By: Mohamed Ahmed Said-Aamin

Student at Puntland State university

Email: caawiye254@gmail.com

Tell: +252907719668

Objectives

Definition of project and project management

Characteristics of Project

Constraints of project Management

Nine Areas of project Management

Project Life cycle

Project phase

Evaluation and Assessment

After end the lesson, you should able to:

Define concept of project Management

Identify stage of project life cycle

Examine project assessment and evaluation

A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.

Project Management: is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project Management is accomplished through the use of the processes such as: initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing.

Objective: Each and every project needs to be guided to achieve an objective or a set of objectives. It ceases to exist when the objective is achieved.

Life Span: A project has beginning and end. It cannot continue forever.

Constraints: A project has a schedule. It operates within the constraints of time, cost and quality. Every project requires certain investment of resources.

Unique: Every project is unique. No two projects are exactly similar.

System: All projects need to undergo a system of inputs-process - Outputs.

Life Cycle: Every project will have its own phase-based cycle.

Teamwork: A project has many participants. It requires teamwork under the leadership of the Project Manager

Organization Structure: A project is a temporary organization. A project usually has its own budget and management.

Planning and Control System: A project requires information, planning and control system. The actual performance is compared with the planned targets.

Collection of Activities: A project is a collection of activities that are linked together to constitute a system.

They are nine knowledge areas Project scope Project time Project cost Project quality Project Human resource Project Communications Project risk Project procurement Project integration

Time

Cost

Quality

Scope

Develop phase- initial phase, preparing project charter

Concept phase- project planning

Execute phase- includes implementation, conducting project activities

Finish phase- conclusion of the project and closing of project

Initiation involves starting up the project, by documenting a business case, feasibility study, and terms of reference, appointing the team and setting up a Project Office.

Planning involves setting out the roadmap for the project by creating the following plans: project plan, resource plan, financial plan, quality plan, acceptance plan and communications plan.

Execution involves building the deliverables and controlling the project delivery, scope, costs, quality, risks and issues.

Monitoring and Evaluation: this is monitoring the achievements of project objectives and goals

Closure involves winding-down the project by releasing staff, handing over deliverables to the customer and completing a post implementation review.

Stages in project

cycle

Potential NGO’s Involvement

Project Identification

Provide advice/information on local conditions

Participate in environmental and social

assessment

Organize consultations with

beneficiaries/Affected parties

Transmit expressed needs/priorities of local

communities to project staff.

Act as a source, model or sponsor of project

ideas implement pilot project.

Project design

Consult to the government, to local

communities

Assist in promoting a participatory approach to

project design

Channel information to local population

Financing

Co-financier( in money or in kind) of a project

component

Source of funds for activities complementary to the

proposed donor- financed project.

Implementation

Project contractor or manager( for delivery of service,

training, constrauction)

Promote community participation in project activities

Financial intermediary role

Supplier of technical knowledge to local beneficiary

Advisor to local communities on how to take advantage of

project-financed goods or service

Implement of complementary activities

Monitoring and evaluation NGO contracted to monitor project progress or evaluate

project results

Facilitate participatory monitoring and evaluation

Project selection methods help guide an organizations decisions and weight them against alternative projects. As a project manager or owner, you will inevitably have to make decisions regarding which projects to implement. As a team, you will need to carefully analyze all of these contributing factors (i.e: the goals of the organization, customer requirements, timeframes, budget, urgency, scheduling, etc..)

Evidently, there are many stages that precedes this critical one, all amounting to these decisions: Which projects should we undertake? How do we decide? These are very important questions to explore, for the answers will ultimately influence the project’s outcome.

What is a community involvement program? A community involvement program is a process in which

community participation is used to improve major decisions during the planning, development and operational stages of a housing project. A good community involvement program contributes to the best possible development and operating decisions.

Who is responsible for community involvement? Success will involve early identification of someone in your

organization who has responsibility for the community involvement program. The amount of time required in this role will vary according to the size and scope of the project. Smaller projects may require only a few hours per week during planning and construction stages, while larger or contentious projects may require one or more days per week.

How do I develop a community involvement program? Based on good practice and the experiences of developers of

housing for homeless projects, HUA recommends 6 steps for your community involvement program. See page 2 (over) for a description of these steps.

Assessment How Will I know if/When I have addressed the Problem/Issue?Assessment concept What is being learned? What is the Impact being made by instruction? What is working? What is not working?

Assessment – The systematic determination of the results of an effort or intervention.Rationale: Allows for the continuous improvement of project components.

How Will I know how well I have addressed the Problem/Issue? Evaluation concept How well is the project working? How do you know that Value is/has being added? How valid are the Assessment measures? How effective are the Intervention strategies?

Assessment and Evaluation.

Why? – A Requirement for “Accountability

What? – Evidence that “Expectations have been met”

When? – Continuously to “Monitor Progress” and at Designated Intervals to Ascertain Success.

How? – Varies, “Aligned with Needs”

Evaluation is a systematic determination of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, project or any other intervention or initiative to assess any aim, realisable concept/proposal, or any alternative, to help in decision-making; or to ascertain the degree of achievement or value in regard to the aim and objectives and results of any such action that has been completed. The primary purpose of evaluation, in addition to gaining insight into prior or existing initiatives, is to enable reflectionand assist in the identification of future change

Selecting an evaluation type provides direction for your evaluation. It helps keep the evaluation process focused on its main purpose and determines the evaluation questions that should be answered and the data that should be collected. The most common types of evaluation are: formative, process, and summative.

Formative evaluation is an ongoing evaluation that starts early in a project. It assesses the nature of the project, the needs the project addresses, and the progress and implementation of the project. It can identify major gaps in the project’s content and operational aspects (i.e., what was done and how) and suggest ways to improve them.

Process evaluation is used to monitor activities to make sure a project is being implemented and completed as designed and on time. It can be complementary to formative evaluation. Although formative evaluation has a larger scope than process evaluation, there are many similarities between them: both focus on the effectiveness and the operational aspect of a project; both start at a very early stage of a project and can be performed by internal staff; and both require a strong monitoring mechanism to track operational activities and to collect information related to the process.

Summative evaluation is an overall assessment of the project’s effectiveness and achievements. It reveals whether the project did what it was designed to do. It provides information for future planning and decisions and usually is completed when the project is over. This type of evaluation usually does not directly affect the current project, but it helps stakeholders decide the future of this or similar projects. To provide adequate information, a summative evaluation requires a set of well-defined goals and objectives for the project and a plan that keeps the focus of evaluation on the end-results.