organizations they work in and with.

 Lead teams to accomplish project goals.

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 Suggested Skills for Project Managers

 Project managers need both “hard” and “soft” skills.

 Hard skills include product knowledge and knowing how to use

various project management tools and techniques.

 Soft skills include being able to work with various types of

people.

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 Suggested Skills for Project Managers
 Communication skills: Listens, persuades.
 Organizational skills: Plans, sets goals, analyzes.
 Team-building skills: Shows empathy, motivates, promotes
esprit de corps.
 Leadership skills: Sets examples, provides vision (big picture),
delegates, positive, energetic.
 Coping skills: Flexible, creative, patient, persistent.
 Technology skills: Experience, project knowledge.

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 Media Snapshot – Good Project
Management Skills from The Apprentice

 Leadership and professionalism  Be a team player.

are crucial.  Stay organized and don’t be
 Know what your sponsor overly emotional.
expects from the project, and  Work on projects and for
learn from your mistakes. people you believe in.
 Trust your team and delegate  Think outside the box.
decisions.  There is some luck involved in
 Know the business. project management, and you
 Stand up for yourself. should always aim high.

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 Table 1-4. Most Significant Characteristics of
Effective and Ineffective Project Managers
Effective Project Managers Ineffective Project Managers
• Leadership by example • Sets bad example
• Visionary • Not self-assured
• Technically competent • Lacks technical expertise
• Decisive • Poor communicator
• Good communicator • Poor motivator
• Good motivator
• Stands up to upper
management when
necessary
• Supports team members
• •Information
Encourages new ideas
Technology Project Management,
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 Importance of Leadership Skills
 Effective project managers provide leadership by example.

 A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-picture

objectives while inspiring people to reach those goals.
 A manager deals with the day-to-day details of meeting
specific goals.
 Project managers often take on both leader and manager
roles.

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 Top Ten Most
In-Demand IT Skills

Rank IT Skill/Job Average Annual Salary

1 SQL Database Analyst $80,664
2 Oracle Database Analyst $87,144
3 C/C++ Programmer $95,829
4 Visual Basic Programmer $76,903
5 E-commerce/Java Developer $89,163
6 Windows NT/2000 Expert $80,639
7 Windows/Java Developert $93,785
8 Security Architect $86,881
9 Project Manager $95,719
10 Network Engineer $82,906
Paul Ziv, “The Top 10 IT Skills in Demand,” Global Knowledge Webcast
(www.globalknowledge.com) (11/20/2002).
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 Figure 1-3. Top Information Technology
Skills
70%
60% 58%
60%

50%
Percentage of 42% 41%
40%
Respondents
30%

20%

10%

0%
Application Project management Database Networking
development management

Information Technology (IT) Skill

•Information
Cosgrove, Lorraine, Technology
“January 2004 ITManagement,
Project Staffing Update,” CIO Research Reports (February 3, 2004).
•32 Fourth Edition
 Figure 1-4. Sample Gantt Chart
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS is shown on the left, and each task’s start and finish dates
are shown on the right. First used in 1917, early Gantt charts were
drawn•Information
by hand. Technology Project Management,
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 Figure 1-5. Sample Network Diagram

Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies
between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any task on
the critical path takes longer to complete than planned, the whole
project will slip unless something is done. Network diagrams were
first used in 1958 on the Navy Polaris project before project
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•34management software was available.
Fourth Edition
 Project Management Office (PMO)
 A PMO is an organizational group responsible for coordinating the
project management function throughout an organization.
 Possible goals include:
 Collect, organize, and integrate project data for the entire organization.
 Develop and maintain templates for project documents.
 Develop or coordinate training in various project management topics.
 Develop and provide a formal career path for project managers.
 Provide project management consulting services.
 Provide a structure to house project managers while they are acting in those
roles or are between projects.

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 Project Management Software
 Enterprise PM software integrates information from multiple
projects to show the status of active, approved, and future
projects across an entire organization.
 It also provides links to more detailed information on each
project.
 Many managers like to see status in color – red, yellow, and
green.

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 The Project Management Profession
 Professional societies such as the Project Management Institute
(PMI) have grown significantly.
 There are specific interest groups in many areas, such as
engineering, financial services, health care, and IT.
 Project management research and certification programs
continue to grow.

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 Project Management Certification
 PMI provides certification as a Project Management
Professional (PMP).
 A PMP has documented sufficient project experience, agreed
to follow a code of ethics, and passed the PMP exam.
 The number of people earning PMP certification is
increasing quickly.
 PMI and other organizations are offering new certification
programs (see Appendix B).

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 Figure 1-7. Growth in PMP Certification,
1993-2003
80,000 76,550

70,000
60,000
52,443
50,000
# PMPs

40,000 40,343

30,000 27,052

20,000 18,184

10,000 10,086
6,415
4,400
1,900 2,800
1,000
0
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

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Introduction
 What is a project?
The project management process
 Project management information systems
Process Overview
 A project is broken down into stages
 Each stage in turn will be broken down into smaller and
more manageable tasks
 It important to include planning as part of the project
management process
Four Phase Model
 Lockyer (1996) describes a four phase model of the project
process
 Conception - assess the feasibility of the project
 Development - prepare the project plan
 Realisation - carry out the plan
 Termination - close the project
Conception Reports On…
 The capability of the organisation to
 Produce the product in the time required
 Support capital outlay
 Procure external items or services

Conception
Development
Realisation
Termination
Conception Reports On…
 The acceptability of
 Geographical requirements on procurement or ecology specified in
the project enquiry
 Contract conditions specified in enquiry

Conception
Development
Realisation
Termination
 Conception Reports On…
 The final price for the product
 The cost involved in development
 The project budget
 Specification of the product including quality and reliability
requirements

Conception
Development
Realisation
Termination
Conception

Can it be done?

Yes or No?

Conception
Development
Realisation
Termination
Conception ≈ Feasibility
 It is possible that we will
reject the project!

 What are the consequences

of:
 Too much detail?
 Insufficient detail?
 Development
 As the organisation is now committed to the project it must:
 Appoint a project manager
 Assemble project team
 Draw up a detailed plan of work

Conception
Development
Realisation
Termination
 Realisation
 A reporting system is required to keep everyone informed:
 Team, top management, customers etc.
 A log is also kept of problems and how they were resolved

Conception
evelopment
Realisation
Termination
 Termination
 Uses the project log to evaluate the project and
the process and indicate:
 The success/failure of methods used
 How team members performed
 How reliable suppliers were

Conception
evelopment
Realisation
Termination
 Termination
 Capital equipment that was used for the project is now likely to
be redundant
 Termination also involves getting rid of such equipment as
profitably as possible

Conception
evelopment
Realisation
Termination
Observations
 Often the phases of the project will overlap
 There is often a pause between conception and the other
phases
 It is possible that each phase may be treated as a project in its
own right
 This might affect continuity of the project
Introduction
 What is a project?
 The project management process
Project management information
systems
PM Information Systems
 Projects need systems that can collect data in real time
concerning the project progress and costs
 Data analysis and distribution of information must be carried
out as rapidly as possible
 Ethics in Project Management
 Ethics is an important part of all professions.
 Project managers often face ethical dilemmas.
 In order to earn PMP certification, applicants must agree to the
PMP code of professional conduct.
 Several questions on the PMP exam are related to professional
responsibility, including ethics.

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 Project Management Software
 There are currently hundreds of different products to assist in
performing project management.
 Three main categories of tools:
 Low-end tools: Handle single or smaller projects well; cost under
$200 per user.
 Midrange tools: Handle multiple projects and users; cost $200-500
per user; Project 2003 most popular (includes an enterprise version).
 High-end tools: Also called enterprise project management
software; often licensed on a per-user basis; VPMi Enterprise Online
(www.vcsonline.com).

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 Chapter Summary
 As the number and complexity of projects continue to grow, it is
becoming even more important to practice good project management.
 A project has several attributes, such as being unique, temporary and
developed incrementally.
 A framework for project management includes project stakeholders, the
nine knowledge areas, tools and techniques, and creating project
portfolios to ensure enterprise success.
 Successful project managers must possess and development many skills
and lead their teams by example.
 The project management profession continues to mature as more people
become certified and more tools are created.

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Questions
 What are the defining characteristics of
Software/Information Systems projects that make them
different from other types of project?
 See Sommerville’s “Software Engineering” for examples
 Is the development of an information system a project?
 Explain your answer using information from this lecture
 How does the four phase model compare to the waterfall
model of software development?