Project

Management
  “A project is a temporary endeavor
Definition undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result.”
Project Vs
Operation
s
Necessity of
project
management
Triple
constraint
s
Phase Gate in Project
Management

The product development process starts with an idea originating from basic research, seed or

unfounded projects, customer-based techniques, and creativity techniques.

● A phase-gate process (also referred to as a stage-gate process) is a project management

technique in which an initiative or project is divided into distinct stages or phases, separated by

decision points (known as gates).

● Decisions regarding the continuity of product development are taken at certain decision points

termed “gates”

● Continuation is decided by (typically) a manager, steering committee, or governance board.

 The various stages given in the conventional
model are
 ● Scoping (Preliminary Analysis Phase)
 ● Build Business Case
 ● Development
 ● Testing and Validation
 ● Launch
 There are 5 stages and normally a gate after
every stage. There is also a
 zeroth stage called Discovery (Ideation Phase)
and a 6th stage called a
 Post-Launch Review.
Discovery

 Every project is kickstarted with a preliminary ideation phase. It’s

during this phase that the project actually starts to take shape.
 Stakeholders will gather into breakout sessions and participate in
group
 brainstorming meetings.
 Inspiration can come from anywhere.
 Once the idea becomes more concrete, key stakeholders will
gather and discuss the resources needed, the project scope and
the financial buy-in required to make this project a success.
 The criteria in this gate revolve around the suitability in
the company and the feasibility of the idea.
 The pre-construction phase.

● The company now has a new product/business opportunity in

mind with an outline on how to achieve

● Identifying strengths and weaknesses of the product will help

stakeholders take a 360-degree view of the new project.

Scoping ● Determine risk factors.

● Examine how detrimental a product launch could mean for your

place in the market,

● The end of every phase is the opportunity to have leadership

decide on whether or not to kill the project or continue forward.

● This gate, customer needs and technical requirements

need to be specified
Business Plan
 This phase is typically resource-intensive and includes
four key steps:
 ● Define & Analyze Your Product:
 − Considers research from Phase 1 and include data such
as target demographics, if this fills a customer need
currently unmet by anyone else on the market, etc.
 ● Build your Business Case:
 − defining your product and the reason for building it.
 ● Build your Project Plan: Think of this as a project plan
within a project plan.
 − This includes a list of tasks, resources, a timeline, etc.
 ● Review the Feasibility:
 − Consider all risks and assess the resources, time and
money needed to make this project happen successfully,
and review if it’s possible.
 − This gate requires detailed information about
market, technical aspects and costs as well as
potential risks and suitability to corporate strategy
 This is where all key
The dev team starts The copy team starts
stakeholders and
developing writing, and
investors get started.

It’s in this phase where

all the details of the
project have been
Development The design team starts
designing.
mostly ironed out, and
the product really
also known as the
prototype phase.
starts to take shape.
This is

During this stage the

financial estimations
A final product
are also updated to be
specification
more relevant before
the next gate.
  This phase effectively acts as the quality
Testing & assurance phase.

Validation  ● Bugs are ironed out; edits are made to the

prototype, and final touches are
 made on all design and copy.
 ● It’s also in this phase where you can do
some light market/field testing.
 ● Get a group together of people unrelated
to the company and have them
 test out the user experience of the product
that you’re building out.
Launch

 After all of the stakeholders have signed

off on the
 product, everything has been tested for
quality assurance,
 and the product is launched,
 ● The product managers and leadership
review the success
 of the phase-gate process.
 − What were the successes of the
product?
 − What were areas that could be
improved upon both on a
 team-specific level and a company-wide
level?
Managing the project team is an ongoing
responsibility of the project manager. The
team is monitored to make sure they’re
working productively and that there are no
internal conflicts, so everyone is satisfied.
conflict or
negotiation
 A conflict or negotiation situation is one in which
there is a conflict of interests or what one wants
isn't necessarily what the other wants and where
both sides prefer to search for solutions, rather than
giving in or breaking-off contact.
 There can be positive and negative outcomes as
seen in the box below. It can be destructive but can
also play a productive role for you personally and for
your relationships-both personal and professional.
The important point is to manage the conflict, not to
suppress conflict and not to let conflict escalate out
of control. Many of us seek to avoid conflict when it
arises but there are many times when we should use
conflict as a critical aspect of creativity and
motivation.
  Opposing interests (or what we think are opposing interests) are at the
core of most conflicts.
 In a modern complex society, we confront these situations many
times a day.
 The modern organization adds a whole new group of potential causes
of conflict that are already present:
  competition over scarce resources, time

Major 


 ambiguity over responsibility and authority:
 differences in perceptions, work styles, attitudes, communication

Causes of
problems, individual differences
  increasing interdependence as boundaries between individuals and
groups become increasingly blurred

Conflict   reward systems: we work in situations with complex and often

contradictory incentive systems
  differentiation: division of labor which is the basis for any
organization causes people and groups to see situations differently
and have different goals
  equity vs. equality: continuous tension exists between equity (the
belief that we should be rewarded relative to our relative
contributions) and equality (belief that everyone should receive the
same or similar outcomes).
PMI

 PMBOK stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge.

It is a set of standard terminology and guidelines for project
management published and updated by The Project Management
Institute (PMI).
PM knowledge areas as per Project
Management Institute (PMI)

• 1. Project Integration Management

• 2. Project Scope Management
• 3. Project Time Management
• 4. Project Cost Management
• 5. Project Quality Management
• 6. Project Human Resource Management
• 7. Project Communications Management
• 8. Project Risk Management
• 9. Project Procurement Management
• 10. Project Stakeholder Management
 What holds a project together?
That would be
project integration management,
which includes such fundamental
plans as developing a project
charter that is created during the
initiation phase. This is the
document that sets up the project
Project Integr and assigns the project manager.

ation Manage Another aspect of this area is the

ment project management plan, which is
developed as a project roadmap
for the project to reach a
successful end. Once created, the
project plan is approved by
stakeholders and/or sponsors, and
then it’s monitored and tracked
through a change log as the
project progresses.
Project management plan
2. Project Scope Management

Scope relates to the work of the project. So, that includes plan scope management, which is
part of the project management plan. It also is when a detailed requirement for the final product
or service is collected.

You’ll also need to define scope in a scope statement. This is anything from a sentence to a
bulleted list that is comprehensive to reduce major project risks. And a
work breakdown structure (WBS), which is a graphic breakdown of project work, is another part
of this area.
Validate scope during the project, which means making sure that the deliverables are being
approved regularly by the sponsor or stakeholder. This occurs during the monitoring and
controlling process groups and is about accepting the deliverables, not the specs laid out during
planning.
The scope statement is likely going to change over the course of the project to control the
scope, such as if a project falls behind schedule.
  Project time management is, time consuming. The project is
divided into tasks, which are scheduled with start dates and
deadlines, as well as budgets for each task. And things are
constantly changing over the phases of any project, which
means revising these things often.
 This involves plan schedule management, which involves
creating a schedule for the project and determining who is
responsible for what. That means defining activities, which is not
the same as making a WBS, but similar. So, you create a task list
that touches on every aspect of the project.
3. Project
Time  These tasks are then put in an order that makes sense, and any
dependencies between them is noted. These dependencies are
then determined to be either finish-to-start (FS), finish-to-finish
Management (FF), start-to-start (SS) or start-to-finish (SF). This is mostly for
larger projects.
 With the tasks now sequenced, the resources required for each
must be estimated and assigned. The duration of each task is
also determined at this point. All this will lead to a schedule by
first figuring out the critical path and float for each task. Use a
Gantt chart to place the tasks on a timeline, and then work on
resource leveling to balance resource usage.
 Once the schedule is made, plan to control the schedule are
necessary. Earned value management is performed regularly to
make sure that the actual plan is proceeding as it had been
planned.
  This area involves the project budget, which
4. Project Cost means having good estimating tools to make
sure that the funds cover the extent of the
Management project and are being monitored regularly to
keep stakeholders or sponsors informed.

 Plan cost management will determine the

method to establish the budget, which
includes how and if it will change and what
procedures will be used to control it. Each
task will have to be estimated for cost, which
means including all resources such as labor,
materials, equipment and anything else
needed to complete the task.
 This will determine the project budget, once
you take all the task costs and combine
them. Then comes the need to control those
cost through an earned value analysis. This
is performed regularly throughout the project
to make sure the estimated costs are in line
with actual expenditures.
5. Project Quality
Management
 A project can come in on time and within budget, but if the
quality is not up to the standard set, then the project is a failure.
Plan quality management is part of the overall project
management plan, though it can be a standalone document if it
contains the quality specs for the product or service.
 The process needs to include quality assurance, which is just a
way to make sure that quality standards are being met.
Therefore, to control quality, the deliverables must be inspected
to make sure that those standards outlined in the quality
management plan are being met.
6. Project Human
Resource
Management
 The project team is your most important
resource, so it’s crucial to assemble the
best team and to make sure they’re
happy. But also you need to track their
performance to ensure that the project
is progressing as planned. A human
resource management plan will identify
their roles and their requirements for
those positions, as well as how they fit
in the overall project structure.
 After you’ve determined the job
descriptions, it’s time to fill those
positions and acquire a project team.
This can be done in-house by drawing
from other departments in the
organization, by getting new hires or by
a combination of both. The team needs
development, possibly training and
other things that will make them viable
for the project.
7. Project Communications
Management
All areas of project management are important, but
communication management might be paramount as it informs every aspect of
the project. Communications inform the team and stakeholders, therefore the
need to plan communications management is a critical step in any project.
Related: Free Communication Plan Template
It is at this point that the dissemination of communications is determined,
including how it’s done and with what frequency. Target who needs what and
when. Also, note how communications will occur when issues arise in the
project, such as changes.
Manage the communications when the project is executed to make sure it runs
as planned. This will also involve controlling communications by reviewing their
effectiveness regularly and adjusting as needed.
8. Project Risk Management

 Risk management plans will identify how the risks will be itemized,
categorized and prioritized. This involves identifying risks that might
occur during the execution of the project by making a risk register.
 Perform qualitative risk analysis after the biggest risks have been
identified and classified by likelihood and impact. Then prioritize
them. Then perform quantitative analysis according to their impact
on the project, such as its budget, schedule, etc.
 Now you’ll need to plan risk responses. If those risks in fact become
issues, then a response needs to have been written in advance, with
an owner who can make sure the risk is properly identified and
handled. Controlling risk involves regularly reviewing the risk register
and crossing off those risks that are no longer going to impact the
project.
9. Project Procurement
Management
 This deals with outside procurement, which is part of most
projects, such as hiring subcontractors. This will obviously have
an impact on the budget and schedule. Planning
procurement management starts by identifying the outside needs
of the project and how those contractors will be involved.
 Now conduct those procurements by hiring the contractors,
which includes a statement of work, terms of reference, request
for proposals and choosing a vendor. You’ll want to control the
procurement process by managing and monitoring, and then
closing the contracts once the work has been done to everyone’s
satisfaction.
 10. Project Stakeholder
Management

 The stakeholders must be happy, as the project has been created for their
needs. Therefore, they must be actively managed like any other part of
the project. To start one must identify the stakeholders through
stakeholder analysis. It’s not always easy, but it’s a crucial part of starting
any project, so find out who they are and what concerns they have.
 Now plan stakeholder management, which means listing each stakeholder
and prioritizing what their concerns are and how they might impact the
project. This will lead to managing stakeholders’ expectations to make
sure their needs are met and that you’re in communication with them.
 Throughout the project, control stakeholder engagement. Do this by
determining if the stakeholders’ needs are being addressed. If not, figure
out what changes need to be made to either satisfy those needs or adjust
the expectations.
PM organisation structure