Organizations & Project Management

Dr Mohammad YaminAssociate Professor

King Abdelaziz University, Jeddahmyamin@kau.edu.sa

Business vs. Projects

• Every organization undertakes one or more projects– Building Project– Staff Recruitment Project– Outsourcing Project– Procurement Project– Software (e.g. database system) development

Project– ……..

Business vs. Projects

• Most businesses today are poorly managing their projects, leading to much more spending than it actually is required

• The reasons are:– Inexperienced Project Managers– Shortage of Project Managers

• Centrelink has created an in-house diploma in project management

Business Intelligence

• In 21st century no organization would survive if it wasn’t tuned and focused to the needs of its customers

• Business Intelligence refers to knowing the needs of and providing the best possible services and products to the customers. BI involves knowledge management, data mining, artificial intelligence and more– Toyota this week has recalled over eight million cars for

fixing its faulty brake systems, mainly in their hybrid cars

Business Intelligence & Projects

• Anything and everything in big organizations is done through projects

• Even business intelligence is provided through projects

• Many organization have the policy of not granting any funds to works not sought through a project– Centrelink, ATO, Australian Defense are examples of

organization who provide funding only through projects

Project Management

• Project Management is central to all credible organizations today– Thus project Management has become one of the

most important functions of organizations of modern time

Project Management

• What is Project Management?– Project management is the discipline of planning,

organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management)

• A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables[1]), undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives[2], usually to bring about beneficial change or added value.

Project Management

• In nutshell, Project Management deals with defining the project and successfully achieving whatever it takes to provide the solution

• Project Management Institute (PMI) has devised a course (PMBOK) on Project Management and it has been adopted by many businesses around the world.

• Executives pay thousands of dollars for just participating in a five day PMI course

PMBOK• Project Life Cycle and Organization• Project Management Processes for Projects• Project Integration Management• Project Scope Management• Project Time Management• Project Cost Management• Project Quality Management• Project Human Resource Management• Project Communication Management• Project Risk Management• Project Procurement Management

Project Reporting

• I am neither authorized to give you to give you an overview of PMBOK nor am able to demonstrate all aspects of project Management (due to limitations of time)

• However, I shall talk about Project Reporting which appears to be a weakness of project managers and students undertaking projects– The discussion will also apply to report writing of

teaching and learning assignments

Project Reporting: My experience

• Organizations are very week in documenting their methods, resultss and instructions to future generations– That is why funding is granted through project to force them

to write a full report• Students are very casual on project/assignment

documentation and the reasons for this are– Poor English (mainly overseas students)– Not investing adequate time– Poor team Management– ……….

Project Report• Title Page• Table of Contents• Acknowledgements• Executive Summary• Background• Aims and Objectives• Methodology• Implementation• Outputs and Results• Outcomes• Conclusions• Implications• Recommendations (optional)• References• Appendixes (optional)

Title Page

• Project name/acronym• Final Report• Author(s)• Contact person• Date• Example

Table of Contents1. Overview1.1. Project Purpose, Objectives, and Success Criteria1.2. Project Deliverables1.3. Assumptions, Dependencies, and Constraints1.4. References1.5. Definitions and Acronyms1.6. Evolution of the Plan2. Project Organization2.1. External Interfaces2.2. Internal Structure2.3. Roles and Responsibilities3. Managerial Process Plans3.1. Start-Up Plans3.1.1 Estimation Plan3.1.2 Staffing Plan3.1.3 Staff Training Plan3.1.4 Resource Acquisition Plan3.1.5 Project Commitments3.2. Work Plan3.3. Control Plan3.3.1 Data Control Plan3.3.2 Requirements Control Plan3.3.3 Schedule Control Plan3.3.4 Budget Control Plan3.3.5 Communication, Tracking, and Reporting Plan3.3.6 Metrics Collection Plan3.4. Risk Management Plan3.5. Issue Resolution Plan3.6. Project Close-Out Plan4. Technical Process Plans4.1. Process Model4.2. Methods, Tools, and Techniques4.3. Configuration Management Plan4.4. Quality Assurance Plan4.5. Documentation Plan4.6. Process Improvement Plan

This template contains primarily guidance text. When creating a project management plan from this template, replace the guidance text with your own specific information for the project and change the Normal style for the document to be normal font, not italic. If a section of this template is not applicable to your project, leave the section heading in the plan and briefly state why it does not apply. Feel free to tailor this comprehensive template to best meet the needs of your organization’s projects.

Acknowledgements

• Note the name of the JISC programme, and that the project was funded by JISC. The project may also want to list the project partners and acknowledge any person or organisation that was helpful during the project or in writing the report.

• Many people are hesitant to provide adequate acknowledgement for the fear giving an impression that they have done very little work.

Executive Summary

Summarise highlights of the project (one page?), including aims/objectives, overall approach, findings, achievements, and conclusions. Try to keep the executive summary in plain English

Background

• Summarise the background to the project (and how it builds on previous work) and the need it for it (and why it’s important)

• Even for new systems, there would an old manual system – include information about the old system.

Aims & Objectives

• Aims and Objectives are usually agreed at the start of the project

• List the aim and objectives agreed at the start of the project, and note if they changed during the project

• If you are writing a reporting document, write (even if it means copying) the aims and objectives from the assignment

Methodology

• Summarise the – overall approach taken and why this approach

was chosen over other options considered– Describe the methodology in more detail

• Depending on the project, this might include the methodology for research you carried out, technical design or development, evaluation, etc. Finally, note any specific issues that had to be addressed by the methodology, e.g. standards, interoperability, scalability, etc

Implementation

• Describe how you planned and implemented the project work and the activities it involved. Depending on the project, this might cover technical development, processes, how you conducted user studies, etc. Include any problems or issues that arose and how you handled them, where readers can learn from your experience. Tell the story of what you did rather than listing workpackages.

Outputs and Results

• Explain the end result of the project work in an objective way. Depending on the project, it might include research results, findings, evaluation results, data, etc. If the project created something tangible like content, a portal, or software, describe it. Engage the reader, and avoid a long list of deliverables.

Outcomes

• In this section, assess the value of the project work. List project achievements against the aims and objectives set. Summarise project outcomes and their impact on the teaching, learning, or research communities. Indicate who will benefit from the work, how, and why. Also comment on what you learned that may be applicable to other projects, e.g. whether the methodology worked.

Conclusions

• Briefly summarise any conclusions that can be drawn from the project work

• If something is inconclusive, mention it here• Normally a paragraph would be required

Future ImplicationsRecommendation

• Consider the future implications of your work and how others can build on it. What are the implications for other professionals in the field, for users, or for the community? What new development work could be undertaken to build on your work or carry it further?

• List any specific recommendations for the teaching, learning, or research communities.

References & Appendixes• References• List any references to the work of others you have cited (e.g.

articles, reports, studies, standards), and any explanatory notes. Provide URLs for any materials available on the web.

• Appendixes (optional)• Include any appendixes that readers will find helpful to

understand the work described or the results. For example, include a questionnaire if you conducted a survey, or technical details that support technical development carried out. A glossary of acronyms and technical terms is often helpful.

References & Questions

• References• www.pmi.com

• Questions?