Chapter 3: Project Management Basics

1
Chapter 3 Project Management Basics

• What Project Professionals Do

2
Review from Previous Sessions

• What is the Covey strategy for personal planning?
• Goal statements consist of what exactly?
• Which comes first vision statement or overall
  goal?
• Name two of five characteristics of SMART goals

3
Review from Previous Sessions

• What are the three components of the trade-off
  triangle?
• Which PMBOK knowledge area brings together the
  other eight?
• What is the major deliverable of the
  conceptualizing and defining stage?

4
Questions for Todays lecture

• Why the conceptualizing and defining stage is in
  a feedback loop with planning and budgeting
• Why the three organization types affect us
• Which of these provides the most security for the
  project professional?

5
As you Begin Your Career

• Realize there is no such thing as fairness
• Look for ways to become assertive in a gentle way

6
Outline of Todays Session

• Reasons for project failure/success
• Stages in the project management life cycle
• Lean concepts force a focus on value-added
• Functions/tasks of the Project Manager
• Functions/tasks of the Project Leader
• Phases of team dynamics Tuckman
• Enterprise organizational structures
• Conflict resolution

7
What are some reasons for project failure,
according to the Standish study?

• Incomplete requirements
• Lack of user involvement
• Lack of resources
• Unrealistic expectations
• Lack of Executive support

8
What are some reasons for project success?

• User involvement
• Executive management support
• Clear statement of requirements
• Proper planning
• Realistic expectations
• http//www.standishgroup.com/visitor/chaos.htm

9
Horizontal vs. Vertical Energy
Marketing
Engineering
Manufacturing
Field Service
Departmental Stovepipes
Project Team
Customer
An Illustration of Departmental Stovepipes
10
Stakeholders

• Project manager
• Project sponsor
• Project leader
• Project team

• Upper management
• Line management
• Customer
• Users
• Affected organizations

11
The Stages in the Project Management Life Cycle
Stage 1 Conceptualizing and Defining
(Initiating) Stage 2 Planning and Budgeting
(Planning) Stage 3 Executing (Executing) Stage
4 Monitoring and Controlling (Monitoring and
Controlling) Stage 5 Terminating and Closing
(Closing)
Stage names in parenthesis are what PMBOK refer
to.
12
Linkages in the Project Management Life Cycle
STAGE 1 Conceptualizing-and-Defining
STAGE 2 Planning-and-Budgeting
STAGE 3 Executing
STAGE 5 Terminating-and-Closing
STAGE 4 Monitoring-and-Controlling
3/7/2013
Texas Tech University -- J. R. Burns
12
13
Linkages in the Project Management Life Cycle
STAGE 1 Initiating Processes
STAGE 2 Planning Processes
STAGE 3 Executing Processes
STAGE 5 Closing Processes
STAGE 4 Monitoring and Controlling Processes
3/7/2013
Texas Tech University -- J. R. Burns
13
14
Stages

• Marked by completion of one or more deliverables
• A deliverable is a tangible, verifiable work
  product, such as a requirements document
• Each stage completion provides an opportunity to
  review and decide whether to go on to the next
  stage or to kill the project
• These are called stage exits or kill points or
  quality gates
• Signature signoffs are usually required

15
Stage Exits

• At the end of the first stage, a project GO/NO GO
  decision is made
• At the end of the second stage, major contracts
  are let
• At the end of the third stage, construction and
  installation are essentially complete

16
Project and Process Definition Specification of
the Project Boundary

• Elimination and containment of scope and feature
  creep
• Goals of project management
• Definition Consideration of goals, scope and
  impediments

17
Boundary Definition

• Organize a JPDSJoint Project Definition Session
• Who should be invited? (THE STAKEHOLDERS)
• Scope boundary
• Features functionality
• Organizational boundary
• Methodology (or process) boundary
• Culture boundary

18
Out of the Project Definition Phase Should Come

• The Requirements Document

19
Initiating New Projects

• Use a Statement of Work (SOW)
• Gets submitted to upper management and the PM
  department
• Gets graded and eventually accepted or rejected
• In a project management culture, an SOW
• can be created by anyone in the organization
• How to launch yourself into PM
• Identify a need that fits with your values, write
  a SOW and become the projects PM.

20
Some Tom Peters Concepts

• Those little insignificant projects may not be so
• What became In Search of Excellencewas based on
  a project at his employer that nobody cared about
• Look for little projects that you can become
  passionate about, based on your values
• Punctuate your projects with passion
• Life is not a useless passion as the German and
  French philosophers would suggest

21
Scope/Change Management

• Form a change/scope committee
• Consists of customer and contractor
  representatives
• All requested changes must get reviewed by this
  committee
• Acceptances will depend on the type of contract,
  the amount of work involved, customers
  willingness to pay for it

22
Project Performance Measures Resources and
Cost, Duration, Functionality

• Most expensive componenthuman resources
• Funds are consumed over time
• Question is, are funds being consumed as fast as
  anticipated?
• Is functionality being created as fast as
  anticipated?

23
Project Management Hierarchy
Project Manager
Project Leader
Project Team Members
24
Another Project Management Hierarchy
Project Manager
Team Leader
Developer 1
Developer 2
Developer N
Small Project Organization Chart
25
Still Another
Project Manager
Project Leader
Team Leader 2
Team Leader 1
Developer 1
Developer 2
Developer 3
Developer 4
Developer 5
Developer 6
Developer N
Developer 7
Developer 8
Medium Project Organization Chart
26
Relationship of Project Manager to Customer
Upper Management
Customer
Upper Management
Project Manager
Line Management
Project Team
The Project Managers Communications Hierarchy
27
Project Planning

• Performed first by the Project Manager
• Revised by the Project Team and the JPDS
  personnel
• Results in formal determination of
• Duration
• Cost
• Functionality (Scope)

28
Out of the Project Planning Phase Should Derive

• The project plan
• Personnel involved
• Final project WBS
• Project budget
• Project schedule in a Gantt format
• Project network chart
• Risk plan
• Communications plan
• Procurement plan

29
Project Execution

• Ramp up
• Ramp down
• Deliverables are completed milestones are
  achieved in this stage
• This is the stage where the product or service is
  produced.

30
Project Monitoring and Controlling

• Hold weekly meetingsevery Fri. afternooncompare
  execution with plan
• Use Earned Value Analysis to compare execution
  with plan
• Makes adjustments as necessaryimplement change
  control board
• Produce weekly status reportsevery Mon. morning

31
Project Terminating and Closing

• Deliver a product or service to customer
• Get paid
• Populate lessons learned
• Release team members and other resources
• Sell the next project

3/7/2013
Texas Tech University -- J. R. Burns
31
32
Deciding what to do,what not to do

• An activity in a project is value-added if it
  transforms the deliverables of the project in
  such a way that the customer recognizes the
  transformation and is willing to pay for it.
• Suppose we were to advertise in the WSJ that our
  firm holds more status meetings than any
  competitor, would it gain us more customers??

33
Skip slides 34 through 38
34
Principles of Lean Concepts Applied to Projects

• Precisely specify the customer-perceived value of
  the project
• Identify the value stream for each project
• Allow value to flow without interruptions
• Let the customer pull value from the project team
• Continuously pursue perfection

35
Which of the following adds value?

• Conducting a weekly team coordination
• Hunting for needed information
• Presenting project status to upper management
• Creating formal project documents
• Gaining multiple approvals for a project document
• Waiting in queues for available resources

36
How about the following?

• Gaining regulatory approval for a project
  deliverable
• Spending extra design and construction time to
  enable design reuse, module reuse

37
The Value Stream

• The list of tasks, activities that ultimately
  produce the product for the projectdefinition,
  analysis, design, construction, integration,
  testing, conversion/cutover, operation

38
Impediments to the Flow of Value

• Changing requirements
• Fire fighting and expediting
• Management interference

39
Functions, Tasks, Expectations of the IT Project
Manager

• (coach, mentor, leader, negotiator, assessor,
  informer, motivator)
• Selects team leader, subordinates
• Works hardest during the definition and planning
  stagesfirst two stages
• Assesses progress during execution and reports on
  that
• Negotiates with line managers for required human
  resources

40
Expectations of the IT Project Manager

• Interfaces with customer, upper management on
  behalf of team
• Negotiates with upper management and customer
• Keeps everybody informed

41
More Expectations of the IT Project Manager

• Is a positive leader, motivator, coach
• Knows how to use PM software
• Knows the technologies employed well
• Must re-plan the remainder of the project after
  the completion of each deliverable, each phase

42
Skills, Competencies of the PM

• Leadershiparticulate the vision and hold
  everyone accountable to it
• An ability to develop people
• Communication competencies
• Interpersonal competencies
• Able to handle stress
• Problem solving skills
• Time management skills
• Negotiation skills

43
Functions, Tasks, Expectations of the IT Project
Leader

• Large projects will have such a person if there
  are several teams involved
• In charge of all technical aspects of the project
• Assists the project manager with project planning
  and control
• particularly, the bottom levels of the WBS
• Focused on the toughest technical problems

44
Recall the Large Project Hierarchy
Project Manager
Project Leader
Team Leader 2
Team Leader 1
Developer 1
Developer 2
Developer 3
Developer 4
Developer 5
Developer 6
Developer N
Developer 7
Developer 8
45
Functions, Tasks, Expectations of the IT Team
Leader

• Reports to the IT Project Leader
• Oversees day-to-day execution
• More technically competent, mature and
  experienced than team members
• Should possess good communications competencies
• Should develop a good rapport with each team
  member

46
Functions, Tasks, Expectations of the Information
Technology Professional Team Member

• Energetic, communicative, a good listener
• Not a perfectionist
• Possesses the requisite technical expertise
• Doesnt make any promises to the customer
• Star performance

47
The Phases of Team Development

• According to B. W. Tuckman
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning

48
Forming

• Involves the transition from individual to team
  member
• Team members get acquainted
• Begin to understand who has responsibility for
  what
• No actual work accomplished in this phase
• Excited, anticipation, suspicion, anxiety and
  hesitancy

49
Storming

• Like the teenage years, you have to go through it
• Characterized by feelings of hostility,
  frustration and anger
• Dissatisfaction with PM is common during this
  phase
• PM has to provide direction and diffuse possible
  conflicts
• There has to be a sense of devotion to equity and
  fairness

50
Norming

• Relationships have stabilized
• Level of conflict is lower
• There is alignment with project goals
• Acceptance grows
• Team begins to synergize

51
Performing

• Team is now over the interpersonal conflicts
• Team is now executing the tasks of the project
• There is a sense of unity and peace
• Team is empowered by PM to achieve its goals

52
Adjourning

• The work is done
• Deliver a product/service to customer
• Celebrate accomplishment and effort
• PM emphasizes lessons learned
• Team members move on to another project

3/7/2013
Texas Tech University -- J. R. Burns
52
53
Team Types

• Democratic teamsgood for experienced, mature
  teams
• Chief developer teamsgood for new, immature
  teams
• Expert teamsgood for a certain specific area of
  need, like
• design validation
• system integration and testing
• data communications

54
Psychological Motivators for Developers

• Learning new skills, concepts, tools, or aspects
  of a language
• Implication Assign tasks that have an element
  of newness

55
Task Assignment

• Tasks should be challenging but not too
  challenging
• There should be some newness
• Related tasks should be assigned to the same
  developer

56
Functional Organizational Structure
Project Coordination
Top Management
Marketing
Accounting
Engineering
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Black boxes represent staff engaged in project
activities.
57
Project Organizational Structure
Project Coordination
Chief Executive
Project Manager
Project Manager
Project Manager
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Staff
Black boxes represent staff engaged in project
activities.
58
Matrix Organizational Structure
Chief Executive
Project Management
Functional Manager
Functional Manager
Functional Manager
PM
Staff
Staff
Staff
PM
Staff
Staff
Staff
PM
Staff
Staff
Staff
Project Coordination
Black boxes represent staff engaged in project
activities.
59
Project Management Authority
Source A Guide to the Project Management Body
of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 4th edition, p.28.
60
Project Staffing Considerations (matrix
management, human factors, team formation,
reporting)

• Matrix management involves borrowing resources
  from other functional units
• Matrix management involves resource sharing and
  is more efficient

61
Most Organizations

• Involve all of the organizational environments
  identified above
• Functional
• Project
• Matrix

62
Conflict Dynamics / Conflict Resolution
Requirement 1
Prerequisite 1
Objective
Requirement 2
Prerequisite 2
A Conflict Resolution Diagram (Evaporating Cloud)
63
Another Conflict Resolution Diagram
Prerequisite 1 Low-maintenance software
requires lots of time
Requirement 1 Low-maintenance software
Objective Timely, low-maintenance software
Prerequisite 2 Timely software requires rapid
development
Requirement 2 Timely software
64
Left-hand Column Analysis

• Write out the actual conversation on the RHS
• Write out your thoughts and reactions on the LHS
• Analyze whether you should have been more
  forceful, aggressive or tactful and diplomatic

65
Summary

• Five stages to the PM life cycle
• Lean concepts force a focus on value-added
• Enterprise organizational structures
• Phases of team dynamics
• Conflict resolution