SIM335 managing projects course text (2014)

We will consider various aspects of the subject, including the key concepts of project management, objective-setting and planning, financial control, the management of risk and uncertain

Managing Projects

The University of Sunderland

© 2014 The University of Sunderland

First published 2005 Revised August 2014

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Contents

1.1 A brief history of project management 2

3.2 Network diagrams and critical path analysis 35

Case Study: Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner: Failure to Launch 40 Case Study: A critical care hospital in Anytown 42 Case Study: ‘Death Marches’ Projects 43 3.3 Computerising project management 43

Unit 5 Risk and uncertainty in projects 62

Case Study: Avoiding risks on a major construction project 69

Introduction

Welcome to the Managing Projects learning pack! It has been designed to assist you in studying for the core module of the BA (Hons) in Business and Management degree and covers all topics in the official module descriptor

In this pack we will define the nature of projects and their management We will consider various aspects of the subject, including the key concepts of project management, objective-setting and planning, financial control, the management of risk and uncertainty, human resource elements (building and leading a multidisciplinary team), how to manage change and quality, and finally how

to bring projects to a satisfactory conclusion The pack will help you understand how to use a range

of standard project management tools and techniques, and contains numerous case studies and examples to illustrate how they can be applied in the real world

How to use this pack

The learning pack will take you step by step in a series of carefully planned units and provides you with learning activities and self-assessment questions to help you master the subject matter The pack should help you organise and carry out your studies in a methodical, logical and effective way, but if you have your own study preferences you will find it a flexible resource too

Before you begin using this learning pack, make sure you are familiar with any advice provided by the University of Sunderland on such things as study skills, revision techniques or support and how

to handle formal assessments

If you are on a taught course, it will be up to your tutor to explain how to use the pack in

conjunction with a programme of face-to-face workshops and seminars – when to read the units, when to tackle the activities and questions, and so on

If you are on a self-study course, or studying independently with remote tutor support, you can use the learning pack in the following way:

 Scan the whole pack to get a feel for the nature and content of the subject matter

 Plan your overall study schedule so that you allow enough time to complete all units well before your examinations – in other words, leaving plenty of time for revision

 For each unit, set aside enough time for reading the text, tackling all the learning activities and self-assessment questions and for the suggested further reading Your tutor will advise

on how they will plan activities around these materials and opportunities to network with other students

Now let’s take a look at the structure and content of the individual units

Overview of the units

The learning pack breaks the content down into eight units, which vary from approximately eight to ten hours’ duration each However, we are not advising you to study for this sort of time without a break! The units are simply a convenient way of breaking the syllabus into manageable chunks Most people would try to study one unit a week, taking several breaks within each unit You will quickly find out what suits you best

You will see that each unit is divided into sections It is assumed, for the most part, that you will

study the units in the order presented What is more important is that you try to study each section of

each unit in the order presented Each unit is written on the strict assumption that you will

understand the material in each section before moving to the next

Each unit begins with a brief introduction which sets out the areas of the syllabus being covered

and explains, if necessary, how the unit fits in with the topics that come before and after

After the introduction there is a statement of the unit learning objectives The objectives are designed to help you understand exactly what you should be able to do after you’ve studied the unit You might find it helpful to tick them off as you progress through the unit You will also find them useful during revision There is one unit learning objective for each numbered section of the unit

Following this, there are prior knowledge and resources sections These will let you know if there

are any topics you need to be familiar with before tackling each particular unit, or any special

resources you might need, such as calculator, graph paper or specific books

Then the main part of the unit begins, with the first of the numbered main sections At regular

intervals in each unit, we have provided you with learning activities, which are designed to get you actively involved in the learning process You should always try to complete the activities before

reading on You will learn much more effectively if you are actively involved in doing something as you study, rather than just passively reading the text in front of you The feedback or answers to the activities are provided immediately following the activity Do not be tempted to skip the activity

Throughout the unit key terms are highlighted in bold where they first appear, or where they are

discussed most fully, with the definitions appearing in the ‘Glossary of key terms’, in alphabetical order, at the end of the pack

Each unit contains recommended reading which refers you to relevant chapters of supporting

textbooks including the core textbook It is essential that you do this reading, since it is not possible

to put everything you need to know in a single learning pack At level 3 of a degree wider reading is key to developing deeper subject learning through a contemporary, contextual and critical

perspective This is important to consider when approaching the related assessment of the module

We provide a number of self-assessment questions at the end of each unit These are to help you

to decide for yourself whether or not you have achieved the learning objectives set out at the

beginning of the unit As with the activities, you should always tackle them The feedback or answers

follow immediately after at the end of the unit If you still do not understand a topic having

attempted the self-assessment question, always try to re-read the relevant passages in the textbook readings or unit, or follow the advice on further reading given Your allocated tutor will be available

to deal with questions arising from the material and will assist your study through the unit

At the end of the unit is the summary Use it to remind yourself or check off what you have just

studied, or later on during revision

Finally, where possible, we have made reference to material on the internet since this is easy to access You may find that addresses change This is annoying; but with a bit of effort you will be able to track the material down (nothing disappears completely from the web) And by searching you will learn even more! Good luck and enjoy it

Core textbook

The core text is Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage (3rd edition) by Jeffrey K Pinto, published in 2013 by Pearson

Unit 1 The concept of a

project

‘All things are created twice; first mentally; then physically The key to creativity is to begin with the end in mind, with a vision and a blue print of

the desired result.’

Stephen Covey

Introduction

This unit introduces the management of projects Traditionally the management of

projects was considered more of an art than a science, but with the growing number of project management institutions, associations and academic establishments, project

management has become more of a science, and a discipline, as its accepted practices

are captured and formalised in the global body of knowledge

This unit will consider why project management has become important for organisations and explain what constitutes a project in today’s business world A brief history of project management is reviewed and how companies use project management to improve

company performance and introduce new products and processes Some general

concepts are introduced and the role of the project manager is also considered, as well

as the skills needed for project management success

Unit learning objectives

On completing this unit, you should be able to:

1.1 Define what a project is

1.2 Describe the project life cycle

1.3 Apply a suitable classification system to projects

1.4 Identify tasks and skills that are, and are not, project orientated

Prior knowledge

This is the first unit in the Managing Projects module, and should be studied first No

prior study is required, although it would be helpful (but not essential) to have

knowledge and experience of business and management You should also think about

projects you have been involved in, if not in a work context, perhaps in a home or

personal context

Resources

The core text for this unit is Pinto (2013) It should be referred to throughout the unit

and specific further readings are suggested in the text In addition, a number of other

sources are cited in the text and listed in the references at the end of the pack

1.1 A brief history of project management

Project management has been around since the beginning of time The pyramids in Egypt

stand today because of sound project management principles (although at the time the

creators probably did not realise they were practicing sound project management principles) But although there have been excellent project managers over the years, project management was not recognised as a formal management concept until the 1950s This first section looks

at what project management is and how organisations are being forced to look to project

management techniques to improve business performance It also looks at the role of project managers, a brief history of project management and the role of a project’s key stakeholders

It was high profile aerospace projects, such as Polaris, NASA and other United States

Department of Defense projects that led to the establishment of the project management

standards that they expected their contractors to follow Polaris was the first British project

on which contractors were required contractually to use advanced project management

systems

The construction industry started to see the benefits of project management and started to adopt the new techniques The 1970s and 1980s brought more practitioners on project

management leading to the development of theories, methods and standards Throughout

the 1970s project management continued to grow and develop into a multi-disciplined

profession with its distinctive tools and techniques The economic pressures during this

decade, OPEC oil embargoes and the rise of environmental pressure groups had caused

many projects to be constrained or delayed This in turn led to a period of refinement of

project management tools and techniques More high technology companies outside the

defence and construction industries started to use project management systems effectively

In the 1980s project management tools and techniques were integrated into accepted

management practices Such techniques were known as program evaluation and review

technique (PERT) and the critical path method (CPM) We will discuss these techniques

in more detail in later units Other issues taken on board at this time included the integration

of time, cost and quality These were beginning to be seen as critical by management to the success of projects

In the 1990s the globalisation of world trade, and competition from the Far East,

encouraged leaner, flatter and more flexible organisational structures, together with more

efficient systems Organisations found that by using a management-by-project approach they could assign work to small project teams, which were able to respond to innovation and new ideas and keep the culture of the entrepreneurial enterprise alive In the 1990s large scale

reengineering and total quality management (TQM) processes needed a direction for the

implementation of these new projects (many of them in-house), and managers turned to

project management for direction in tracking such initiatives

Project management is a structured approach to planning and controlling projects It is a set

of principles, methods and techniques that managers use to effectively plan and control

project work We will look at all these principles and techniques in detail in the coming units

Business trends

It is important to note that in today’s business world, project management is not just about managing a new building or civil engineering project In today’s business world there have

been several trends that have made companies concentrate more on project management

concepts, notably (As proposed by Richman, 2002):

 The focus on high quality, speed to market and first class customer satisfaction

During the last 15 years there has been a shift from mass production to custom

production of goods and services To respond to this, managers have turned to

project management to ensure highly responsive management style Organisations

are changing from hierarchical management to project management Organisational charts are changing from vertical structures to team-centred structures

 Jobs in which the same tasks are repeated every day are disappearing Middle

management are also disappearing The new focus is on projects and teams assigned

to specific tasks or problems Teams might be set up to launch a new project or

reengineer a process Projects are conceived, staffed up, implemented and then shut down

 Organisations offer less job security than before They outsource non-core activities People define themselves less by the organisations they work for, more by their

professions Pay is determined by skill level and the marketability of the person’s

services rather than by management hierarchy

The development in business trends now embraces all aspects of managing projects across the industrial sector (Pinto, 2013)

The 1990s also saw increasing deregulation, reduced tariff barriers and, more importantly,

expanding IT facilities and communications through the Internet

During the 1960s and 1970s the manual tasks and concepts that predominated throughout project management (network diagrams, bar charts, and so on) were computerised using

mainframe computers However it was the introduction of the personal computer (PC) that led to the expansion and spread of project management software

As Burke (2013: 11) notes:

‘Over the past years, the scope of project management has grown from basic

planning and control techniques, notably the Gantt chart (1920s) and CPM (1950s)

to a fully blown profession with its own body of knowledge, code of practice and

certification.’

There are a number of professional project management organisations with their own bodies

of knowledge – for example, PMI (2012) and APM (2012), (Burke, 2013: 11)

Project management today is a complex ‘management’ challenge requiring not only technical skills but a broad set of people skills as well (Pinto, 2013)

Defining a project

There is no one definition of a project However most experts agree that a project is a

unique thing with a start and a finish Most experts also agree what a project is not: routine work, everyday tasks and the normal day to day activities of an organisation or individual

The following list is not exhaustive, but it will help clarify exactly what a project is

 Boddy and Buchanan (1992) defined a project as: a unique venture with a beginning and an end; conducted by people to meet established goals, schedule and quality

 Turner (1993) described a project as: an endeavour in which human (or machine),

material and financial resources are organised in a novel way, to undertake a unique scope of work, of given specification, within constraints of cost and time, so as to

deliver beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives

 Wilson (2002) described a project as: any new work if it lasts for a limited period,

involves different groups of workers, and has penalties for late completion The

project manager is responsible for first planning, then controlling the allocation of

time, money, people and other resources

 The British Standards Institution (2010) defined a project as: a unique set of

coordinated activities, with a definite start and finishing point, undertaken by an

individual or organisation to meet specific objectives within defined, scheduled cost and performance parameters

Another way of looking at a project is as:

 An event or thing with a start and a finish and clear objectives covering time, cost

and quality

 The most efficient way of introducing changes

 Defining what has to be done in terms of time, cost and quality

 Using a plan to do these, and working to this plan, ensuring that progress is

maintained

 Using appropriate project management techniques to plan, monitor and maintain

progress

 Employing persons skilled in project management including a project manager who

is responsible for introducing change and its successful accomplishment

Learning Activity 1a

Think about a project you have undertaken If you have not been involved in any projects

at work think of a personal or home project that you have been involved with How did you decide whether the project was successful? List the things you would consider to

decide whether it was successful

Feedback on learning activity 1a

Among the things you should consider are the following:

 Was the project completed to time?

 Was the project completed within budget?

 Did the project meet quality objectives?

 Did the project meet the customer’s needs?

 Will the customer want to do further business?

 Has the project left the organisation able to do more?

1.2 The project life cycle

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapters 1 and 2

We began our examination of definitions of a project with the common ground that every

project has a start and finish It follows from this that every project goes through a life cycle What we mean by this is that there are a number of distinct stages a project goes through

from its initiation, through its life, to its close, and gaining a clearer understanding of these stages helps us better understand what a project involves

Burke (2013: 25) defines the project life cycle as: ‘A four phase life cycle that passes

through four phase headings: concept and initiation phase, design and development phase, implementation (or construction phase), and commission and handover phase.’

See Figure 1.1

There are various other theoretical models of the project life cycle Weiss and Wysocki

(1992) suggest a five-phase model:

 Define the project requirements

 Plan the tasks and their sequence

 Organise the people, resources, costs, time, and so on

 Execute the implementation and reporting of the project

 Close the project

Jordan and Machesky (1990) suggest a model of a phased development cycle comprising a

number of mini-projects, in which each phase follows the same pattern of determining

requirements, evaluating alternatives, specifying designs, implementing designs, and

undertaking user reviews

Thinking in terms of project life cycles helps break down the work of the project into

manageable chunks, helps explain the relationship of different tasks, and helps inform when critical activities must be completed to facilitate others A project life cycle model can be a

valuable tool in project management, and lends itself to the use of project management

software But real life rarely follows a theoretical model without throwing up unexpected

complications and problems Pinto (2013: 32) takes a similar view to Burke (2013) and states that the project life cycle refers to the stages in a project’s development

The text above suggests four models of projects Consider the example again, and try to identify what differences adopting each model might make to your understanding and management

Feedback on learning activity 1b

Among the stages you could have identified are: studying feasibility, identifying and

defining project requirements, evaluating alternatives, specifying designs, scenario

developing, analysing costs and benefits, prototype building, estimating time and costs, planning people needs, planning tasks and their sequence, organising people and

resources, monitoring and reviewing, evaluating the project and closing it down

Each of the models helps you to focus on particular aspects of the project For example, Jordan and Machesky (1990) highlight the fact that any project can be thought of as a

series of mini-projects, while Field and Keller’s model highlights the different types and levels of effort that are needed at different stages

As you study this unit further, you will meet a number of techniques and models As you have done here, try to identify the particular weaknesses of each of them For topics that particularly interest you, you should also try to find other techniques and models, and

compare their effectiveness with the ones from the text

1.3 Types of project

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapter 1

Projects are usually categorised into one of three types:

1 Change driven: the need to change operations to match the environment

2 Market driven: producing a new product in response to market needs For example, BMW uses project management techniques to deliver its new models

3 Crisis driven: Usually in response to an urgent situation

A pharmaceutical company may start a project to manage the recall of a defective product, and introduce the replacement and the following public relations campaign

Sometimes a number of related projects are done together This is usually called a

programme Programme management is sometimes a very large project that will be broken down into a number of smaller projects

A project manager may not have any influence at a strategic level but as the practical aspects

of a project are materialised, the project then takes physical shape (Field and Keller, 1998)

Read the Project Profile ‘Project Selection Procedures: A Cross-Industry Sampler on page 92

of Pinto (2013)

Successful projects have clear deliverables and objectives from the start; they also have time, cost and quality objectives Projects must also meet the customer’s requirement

Examples of projects

To understand this more fully, let’s look at some examples of projects:

 The research and development department of a pharmaceutical company bringing

new drugs to market will use project management techniques

 The marketing department of a household products company will use project

management to help with market research, arranging promotional events and press releases

 A telecommunications company wishes to improve its customer services by

rationalising its customer repair and maintenance offices by creating a more flexible structure able to cope with future growth, and move to enquiry desks dealing with all customer needs

 A research and development department in a chemical firm may be asked to devote time to exploring the possibilities of developing new products using a new polymer (Field and Keller, 1998)

Look at the other examples in Field and Keller to get a more thorough understanding of the different types of projects By now you will be aware of the need for projects to be managed

by a project manager, but who else is important in making projects go smoothly? Who

actually owns the project when it is completed?

Field and Keller (1998) define six key people who are critical to the success of all projects:

sponsor, champion, client, customer, owner and stakeholder You will come across these

terms as we progress through the module They are defined as follows:

 Sponsor: The person who ensures that the project is successful at the company level

 Champion: The chief promoter of the project

 Client: The person who pays for contractual services For intercompany projects, the

contract may be an informal one

 Customer: Very similar to the client; could be the person who buys or pays for the

projects, but more normally it is the person whom one is concerned with

 Owner: Again very similar to client and customer Think of it more in the sense of

someone with a strong attachment to the project

 Stakeholder: Everyone who has an interest in the project success

Learning activity 1c

Investigate the classification of projects into different types Can you find and describe

an alternative classification to change-driven, market-driven or crisis-driven?

Feedback on learning activity 1c

There are lots of different classifications One you may have found is Obeng’s (1995) four types, which include:

 walking in the fog

A more prosaic classification by Veryard (1999) identifies five types:

 Construction projects, which produce artefacts

 Research projects, which produce knowledge

 Reengineering projects, which produce change

 Procurement projects, which produce business relationships

 Business implementation projects, which produce working processes

Further possibilities are to classify by subject content (new product, service improvement, and so on), or by business discipline (marketing, IT, and so on) Any web search should yield a number of alternative classifications

1.4 The role of the project manager and the team

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapter 4

This section looks at the role played by project managers and the teams helping them

achieve their goals We look at the skills needed to manage projects successfully and the

essential skills project managers need to operate successfully

The project manager (PM) is the person assigned to manage a specific project and is

expected to meet the approved objectives of a project, including project scope, budget and schedule

The project manager leads the project and provides vision, direction and encouragement

The PM takes the lead in project planning to determine the schedule and budgets necessary

to meet the project objectives The PM is responsible for delivering the project once the

project has been approved by senior management The PM is responsible for the project

support team On small projects people and resources are not normally assigned directly to the PM People in other departments work on the project, and for the project, but usually

stay in their functional department reporting to their normal manager On large projects a

dedicated team will be assigned to the project, with everyone reporting to the PM, or to

functional managers, who in turn report to the PM

Learning activity 1d

Read Pinto (2013: 129), sections 4.1 to 4.4

Why do you think the seven essential project manager’s abilities are important? You

might like to read the project profiles of Aziza Chaouni (pages 128 and 129) and Dr

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan (pages 137 and 138)

Feedback on learning activity 1d

The seven essential project manager’s abilities are important because they demonstrate the qualities needed to ensure a project is undertaken successfully Perhaps the two

central abilities that encompass the others are communications and strategic thinking A good project manager must be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills in all directions, from senior clients to contractors Excellent communication skills also need to

be underpinned by strategic thinking – in particular, the project manager must be able to respond to and control the complex project management variables of specification, time and costs, commonly termed ‘the project triangle’ A strategic view also means being

able to understand the variability of each aspect of the ‘project triangle’, to

understanding clearly the effect one has on the other, and also to ensure the

implications any change has on the stages or phases of the life cycle of a project

For further information and examples see Pinto (2013), sections 4.1 to 4.4

Project management skills

What skills do project managers need? They need skills of flexibility, resourcefulness, ability

to negotiate, personal drive and a large measure of common sense On top of these project mangers need skills that directly relate to managing and delivering the project These skills

(as defined by Richman, 2002) which we shall call basic skills, are listed below

Basic project management skills

 People skills Project managers need to be an expert at communication They also

needs to be able to manage change and conflict, as well as motivate others to achieve project goals They also needs to understand how to use authority and persuasive

skills Authority can be defined as the ability to get another person to accept

responsibility and produce the desired result Persuasion is the ability to convince

another person to accept your values and take on responsibility

 Project management skills These skills include being able to estimate costs and prepare

budget plans, to be able to analyse reports, conduct project audits and analyse

progress information Other skills include being able to plan and execute a project

 Knowledge of the organisation Project managers will need to understand he organisation

inside out They will need to negotiate with many people inside the organisation and will need to understand their needs, personalities and desires The more they know about the organisation the more they will be able to negotiate around problems and unforeseen challenges that crop up and resolve them successfully

 Technical skills Project managers need to have skills in the technical area of the

project The greater their technical knowledge, the greater the chance of success in the project The project manager is also responsible for the integration phase of the project; this is where technical experience is essential

 Integration skills Project managers might have to understand technical drawing

relating to a building; they might also have to understand functional drawings from a civil engineer and coordinate various other factors relating to the project All these things are integration issues that need to be properly coordinated

Other skills that are essential for the project manager are the skills of responsibility,

accountability and authority These are skills that we tend to assume that all managers have

to varying degrees However, with project managers it is very important that these skills are understood and kept in balance

 Responsibility is having agreement on achieving the desired result To put this in

context, when a project manager passes part of the responsibility for completing a

task to others, the project manager retains full responsibility for the final outcome In this sense responsibility is all about trust

 Accountability is very similar to responsibility in the project management context For

example, when a project manager assigns responsibility to a contractor for decorating the office the manger holds the contractor accountable for all the work This would include work quality, schedule performance and budget targets Good performance depends on sound accountability Good accountability makes good performance

visible

 Authority is the power given to a person to complete a given task Authority must

match the responsibility assigned The key to all these skills is giving each of them to the project team member in the right balance For these to work properly companies usually write procedures that define how responsibility and authority are assigned to the project manager and team

No matter how well a project manager executes the project there are bound to be problems Project managers should be able to demonstrate experience, technical skills and imagination

to overcome the problems so they do not delay the project The best project managers are both specialists and generalists They succeed because of the way they understand the

requirements, operations and problems of clients and the project team

A study by Medcof et al (2000), conducted on in-depth data from 58 firms, found that there were seven essential project management abilities and these are:

1 Organising under conflict

These are described more fully in Pinto (2013: 136)

Role of team members

It is vital for each project to identify all the team members and clearly define their roles and responsibilities Team members can have various roles – such as engineers, technicians,

planners or software specialists Just as each project is unique so are the roles of the people performing the work We will look at team dynamics in more detail in Units 3 and 6

When is a project not a project?

Projects may last a long time – many years in some cases – but they are essentially

temporary Any work that is continuous and ongoing is by definition not a project This

sounds simple enough, but real examples can be less clear A construction firm might

undertake small jobs for a variety of customers, and each of these is a discrete project, but

providing ongoing maintenance services to a large building would be continuous work

However, the large building client might choose to define contracts as projects by time

period or aspects of maintenance A college might offer customer service courses to

corporate clients, and the work for each client would represent a discrete project, but the

college provides customer service courses on an ongoing basis

These examples show that the nature of the work may not clarify whether or not it is a

project, but the terms of the contract can In either case, the sort of tasks to be performed

will be similar, and the skills required of the team will be the same – the differences will be in terms of the management, and the role of the manager Project management skills are thus a key differentiator

Learning activity 1e

Consider the example of a marketing project to launch a new product for a company

What sort of tasks would be required in this project, and what sort of skills would the

project manager need to have?

Feedback on learning activity 1e

Launching a new product would include tasks such as the following: design of the

product, design of the packaging, distribution to be used, pricing, training the sales

force, arranging advertising, booking space with television companies and/or

newspapers, arranging product launch, managing media, and printing brochures and

other new product information

The project manager would require skills in identifying costs, resources and people for

the project, clarifying the project’s scope, preparing plans, budgets and work schedules, organising people and delegating authority to carry out tasks, knowledge of the product, expertise in marketing and media handling, and the skills of bringing all this together

and working to a deadline

Self-assessment questions

1.1 What differentiates a project from non-project work?

1.2 Distinguish three versions of a project life cycle

1.3 Explain the difference between a change-driven project and a crisis-driven project 1.4 Which of the following is specifically a project management skill?

a) organising a team of employees

b) preparing a schedule of tasks

c) checking health and safety requirements

d) calculating a budget

Feedback on self-assessment questions

1.1 A project has a definite beginning and end, whereas non-project work is ongoing and

continuous

1.2 There are many different versions of a project life cycle The three particularly

discussed in this unit, and Field and Keller (1998), are: a basic project life cycle,

adapted from a five-phase model described by Weiss and Wysocki (1992); a phased development life cycle (a sequence of mini projects) from Jordan and Machesky

(1990); and a prototyping life cycle

1.3 A change-driven project can arise for a variety of reasons, but is usually strategic – a

change planned to be introduced, whereas a crisis-driven project usually arises

unexpectedly, and is a matter of urgency

1.4 The answer is b), preparing a schedule of tasks – the others can all be performed for

any type of work, but only b) presupposes a project

For further reading, see chapter 1 of Larson and Gray’s (2014) Project Management: The

Managerial Process

Summary

Today project management has emerged as a leading solution in business operations Large and small organisations realise that a structured approach to controlling and planning

projects is the key approach to success

We have reviewed several definitions of projects Most experts agree that projects have the following: an event or thing that has a start and a finish and clear objectives covering time, cost and quality

Some projects have a short life span, perhaps a few months, others could continue for years Multiple projects are usually grouped together to form a programme of work

Several examples of projects were given You should be aware that projects are not just

construction type projects, but cover a whole range of business change processes and the

introduction of new business initiatives, such as new marketing and sales programmes We also looked at the skills needed: project managers need a wide variety of skills to run projects successfully, including people skills, technical skills, integration skills, specialised knowledge and project management skills

Recommended reading for this unit is Pinto (2013), including the Project Profile on page

137, Box 4.2: Project Managers in Practice on page 143 and Project Profile on page 145 Note the summary on pages 147–8 Try Internet Exercise number 1 on page 153

Unit 2 Planning in projects 1:

scope, work breakdown, milestones

‘Let our advance worrying become advanced

thinking and planning.’

Winston Churchill

Introduction

This unit is the first of two that describe the latest planning and control techniques Unit

2 deals with project scope, work breakdown and milestones, while Unit 3 deals with

Gantt charts and network diagrams

Research has shown that for projects to be successful – that is, delivered on time,

satisfying customer objectives and delivered to budget – a thorough approach to

planning and control is essential Project feasibility is usually the first stage of the

planning process

Project planning has been likened to a modeling exercise You draw up plans, then put them together and then experiment with the model to find out the best way of

proceeding through your project The project plan starts with the project lifecycle, which

as we saw in Unit 1, is how we break the project down into manageable chunks

Very simple projects can be run from just a bar chart More complex projects will have a full critical path analysis (CPA) and a detailed network diagram You will then measure

progress, update the plan and communicate your updates to the project team If you

have many resources you will need a resource plan and a resource histogram You will

also need to understand how to manage changes to your project and plan

Unit learning objectives

On completing this unit, you should be able to:

2.1 Explain how the term ‘scope’ applies to project management

2.2 Apply the term ‘planning’ appropriately with respect to projects

2.3 Identify the relationship between planning and scheduling

2.4 Assess the value of milestones in project management

2.5 Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS)

Prior knowledge

This is the second unit in the Managing Projects module, and should only be studied

once Unit 1 has been completed No other prior knowledge or experience is required,

although any knowledge or experience of projects, in any context (not just work) would

be helpful

Resources

The core text for this unit is Pinto (2013) It should be referred to throughout the unit

and specific further readings are suggested in the text In addition, a number of other

sources are cited in the text and listed in the references at the end of the pack

2.1 Project feasibility

A feasibility study will look at whether the company has the expertise and experience to

handle the project successfully It will also look at whether your company has the ability to make the best use of its resources Other areas that will be reviewed include: How realistic

are the project budget and time requirements? Have enough resources been assigned to the project to successfully complete the project? Are the objectives realistic? A feasibility study will also look at the financial issues associated with the project Is it worth doing financially, and will there be a return on our investment? These issues are looked at in Unit 4

The process of project formulation varies in different organisations and in different types of projects Whichever way your projects develop there should at some point be a feasibility

study to ensure the project is feasible, but also to make sure it is making the best use of your organisation’s resources

A feasibility study looks at the following questions:

 How realistic is it to expect that the project can meet the stated objectives?

 How realistic are the project scope, budget and time requirements?

 Are sufficient funds available to complete the project?

 Does the organisation have the technical expertise to accomplish the project?

A feasibility study should also look at the stakeholders involved in the project to insure their interests are taken into account These stakeholders are the customers and project team, as well as the users, the suppliers and vendors, the external stakeholders such as the regulatory

authorities, lobby groups, government agencies and trade unions Here, if possible, identify the key decision makers and focus your attention on their needs

Pinto (2013: 92) states: ‘What criteria determine which projects should be supported?’

Burke (2013) explains how different stakeholders have various levels of interest in a project (See Burke (2013), chapter 5, for further information)

The feasibility study will also have its own life cycle

Burke (2013) further outlined, in chapter 8, pages 96–111, the following issues that should

be covered in the feasibility study:

 Stakeholder analysis Stakeholders are the people and organisations who are actively

involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected by the project being implemented Stakeholders include: customers, project team, senior management, suppliers, subcontractors, regulatory authorities, lobby groups and individual

citizens

 Define the clients’ needs The evolution of something quite vague to something

tangible The clarification of the problem, need or business opportunity

 Evaluate constraints Any internal or external restrictions that may affect the

achievable scope of the project These may be broken down into (a) internal

project constraints (such things as: Can the product be made? Does the company have the technology? Can the product be made within budget?) (b) internal

corporate constraints (such things as: Can the financial objectives be met?) (c)

external constraints (such things as national laws and international laws and

regulations; material and component delivery lead times) A cost benefit analysis should also be carried out to establish the financial feasibility of the project Here

a report should be produced that looks at the costs and benefits in financial

terms In general terms if the financial benefits exceed the costs then the project should go ahead (The next section looks in more detail at the financial aspect of appraising projects) For example, a dam project may have many benefits to the community, but might cause the silting up of the river If the financial benefits of having the dam exceed the costs of dredging the river, this project should go

ahead

The Pareto improvement criterion is expressed as ‘the project should make some people

better off without making anyone worse off’ As you can imagine justifying the project in

simple economic terms is fairly straightforward, justifying it other ways (social,

environmental or to the wider community) can be difficult

Another factor that needs to be considered is technical feasibility From the point of view of minimising risk we need to be sure that the chosen technology is sound

As Field and Keller (1998) comment:

‘Not only do we need to assess whether a technology is mature, sound and

applicable, we also need to assess a variety of technical aspects of any proposal

These vary enormously and often require experienced or expert people to evaluate

them properly Even the building of a house by an experienced building contractor requires this sort of assessment For example, the soil on the building site will affect how the foundations have to be constructed A house built on clay has different

requirements from one built on sandy soil A soil engineer may be called to take

samples and prepare a report before building commences Marketing projects need

to take into account the fact that markets vary due to climate, cultural and economic differences: you can’t market air conditioners very successfully in a cold climate, nor

to people who can’t afford them A software developer may need expert advice from the hardware manufacturer before undertaking a project using that manufacturer’s

platform

‘You should bear in mind that cost is by no means the only factor when determining whether a project is worthwhile, though its ease of measurement may tend to give it prominence.’

Towards the end of the feasibility study the project will be formally endorsed by senior

management With larger projects a formal business case will be prepared with clear analysis

of all the issues and options and a full financial appraisal of the project costs Management should clearly endorse the project showing clear commitment to the project and the project team

Of course, if the feasibility study shows the project is not feasible this should be shown in

the tracking reports before you get to the end of the feasibility stage and the project should

be stopped before any more time is wasted on the project proposal

A feasibility study may be undertaken in-house or by an external agency It can, in fact be

handled as a mini project A feasibility study is important Look at the classic example in

Figure 2.1 to understand what happens when things go wrong at this stage!

Figure 2.1 Swings – a classic revisited (adapted from Burke, 2003)

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapters 1–3

Learning activity 2a

XTC Mobile of Birmingham, England, is a manufacturer of mobile phone products Their Research and Development department has designed a new mobile phone that is 20% smaller and 15% lighter than any of their competitors

The head of marketing has asked John Bedford, XTC’s top salesman, to manage the

project to engineer and manufacture the new product He asks John to develop a

schedule and budget, and present it to the management team the following week When John presents his plans to the management team, there is lots of discussion about

whether the company should start manufacturing the phone

After the meeting, the Chief Executive Officer of the company asks John to take up the

project and report directly to him The CEO will work to get approval of the project and will approve every cost on the project

Based on the concepts we have looked at in the above chapters, what steps should John take to make sure the project is a success Bear in mind the following when formulating your answers:

a) Has project approval taken place?

b) Is John the best qualified person to take this role on?

c) Have project management concepts been followed?

Feedback on learning activity 2a

Your answer should have included the following:

 Project approval has not taken place; lots of discussion about whether to start

making the phone, but no approval or support from the full management team

 John is a salesman in the company This role does not qualify him to be a good

project manager He needs to acquire project management skills quickly or the

project will fail

 Project management knowledge appears sorely lacking in the company John was

asked to develop a budget and schedule in a week for the project! Someone needs

to educate the management team about project management

2.2 Project objectives

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013)

This section covers project objectives, which may be otherwise understood by the following questions:

 What is to be done?

 How is it to be done?

 What are the cost constraints and timescale issues?

The classic project has a simple singular objective: build that pyramid, launch that rocket,

construct that hospital Such projects are simple, clear and comprehensible Project

management started in power stations, bridges and things like that Today, projects are not

so straightforward Project management is applied to a wide range of tasks that do not have this singularity For example, a software company might have a dozen or so projects on the

go at any one time However, it is still true to say that unless you can identify a clear

objective, or a short list of clear objectives, project management may not be the right tool

for you

It is essential that project teams have clear aims and goals As Field and Keller (1998)

explain: ‘The term aim is used here as meaning what you intend to do: a goal is the desired outcome Objectives focus on achieving the aims – means to an end.’

Project objectives may have been refined from the company objectives through a series of

iterations In many companies planning is carried out from the top-down, this helps keep

employees minds focused on the key issues and objectives of the organisation As Field and Keller (1998) highlight: ‘At the strategic level a project manager may have no input at all

However, as the key strategies are identified and increasingly refined through iteration,

strategies can turn into programmes of change, and the tactics of realizing these strategies

can become projects.’

Project objectives and project definition help the project manager clearly understand the

issues surrounding the project If these are clearly laid down from the start then the better

chance the project has of success The objectives are the quantitative and qualitative

measures by which the project team will judge the completion of the project It is not always possible to set the project’s benefits as the objectives, as they may not be achieved until

sometime after the end of the project

The project objectives are defined as soon as the project has been agreed Objectives should cover:

 What is to be done?

 How it is to be done

 How much will it cost?

 When will the project be finished?

Objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and timebound):

 Specific: should define the project and what it will and will not do

 Measurable: objectives should be laid down in measurable terms

 Agreed: the key people involved (PM, clients and customers) in the project must

agree the project objectives

 Realistic: the objectives agreed must be achievable

 Timebound: define how much time is available and cost each element of that time

allocated

Project objectives should also define what will be completed by the end of the project,

detailing what will and will not be completed when the project is finished This will give us the essential criteria for establishing whether the project has been successful or not For

example, if a project involves the construction of new chemical works it is critical that the

PM understands:

 the needs of the users of the plant

 why the client wants the new plant

 how the new facility will operate

 what the client is expecting from the PM and a clear view of what is involved in

constructing the plant

 …and is convinced the new facility will actually solve the problem

All the above will have an impact on the agreed project objectives

Project definition is often used as a stage in the project plan Certainly in larger projects it is normal to make project definition a clear milestone on the project path To make this easier for successful project outcome, project definition should be clear from the start Most

project managers would not start a project unless the following was clear from the

beginning:

A clear definition from the client of the problem to be solved by the project requires:

 written definition of the client’s needs and wants

 background information to the current situation

 understanding of the business reasons for the project

 understanding of the client’s reason for undertaking the project

Learning activity 2b

What would happen if a project was not clearly defined? Describe the consequences in terms of what you now understand about project scope and project planning

Feedback on learning activity 2b

You would not have the appropriate information to understand the client’s needs and

fully understand the business reasons for starting the project The scope of the project

would be unclear You would not be able to undertake any meaningful planning because you would not know your objectives – what you wanted to accomplish – and so could

not work out the best way to manage the project You would not even know whether the project was feasible

2.3 Planning the project

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapter 3

This section covers the important steps of planning the project in detail, something that

many failed projects have been accused of not doing thoroughly enough It also introduces

several important concepts, such as work breakdown structure (WBS) and critical path

analysis (CPA), the latter of which is covered in more detail in Unit 3

Many experts believe that proper planning is essential for project success

In the 1960s several UK Government projects were stopped or failed due to poor initial

planning For example, the TSR2, swing-wing bomber was scrapped due to cost overrun and delays A report highlighted that the project had been started before the design was stable In other words, proper upfront planning was not carried out

Planning and control go hand in hand With solid planning a project manager can exercise

proper control Without a plan there is nothing to compare progress against and project

control is impossible

As Burke (2003) notes:

‘Planning is an important component of the planning and control cycle, because the planning process not only establishes what is to be done, but also smoothes the way

to make it happen

‘Planning is all about thinking forward in time What varies is how far ahead the

plans stretch and how precise they are

‘The planning process communicates planning information to the project team and stakeholders, and obliges them to ‘sign on’ and pledge their support When plans are drawn up by those who are going to implement them, they feel obliged (if not totally committed) to complete as planned.’

Planning should be clearly distinguished from scheduling Planning is the broader concept, concerned, as we have seen, with everything you need to do to get the project to its goals

Scheduling is a part of planning, and is more specifically about setting out the project’s

milestones, activities and deliverables Scheduling is the process of timetabling activities with regard to available resources It is therefore essential that scheduling begins with an

understanding of the project’s resources

Preparing resource plans

Assigning the right resources to the project is a critical operation The right people,

materials, and equipment all need to be assigned to the project and they all need to be in the right place at the right time

The following should be used as a guide when assigning resources:

 Assign scarce resources to activities on the critical path first (see Unit 3)

 Obtain firm commitments from team members, managers, and senior management

 If you cannot get the right resources at the right time you will need to re-plan

 Do not assign the wrong person to the job just because no one else is available

 Balance critical resources by adjusting float (float is the time available for an activity

in addition to its duration)

One of the most important tasks is identifying the right skills You need to be careful that

you do not assign a junior operative to do the job specified for a more senior person You

might also need to recruit individuals who best fit the skill requirements that were identified during the creation of the work breakdown structure (see below) You may need to level the workload by reallocating other available personnel to provide assistance or even reducing the scope of an activity Assign the most appropriate people to each activity A useful tool for

determining this is a resource histogram

It is important to remember that the resource estimate is linked directly to the scope of

work As Burke points out, the scope of work may be expressed as so many tonnes of steel

or so many square metres of wall to be painted From this description the estimator can

convert the scope of work into person-hours per unit

Resource loading

In an ideal world the resource requirement equals the resources available In practice, this

rarely happens and some form of rescheduling is needed

A resource overload is when the resource forecast requirement exceeds the available

resources, while a resource underload is when the resource forecast is lower than available

resource A resource overload will lead to some activities being delayed, which could delay

completion of the project While a resource underload will underutilise the company’s

resources, which could have a detrimental effect on the company’s profitability

Thus the histogram can show the forecast resources and available resources, both

diagrammatically and numerically You can now address the problem by:

 Resource smoothing: assign resources to critical activities and try to move other activities

to ease the overload

 Increasing resources: to address the overload

 Reducing resources: to address the underload

Other factors include extending the end date or increasing the resources if the end date is

fixed

When resources are overloaded there are a number of ways of increasing the resources

available, such as:

 working overtime

 working shifts

 increasing productivity

As you can imagine this can very complex In fact, resource analysis needs a tremendous

amount of mathematical calculation It is sensible to use computer software for this type of analysis (see Unit 3)

Why do resource schedules fail?

Schedules often fail because administrative and operational activities are underestimated

When his happens, fewer hours than expected can be devoted to project work As you

allocate resources it is important to consider the trade offs in time, cost and resources For example, putting more people on a project may get the job done but may also be less

efficient Also (and this is very important) the total cost of the project increases as you add more employees Some activities take the same number of time regardless of the number of people involved

Finally, adjust the project schedule based on the availability of the right resources at the right time Note that doing this often results in increasing the total project duration To make

things go smoothly you should:

 compile a resource histogram to compare resource forecast and resource available

 allocate resources to the critical activities first

Learning activity 2c

Imagine your firm is trying to decide whether or not to invest in a new project

opportunity What do you think are the best ways to undertake financial considerations

to help you decide if the project is viable?

Feedback on learning activity 2c

Check your suggested answer against the recommended process for Net Present Value under Solved Problems 3.1 in Pinto (2013) on page 119

Recommended reading: check the solved problems section in Pinto (2013), pages 119–

23

2.4 Milestones

‘A milestone is a significant event in a project that occurs at a point in time A

milestone schedule uses deliverables as a platform to identify major segments of

work and an end date Milestones should be natural, important control pints in the project and should be easy for everyone to recognise’ (Gray and Larson, 2005)

Milestones are vital to project management Milestones are a metaphor, derived from the

actual roadside stones that used to be set along roads, many of which survive to this day,

despite being superseded by more sophisticated road signs, correlating with maps and

navigational systems Milestones mark the road on a journey, showing both that you are on the right road, and how far you have to go to reach your destination

When the metaphor is extended to timetables, milestones mark events or activities at

significant points in time

In project management, milestones are events that merit special attention, typically marking the completion of a key task or groups of tasks, perhaps a phase of a project, or perhaps a

project within a project Milestones allow projects to be considered as a series of projects, showing where each one starts and finishes

mini-Milestones may also be used to identify important decision points, or times, to extract critical items of information from project activities This completes the metaphor, as such

milestones help delineate not only the distance travelled but also indicators of the correct

direction of travel

Pinto (2013) stresses the importance of thoroughly analysing possible projects: ‘Portfolio

management is the process of bringing an organisation’s project management practices in

line with its overall corporate strategy.’

Milestones are also crucial, as we shall see in Unit 3, to the crafting of project management tools such as Gantt charts and network diagrams

Learning activity 2d

Imagine a project to build a new website for an organisation If the project milestones

included ‘50 web pages coded’ and ‘25 per cent of website built’, do you think these

would be useful milestones? Give your reasons

Feedback on learning activity 2d

Neither of these is likely to be a useful milestone as simply given The number of web

pages coded is not meaningful to the client or any other reader of the project

documents unless they know how many pages have to be coded to complete the build,

or any part of it, and the term ‘coded’ is only helpful if the client or reader has a firm

grasp of the relationship of this action to completion of the work (Does it mean the

pages are ready?) Similarly, the percentage of the build completed is a measure, but

doesn’t speak to the issue of what parts of the build have been completed – it would be better to specify completion of clearly distinguishable parts of the build, such as

‘completion of the database’ or ‘completion of the user interface’

2.5 Work breakdown structure

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), chapter 5

The key to a successful project is the ‘scope statement’ The critical steps are:

 Establishing the project goal criteria

 Developing the management plan for the project

 Establishing a Work Breakdown Structure

 Creating a scope baseline

See Pinto (2013), section 5.2, pages 164–5

One of the next steps, after a project has been sanctioned, is to break the project down into

a more detailed series of activities Breaking the project down into more manageable pieces

is known as creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) A WBS defines the work to be

completed in the project It is a graphical representation (a diagram) of the project showing its component parts It provides definition to the project scope by showing the hierarchical breakdown of activities and end products that must be completed to finish the project

As Turner (1993) has emphasised, the work breakdown is a process by which: ‘The work of

a project is divided and sub divided for management and control purposes.’

You might have used, or seen, a WBS before But perhaps you have not recognised that it is

a key tool in project management Work breakdown structures are normally shown in

graphical format The example in Figure 2.2 shows a very simple work breakdown structure with three levels

When you are putting together a WBS for the first time you will need the following

information to ensure that all the important information is included in the WBS:

The WBS defines the work to complete in the project The WBS is the backbone of the

project management from which all other control systems are derived The work at all levels

of the WBS should be defined in terms of the results, or deliverables, it is intended to

achieve There are three reasons for this:

 it gives better control of scope

 it gives a more stable plan

 it gives more visible control

The work breakdown structure is one of the key elements of the project plan Once the basic work breakdown structure has been set up the time and cost estimates for each activity can

be estimated and the resources for each activity defined There are no hard and fast rules for setting up a WBS, but in practice it is useful to bear in mind the following:

 Use the categories that make up your project – the components of the product,

organisational units, or geographical areas

 The WBS diagram does not have to be symmetrical

 Every box is a summary of the boxes in levels below it

 The final box in each level must end in a deliverable

The lowest level activities are called work packages, this is lowest detail you wish to describe and control

All the boxes must equal the complete project

The WBS should be reviewed with the project team members to ensure it meets their

requirements and concerns WBS can come in two different formats, either shown

graphically in boxes (as per the example) or presented in text indent format

For further information read the section ‘The Work Breakdown Structure’ on pages 165–70

of Pinto (2013)

Organisational breakdown structure

Recommended reading for this section is Pinto (2013), pages 171–6 Try one of the

suggested three Internet Exercises on page 190

The WBS gives us a diagram of the activities needed to complete the project On larger

projects this is usually linked to the organisational breakdown structure (OBS) to ensure that everyone knows who is doing what, to whom and with what

The OBS gives us a division of responsibility The thinking goes something like this: if you

do not have a clear idea of responsibility and if you do not assign tasks effectively, people

will be confused This may sound like common sense, but it is essential that the project

manager communicates clearly these responsibilities If she or he does not, some jobs will be done twice or not done at all! When the next project meeting is held someone will ask if the quotes for the landscaping are in and everyone will look at everyone else An angry argument will follow during which people will deny that they had responsibility for the work None of this will move the project forward, but it does emphasise the need to have a clear allocation

of responsibilities

Most project software systems have a method of allocating codes against the activities and

then assigning those activities to the different departments Most software systems also have

a link between the WBS and the OBS (an interface between the WBS and the OBS), which would clearly indicate the work packages and the person responsible for

carrying out the work

As you can imagine on large projects the level of detail this provides can be quite

cumbersome Assigning responsibilities can be very time consuming without the use of

software However, it is important to understand the principles involved

WBS review

Once the core team members have developed their respective WBS, a useful approach is

that each core team member provides a presentation to the entire team of his respective

WBS, explaining the activities and their relationship to other activities This ‘walk-through’

of all the activities does a couple of things to get the project off on a good start First, the

WBS review informs the entire team what this business unit will provide The review may

uncover overlooked activities, or a resulting discussion may lead to refinement of duration and cost estimates You may discover an activity’s relationship to other activities to be

performed by another business unit

The WBS is the most important tool of the project manager in the management of a project

It provides a complete representation of work to be done as described in the project scope

It also provides the project manager with an element of protection and monitoring against

scope creep and gold-plating – in other words, activities that misdirect the use of time and

resources from completing the defined in-scope work

Assembling the detail

The project plan is a collection of self-standing project-related documents developed as a

result of project requirements or are standard, established organisational core policy, process and procedure documents to be applied to managing all projects

Here is a suggested list of project-specific and core documents to include in a project plan: Project specific documents:

 Time management (network diagrams, Gantt chart – see Unit 3)

 Escalation and problem resolution

Core project management documents:

 Change management

 Fiscal management

 Risk management

 Procurement management

 Quality control and assurance

The core PM processes are established enterprise standard operating procedures for the

management of the respective functional areas of all projects If this project is a result of a

contract award from a third party, contract terms may require modification to some core

documents One example could be how changes of scope are processed The contract may stipulate a joint process of review and determination between you and the client The

project-specific processes are unique for each project as the nature and requirements of the project direct the formation of the process and procedures followed during the project’s

course

The assembled plan is a formal document developed by the core project team, describing to stakeholders and shareholders how the project will be managed and governed The project plan is the integration of tools, procedures and policies to successfully manage the project

Tracking the detail trail

Recommended reading for this section is Harris (2001)

Depending on the complexity of the project, you may decide either to develop a single WBS document showing the project work breakdown of all activities, or develop detailed

breakdowns for each level one major activity of the project, as a well as a summary or

executive level presentation There are numerous project management software applications that will enable you to develop multiple work breakdown presentations and link them to a

higher level summary presentation These applications will also produce network diagrams that will show lead, lag and float of the activities, their relationship based on their designated predecessor and successor activities, and the critical path of the project Choosing the best method of presentation is based on experience If you are unsure, ask a more seasoned

project manager

As you move into project execution, bear in mind the importance of monitoring the

progress of the project As the project manager, you are expected to provide the status of the project from a broad prospective and situational awareness of the entire project Monitor

and track project detail at a level that will enable you to be aware of the overall status of the project so you can answer questions from senior management, stakeholders and sponsors Remember, their focus is on progress, resource expediter rate and schedule In short, their mantra is, ‘On time and under budget!’

Your goal is to manage the project process and to address the business management aspects

of the project You should not track the progress of tasks at a level of detail that causes you

to lose sight of the critical parts of the project

Learning activity 2e

Develop a work breakdown structure, with a hierarchy of three levels, for establishing a new office facility from scratch, going from an empty site to a fully furnished and

equipped office

Feedback on learning activity 2e

The first level is establishing the new office facility This may be broken down into a

second level of activities such as organising the site, furnishing the office, and equipping the office The third level breaks down each of these activities still further, such as:

 for organising the site, surveying, clearing, building and decorating

 for furnishing, ordering and moving furniture

 for equipping, planning, moving, testing and installing the equipment

For further details, see Case Studies 5.1–5.4 in Pinto (2013), pages 176–91

Self-assessment questions

2.1 A feasibility study considers whether a project can meet its objectives, and whether

appropriate funding and technical expertise are available What three other aspects

does a feasibility study consider?

2.2 Good project objectives should specify what the project is to do What other three

questions should good objectives address?

2.3 Why is identifying skills important when preparing resource schedules?

2.4 Why are milestones important in project management?

2.5 Do you think the following activities should be included in the WBS: documentation

and project management activity?

Feedback on self-assessment questions

2.1 The three other questions considered by a feasibility study are the project’s scope,

budget and time requirements

2.2 How it should be done, how much it will cost, and the deadline for completion

2.3 You don’t want to assign a junior person to a job specified for a senior person;

likewise you would not normally assign a senior person to a junior person’s job

2.4 Milestones are important as a means of identifying and communicating completion

of significant stages of a project, thus demonstrating meaningful progress towards

overall project completion

2.5 Yes Be sure to include all of the following activities: project management,

documentation, product implementation, user training and project closure

Summary

This unit has begun the study of planning in projects, by considering the concept of scope, planning and its relationship with scheduling, resourcing, the use of milestones, and work

breakdown structure (WBS)

The feasibility study helps us identify whether the proposed project is likely to be successful

It should help us paint a scenario that will help identify whether it is feasible to go ahead

with the project or whether the project is too risky to be taken further

Project planning starts with the project concept, scope and lifecycle, to test whether the

project is feasible or not

After this the more detailed project plan can be put together This will comprise: a work

breakdown structure and analysis of the activities needed to complete the project

The work breakdown structure (WBS) breaks the project down into manageable chunks

In the next unit, we will complete our study of planning by considering Gantt charts,

network diagrams and critical path analysis, and the use of computer software

Unit 3 Planning in projects 2:

Gantt charts and

network diagrams

‘I love deadlines I like the whooshing sound they

make as they fly by.’

Douglas Adams

Introduction

This unit continues the examination of project planning techniques begun in Unit 2

In Unit 2 we saw that scheduling requires consideration of resources, creation of

milestones, and a work breakdown structure In this unit we shall move on to examine

specific techniques for developing more detailed plans and schedules to aid project

management

In particular, we shall look at drawing up Gantt charts, and for more sophisticated

projects, the devising of network diagrams that enable critical path analysis

We conclude this unit with a brief examination of the benefits of using computer

software for project management

Unit learning objectives

On completing this unit, you should be able to:

3.1 Recognise and create Gantt charts for project planning

3.2 Devise network diagrams and use them for critical path analysis

3.3 Identify the benefits of using computer software for project management