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Q.1 Define project management, resource, process and project cycle.

Explain
the life-cycle of a project.

A.1

Definition of project management


PMBOK defines project management as “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements”. Project management is
accomplished through the application of and integration of the project management
processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The
project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project objectives.

Managing a project includes:

• Identifying requirements
• Establishing clear and achievable objectives
• Balancing the competing demands for performance, scope, time and cost.

Project management is both an art and a science. The "Art" aspect of project
management relates to the fact that projects are really about getting things done by
people. Hence it requires a keen knowledge of human behavior and the ability to skillfully
apply appropriate interpersonal skills.

The "Science" aspect comprises a set of principles, methods and techniques that people
use to effectively plan and control project work. These principles and techniques help the
project manager and the project team to complete projects on schedule within budgeted
cost and in full accordance with project specifications. At the same time, they help
achieve the other goals of the organization, such as productivity, quality and cost
effectiveness. Hence the objective of project management is to optimize project cost,
time and performance (includes quality).
Today large and small organizations recognize that project management, with its
structured approach to planning and controlling of projects, is a necessary core
competency for success. Like general management, project management also involves
all aspects of planning, organizing, implementing and controlling .However, it has its own
techniques like work breakdown structure, critical path analysis, PERT (Program
evaluation & review technique), which will be discussed in later units.
In many strategic projects the function of project management will involve disciplines like:

• Finance
Preparation of financial statements which will form part of the project proposal, as
well as the basis for managing the costs of the project.

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• Personnel
Identification of skill requirements of personnel who will form the project team,
selecting the personnel, and maintaining a good working environment.

• Operations
Managing the activities /operations that are repetitive in nature.

• Supply Chain Management (procurement management)


Sourcing of materials, equipment/machinery/services by identifying eligible
suppliers of each and negotiating with them for procuring the same, and
managing the logistics for smooth project implementation.

• R&D
New product development & quality assurance.

• Marketing
Marketing the project idea to sponsor (sponsor can be internal or external to the
company).

Definition of Resources:
We discussed earlier that the most important step to arrive at the relationship between
the four constraints is to make an accurate assessment of the resources required, and
the costs thereof. At this stage, we shall broadly classify the resources required under
four categories.

• Manpower
• Materials
• Tools and Plants
• Infrastructure

• Manpower
Manpower refers to all the man hours required from various personnel working
directly or indirectly on the project

• Materials
Materials refer to all materials that become part of the project. In the case of a
building this will include cement, steel, aggregates, doors & windows, mechanical
electrical/instrumentation equipment and materials, finishing materials like tiles
water proofing, ironmongery, consumables utilized in the construction etc etc. – in
summary all materials that become part of the building structure.

• Tools and Plants


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Tools and Plants are those items that are deployed to aid the construction of the
project like lifting equipment (cranes etc.), concreting equipment, welding
machines, dozers, transport vehicles and all machineries deployed as
construction aids. They do not become part of the project, they are utilized for the
implementation of the project, and they are transferred to other projects after such
utilization for the ongoing project. The owner may own some of these tools and
plants in which case he will need to apportion an internally predetermined hiring
cost of the same to the project. For the tools and plants deployed for the project
and not owned by the owner, hiring costs charged by the external agencies shall
be apportioned to the project.

• Infrastructure
Infrastructure refers to temporary arrangements that need to be provided for
project implementation and dismantled at the end of the project. Examples are
labor camps, electric power and water supply systems built for the construction of
the project, dedicated telecommunication facilities during construction at project
sites etc.
Each one of the above mentioned resources has a cost associated with it and the sum
total of these costs will form a part of the project cost.

Defination of Process
PMBoK organizes Project management processes into five groups, defined as the
Project Management Process Groups, each group comprising one or more processes.
This grouping helps in understanding the relevance and significance of the sequence of,
and interaction between the various processes in project management. However, a
process group is not a totally discrete phase occurring in isolation from another process
group, and the processes have inherent interactions between themselves throughout the
implementation of a project. We will briefly define these process groups as under, while a
more detailed explanation of each process group follows subsequently.
• Initiating process group – defines and authorizes the project or a project phase.
• Planning process group – defines and redefines objectives and plans the course
of action required to attain the objectives and scope that the project was
undertaken to address.
• Executing process group – integrates people and other resources to carry out the
project management plan for the project.
• Controlling process group – regularly measures and monitors progress to identify
variances from the project management plan so that corrective action can be
taken when necessary to meet project objectives
• Closing process group – formalizes acceptance of the product, service or result
and brings the project or a project phase to an orderly end.

Broadly, the process groups tend to be deployed in the sequence listed as the project
progresses. In the event that a project goes off-course, re-planning comes into play, and
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if a project is found to be in serious trouble, it may have to go all the way back to the
initiating process to be restarted.

To summarize, the result or output of one process group often becomes an input to
another. In the central process groups planning, executing and control), all the links are
looped i.e. the links of these central process groups are iterated – planning provides
execution with a documented plan early on, and then provides documented updates to
the plan, as the project progresses.

Product cycle
Seven stage process through which practically every major project goes through:
1. Identification: stage where one project-idea out of several alternatives is chosen
and defined.
2. Preparation: defined idea is carefully developed to the appraisal stage.
3. Appraisal: every aspect of the project idea is subjected to systematic and
comprehensive evaluation, and a project plan is prepared.
4. Presentation: detailed plan is submitted for approval and financing to the
appropriate entities.
5. Implementation: with necessary approvals and financing in place, the project plan
is implemented.
6. Monitoring: at every stage the progress of the project is assessed against the
plan.
7. Evaluation: upon completion the project is reassessed in terms of its efficiency
and performance. Also called project life cycle.
Project Life cycle
Collectively, the project phases are known as the project life cycle. Thus the project life
cycle serves to define the beginning and end of the project. For example, when an
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organization identifies an opportunity, it will conduct or authorize a feasibility study to
decide if it should undertake the project. The project life cycle definition will determine
whether the feasibility report is treated as the first project phase, or as a separate
standalone project. The phase sequence defined by most project life cycles generally
involves transfer of deliverables (or technology) such as:
• Requirements to design
• Design to production or construction
• Production to distribution
• Construction to operation

Deliverables from preceding phase are usually approved before work starts on the next
phase. The requirement of speedy completion of the total project will often necessitate
overlapping of phases i.e. a subsequent phase is begun prior to approval of the previous
phase deliverables, when the risks involved are deemed acceptable. This overlapping is
termed fast tracking.

Q.2 What are the roles and responsibilities of a project manager?

A.2

The Role of Project Managers

The tasks to be handled by a project manager to successfully manage a project include:


• Integration Management - This is developing and managing the direction of the
project

• Scope Management - This includes planning, defining and managing the scope
of the project.

• Time and Cost Management - This covers developing a schedule, allocating


resources and managing funds for the project.

• Quality Management - This involves taking care of the quality of the process in
question such that it meets or even exceeds various quality parameters set
earlier.
• Human Resource Management - A manager needs to take care of his team,
encourage and motivate them and make sure the team moves in the right
direction.

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• Communication Management - The manager needs to prepare a
communication plan and make sure that there is a healthy communication, both
horizontally and vertically.

• Risk Management - Various risks involved in a project should be identified and a


mitigation and contingency plan needs to be developed to ensure that the project
is not derailed at any point.

• Procurement Management - Various materials needed during the project need


to be procured and managed with the vendors and suppliers for successful
completion of the project.

The Responsibility of Project Managers

A project manager is usually responsible for the success or the failure of the project.
They first need to define the project and then build its work plan. If the scope of the
project is not very clear, or the project is executing poorly, the manager is held
accountable. However, this does not mean that the manager does all the work by himself
(which is practically impossible). There is an entire team under the project manager,
which helps to achieve all the objectives of the project. However, if something goes
wrong, the project manager is ultimately accountable.

Apart from this, depending on the size and the complexity of the project, they may need
to take on multiple roles. The project manager may need to assist with gathering
business requirements, help to design a database management system or may prepare
project documentation. They may work full time on a large project, or may work part-time
on various projects of a smaller nature; or may alternatively handle various projects as
well as handle other responsibilities like business analysis and business development.

At times, they may have accountability but not authority. For example, he or she may be
using certain resources but might not have direct control over those resources. At such
times, the manager might find certain limitations over task execution, which might not
take place as they might have liked. Not having direct control over the state of finances
and finance allocation might cause ambiguity.

In order to be successful, the project manager must be given support and authority by
senior management.

Process Responsibilities
Once the project starts, the project manager must successfully manage and control the
work, including:
• Identifying, tracking managing and resolving project issues
• Proactively disseminating project information to all stakeholders

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• Identifying, managing and mitigating project risk
• Ensuring that the solution is of acceptable quality
• Proactively managing scope to ensure that only what was agreed to is delivered,
unless changes are approved through scope management
• Defining and collecting metrics to give a sense for how the project is progressing
and whether the deliverables produced are acceptable
• Managing the overall schedule to ensure work is assigned and completed on time
and within budget

Again, this does not mean that the project manager physically does all of this, but they
must make sure it happens. If the project has problems, or scope creep, or faces risks,
or is not setting expectations correctly, then the project manager is the person held
accountable.
To manage the project management processes, a person should be well organized,
have great follow-up skills, be process oriented, be able to multi-task, have a logical
thought process, be able to determine root causes, have good analytical ability, be a
good estimator and budget manager, and have good self-discipline.

People Responsibilities
In addition to process skills, a project manager must have good people management
skills. This includes:
• Having the discipline and general management skills to make sure that people
follow the standard processes and procedures
• Establishing leadership skills to get the team to willingly follow your direction.
Leadership is about communicating a vision and getting the team to accept it and
strive to get there with you.
• Setting reasonable, challenging and clear expectations for people, and holding
them accountable for meeting the expectations. This includes providing good
performance feedback to team members
• Team building skills so that the people work together well, and feel motivated to
work hard for the sake of the project and their other team members. The larger
your team and the longer the project, the more important it is to have good team-
building skills.
• Proactive verbal and written communicator skills, including good, active listening
skills.
Again, you are responsible for the success of the project. If the team has poor morale
and is missing deadlines, you need to try to resolve it. If team members don't understand
exactly what they need to do and when it is due, then you are responsible.
Q.3 Explain the various steps in the identification process of a project. What are
the tools used in project planning?

A.3
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Steps in the Identification Process of a Project

The identification process – The main steps in the identification process of any
project are :
• Identify initial requirements.

• Validate them against the project objective.

• Identify the criteria for assessing the success of both the final project product and
the process used to create it. Ex: quality objectives, quantitative requirements for
the project.

• Identify the framework of the solution

• Prepare a template of the frame work of solution to illustrate the project feasibility.

• Prepare relevant charts to demonstrate the techniques of executing the project and
its different stages.

• Prepare a proper project schema of achieving the defined business requirements


for the project.

• Identify training requirement

• Make a list of the training program necessary for the personnel working on the
project.

• Identify the training needs of the individuals working in various functions responsible
in the project.

• Prepare a training plan and a training calendar.

• Assess the capabilities and skills of all those identified as part of the project
organization

Planning Tools : The tools which may be necessary for coordinating a project
successfully are the following :

• Project organization
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Process Skills and activities
• Prepare an outline project justification, plan and project
budget
Initiation • Selection and briefing of the project team, assigning roles
and organization
• Feasibility study- risk and key success factors
• Project definition and project plan
Planning
• Communicate to the team
• Allocating and monitoring the work and cost
Execution • Ensuring work and team cohesion
• Reporting progress
• Monitoring progress and managing changes
Control
• Helping the team to solve project problems
• Satisfactory delivery
Close
• Compiling lessons from project experience

• Project structure
Development plan, project tracking and oversight

• Project Key personnel – Identify those business areas that are within the scope
or directly interface with the scope boundary and list them in the “Business area”
column of the project assignment worksheet

Identify the key personnel for each area and list them in the “Person” column of
the project assignment worksheet.

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• Project Management Team
It is a senior management team, which will be accountable for the project.
• Identify project sponsor, client representative and technical representative.
• Stage managers- who will plan and manage the project on a day-to-day
basis for this stage
• Project coordinators- client coordinator and technical coordinator
• Clearly define these coordination, control activities and identify the brief
suitable personnel to carry them out

• Key stakeholders
Identify management level personnel who are critical to the success of the project.
Document the responsibilities of stakeholders

• Stage teams
Identify appropriate personnel required for the stage, define the team structure
and appoint team leaders
Document the time commitment and responsibilities to be performed by the team
members.

• Key resources
Individuals assigned to a key resource role may work towards gathering “Business
key resources” and “Technical key resources”. They are project coordinators and
team invitees.

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)


The entire process of a project may be considered to be made up on number of
sub process placed in different stage called the Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS).
Project key stages form the highest level of the WBS, which is then used to show the
details at the lower levels of the project. Each key stage comprises many tasks identified
at the start of planning and later this list will have to be validated.
WBS is produced by Identifying the key elements, breaking each element down into
component parts and continuing to breakdown until manageable work packages have
been identified. These can then be allocated to the appropriate person.The WBS does
not show dependencies other than a grouping under the key stages.
• Task duration
Identifying lead and lag times helps in working out task duration.
Lead time: An amount of time, which a successor task can overlap with its
predecessor task, i.e. the time before the completion of the predecessor at which
the successor can start.
Lag time: An amount of time, between a predecessor and a successor task, i.e.
the time after the completion of the predecessor that the start of the successor is
delayed

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Q.4 What is Risk Management? How can risks be prioritized?

A.4

Risk Management Risks are those events or conditions that may occur and whose
occurrence has a harmful or negative impact on a project. Risk management aims to
identify the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk
management entails additional cost. Hence risk management can be considered cost
effective only if the cost of risk management is considerably less than the cost incurred if
the risk materializes.

Risk prioritization – Risk prioritization focus on the highest risk. Prioritization requires
analyzing the possible effects of the risk event in case it actually occurs. This approach
requires a quantitative assessment of the risk probability and the risk consequences. For
each risk rate the probability of its happening as low, medium or high. If necessary,
assign probability values in the ranges given for each rating. For each risk, assess its
impact on the project as low, medium, high or very high. Rank the risk based on the
probability. Select the top few risk items for mitigation and tracking.

Refer to a list of commonly used risk mitigation steps for various risks from the previous
risk logs maintained by the PM and select a suitable risk mitigation step. The risk
mitigation step must be properly executed by incorporating them into the project
schedule. In addition to monitoring the progress of the planned risk mitigation steps
periodically revisit the risk perception for the entire project. The results of this review are
reported in each milestone analysis report. To prepare this report, make fresh risk
analysis to determine whether the priorities have changed.

Q.5 What is Project Management Knowledge Areas? Explain briefly PMIS.

A.5

The PMBOK teaches an approach towards project management that is recognized


internationally. It can be applied to all types of projects, such as engineering,
construction and software. The PMBOK divides the knowledge into Project Management
Knowledge Areas, an approach that considers work as if it were being accomplished by
processes.
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The nine areas are:
• Project Integration Management
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Cost Management
• Projekt Quality Management
• Project Human Resource Management
• Project Communications Management
• Project Risk Management

It is expected that various processes will overlap with others during the phases of a
project, the processes may also need to interact. Processes have certain common
features:
• they have an Input, including plans and designs,
• they include Tools and Techniques, applied to the abovementioned inputs,
• and they include Outputs. These outputs include the goal of the project, such as
the product, or documentation.

The concept of the PMBOK’s Project Management Knowledge Areas suggests that there
are only five process groups. These include:
• Initiating – deciding to perform the project,
• Planning – deciding how to run the project,
• Executing – doing the acts that comprise the project,
• Controlling and Monitoring – deciding further details about the project and
measuring how the acts that comprise the project compare with the planning, and
• Closing – finishing the project, delivering and paying.

In order to create an effective Project Managment system, each of these nine knowledge
areas are used, each of which may include processes from each of the five process
groups.

Each process can be defined as related to one knowledge area and one process group.
This term is defined in the 3rd and the 4th edition of the PMBOK.

Project Management Information System (PMIS)


A information systems is mainly aimed at providing the management at different levels
with information related to the system of the organization. It helps in maintaining a
discipline in the system. A system is prone to malfunctions if not properly maintained. An
information system dealing with project management tasks is the project management
information system. It helps in decision making in arriving at optimum allocation of
resources. The information systems are based on a database of the organization. A
project management information system also holds schedule, scope changes, risk
assessment and actual results. Usual information systems are not designed for projects.
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Normal information systems tell managers if they are working within the scope of the
budget.

The information is communicated to managers at different levels of the organization


depending upon the need. Upper managers need to know information on all projects
regarding progress, problems, resource usage, costs and project goals. This information
helps them take decisions on the project. They should review the projects at each
milestone and arrive at appropriate decision. Project manager and department managers
need to see each project schedule, priority and use of resources to determine the most
efficient use across the organization. Project team members need to see schedule, task
lists and specification so that they know what needs to be done next.

The four major aspects of a PMIS are –


1. Provide information to the major stakeholders i.e. the right information at the right
time.

2. Assist the team members, stakeholders, managers with necessary information


and summary of the information shared to the higher level managers.

3. Assists the managers in doing what if analyses about project staffing, proposed
staffing changes and total allocation of resources.

4. Help organizational learning by helping the members of the organization learn


about project management.

A good PMIS is possible to be developed from the team members and not from the
systems administrators of the company. Organizations tend to allocate such
responsibility by rotation among members with a well designed and structured data entry
and analytical format.

Q.6 List out the macro issues in project management and explain each.

A.6
Macro issues

1. Evolving Key Success Factors (KSF) Upfront:

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In order to provide complete stability to fulfillment of goals, one needs to
constantly evaluate from time to time , the consideration of what will constitute the
success of completing a project and assessing its success before completion. The
KSF should be evolved based on a basic consensus document (BCD). KSF will
also provide an input to effective exit strategy (EES). Exit here does not mean exit
from the project but from any of the drilled down elemental activities which may
prove to be hurdles rather than contributors. Broad level of KSF should be
available at the conceptual stage and should be firmed up and detailed out during
the planning stage. The easiest way would be for the team to evaluate each step
for chances of success on a scale of ten. KSF should be available to the
management duly approved by the project manager before execution and control
stages. KSF rides above normal consideration of time and cost – at the levels
encompassing client expectation and management perception – time and cost
come into play as subservient to these major goals.

2. Empowerment Title (ET)


ET reflects the relative importance of members of the organization at three levels:

a) Team members empowered to work within limits of their respective


allocated responsibilities – the major change from bureaucratic systems is
an expectation from these members to innovate and contribute to time and
cost.

b) Group leaders are empowered additionally to act independently towards


client expectation and are also vested with some limited financial powers.

c) Managers are empowered further to act independently but to maintain a


scientific balance among time, cost, expectation and perception, apart from
being a virtual advisor to the top management.

3. Partnering Decision Making (PDM)


PDM is a substitute to monitoring and control. A senior with a better decision
making process will work closely with the project managers as well as members to
plan what best can be done to manage the future better from past experience.
The key here is the active participation of members in the decision making
process. The ownership is distributed among all irrespective of levels – the term
equally should be a\voided here since ownership is not quantifiable. The right
feeling of ownership is important.

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This step is most difficult since junior members have to respond and resist to
being pushed through sheer innovation and performance – this is how future
leaders would emerge. The PDM process is made scientific through:
i) Earned value management system (EVMS)
ii) Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS)
iii) Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP)
iv) Actual cost of work performed(ACWP)

4. Management By Exception (MBE)


“No news is good news”. If a member wants help he or she locates a source and
proposed to the manager only if such help is not accessible for free. Similarly, a
member should believe that a team leaders silence is a sign of approval and
should not provoke comments through excessive seeking of opinions. In short
leave people alone and let situation perform the demanding act. The bend limit of
MBE can be evolved depending on the sensitivity of the nature and size of the
project. MBE provides and facilitates better implementation of effectiveness of
empowerment titles .MBE is more important since organizations are moving
toward multi-skilled functioning even at junior most levels.

5. Knowledge Factor (K)


Knowledge is the most powerful mover of the Wheels of progress. K factor is an
index of the extent to which one can manage today with yesterdays knowledge
content and also the extent to which today’s knowledge will be used tomorrow.
This would render the development process more productive. The K-factor of
course undergoes correction through obsolescence – since changes are now
phenomenal – but so are the opportunities for juniors to access information from
new knowledge bases .Seniority is no more an automated scale for knowledge. It
is important for leaders to recognize the knowledge potential of the younger
members. IT is equally important for younger members not to suppress their
knowledge potential from its application. Further as age and experience advance
further wisdom gains but knowledge is lost until it is updated and utilized. It is the
task of every team members to maximize the K-factor in all directions.

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