© dr. oualid (walid) ben ali chapter 3: initiating projects introduction to project management

© DR. Oualid (Walid) Ben Ali

Chapter 3:Initiating Projects

Introduction to Project Management

© DR. Oualid (Walid) Ben Ali 2

Learning Objectives

• Describe the five project management process groups, map them to the project management knowledge areas, discuss why organizations develop their own project management methodologies, and understand the importance of top management commitment and organizational standards in project management.

• Discuss the initiating process used by Global Construction, including pre-initiating tasks, breaking large projects down into smaller projects, and initiating tasks.


Learning Objectives (continued)

• Identify project stakeholders, and perform a stakeholder analysis.

• Prepare a business case to justify the need for a project.

• Create a project charter to formally initiate a project.

• Describe the importance of holding a good project kick-off meeting.

• Develop a preliminary project scope statement to help understand project requirements.


Project Management Process Groups• Project management process groups progress from

initiating activities to planning activities, executing activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities.

• A process is a series of actions directed toward a particular result.

Initialing Planning Executing ClosingMonitoring

and controlling


Description of Process Groups• Initiating processes include actions to begin or end projects

and project phases. • Planning processes include devising and maintaining a

workable scheme to ensure that the project meets its scope, time, and cost goals as well as organizational needs.

• Executing processes include coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans and produce the deliverables of the project or phase.– A deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part

of a project.• Monitoring and controlling processes measure progress

toward achieving project goals, monitor deviation from plans, and take corrective action to match progress with plans and customer expectations.

• Closing processes include formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end.


Characteristics of the Process Groups

• The level of activity and length of each process group varies for every project.– Normally, executing tasks require the most resources and time,

followed by planning tasks.– Monitoring and controlling processes are done throughout the

project’s life span.– Initiating and closing tasks are usually the shortest (at the

beginning and end of a project or phase, respectively), and they require the least amount of resources and time.

– However, every project is unique, so there can be exceptions.• Note that process groups apply to entire projects as well as to

project phases.– A phase is a distinct stage in project development, and most

projects have distinct phases.


Mapping the Process Groups to the Knowledge Areas

• You can map the five process group into the nine project management knowledge areas.

• For example, the project integration management knowledge areas includes seven processes spread across all five project management process groups.

• Based on the PMBOK® Guide, 2004, there are forty-four total processes in project management.

• Table 3-1 provides a big-picture view of the process groups and knowledge areas.


Nine project management knowledge areas


Common Project Management Tools and Techniques by Knowledge Areas


Project Management Process Groups and Knowledge Area Mapping


Project Management Process Groups and Knowledge Area Mapping (continued)


Developing a Project Management Methodology

• The PMBOK® Guide is a standard that describes best practices for what should be done to manage a project.

• A methodology describes how things should be done, and different organizations often have different ways of doing things.

• Successful organizations develop and follow a customized, formal project management process.

• For example, they create and use templates or files with a preset format that serves as a starting point for creating various documents so that the format and structure do not have to be re-created.


PMBOK Guide

• http://www.unipi.gr/akad_tmhm/biom_dioik_tech/files/pmbok.pdf

13


Templates

14


What Went Right?• Key findings from a five-year study by William Ibbs and Justin

Reginato include the following:– Organizations with more mature project management practices have

better project performance, which result in projects completed on time and within budget much more often than most projects.

– Project management maturity is strongly correlated with a more predictable project schedule and cost performance.

– Organizations that follow good project management methodologies have lower direct costs of project management (6 %) than those that do not (11 %).

• A Centre for Business Practices study showed organizations that stress shareholders, customers, and employees outperform those that do not.– “Over an 11-year period, the former increased revenues by an average

of 682% versus 166% for the latter, expanded their workforces by 282% versus 36%, grew their stock prices by 901% versus 74%, and improved their net incomes by 756% versus 1%.”*

*AST Group, “Can You Quantify the Value of Enterprise Project Management in Your Organisation?” ITWeb Tech Forum (March 17, 2005).


The Importance of Top Management Commitment

• Without top management commitment, many projects will fail.

• Some projects have a senior manager called a champion who acts as a key proponent for a project.

• Projects are part of the larger organizational environment, and many factors that might affect a project are out of the project manager’s control.


How Top Managers Can Help Project Managers Succeed?


How Top Managers Can Help Project Managers Succeed

• Provide adequate resources.• Approve unique project needs in a timely manner.• Encourage cooperation from people in other parts of

the organization and deal with political issues.• Mentor and coach them on leadership issues.• Develop and enforce organizational standards.• Support a Project Management Office (PMO).


Project Management Office (PMO)

• A project management office (PMO) is an organizational entity created to assist project managers in achieving project goals.

• A PMO can help development standards and methodologies, provide career paths for project managers, and assist project managers with training and certification.


Nine project management knowledge areas


Initiating Process for Global Construction’s Just-In-Time Training Project


Pre-initiating Tasks• It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project before it

officially starts.

• After a project is approved, senior managers should meet to accomplish the following tasks:– Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project.

– Identify the project sponsor (the person who provides high-level direction and often the funding for the project).

– Select the project manager.

– Meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for managing the project.

– Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects (like the Just-In-Time Training Project was) because it is easier to manage smaller projects than larger ones.


Summary Information for the Just-In-Time Training Phase I Project


Summary Information for the Just-In-Time Training Phase I Project (continued)


Initiating Tasks

• Identify and understand project stakeholders.• Prepare a business case for the project (if needed).• Create the project charter.• Hold a kick-off meeting.• Develop a preliminary scope statement.


Initiating Tasks



Identifying and Understanding Project Stakeholders

• Project stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities. – Internal project stakeholders generally include the

project sponsor, project team, support staff, and internal customers for the project. Other internal stakeholders include top management, other functional managers, and other project managers.

– External project stakeholders include the project’s customers (if they are external to the organization), competitors, suppliers, and other external groups that are potentially involved in or affected by the project, such as government officials and concerned citizens.


Stakeholder Analysis• A stakeholder analysis provides information about key

stakeholders to help manage relationships with them.

• Includes the following information:– Names and organizations of key stakeholders

– Their roles on the project

– Unique facts about each stakeholder

– Their levels of interest in the project

– Their influence on the project

– Suggestions for managing relationships with each stakeholder

• Because a stakeholder analysis often includes sensitive information, it should not be part of the official project plans, which are normally available for all stakeholders to review.


Sample Stakeholder Analysis


Exercise

• Fill the template for your own project.


Initiating Tasks



Preparing a Business Case for the Project

• Successful organizations initiate projects to meet business needs, and a common business need is to spend money wisely.

• A business case is a document that provides justification for investing in a project.

• It is a good idea to have one of the company’s financial managers review the information for accuracy.


Contents of a Business Case

• Introduction/Background

• Business Objective

• Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement

• Critical Assumptions and Constraints

• Analysis of Options and Recommendation

• Preliminary Project Requirements

• Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis

• Schedule Estimate

• Potential Risks

• Exhibits


Sample Business Case


Sample Business Case (continued)


Exercise



Initiating Tasks



Creating a Project Charter

• A project charter is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides a summary of the project’s objectives and management.

• It authorizes the project manager to use organizational resources to complete the project.

• Ideally, the project manager will play a major role in developing the project charter.

• Instead of project charters, some organizations initiate projects using a simple letter of agreement or formal contracts.

• A crucial part of the project charter is the sign-off section.


Contents of a Project Charter

• Project Title and Date of Authorization

• Project Start Date

• Project Finish Date

• Other Schedule Information

• Budget Information

• Project Manager

• Project Objectives

• Approach

• Roles and Responsibilities

• Sign-off

• Comments


Sample Project Charter


Sample Project Charter (continued)


Media Snapshot• In television shows like Changing Rooms or Trading Spaces,

participants have two days and $1000 to update a room in their neighbor’s house. Because the time and cost are set, it’s the scope that has the most flexibility.

• Unlike most projects in which the project team works closely with the customer, homeowners have little say in what is done and cannot inspect the work along the way. They walk into their newly decorated room with their eyes closed.

• What happens when the homeowners don’t like the work that’s been done? The FAQ section of tlc.com says, “Everyone on our show is told upfront that there’s a chance they won’t like the final design of the room. Each applicant signs a release acknowledging that the show is not responsible for redecorating a room that isn’t to the owner’s taste.”

• Too bad you can’t get sponsors for most projects to sign a similar release form. It would make project management much easier!


Exercise



Initiating Tasks



Holding a Project Kick-off Meeting• Experienced project managers know that it is crucial to

get projects off to a great start.• A kick-off meeting is a meeting held at the beginning of

a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and discuss future plans.

• Often used to get support for a project and clarify roles and responsibilities.

• The project champion should speak first and introduce the project sponsor and project manager.

• Often a fair amount of work is done to prepare for the meeting.


Sample Kick-Off Meeting Agenda


Exercise



Initiating Tasks



Developing a Preliminary Scope Statement• A scope statement is a document used to develop and

confirm a common understanding of the project scope.• It describes in detail the work to be accomplished and is

an important tool for preventing scope creep—the tendency for project scope to continually increase.

• It is helpful to create a preliminary, or initial, scope statement during project initiation so that the entire project team can start important discussions and work related to the project scope.

• There are usually several versions, and each one becomes more detailed as the project progresses and more information becomes available.


What Went Wrong?• There are many examples of poor scope management in the

software industry. A highly publicized example is Nike’s now infamous i2 supply-chain management problem. A software glitch from the $400 million project cost Nike more than $100 million in lost sales; depressed its stock price by 20 percent; triggered several class-action lawsuits; and caused its chairman, president, and CEO, Phil Knight, to lament, “This is what you get for $400 million...a speed bump.”*

• The Nike disaster provides a classic example of spending too much money on too much software and consulting, with too little to show for the effort. The company also moved too quickly in implementing new software without knowing how it might affect its older legacy systems. Nike has since recovered from this major software disaster and learned to be more patient in understanding and managing the scope of software projects.

*Christopher Koch, “Nike Rebounds: How (and Why) Nike Recovered from its Supply Chain Disaster,” CIO Magazine (June 15, 2004).


A Swing is a Swing is a Swing?


Contents of a Scope Statement

• Contents and length will vary based on the project.• Typical contents include:

– The product or service requirements and characteristics

– A summary of all deliverables

– The project success criteria

– References to related documents


Sample Section of a Preliminary Scope Statement


Exercise



Chapter Summary

• The five project management process groups are initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. These processes occur at varying levels of intensity throughout each phase of a project, and specific outcomes are produced as a result of each process.

• Mapping the main activities of each project management process group into the nine project management knowledge areas provides a big picture of what activities are involved in project management.


Chapter Summary (continued)

• Global Construction’s Just-In-Time Training project demonstrates the process of initiating a project. Several pre-initiating tasks include determining the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project; assigning the project sponsor and selecting the project manager; meeting with the project manager to review the process and expectations for managing the project; and determining if the project should be broken down into two or more smaller projects.

• The main tasks normally involved in project initiation include identifying and understanding project stakeholders, preparing a business case for the project, creating the project charter, holding a kick-off meeting, and developing a preliminary scope statement.

© dr. oualid (walid) ben ali chapter 3: initiating projects introduction to project management

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