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

  

  

  Historical References: look for: 

   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

  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

  

  

Project Management Context



  Project and Program Management

• some sort of benefit

  set of projects managed in a coordinated way in order to achieve

• 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

• may be referred to as “projects” and managed as such).

  Projects may be divided in subprojects (altough the sub-projects

• 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 deliverables to be produced by each phase (a deliverable

  The technical work to be done in each phase

• is a measurable and verifiable work products)
>Who is involved The rules of transition from one phase to the

Project Life Cycle

  Idea _{PM Team} Inputs

  Phases Initial Intermediate Final Charter Plan Progress _{Scope Baseline Approval Acceptance Handover}

  Outputs _{Statement Product}

  Project Life Cycle _{Initial Phase Initial Phase Closing Phase}

  Cost and Staff Cost of change ^{Influence of stakeholder}

Project Life Cycle and Product Life Cycle

  Upgrade Business Plan ^Operations _Divestment

  Idea

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

  _Controlling Monitoring & Planning _Initiating

  Closing

  

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

Process Groups and Project Boundaries

  Initiating ^{Planning Closing Monitoring & Controlling Deliverables Project} _Inputs ^{Project Initiator/Sponsor End User}

  

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.) 

  

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

 _{Direction General} Project is central 

  Disadvantages: ^{Administration}

• _{and Finance Project 1 Project 2 Project 3}

  lack of specialization ^{QuickTime™ and a}  _{are needed to see this picture. None decompressor} continuity of work and reallocation of people after the project ends

  _{are needed to see this picture. None decompressor QuickTime™ and a} Matricial _Direction General _{Marketing Production Sales Personnel} Administration _{and Finance} Project A Project B

  Project C

Matricial

  _Direction General _{Project A PMO Marketing Production Sales Personnel} Administration _{and Finance} Project B _{None decompressor QuickTime™ and a} Project C _{are needed to see this picture.}

  Project D

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:

• Balanced matrix

  Weak matrix

• Strong ma

  

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&rdq

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):

• 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… _{PM Authority Little or none Limited Low to Moderate Moderate to High High to almost} Functional Weak Matrix Balanced Matrix Strong Matrix Projectized _{Availability Resource Little or none Limited Low to Moderate Moderated to High to almost High total} Total _{Project Manager Part-time Part-time Full-times Full-time Full-time project budget Manager Manager} Who controls the Functional Functional Mixed Project Manager Project Manager _{Project Part-time Part-time Part-time Full-time Full-time} Role

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 _{Strategic importance} techniques (Swartz and Davis)

  High Medium

  Low

  Strategy for introducing new _{Strategic importance} techniques (Swartz and Davis)

  High Medium

  Low

  Projects and their Environment The players

  The players _Sponsor Project _Manager Project _{Team Management} Project

The Players

  

Stakeholders:

• be affected by the project

  who is involved in the project and/or people whose interest may

  

Stakeholders:

• during the project

  may have different influence and varying level of responsibility

• 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:

• Sellers and contractors

  Internal/external

• …

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):

The role of the PM

   The PM ensures that the

  Cost

  project goals are met according to the constraints

  Time

The PM and its environment

  sponsor _{resources resources} Expectations, Achievable goals _{Constraints, opportunities} performing influencers organization _{results PM Goals, plan, … Services, or results} Products, _{Commitment Information, Achievable goals,}

  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

  _{Integration charter and management plan project execution project work; Project Management Develop Project Develop project Direct and manage Monitor and control Close project} Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and Closing _{Controlling Project Scope Management Scope planning, scope Scope verification; scope statement} preliminary _{definition, create WBS scope control change Integrated control} Project Time Management Activity Definition, Schedule control _{estimation, schedult and duration sequencing, resource development Project Quality Management Quality planning Quality assurance Quality control} Project Cost Management Cost estimation, cost Cost control _{budgeting Management planning stakeholder Project Communication Communications Information distribution Performance reporting, Management} Project Human Resource HR planning Acquire project team, Manage project team _{develop project team Project Risk Management Risk Management Risk monitoring and qualitative and identification, planning, risk control} management quantitative risk