COMP1770: PROFESSIONAL
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Dr. Aditi Rawal
Assessment Specifications
■ Report (Groupwork) - 100% weighting (3000 words). A case study-
based report that uses project planning and management tool and
techniques to plan for and manage resources.
■ Assesses outcomes 1,2.
1. Demonstrate understanding of and apply project management
techniques in a diversity of computer, information and
communication contexts;
2. Identify and critically discuss risk applicable to projects within
the context
■ You are expected to form groups (3-4 max in a group) from within
the allocated tutorial sessions.
Reading List
Author Title Publisher ISBN
Project Management; Planning and John Wiley & Sons
Burke, Rory ISBN 978-1-118-56125-6
Control Techniques Ltd
Cadle, James and Project Management for Pearson Education
ISBN: 978-1-4058-5933-2
Yeates, D. Information Systems Limited
Meredith, Shafer, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN-10: 1118674669
Project Management in Practice
Mantel and Sutton Inc. ISBN-13: 978-1118674666
Author Title Publisher ISBN
Information Technology Project
Schwalbe, Kathy Cengage Learning ISBN-13: 9781337101356
Management 9th Edition
Project Management: Process, Pearson Education ISBN-10: 0132807181
Vaidyanathan, G.
Technology and Practice Inc ISBN-13: 9780132807180
Kloppenburg, T, ISBN-13: 978-1337406451
Contemporary Project Management.
Anantatmula,V, Cengage Learning
4th Edition.
K.N,Wells, ISBN-10: 1337406457
Introduction to Project Management
Learning Objectives
■ Articulate the growing need for better project
management, especially for information technology (IT)
projects
■ Define project management and discuss key elements of
the project management framework, including project
stakeholders, the project management knowledge areas,
common tools and techniques, and project success
■ Discuss the relationship between project, program, and
portfolio management and the contributions each makes
to enterprise success
What is a Project?
A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result” (PMBOK® Guide, Sixth
Edition, 2017)
Common definition - an organised set of activities to
achieve specific objectives on time and within budget
Projects end when their objectives have been reached or
the project has been terminated
Project management institute - https://www.pmi.org/explore
Modern Definition
■ Projects are
– Engines of change;
– Flexible organising frameworks for executing strategic
initiatives;
– Vehicles of collaboration that unite people and
resources in order to reach important organisational
goals
Source: Terry Schmidt Author of “Strategic Project Management
Made Simple”
Project Management
■ Project management is “the application of knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet
project requirements”
(PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition, 2017)
■ Project managers must have knowledge and skills in all
10 knowledge areas (scope, schedule, cost, quality,
resource, communications, risk, procurement,
stakeholder, and project integration management)
Project Attributes
■ A project
– has a unique purpose
– is temporary
– drives change and enable value creation
– is developed using progressive elaboration
– requires resources, often from various areas
– should have a primary customer or sponsor
– involves a degree of uncertainty
Uncertainty
■ All projects are always carried out under conditions of
uncertainty
– Projects are all about uncertainty
■ Effective project management requires an ability to deal
with uncertainty
■ Projects are complex and include interfaces,
interdependencies, and assumptions, which may turn out
to be wrong
– People add to the uncertainty
Project Constraints
■ Project managers strive
to meet the triple
constraint (project
scope, time, and cost
goals)
■ Facilitate the entire
process to meet the
needs and expectations
of project stakeholders
Project Budgets
■ Project budgeting differs from standard budgeting in the
way budgets are constructed
■ Budgets for non-projects are primarily modifications of
budgets for the same activity in the previous period
■ Project budgets are newly created for each project and
often cover several “budget periods” in the future
Project Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project
activities
Stakeholders include
banks and opponents
the project the project the project
other financial support staff suppliers to the
sponsor institutions manager team project
The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the
project
Project Organizational Structure
■ Routine work of organizations takes place within a well-
defined structure
– The divisions, departments, sections, and similar subdivisions
of the total unit
■ Typical project cannot thrive in this structure
■ The need for technical knowledge, information, and
special skills requires that departmental lines be crossed
– Another way of describing the multidisciplinary character of
projects
Trends
■ Many people and organizations today have a new or
renewed interest in project management
■ Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.4 trillion in
2022, an increase of 4% from 2021, according to the
latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.
(Source: Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to
Reach $4.4 Trillion in 2022)
Insight
■ PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® report revealed an average 11% of
projects were deemed as failures.
■ And organizations that undervalue project management as a
strategic competency for driving change report an average of 67%
more of their projects failing outright.
(Source: Pulse of the Profession 2020. Https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-
leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2020)
Global Issues
■ customer demands are
■ Geopolitical unrest changing rapidly,
■ supply chain woes – forcing companies to
■ a worsening environmental innovate and lean into
crisis approaches that speed
time to market and
■ wildly fluctuating economic maximize ROI
projections
■ serious project talent
shortages
– are all pushing
organizations and their
project teams to the limit.
Source: PMI’s 2021 Pulse of the Profession® survey
The Need - Talent Gap
■ The Project Management Institute reported that the number of jobs
reached almost 66 million in 2017. By 2027, employers will need
87.7 million individuals working in project management–oriented
roles.
■ Demand over the next 10 years for project managers is growing
faster than demand for workers in other occupations.
(Source: PMI - Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017–2027)
■ Globally, a gap between the demand for project management skills
and the availability of talent continues to persist.
(Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/talent-gap-2021Globally)
Careers for IT Project Managers: Top
IT skills and tech skills for 2021
■ IT Support. ...
■ Remote IT Jobs. ...
■ Artificial Intelligence (AI) ...
■ Cybersecurity. ...
■ Project Management. ...
■ Software Development. ...
■ Cloud Computing. ...
■ Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
Source: Technojobs, “Top 10 IT Skills and Tech Skills for 2021” from
https://www.technojobs.co.uk/info/career-advice/top-10-it-skills-and-tech-skills-for-2021.phtml ( accessed
15 September 2021)
Project Management Tools and
Techniques
■ Project management tools and techniques assist project managers
and their teams in various aspects of project management
■ Some specific ones include
– Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
– Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical
chain scheduling (time)
– Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
– MoSCoW prioritization, Timeboxing
Project Success
■ There are several ways to define project success:
– The project met scope, time, and cost goals
– The project satisfied the customer/sponsor
– The results of the project met its main objective, such
as making or saving a certain amount of money,
providing a good return on investment, or simply
making the sponsors happy
Program and Project Portfolio
Management
■ About one-quarter of the world’s gross domestic product
is spent on projects
■ Two important concepts that help projects meet
enterprise goals:
– Use of programs
– Project portfolio management
Programs
A program is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated
manner to obtain benefits and control not available from managing
them individually” (PMBOK® Guide — Sixth Edition, 2017)
As part of project portfolio management, organizations group and
manage projects and programs as a portfolio of investments that
contribute to the entire enterprise’s success
A program manager provides leadership and direction for the project
managers heading the projects within the program
Examples of common programs in the IT field include infrastructure,
applications development, and user support
Project Portfolio Management (2 of 2)
Organizational Project Management
Framework in which portfolio, program, and project management are integrated with organizational enablers
in order to achieve strategic objectives
Project Management Framework
Best Practice
■ A best practice is “an optimal way recognized by industry to achieve a stated
goal or objective”*
■ Robert Butrick suggests that organizations need to follow basic principles of
project management, including these two mentioned earlier:
– Make sure your projects are driven by your strategy. Be able to
demonstrate how each project you undertake fits your business strategy,
and screen out unwanted projects as soon as possible
– Engage your stakeholders. Ignoring stakeholders often leads to project
failure. Be sure to engage stakeholders at all stages of a project, and
encourage teamwork and commitment at all times
■ *Project Management Institute, Organizational Project Management Maturity
Model (OPM3) Knowledge Foundation (2003), p. 13.
The Role of the Project Manager
■ Project managers must work closely with the other stakeholders
on a project, especially the sponsor and project team
■ They are also more effective if they are familiar with the 10 project
management knowledge areas
– And the various tools and techniques related to project
management
More on
these
approaches
next week
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/beyond-agility-gymnastic-enterprises-12973
Summary
■ A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result that adds value, has beginning and end dates, and has
constraints that include scope, cost, schedule, resource, performance, and
value (customer satisfaction).
■ Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
■ A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way
■ Project portfolio management involves organizing and managing projects and
programs as a portfolio of investments
■ Project managers play a key role in helping projects and organizations succeed
■ Project success depends upon project management success. Project success is
due to a good understanding and a good control of constraints.
■ The project management profession continues to grow and mature
References (1 of 3)
■ Agile Business Consortium (2019) Agile Foundation Certification.
www.agilebusiness.org. (accessed 01/09/2021)
■ Gartner Inc. (2021) “Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to
Grow 9%” https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-
releases/2021-07-14-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-
grow-9-percent-2021. (accessed 20/09/2021)
■ Meredith, Mantel Shafer & Sutton (2016) Project Management
in Practice. John Wiley and Sons.
■ PMBoK, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
Project Management Institute, USA
■ Project Management Institute, Organizational Project Management
Maturity Model (OPM3) Knowledge Foundation (2003), p. 13.
References (2 of 3)
■ Project Management Institute (2021). Beyond Agility: Flex to the
Future. Pulse of the Profession®.
■ PMI Pulse of the Profession
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/pmi2161/viz/PulseoftheProfe
ssion/PulseoftheProfession Accessed 20/09/2021
■ Project Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession 2020.
Https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-
the-profession-2020) (accessed 10/09/2021
■ Schwalbe, K. (2019) Information Technology Project
Management. 9th edition. Cengage. ISBN-13: 9781337101356
References (3 of 3)
■ Schmidt, T. ( 2009) Strategic project management made simple.
John Wiley and Sons. ISBN-978-0470-41158-2
■ Technojobs, “Top 10 IT Skills and Tech Skills for 2021” from
https://www.technojobs.co.uk/info/career-advice/top-10-it-skills-
and-tech-skills-for-2021.phtml ( accessed 15/09/2021)
■ Vaidyanathan, Ganesh, 2014. Project Management: Process,
Technology, and Practice, Pearson Education Inc.
