Project Management in Today’s Time

Lesson 1

This lesson will allow you to be familiar with the realities surrounding projects and projects
management. Nowadays, creating a project is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Frequently, a
business is confronted with making a change to cope up with the latest trends of businesses.

Project
A complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources, and performance
specifications designed to meet customer needs.
It is specific and unique with a specific deliverable aimed at meeting a specific need or purpose.
It is a temporary unique group activity intended to meet specific objectives with constraints and
requirements in scope, budget, schedule, resources, performance factors, and value designed to
meet customer needs.

▪ It has an established objective (purpose)

▪ It has a defined life span with a beginning and an end (life
cycle)
▪ It requires the involvement of several departments
(interdependencies)
▪ Involves doing something never been done before.
(Uniqueness)
▪ It has a specific time, budget, resources, performance, and
value-added requirements (measurable)

Deliverable
It is the measurable and tangible outcome or result of the completion of the project or the end of
the project’s life cycle.
Forms of deliverables

1. Hardware deliverables – these are items like a table, prototype, or a piece of

equipment
2. Software deliverables – these are items like reports, studies, handouts, and
documents
3. Interim deliverables – these are items that could be hardware or software and
gradually advances as the project progresses

Classifications of a Project

1. Compliance – it is a “must” project to meet the new requirements enforced by

management itself and regulating bodies like the government. Penalties await non-
compliance.
 2. Emergency – it is a “must-do” project that is required to meet an emergency
condition. If not done will impair the operation and will not be able to fulfill the core
competencies of the firm.
3. Mission Critical – it is a project critical to the mission of the firm. If not
accomplished shall cause an immediate and unacceptable negative impact on the
business.
4. Operational – it is necessary in order to give support to the present
operations like delivery system upgrading for efficiency, product costs cutback and
performance enhancement.
5. Strategic – a project that is vital to support the long-term mission of increasing
revenue and market share.

Project Life Cycle

It is a compilation of commonly sequential project phases from the time it is originally envisioned
until the time it is either make use of as a success or discarded as a failure.

1. Conceive / Initiation / Defining – in this stage, the preliminary objective and

technical specifications for the project is developed; the scope of work is decided.
2. Planning – during this phase all comprehensive specifications, schematics, schedule,
and other plans are developed; the individual pieces of the project are broken down;
individuals’ assignments are prepared, and the process of completion clearly
described.
3. Execution – in this phase the actual work of the project is executed, the system
developed, or the product created or constructed.
4. Transfer/delivery/closure – this phase occurs when the project is completed and
transferred to the customers, its resources reassigned and the project formally ends.

Five components of a project that might vary over the course of its life cycle that may
pose challenges.

1. Client interest – the intensity of eagerness or concern by the project’s intended

internal or external clients.
 2. Project stake – the amount of investment by the organization in the project
3. Resources – the commitment of financial, human, and technical resources
4. Creativity – it is the level of innovation needed by the project principally at some point
in the development stages.
5. Uncertainty – the degree of risk related to the project.

Project Attributes
A set of descriptive features and restrictions of a project that describe significant information
regarding the project and communicate it to different stakeholders.
Some attributes that characterize the project:

1. Importance – the project must be significant enough to the top management in order
to rationalize putting up a unique organizational unit beyond the routine structure of
the organization.
2. Scope – a project is a one-time activity that has a detailed set of desired outcomes.
3. Life span with a fixed deadline – a project has a life cycle.
4. Interdependencies – a project is interrelated with other projects being undertaken at
the same time by the parent organization.
5. Uniqueness – no two projects are exactly the same due to some degree of
customization.
6. Resources – the majority of the resources required of a project have a restricted
budget.

Primary Goals of a Project

1. Conclude the project within the planned timetable.

2. Complete the project within the programmable budget.
3. End the project with an identical level of quality.
4. Terminate the project within the detailed guidelines.
5. Make the best of the task that has been given.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The science and art in the application of knowledge, skills, and techniques to execute projects
effectively and efficiently toward the accomplishment of its goals and objectives.
Some contributing factors why use project management:

1. Shorten product life cycle

In today’s generation, many industries are highly technical where product life-cycle ranges from
one to three years. That’s why the time to market products with a shorter life cycle is of great
essence. Speed is now a source of competitive advantage.

2. Worldwide competition

The demands of the market are quality products and services in a reasonable amount. So many
organizations today are using quality management and improvement to achieve better results in
doing business. Project management is employed with a focus on time, cost, and performance.

3. New knowledge bang

As time progresses, projects are becoming more complex and advanced. In today’s digital age of
divergent technologies, materials, specifications, codes, aesthetics, equipment, and required
specialists add more to product complexity.

4. Organizational rightsizing

Lately, it is necessary for survival to dramatically restructure the organization's life. The trend
now is flatter and leaner organizations replacing middle management with project management
to make things completed. Nowadays, outsourcing important parts of project work is a business
style.
5. Enhanced focus on customer
Customer satisfaction is the objective of every business. Customers demand customized
products and services that provide for their individualized needs and requests. Project
management is important in the development of more customized products and services.

6. Small projects mean big troubles

It is a major challenge for management to prioritize resources among projects in the portfolio.
Small projects if done inefficiently will soon add up to a huge amount of money.

Limitation of project management (Some):

1. Failure to “stick” with the project scope

2. Failure to completely make parallel the project objectives with the
business/organizational strategy
3. Failure to administer projects with an unstipulated budget and/or schedule
4. Reliance on functional management
5. Pursuing an exclusive methodology

Advantages of Project Management

The first and foremost advantage is the fact that a particular project is handled by a separate
project manager as he or she will concentrate only on that particular project that makes it more
likely to achieve success.
Project management helps the company in achieving efficiency when it comes to capital, labor,
and other operational related expenses as it keeps a close watch on all the activities of the
project which in turn helps the management in identifying the areas which are revenue leaking
and helps the company in saving a lot of capital.
It helps the company in developing managerial qualities in talented people by assigning them
first small projects and then big projects which in turn create a favorable atmosphere in the
company where people know that there is ample scope for growth.
Project management creates a system whereby workflow is measured and accounted for,
ensuring that resources are used judiciously in fulfilling the goals of the project. This type of
planning establishes expectations for staffers, provides clear directives, and builds in procedures
for quickly addressing unexpected outcomes.
Managing projects from start to finish can help control project costs and help a project
manager retain control over his budget, identifying problems or issues before they turn into
roadblocks. This can also help a business ensure on-time delivery, retain satisfied customers,
and project an image of competence and professionalism.
Effective project managers make determinations about appropriate staffing and team
formation in the early stages of project planning. This can help ensure the right people with the
most appropriate skill sets are assigned to tasks within the project, allowing the company to use
its human resources judiciously and effectively.

Disadvantages of Project Management

The biggest disadvantage of project management is that sometimes it leads to overlapping of
authority and responsibility between the top management and project management where they
have different plans in mind which lead to confusion among the team members of the project
and further project suffering.
The possibility that there is no competent staff to carry the responsibility of the project
manager and if management selects incompetent staff then the project will be a failure leading to
losses for the company.
Another limitation of project management is that suppose the company is working on 10
projects simultaneously then it will require 10 project managers to handle those projects which
are not possible if the company is small and ultimately all projects are handled by either a single
project manager or top management itself and thus limiting the use of project management.
Overhead. Project Management presents 3 types of overhead: cost overhead, communication
overhead, and time overhead. Cost overhead: Project Management (that includes hiring, training,
etc.) costs money. Communication overhead: Instead of having the information flow directly from
functional managers down to the team members and back up, it’s all funneled through the
Project Manager. Time Overhead: The communication overhead stated above is one cause of time
overhead. For example, once the requirements are discovered to be false, the team members
have to scrap the implemented part based on the wrong requirements, the Project Manager has
to re-gather the requirements, and finally pass them again to team members for implementation.
Additionally, Project Managers can never accurately assess the length of any task and pad their
estimates so that they won’t wind up with a late project.
Obsession. Methodology obsession: Instead of just “getting the project done”, some Project
Managers become so closed and so protective of their own methodology that they refuse to
experiment with another one that might be faster and better for their current project. Process
obsession: Quite a few Project Managers hinder the progress of the project with their obsession
for sticking to the process because of Insecurity and Fear of loss of control. Stakeholder
obsession: Instead of managing the stakeholders’ expectations, requests, and interference, and
focusing on getting their support, these Project Managers try their best to accommodate the
stakeholders that are costly and needless.
Lackluster Creativity. Strict project management can discourage outside-the-box thinking
and hamper creative efforts. Project teams that experience collective creative block can slow
progress, employ cost overages, and generally take a project off-track. Intervention and
creativity-generating approaches, like brainstorming sessions, may be necessary to refocus the
group.