Project Management
Project Management
ICT Project
Management
Prabin Gautam
1.1 Project
- Set of organized activities designed to fulfill specific objectives within a limited
amount of time and limited resources
- Every project has a definite beginning and an end.
- Project are planned, executed, and controlled
- The term "project" refers to a particular job that is unique, non-routine, temporary,
and has a clear objective.
- A project plan is a schedule of activities indicating the start and stop for each
activity.
1.1.1 Activity
- Must have clear start and stop i.e Known duration
- Some activities may not start until other activities are completed
- The start and stop of activity must be visible and easy to measure
3 The budget is defined for Projects. The budget is not Defined for
operations..
5 It has more risk as it is done for first It has less risk as such products have
time already been made before
Good Example: I want to build a software regarding “Music Streaming” within 2 years
since i have all the needed resources and aggrement of our team members.
Relations
1) Time and Scope : You can reduce your project scope to also reduce your project
duration if you’re running behind schedule.
2) Scope and Cost: By reducing the project scope, you’ll need to execute fewer
tasks, which means lower costs.
3) Time and Cost : In some projects, time and cost can be directly related. For
example, the costs of renting equipment or labor are directly proportional to the
time you need them for.
1) Specific Objective
- A project clearly defines objectives, on achievement of which a project
succeeds. Objective of the project is specific.
2) Temporary (Life Span)
- A project cannot continue endlessly. It has a beginning and end from its
birth to death.
3) Non-routine and Non-repetitive:
- A project is non routine and non repetitive in nature.
4) Constraints
- A project operates within constraints of time, cost and quality.
3) Reengineering Projects
a) Taking sterling into euro
b) Renumbering Nepal telephone system
c) Designing and installation of intranet
4) Procurement Projects
a) Outsourcing a specific construction or research projects
b) Outsourcing complete business function
The project life cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the project's
goal or objectives. Each project has its own life i.e. beginning and end.
# Implementation Phase
- During this stage, project activities are implemented and controlled.
- A proper team is formed.
- Project managers monitor and supervise the project activities.
- Inspection and Testing is done from time to time.
- Time to time evaluation and the review of the project’s progress is done.
# Termination Phase
- Once the team has completed project work, they enter the termination phase.
- Project is evaluated and later handed over to customers.
- They provide project results, release project resources, and evaluate the project's
success during this phase.
- Includes
1) Project Operation and Evaluation
- Review the project outcome
- Evaluation of projects results
- Go to major preparation phase if required
2) Project Handover
- Handed over to clients
5 No real start and end points Definite Start and End points
6 General managers only work within Project managers not only work within
organizational premises. organizational premises, but they also can
work outside organizational premises.
7 General managers have unlimited Project manager does not have any
authority over their staff. authority over their staff.
1) Technical feasibility
- In Technical Feasibility, current resources of both hardware software along
with required technology are analyzed to develop the project.
- also analyzes technical skills and capabilities of technical team,
2) Economic feasibility
- In the Economic Feasibility study, the cost and benefit of the project is
analyzed.
- It is analyzed whether the project will be beneficial in terms of finance for
the organization or not.
3) Operational feasibility
- degree of providing service to requirements is analyzed.
- how easy the product will be to operate and maintenance after
deployment is also analyzed.
4) Legal feasibility
- In the legal Feasibility study, the project is analyzed from a legality point of
view.
- Analyzing data protection acts such as copyright, license, legal
implementation of project
2.1 PMBOK
- PMBOK is a collection of Processes and Knowledge Areas generally accepted as
best practice within Project Management.
- PMBOK is sum of knowledge within the profession of project management
- widely used proven traditional practices
- limitedly used innovative and advanced practices
- Guidelines for managing individual projects
- Following PMBOk is a good practices which are applicable to most project most
of the time
- PMBOK recognizes FIVE Process Groups and NINE Knowledge areas for every
type of project.
1) Internal Environment
2) Task Environment
3) External Environment
2) Constraints
A project must operate within the constraints of time, cost and quality. They
describe the scope and boundaries of the project.
3) Structure
A project is temporary. Project must function within the boundary of its structure.
2) Budget
Even a company's financial situation in business can determine whether it will survive or
not. When cash resources are too limited, it affects the number of people we are hiring,
the quality of equipment and the type and amount of advertising we are buying.
If you have enough money instead, you have much more flexibility to grow and expand
the business, or to prepare for an economic downturn.
3) Corporate Culture
The values, attitudes, and priorities that staff members consistently follow make up the
internal business culture.
- This project environment affects the organization 's ability to reach the goals.
- Includes no. of stakeholders such as client, contractor, consultants, suppliers,
government, competitors, and financiers.
- Here, Interest and Impacts are Interrelated
Even if the external environment occurs outside an organization, it can have a significant
influence on its current operations, growth and long-term sustainability.
1) Economy
In a bad economy, even a well managed organization may not be able to survive.
It is not possible to control the economy, but understanding it can help identify threats
and opportunities. Some of the economic factors are:
- Inflation rate
- Interest rate
- Unemployment rate, foreign exchange rate
2) Competition
Unless the organization is a monopoly, you will always have to deal with the competition.
When you launch a business, you typically have to compete with more established and
experienced companies in the same industry. On the other hand, when a company has
established itself, it will have to compete with competing companies that are fighting for
the same market share.
3) Politics
Changes in government policy can have a huge impact on an activity. Some of the
political factors are:
- Government policies
- Taxes, laws
- Government Stability
The power of customers depends on the fact that they are free to choose between a
specific organization and its competition.
2 Visionaries Confused
This helps in analyzing an existing situation by identifying the major problems and their
main causal relationships.
Brainstorming
Example:
3.1 Portfolio
- Collection of projects, programs, and processes that are managed together to
meet objective of an organization
- Project defines end goals/objectives but portfolio represents strategic planning
commitment
5 It does not make strategic plans and It makes strategic plans and prioritizes
prioritize projects. projects.
7 This management is basically used for This management is basically used for
small scale projects and more detailed not only large scale projects but also for
one. more diffused one.
1) It helps to predict the outcome and plan for projects that will offer the best results.
2) It helps to understand which risk of projects and can offer the most rewards.
3) The project manager gets the global view of each project which makes them able
to predict the future problems.
4) It provides a way to improve accuracy for estimating and managing financial
resources of a group of projects.
5) Project Managers can make business based decisions.
6) Reduces cost and increase productivity
7) PPM helps managers monitor project progress in real time and provides detailed
data
8) Enable people to succeed
Successful PMO
- combination of good people, process and tasks
1) Enterprise PMO
2) Organizational (departmental) PMO
3) Special–purpose PMO.
1) Initiation Phase
- The initiation phase defines those processes that are required to start a
new project.
- The purpose is to determine what the project should accomplish.
- Mainly include two activities:
- Develop a Project Charter and
- Identify Stakeholders
- All the information related to the project is entered in the Project Charter
and Stakeholder Register. When the project charter is approved, the
project becomes officially authorized.
Action taken in the execution phase may affect the project management plan or
documents.
Construction Pharmaceuticals
- Feasibility Study - Discovery and Screening
- Planning and Design - Preclinical Development
- Construction - Registration workup
- Turnover and Startup - Post-submission Activity
Stage 6: Deployment
- Once the product is tested, and ready to be deployed, it is finally released in the
market. Feedback is taken from the external environment.
- After the product is released in the market, its maintenance is done for the
existing customer base.
The stages of the product life cycle are development, introduction, growth, maturity, and
retirement. These phases are sequential and do not overlap. The project life cycle can
be a part of one or more phases in the product life cycle.
3 The product life cycle may or may not end has a definite end.
compared to the project life cycle
5 Phases in the product life cycle are Phases of the project life cycle usually
always sequential and can never overlap. overlap
6 There can be more than one project life Single project during life cycle
cycle in one product life cycle.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Iterative and incremental development is a process that combines the iterative design
method with the incremental build model. It is used by software developers to help
manage projects.
Project is started with a comparatively small task or component and increments are
made in each cycle of the iterations until desired product is reached.
1) Eliminating Waste
- Only deliver what is needed to the end user
- remove waste that doesn't add value to the product such as unnecessary
code, quality issues, etc
2) Build in quality
- Various tactics are used to ensure quality is built into the Lean process,
such as pair programming and test-driven development.
3) Amplify learning
- Knowledge gained by a software engineer must be shared with every
engineer on the software development team.
- This occurs through code review and sharing at meetings.
4) Decide as late as possible
- The goal is to experiment and learn as much as possible before
committing to irreversible decisions.
5) Deliver as fast as possible
- Developers launch a product quickly, receive customer feedback fast and
use that feedback to create a strategy for improvement.
- The idea behind this approach is to fail fast and learn from the results.
6) Motivate team
7) Optimize the whole
- The team examines the process from start to finish to make the Lean value
stream as efficient as possible.
2. Project Sponsor
a. Assures availability of essential project resources
b. Approves the budget
c. Lead the project board
d. Has Power and Authorities to make Decisions & Settle Disputes/Conflicts
e. Possible Candidates: • Executive Director • Director Finance
4. System Administrator
a. Data Migration
b. Interfaces with other system
c. Reporting configuration and deployment
d. Set-up and maintenance of security
e. Development and operation of technical testing programs
f. Contributing to technical strategy, policy and procedures
5. Project Champion
a. Helps focus attention on the project from technical perspective
b. Usually someone with a great deal of technical expertise and industrial
knowledge
c. Possible Candidate: • Manager Technical • CTO • Technical Lead
5.1 Organization
- Organization is a group of people having different knowledge and skills working
together to achieve an organizational goal.
- Projects cant be run in isolation. Projects must be operated in a broad
organizational environment.
- Project Managers need to take the holistic/ system view of a project and
understand how it is simulated within the larger organization.
- Business Sphere : refers to What are the answer to the business goals
- Technological Sphere: refers to proper hardware and software issues to be
resolved
- Organizational Sphere: issues involving the stakeholders
1) Functional Organization
2) Pure Project or Projectized Organization
3) Matrix Organization
6.1 Process
- These are concerned with describing and organizing the work of a project.
- There are mainly five processes. They are:
1. initiating processes: recognize when project or phase should begin
2. planning processes :- design and maintain a plan which leads to
successful completion of a project
3. executing processes : coordinate with people and resources to follow
plan
4. monitoring and controlling processes: monitor and measure progress and
take right actions when necessary
5. closing processes : It analyzes completion of the project or phase and its
acceptability.
Inputs
- Agreements/Contract: The agreement should include much of the information
needed for creating a good project charter.
- Enterprise Environmental Factors : Managers should review these factors when
developing a project charter. Factors are:
- Culture/Infrastructure, Tools, Human Resource, Personnel Policies,
Marketplace Conditions
SWOT Analysis
Very important to have and managers from outside the IT department assist in the
planning process. Let the scenario be 4 people to start a new business in the film
industry.
- S : Strengths
- As experienced professionals, we have numerous contacts in the film
industry
- Two of us have strong sales and interpersonal skills.
- Two of us have strong technical skills and are familiar with several
filmmaking software tools.
- W : Weakness
- None of us have accounting or financial experience.
- We have no clear marketing strategy for products and services.
- We have little money to invest in new projects.
- We have no company website and limited use of technology to run the
business
- O: Opportunities
- A potential client has mentioned a large project she would like us to bid
on.
- The film industry continues to grow.
- There are two major conferences this year where we could promote our
company.
1) Section 1: Introduction
a) explained basic things
b) What is the type of work that is being done? Is it a service that’s being
performed or a product that’s being built? Who are the parties involved?
2) Section 2: Project Overview and Objectives: why this project is being done
3) Section 3: Scope of work
a) the work that needs to be done in order to complete the project.
4) Section 4: Task list : break your tasks down into phases.
5) Section 5: Project Schedule
6) Section 6: Project Deliverables
7) Section 7: Adoption plan : An adoption plan is the process for how the
deliverables will be put into place.
8) Section 8: Project Management: includes payment, administrative works
9) Section 9: Success Criteria and Sign-off
# Expert Judgment
- This is a way of making a judgment based on expertise, skill, or specialized
knowledge in a specific area.
- The expertise may have gained knowledge via training, or career experience.
- Anyone who has worked on a large, complex project appreciates the importance
of expert judgment in making good decisions.
- Project managers should not hesitate to consult experts on different topics, such
as
- what methodology to follow,
- what programming language to use, and
- what training approach to follow
Goal
Purpose
Outputs
Activities
Stakeholder Analysis
- Process of Identifying the individuals or groups that are likely to affect or to be
affected by proposed system and sorting them according to their impact
- Stakeholder analysis document has information such as:
- Stakeholders name and organization
- Roles on the Project
- Unique facts about stakeholders
- Level of Influence and interest in the project
- Suggestions for Managing relationships and Nature of Reports
Baseline Management
- It is a fixed reference point to measure and compare your project's progress
against.
- This allows you to assess the performance of your project over time.
- Project Baseline includes
- Schedule Baseline
- Cost Baseline
- Scope Baseline
- Quality Baseline
- Develop Baseline Project Plan following the steps:
- Set measures
- Record Progress
- Calculate the Variance
- Take Remedial Action
It Includes:
- Schedule Progress
- Completed, Pending and Incomplete Deliverables
- Extent to which quality standards are being met
1 The project scope is the work that is Product scope is the sum of all
required to deliver the product. features, functions, and characteristics
of the product.
2 The project scope focuses on the The product scope focuses on the
work needed to deliver the product. features of the end product
100% rule
- The 100% rule is a core characteristic of the WBS
- This rule states that the WBS includes 100% of the work defined by the project
scope and captures ALL deliverables – internal, external and interim – in terms of
work to be completed, including project management.
- The 100% rule is one of the most important principles guiding the development,
decomposition and evaluation of the WBS
8/80 rule : This rule states that the lowest level of work should be no less than 8 hours
and no more than 80 hours.
1) Inputs
a) Project Scope Statement: describe the project's outcomes and work
required to create those outcomes in detail manner
b) WBS Dictionary: A document that describes each component of the WBS
c) Project Scope Management Plan: A document that provides guidelines on
how project scope will be defined, documented, verified, managed, and
controlled by the project management team.
d) Outcomes : Final results of a project
1. Keep the scope realistic. Don’t make projects so large that they can’t be
completed.
2. Involve users in project scope management.
3. Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever possible.
4. Follow good project management processes.
1. Poor project scope management is the key reason for IT Project failure.
2. Good project scope management should have:
a. strong user involvement,
b. executive support,
c. a clear statement of requirements,
d. a process for managing scope changes.
Types of Estimation
Terms
1) An activity list is a table containing tasks to be listed on a project schedule, along
with the activity attributes.
- Activity attributes provide more information about each activity, such as
predecessors, successors, resource requirements, constraints, and
assumptions related to the activity.
Reserve Time
- A reserve time is a percentage of the project duration or a preset number of work
periods that is usually added to the end of the project schedule.
- As the project moves forward, the reserve time can be reduced or eliminated as
the project manager sees fit.
- Reserve time decisions should be documented.
8.2.5.1 Milestones
- A milestone is a significant event that normally has no duration.
- It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone.
- Milestones are useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring progress.
- Milestones should follow SMART (• Specific • Measurable • Assignable • Realistic •
Time-framed) Criteria.
Total Float or Float = Late Start – Early Start or Late Finish – Early Finish
2) Free float (FF) : Free Float is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed
without delaying the early start of any successor activity.
Total Float is how much an activity can be delayed without affecting the project
Finish date, Free Float is about how much an activity can be delayed without
affecting its successor activity.
E.g Monte Carlo analysis can determine that a project will finish by a certain date only
10% of the time, and determine another date for which the project will finish 50% of the
time.
8.2.5.3 PERT
- Stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique
- It is a network analysis technique to estimate project duration when there is a
high degree of uncertainty about the individual activity duration estimates
- It ses three time estimates for each activity with a view to overcome uncertainty in
time estimates.
- Optimistic time estimate
- Pessimistic time estimate
- Most likely time estimate
𝑡𝑜+ 4 * 𝑡𝑚+ 𝑡𝑃
𝑡𝑒 = 6
The reliability of expected time(te) depends upon the variability of two time estimators (tp)
and (to).
1) Variance
2) Standard Deviation
𝑡𝑃 − 𝑡𝑜
SD (σ) = 6
𝑡𝑃 − 𝑡𝑜 2
Variance (σ2) = ( 6
)
SN PERT CPM
7 it doesn't use any dummy activities. It uses dummy activities for representing
a sequence of activities.
- Many people like to focus on meeting milestones, especially for large projects.
- Milestones emphasize important events or accomplishments in projects.
- You typically create milestones by entering tasks that have a zero duration, or you
can mark any task as a milestone.
- Review the draft schedule or estimated completion date in the project charter.
- Prepare a more detailed schedule with the project team.
- Make sure the schedule is realistic and followed.
- Alert top management well in advance if there are schedule problems.
Example 8.1
F 4
Solutions:
Activity / 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Week
Example 8.2
A project consists of 7 activities with their time required and precedence relationships
as follows. Draw a bar chart and find out project completion time.
Activity A B C D E F G
Preceding activity - - A, B A C A, B F
Time (days) 40 20 15 25 15 25 10
Activity 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
/ Week
All the mentioned problems are copy pasted, so try to solve using PND using eg 8.8.
Example 8.3
1 A - B, C, D
2 B A E
3 C A F
4 D A G
5 E B -
6 F D -
7 G C -
Solutions :
Example 8.4
Draw a network with the following details. Number the events using Fulkerson’s rule.
SN Activity Predecessors
1 A -
2 B A
3 C A
4 D B
5 E C
6 F C, D
7 G E, F
Example 8.5
Draw a network with the following details. Determine the critical path and project
completion time.
Solutions :
First let us construct the network diagram for the given project. We mark the time
estimates along the arrows representing the activities. We obtain the following diagram:
Compare the times for the two paths. Maximum of {22,19} = 22.
We see that path I has the maximum time of 22 weeks. Therefore, path I is the critical
path. The critical activities are A, B, D and F. The project completion time is 22 weeks.
Therefore, together the non- critical activities can be delayed upto a maximum of 3
weeks, without delaying the completion of the whole project.
Draw a network with the following details. Determine the critical path and project
completion time.
A - 2 4 6
B A 3 6 9
C A 8 10 12
D B 9 12 15
E C 8 9 10
F D, E 16 21 26
G D, E 19 22 25
H F 2 5 8
I G 1 3 5
Solutions :
From the three time estimates tp , tm and to , calculate te for each activity. We obtain the
following table:
A - 2 4 6 4
B A 3 6 9 6
C A 8 10 12 10
D B 9 12 15 12
E C 8 9 10 9
F D, E 16 21 26 21
H F 2 5 8 5
I G 1 3 5 3
Using the single time estimates of the activities, we get the following network diagram
for the project.
For variance and standard deviation, calculate for each nodes, then
A project consists of seven activities with the following time estimates. Find the
probability that the project will be completed in 30 weeks or less.
A - 2 5 8
B A 2 3 4
C A 6 8 10
D A 2 4 6
E B 2 6 10
F C 6 7 8
G D, E, F 6 8 10
Solutions :
From the three time estimates , and , calculate for each activity. The results are furnished
in the following table:
With the single time estimates of the activities, the following network diagram is
constructed for the project.
It is noticed that Path II has the maximum time. Therefore the critical path is Path II. i.e., 1
2 4 5 6.
The critical activities are A, C, F and G. The non-critical activities are B, D and E. Project
time = 28 weeks.
𝑥−μ
𝑍 = σ
i.e. There is a 92% chance that the project will be completed before 30 weeks. In other
words, the chance that it will be delayed beyond 30 weeks is 8%
Determine the earliest and latest times, the total float for each activity, the critical
activities and the project completion time
Solutions:
Note :
Task A B C D E F G H I J
Float 0 2 0 11 14 2 0 2 0 0
So path is A - C - G - I - J
Determine the earliest and latest times, the total float for each activity, the critical
activities and the project completion time
Solution :
With the given data, we construct the following network diagram for the project.
Using the above values, we obtain the Earliest Start Times of the activities as follows:
Using the above values, we obtain the Latest Finish Times of the activities as follows:
9.2.1 Cost
Types of cost
Project Cost is the cost of running a project. It primarily involves labor cost, resource cost
and special machinery cost.
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡’𝑠 𝐿𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 + 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 + 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡
If a company wants to launch a new project then it must allocate human resources,
machineries and other resources to it. The overall cost of these materials is project cost.
1) Resource Planning
2) Cost Estimating
3) Cost Budgeting
4) Cost Control
Contingency reserve is often used to reduce the risk from these problems
Cost Aggregation
- The act of combining all of our individual cost estimates into a single, total
number that represents your project's spending is known as cost aggregation.
- Benefits of cost aggregation
- View costs across different partners, countries, and platforms
- Defeat fragmented cost data
- Give a clear and correct picture of ROI
- Give a clear and correct picture of ROI
Cost baseline
- approved budget (broken into a list of salaries, materials, etc.)
- used to measure and monitor cost performance.
- Inputs for cost baseline
- WBS
- Task Schedule
- Cost Estimates
- Risk Management Plan
Benefits of EVM
1. EVM is an Excellent Measure of Progress
2. EVM Enables Accurate Forecasting
3. EVM Supports Management by Exception
4. EVM Promotes Good Project Management Disciplines
5. EVM is Cost Effective
Terms to understand
In order to identify variances, first of all we should understand the following basic terms:
Cost Variance
Cost variance (CV) is the difference of Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (earned value)
minus Actual Cost of Work Performed. It can be expressed as:
Schedule Variance
Schedule variance (SV) is the difference of Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (earned
value) minus Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule. It can be expressed as:
2) Schedule Performance
Schedule performance can be obtained by dividing earned value (BCWP) by
Budgeted Cost of Work Schedule, which can be expressed as:
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃
𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑆
9.5 Examples
Example 9.5.1
A project was scheduled for the time of 20 days . The estimated cost of the project is
Rs 500,000. At the end of 5th day , evaluation is done and it is identified that 25% of
work was accomplished but Rs 130,000 cost has been incurred (used). Now calculate
the cost and duration required for completing the remaining works?
Solution:
a) Budget Cost of work Schedule (BCWS)
Planned expenditure in 20 days = Rs 500,000, then
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = 𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑆
=1
𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 20
Revised Schedule (Duration) = 𝑆𝑃𝐼
= 1
= 20 days
ii) Cost Variance (CV) = BCWP - ACWP = 125,000 - 130,000 = -5000, it means
budget overrun.
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃 125,000
Cost Performance Index (CPI) = 𝐴𝐶𝑊𝑃
= 130,000
= 0.96 < 1
Example 9.5.2
When 125 m3 of concrete was to be done in 10 days at the cost of Rs 1,250,000 at the
end of 3rd day, it managed to complete 40m3 of concrete with expenses of Rs
375,000. Find EVM and comment on the performance.
Solutions:
40
Work Completed = 125
= 0.32
iii) Schedule Variance (SV) = BCWP - BCWS = 400,000 - 375,000 = 25000, under
budget
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃 400,000
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) = 𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑆
= 375,000
= 1. 067 > 1, ahead
the schedule
𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 10
Revised Schedule (Duration) = 𝑆𝑃𝐼
= 1.067
= 9.36 days
iv) Cost Variance (CV) = BCWP - ACWP = 400,000 - 375,000 = 25,000, it means
under budget.
𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑃 400,000
Cost Performance Index (CPI) = 𝐴𝐶𝑊𝑃
= 375,000
= 1.067 > 1
Example 9.5.3
50 units of plantation have to be done in a two weeks period. Per unit cost of
plantation is estimated as Rs. 200 of which progress monitoring was done one week
after the work was started. Only 40 % work was found completed and the account
record showed that the actual expenditure (cost) for plantation per unit was Rs. 250.
Solution:
Here,
Now,
Cost variance (CV) = BCWP – ACWP = 4000 – 5000 = - 1000 (Indicating cost overrun)
Number of the key parameters used in variance analysis is the same as BCWP.
Earned value is a forecasting variable used to predict whether the project will finish over or
under the budget.
= 4000/5000 = 0.80
= 4000/5000 = 0.80
Since the cost performance is 0.80, the final cost would be ( 50 units * Rs 200)/0.80 = Rs.
12500 (instead of estimated Rs. 10,000)
Since the schedule performance is 0.80, the time it requires for completion would be:
2 weeks/0.80 = 2.5 weeks (instead of scheduled time 2 weeks)
We can graphically present both the cost and schedule variances by using S – Curve, which is
also used as one of the effective tools in project control.
Example 9.5.4
Solution:
10.1 Quality
Quality refers to how good something is compared to other similar things. In other
words, its degree of excellence.
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡
Quality = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
Common misconceptions:
- Quality is difficult to define, but you can recognize it when you see it
- Quality is expensive
- Quality is craftsmanship
- Quality is luxury
- Quality is in short supply
Project quality includes all activities of the overall management function that determine
the
- quality policy, objectives, and responsibilities and implement them by means such
as
- planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement, within the
quality system.
1) Value : Before you start identifying and eliminating waste, you need to define
what’s valuable for the customer. Then remove all the unnecessary work and
components associated with it.
2) Process improvement as removing unnecessary work leads to improved
production lead time
3) Map the value stream : This principle involves recording and analyzing the flow
of information or materials required to produce a specific product or service with
the intent of identifying waste and methods of improvement.
4) Create flow : Eliminate functional barriers and identify ways to improve lead time
5) Pursue perfection with continual process improvement, or Kaizen.
Principles of Kaizen
The faster you make a product to increase risk, the higher the risk of poor quality. While,
quality can be determined by the Call Center regarding customer services.
Higher Quality goods take more time and labour and higher quality raw material to
produce. So a drive to greater productivity almost always means a cut of quality.
ISO international standards are by far the most widely accepted set of quality standards
in the world. ISO 9001:2015 specifies the requirements for a quality management system
that businesses can use to develop their own quality agenda.
- the remaining ISO 9000 family, including ISO 9000 and ISO 9004
- the ISO 14000 family for environmental management systems
- ISO 13485 for medical devices
- ISO 19011 for auditing management systems
- ISO/TS 16949 for automotive-related products
Cost of quality or COQ is defined as estimation for prevention, detection and elimination
of defects to improve product quality. Cost of quality includes the cost of conformance
and non-conformance.
- Conformance : cost for providing products that meet requirements and fitness for
use
- Non-conformance : cost for taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality
expectations
A Quality Management plan should describe how the project management team will
implement its quality policy. The quality management plan should address following
attributes:
1) Responsibility of management
2) Document management
3) Requirement scope
4) Design control
5) Testing and quality assurance
6) Quality audits
7) Training requirements
1) Planning : Planning begins with the preparation of a plan, which will guide the
execution of the audit.
2) Preparation: This is the moment when the auditors can learn more about the
company’s QMS, taking a closer look at the system documentation.
3) Execution : The execution of audits takes place with the collection of information,
which determines quality standards.
4) Conclusion and Follow up: Once the audit is completed, the “real” work begins.
The audit team meets to review problem areas and to determine
recommendations for correcting quality problems.
10.3.3.1 Flowchart
10.3.3.2 Runchart
A run chart is a line graph of data plotted over time. It displays the history and pattern of
variation of process over time. By collecting and charting data over time, you can find
trends or patterns in the process.
Because they do not use control limits, run charts cannot tell you if a process is stable.
However, they can show you how the process is running. The run chart can be a
valuable tool at the beginning of a project, as it reveals important information about a
process before you have collected enough data to create reliable control limits.
It helps to show if there is a relationship between two variables. A scatter diagram (Also
known as scatter plot, scatter graph, and correlation chart) is a tool for analyzing
relationships between two variables for determining how closely the two variables are
related.
One variable is plotted on the horizontal axis and the other is plotted on the vertical axis.
The pattern of their intersecting points can graphically show relationship patterns.
A fishbone diagram is a tool that can help you perform a cause and effect analysis for a
problem you are trying to solve. This type of analysis enables you to discover the root
cause of a problem. This tool is also called a cause and effect diagram or Ishikawa
The right side of the diagram lists the effect. The effect is written as the problem
statement for which you are trying to identify the causes.
3) Brainstorm Causes :
4) Categorize Causes :
-
5) Determine Deeper Causes :
6) Identify Root Causes :
- The final step for creating a fishbone diagram is to identify the root causes
of the problem. This can be done in several ways…
- Look for causes that appear repeatedly
- Select using group consensus methods
- Select based on frequency of occurrence
- Seven run rule states that if seven data points in a row are all below the mean,
above the mean, or are all increasing or decreasing, then the process needs to be
examined for non-random problems.
- It is useful for checking data patterns.
- Checking data patterns can be done by using quality control charts and the seven
run rule.
1. Top management
2. Training needs
3. Customer orientation
4. Involvement of employees
5. Corporate culture
6. Tools and techniques
7. Continuous improvements
1) Pareto chart
2) Scatter plot
3) Control chart
1) Unit Test – To test each individual component to ensure they are defect free
2) Web Test – Series of HTTP request for testing websites
3) Integration Testing – Occurs between unit and system testing to test functionally
grouped components
4) System Testing – Tests entire system as one entity
5) Load Testing – Used for stress testing for various load setting, network type and
client configurations
6) User Acceptance Testing – Performed by the end user prior to accepting the
delivered system
1) Initial
- At maturity level 1, processes are usually ad hoc and chaotic.
- The organization usually does not provide a stable environment.
- Maturity level 1 organizations often produce products and services that
work; however, they frequently exceed the budget and schedule of their
projects.
2) Managed
- The projects of the organization have ensured that requirements are
managed and that processes are planned, performed, measured, and
controlled.
- At maturity level 2, requirements, processes, work products, and services
are managed
3) Defined
- At maturity level 3, an organization has achieved all the specific and
generic goals of the process areas assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3.
- At maturity level 3, processes are well characterized and understood, and
are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods.
4) Quantitatively Managed
- At maturity level 4, an organization has achieved all the specific goals of
the process areas assigned to maturity levels 2, 3, and 4 and the generic
goals assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3.
- At maturity level 4 Subprocesses are selected that significantly contribute
to overall process performance.
- These selected subprocesses are controlled using statistical and other
quantitative techniques.
5) Optimizing
- At maturity level 5, an organization has achieved all the specific goals of
the process areas assigned to maturity levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 and the generic
goals assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3.
- Processes are continually improved based on a quantitative understanding
of the common causes of variation inherent in processes.
Benefits are:
- Keep remote workers in the loop
- Boost overall productivity
- Easier to convince people.
- Improve communication reliability
- Improve value and reduce redundancy
- Stronger Connections.
- Quicker and more effective.
- Better non-verbal understanding.
- A traceability matrix helps the team to visualize the relationships among various
elements of the system and the requirements.
- It enables the study of the impact of proposed changes on the system when
required.
11.2.1 Terms
1) Risk Tolerance - The amount of acceptable risk
2) Risk Averse - Someone that does not want to take risks
3) Risk Factors
a) Probability of occurrence
b) Range of possible outcomes
c) Expected timing of event
d) Anticipated frequency of risk events from that source
It is all about
1) Planning
- Planning risk management
- Identifying risks
- Performing qualitative and quantitative risk analysis
- Planning & Implementing risk responses
2) Controlling and Monitoring : Controlling risk
Risk Register
- A risk register is a tool in risk management and project management. It is used to
identify potential risks in a project or an organization,
- Contains the outcomes of the risk management processes as they are conducted.
- Risk register contains:
- List of identified risks
- List of potential responses
- Root causes of risk
- Updated risk categories
- Risk database is the electronic form of risk register.
- Checklist could be used for the identification process.
Risk Register includes:
a) Risk identification ID: Risk name or ID
b) Risk description: A brief explanation of the risk.
c) Risk categories: There are many risk categories that can impact a project
such as schedule, budget, technical and external risks.
d) Risk analysis: The purpose of risk analysis is to determine the probability
and impact of a risk. You can either do a qualitative risk analysis or a
quantitative risk analysis.
e) Risk probability: You’ll need to estimate the likelihood of each risk and
assign a qualitative or quantitative value.
f) Risk priority: The risk priority is determined by assigning a risk score to
each risk, which is obtained by multiplying the risk impact and probability
values. If you’re using qualitative measurements, you’ll need to prioritize
risks with the highest impact and highest probability.
Risk
2
A watch list is a list of risks that are low priority, but are still identified as potential risks
RE = P * C : where, P is probability and C is cost to the project should the risk occur
2 It prioritizes risks according to their Deals only with the risks marked for
potential effect on the project. further analysis by qualitative risk
analysis
3 Complex as it does not involve Direct calculating methods and tools are
straightforward math available making the process simple
7 Risk is ranked between 0 to 1 Risk closer to 1 ranking are taken first and
calculation is done to predict the project
outcome based on the effects of risk
Example: Find RE, if Risk Chance = 70%, Risk probability = 80% (assume), Risk Impact =
60 components were there i.e. 70% of 60 = 42, so, 18 components to be built.
Solutions:
If components = 100 LOC and LOC cost = Rs 100, then
Overall cost = 18*100*100 = Rs 180,000
Now, Risk Exposure (RE) = 80% of 180000 = Rs 144,000
Decision Tree
- A decision tree, also known as a decision tree analysis, is a diagram that will help
to identify outcomes due to a collection of related choices.
- They are used for EVM study.
11.4 Terms
1) Residual Risks
- It is the risks that still remain after all of the response strategies have been
implemented.
- E.g., even though a stable hardware product may have been used on a
project, there may still be a risk that it fails to function properly.
2) Secondary Risks
- It is the direct result of implementing a risk response.
- E.g., using the more stable hardware may have caused a risk of peripheral
devices failing to function properly.
Procurement Processes
1) Planning purchases and acquisitions: decide what to buy, when to buy it, and
how
2) Planning contracting: Describe the requirements for the goods or services you're
looking for, then find potential suppliers or dealers.
3) Requesting seller responses: obtain information, quotes, bids, offers, or
proposals from sellers, as appropriate
4) Selecting sellers: choose the potential suppliers through a process of evaluating
potential sellers and negotiate the contract
5) Administering the contract: manage the relationship with the selected seller
6) Closing the contract: complete and settle each contract, including resolving any
open items
- It is the process that identifies the different project needs that could be
purchased.
- This process involves considering what to acquire, how much to acquire, how to
do so, and when to acquire. However, before doing so, we must decide whether
or not to buy.
- It’s a part of Project Planning.
- OPA are valuable information, documents and knowledge tools that the
organization accumulates over time.
- OPA are simply the lessons learned from the past.
- An organization gradually gains and develops more Organizational Process
Assets as it gets involved in various projects.
- Includes Procurement (purchase) history of the organization
Contract
- A contract is a mutually binding agreement that forces the seller to provide the
specified products or services and forces the buyer to pay for them.
- Since contracts are legally binding, there is more responsibility to deliver the work
as stated in the contract
Types of Contracts
Standard Forms
It includes standard contracts, standard descriptions of procurement(purchase) items,
non-disclosure agreements, proposal evaluation criteria checklists, standardized
versions of all parts of the needed bid documents.
Evaluation Criteria
Evaluation Criteria are the borderlines that are developed and used to rate or score
proposals. Evaluation Criteria are often included as a part of procurement documents.
Bidder Conferences
- These are the meetings with vendors.
- These gatherings take place before a bid or proposal is prepared.
- They are used to ensure that all prospective sellers have a clear common
understanding of procurement.
- Its goals are to provide equal chances to all potential sellers, treat people with
consideration and respect, understand what motivates them, and communicate
carefully with them.
Advertising
- Advertising in newspapers or specialized media like professional journals can
frequently increase the size of already-existing lists of potential vendors.
- While designing and producing an advertisement, advertisement writing style can
be defined in order to achieve the following objectives:
- Get attention, Gain interest, Create desire, and Get action
Conducting Procurements
- Deciding whom to ask to do the work
- Sending appropriate documentation to potential sellers
- Obtaining proposals or bids
- Selecting a seller
- Awarding a contract
Contract Negotiation
- It makes the contract's requirements and organizational structure clear so that
both parties can agree on them before the contract is signed.
- Ensures that the seller performs according to the terms of the contract
- Since contracts are legal agreements, it is important that legal and contract
experts participate in their formation and management.
- Project managers and team members must keep an eye out for positive change
orders.
Procurement Audits
Closed Contracts
- The buyer officially informs the seller in writing that the contract has been fulfilled,
usually through its approved contract administrator.
- Generally, formal contract closing requirements are specified in the contract's
terms and would be covered by the contract management plan.
14.1.1 PRINCE2
- Projects in Controlled Environments was originally developed for IT projects.
- PRINCE2 has eight process groups:
1) Starting up a project
2) Planning
3) Initiating a project
4) Directing a project
5) Controlling a stage
6) Managing product delivery
7) Managing stage boundaries
8) Closing a project
Inception
- Requirements are gathered.
- Feasibility study and scope of project is determined.
- Actors and their interactions are analyzed.
Elaboration
- Project plan is developed.
- Risk assessment is performed.
- Non-functional requirements are elaborated.
- Software architecture is described.
- Use case model is completed.
Construction
- All the components are developed and integrated.
Transition
- Software product is launched to the user.
- Deployment baseline should be complete.
- Final product should be released.
DMAIC methodology
1) Define :
- This step is used to figure out the business problem, what the goal is, the
potential resources, the project scope and the timeline for completion.
2) Measure :
- The team will then make the determination on what will be measured and
how.
- The better the data, the better this system performs.
DMADV methodology
1) Initial
- At maturity level 1, processes are usually ad hoc and chaotic.
- The organization usually does not provide a stable environment.
- Maturity level 1 organizations often produce products and services that
work; however, they frequently exceed the budget and schedule of their
projects.
- The knowledge and abilities of people are promoted and further developed.
- In the process, personal interests, career development and self-development are
supported.
Empowerment
- People work in an environment that allows them and motivates them to apply
their skills, talents and creativity for the success of the project.
- They act in coordination, are involved and empowered towards taking initiative.
The balanced scorecard directs you to develop metrics, set objectives, and gather and
analyze data for each of the viewpoints.
As a result, scorecard provides an effective method for measuring and analyzing the
implementation of a plan ensuring the better quality of the project.
1) Cocomo Model
Cocomo (Constructive Cost Model) is a regression model based on LOC, i.e number of
Lines of Code. COCOMO predicts the efforts and schedule of a software product based
on the size of the software.
Such software requires a larger team size than the other two models and also the
developers need to be sufficiently experienced and creative to develop such
complex models.
There are different types of charts used in project management. The tornado diagram is
a special bar chart that is used in sensitivity analysis.
The sensitivity analysis is a modeling technique that determines which risks have the
most impact on the project. The tornado diagram is used to compare the importance
(relative) of different variables.
- The tornado diagram is one of the methods used to display the sensitivity
analysis.
- It is used to compare the relative importance and impact of variables with a high
degree of uncertainty and stability.
This particular bar chart has a tornado-like form because the risk data categories are
arranged vertically, from largest to smallest, on horizontal bars.
For this particular chart, the Y-axis contains uncertain variables at their base values while
The correlation between known and uncertain results is shown on the X-axis.