PROJECT MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
KNEC NOTES
BY MASOMO MSINGINPUBLISHERS
1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1. Explain terms used in information systems
2. Explain the qualities of good information
3. Describe manual and computerized systems
4. Explain data capture and processing
5. Explain the types of information systems
6. Explain the role of information systems in project management
7. Explain the benefits of information system in project management
COURSE CONTENT
a) Meaning of terms
(i) Project
(ii) Project Management
(iii) System
(iv) Data
(v) Information and knowledge
b) Manual and computerized systems
c) Data capture and processing
d) Types of information systems
e) Role of MIS in project management
f) Benefits of information systems in project management
A Project Management Information System is a set of interrelated components working
together to collect, classify, store, and distribute information to support decision-making. It is
more about designing the appropriate methods and processes and implementing a sound plan
to manage the information cycle.
A Project Management Information System is an integrated set of mutually supporting tools,
processes, and methods for managing project information applied in a consistent way to
www.knecnotes.co.ke
2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
support the decision-making and information needs of project stakeholders. Project managers
use the techniques, processes, and tools to collect, organize, analyze, and share information
through electronic and manual means.
A PIMS is also beneficial during the different project-management phases. During the
planning phase, a project manager uses a PMIS to organize the project work, define the scope
baseline, estimate the budget, and create a schedule. During the implementation phase, the
project team collects progress information that is used to compare with the baseline and
evaluates the accomplishment of each activity. It is also used to manage deliverables, collect
financial data, and keep a record for reporting purposes. During the monitoring phase of the
project, the PMIS is used to review the goals to check if the outcomes were accomplished or
not. The goal of a good PIMS is to make the right information available to the right people at
the right time.
With the right PMIS, project managers will be able to improve the processes through which
they define, locate, collect, store, analyze, share, and use project information.
The quality of a PMIS is measured by how the project manager uses the information to guide
and improve his or her actions. The management of project information is a critical element
and a key responsibility of the project manager, as it informs, educates, guides, and builds
support for the project. Providing key project stakeholders with the right information at the
right time can significantly improve decisions to adjust, change and guide the project to
improve its outcomes.
Characteristics of PMIS
Establishing smart goals and objectives and selecting indicators for measuring progress are the
elements that form the basis of a sound project management information system. An important
step in developing the system is the creation of an information-management plan that outlines
how information will be selected, collected, analyzed, and shared during the lifecycle of the
project. Once the project team has completed the design and planning for the information, the
project should be able to move to a Project Information Management Systems
A good PMIS needs to contain the following characteristics:
1. Supply the necessary information and feedback so that potential problems are
identified, and solutions are implemented early, before becoming constraints.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
2. Acts as a tool to collect, analyze, store, and disseminate information useful for
decision-making within a project. - builds on a project's success while using lessons
from earlier experiences to improve project performance.
3. It’s demand-driven, flexible and adaptable to the changing conditions of the project.
4. Transparency: the availability and access to information by all project stakeholders.
5. Accountability: the use and application of information to monitor the progress of the
project and correct deviations.
6. Inclusion and participation: project participants are given control over decision-
making, including decisions on appropriate criteria and indicators to judge the
performance of the services provided by the project.
Determining the right level of PMIS depends entirely on the information requirements of the
project.
The list below can help the project manager identify the information requirements to define
and develop an information-technology solution for the PMIS. This step will help evaluate the
complexity of the information the project will manage:
1. The requirements of information from the project’s governance structure.
2. The requirements of information from the various project stakeholders.
3. The methods the project will use to collect and organize all the information.
4. The frequency with which the project team needs to analyze and report the information
to key stakeholders.
5. The volume of information it needs to collect from beneficiaries.
6. The types of visual reports required, such as graphs, tables, maps, etc.
7. The types of access, security, and controls to manage modify and update the
information.
8. The need to develop special reports in defined formats.
9. The need for complex analysis of the information collected.
A Project Management Information System serves five principal purposes:
1. Provide information for decision-making.
2. Improve project management.
3. Demonstrate results through project evaluation.
4. Empower the project team and other project stakeholders.
5. Increase opportunities to learn from experience.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
In planning, PMIS provides the following:
• Development of appropriate work breakdown structure
• Concise budget framework used in cost estimation
• Assigning and scheduling of tasks for efficient management
• Supports the development of the various project management plans such as communication
plan,
financial plan, procurement plan etc.
• Defining scope baseline
In execution, PMIS:
• Helps in managing project resources such as materials, equipments, facilities in order to
accomplish
the project
• Enables the project manager to keep track of project tasks that are implemented by assigned
personnel
• It creates the relationship that exists among project tasks during the execution process
• Compares project baseline with the actual accomplishment of each tasks
• Keeping project data and records for reporting purposes
In closure, PMIS:
• Review of project tasks to ensure project goal is met.
• Helps in preparing project final report.
• Support in closing down the various project activities.
Meaning of Terms used in Project Management Information Systems
Project
A project can be defined as a temporary sequence of unique, complex and connected activities
having one goal or purpose and that must be completed by specific time, within budget and
according to specification. It is a planned undertaking that has a beginning and an end and that
produces a predetermined result or product. Every project is constrained by its scope, time
goals and cost goals. Projects vary in size and complexity
Projects have the following characteristics:
Unique purpose – a project is undertaken to fulfil a specific objective or desired result. This
makes project work to have a high degree of risk.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Temporary – projects exist for a limited duration of time.
Life cycle - The life cycle of a project starts from a slow beginning to a buildup of size or
growth then peaks before declining to a point of termination.
Require resources – such as money, manpower, time machinery, and other resources.
Conflicts- There exists high degree of conflicts between functional departments in terms of
competition for the scarce available resources. E.g. finance, personnel and other resources.
Interdependence- Projects being undertaken simultaneously by the same parent organization
often interact with each other. Projects also interact with normal operations of the organization
like Finance and Human Resources.
Should have a primary sponsor – usually an organisation, a department or individual.
Involves uncertainty / risks – a great deal of the project implementation is unknown thus the
need for planning and management.
A project life cycle is a collection of project phases, which includes:
1. Conception/ Initiation
2. Defining/Planning/ Development
3. Implementation/ Execution
4. Close-out
The first two phases relate to project feasibility awhile the last two phases focus on delivering
the work and are often called project acquisition.
It is important not to confuse project life cycle with product life cycle. The project life cycle
applies to all projects regardless of the products being produced. On the other hand product life
cycle models vary considerably based on the nature of the product. For information systems a
systems development life cycle (SDLC) is used. SDLC is a framework for describing the
phases involved in developing and maintaining information systems.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Project Management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring
about the successful delivery of specific project goals, outcomes and outputs. However the
challenge is in achieving all project deliverables given the preconceived project constrains
related to scope, budget, schedule and quality.
The project manager is responsible for ensuring the overall success of the project and making
sure that deliverables are realized on time, scope, and budget and within acceptable quality
levels. The purpose of project management is to plan, organize and manage resources to bring
about the successful completion of specific project objectives and goals.
Competencies of Effective Project Managers
The key competencies that project managers must develop are known as knowledge or
competency areas and include:
1. Technical competency- The science behind project management which include:
• Scope Management-Only what was agreed are comprehensively identified,
prioritized and sequenced.
• Time Management- the time –schedule identifies the interrelated elements of the
project plan. It ensures work is assigned and completed on time and within budget.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
7 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Cost Management- budgets are estimated and tracked.
• Quality Management – systems put in place to ensure that the project meets
acceptable quality standards.
2. Human Resources Management- ensures that personnel systems exist for
implementation.
3. Communications Management- ensures that norms or appropriate stakeholders are
in place and executed.
4. Risk Management – risks and uncertainties are identified, anticipated, managed,
mitigated and monitored.
5. Procurement management –systems to manage both materials and contractors and
project logistics implemented.
6. Integration Management- project management cuts across all functional areas
7. Stakeholder Management - project issues are identified, tracked, managed and
resolved.
The project stakeholders are those people with vested interest in the affairs of the
project and are involved in or are affected by project activities and may have power to
influence the project in one way or another (project sponsor, project team, support staff,
customers, users, suppliers and even opponents to the project).
8. Leadership/ Interpersonal- the art of project management- how he communicates,
inspires and resolves conflicts- managing, communicating and motivating the project
team members.
9. Personal/ Self-management -can he effectively prioritize, manage time and organize
work? Organisational skills here include;
- attention to detail,
- ability to multitask
- logical thinking
- analytical thinking
- self- discipline
- time management
10. Change Management- process is in place to manage change
11. International Development Specific- the ability to apply the above three
competencies in the context of international development projects- employing the right
tools and processes that are unique to international development needs and within the
cultural context of the project.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
8 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
BENEFITS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1. Project Management Improves Productivity and Reduces Costs and Workload
The ultimate goal of project management and planning is efficiency. Project
management helps to create an optimized methodology by creating processes,
templates, and procedures that can be reused with every project. This will automatically
mitigate risks and improve efficiency.
Project planning help clearly define the goals, the project scope, and the timelines. It
keeps the project team from slowing down and avoids unnecessary bureaucracy. A solid
project plan, ensures an agreement with the client’s requirements, and that all project
stakeholders are well informed on the project status as well as flag risks in advance.
2. Effective Resource Allocation:
The biggest resource any project managers have at their disposal is the team members. Project
teams consist of people of different backgrounds and departments and they might have other
commitments. Proper project planning ensures that they are available when needed. Similarly,
other resources like the budget, tools, machinery, and others can be arranged effectively to
avoid project delays during the execution. Through properly allocating each resource in the
beginning and monitoring the phases that are more demanding can be done. Each prioritized
task is optimized to give maximum output at the lowest cost. Through proper utilization of
resources and having an efficient system in place, a team can easily get more work done in a
shorter amount of time and increase productivity.
3. Improved Customer Satisfaction:
Retaining clients is considered more important than acquiring new ones and a guaranteed way
of doing it is by offering unparalleled services. An effective set of operations that focuses on
quality and efficiency, would make clients satisfied. This means that they would return with
more business in the future. A satisfied client would also refer the organization to other
potential customers, which means free marketing. This can be an extremely effective marketing
strategy for businesses. Moreover as the organization increases its customer base, it would be
able to gain more capital which it can use to expand the business and hire new talent.
4. Project Management Improves Performance
www.knecnotes.co.ke
9 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Projects enable managers to track performance and results from project to project. Without a
structured process, a project would fail. But sticking to outlined processes, would identify
bottlenecks and variables that may make the projects fail so that they can be addressed by the
project team.
5. Project Management Helps with Problem Resolution
There are always problems in projects. However, using a PM methodology, the project
manager knows exactly how to approach a problem. A structured way of organizing work can
even help notice the problems before they cause project failure.
6. Project Management Improves Collaboration through Consistent Communication
If everything related to the project is structured and team members know exactly what they
need to do at any given time, it’ll be much easier to manage them and everyone will do their
best. No project plan is complete without a solid communication structure. Communication in
project management is an extremely important aspect that can have a significant effect on the
performance of a team. Communication breakdown can cause project. Project managers must
ensure that the whole team shares a collective end-goal and work together to achieve it. The
overall efficiency and productivity of the entire team get significantly improved which leads to
other benefits as well.
7. Higher risk tolerance
Proper planning means that the PM is ready for potential ‘what-if’ scenarios that may occur.
This means that he is prepared to tackle any unforeseen occurrences and uncertainties that may
negatively impact the project.
8. Improved morale:
With continuous success and effective performance, the project team gains more confidence.
Effective project managers inspire their team by regularly rewarding top performers to keep
everyone motivated.
9. Quality control
Most project managers are under enormous pressure to complete the project on time. When
deadlines are missed, schedules get tightened, work is rushed, and people may resort to short -
cuts, resulting in poor quality work. Methodologies like Agile ensure the quality and
www.knecnotes.co.ke
10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
applicability of the delivered product by creating a separate phase for examining and testing at
every step of the project. Proper project management also gives PM control over the timelines
and resources.
10. Learning by Retrospection
A project manager can’t afford to make the same mistake twice. It’s also key to do more of
what went right and less of what went wrong. And, projects generate a tremendous amount of
knowledge. Almost every project management methodology includes a retrospective stage at
the end of the project to facilitate this. It is common to learn from what went wrong throughout
the course of the project.
Properly recorded documentation allows the PM to keep track of all activities, enabling the
team to learn from successes and failures. The learnings from a project can be applied to all
future projects. It’s also a great tool to estimate costs and project timeline.
MEASURES OF PROJECT SUCCESS
A project Management Information System is successful when:
1. The resulting information system is acceptable to the customer.
2. The system is delivered on time.
3. The system is delivered within budget.
4. The system development process has a minimal impact on ongoing business operations.
5. The customer is able to specifically mention the importance of functionality of the
delivered system.
CAUSES OF PROJECT FAILURE
Most Common Causes of Project Failure:
1. Poorly defined project scope.
2. Inadequate risk management.
3. Failure to identify key assumptions.
4. Project managers who lack experience and training.
5. No use of formal methods and strategies.
6. Lack of effective communication at all levels.
7. Key staff leaving the project and/or company.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
11 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
8. Poor management of expectations.
9. Ineffective leadership.
10. Lack of detailed documentation.
11. Failure to track requirements.
12. Failure to track progress.
13. Lack of detail in the project plans.
14. Inaccurate timelines and effort estimates.
15. Cultural differences in global projects.
16. Promised resources may not be available when required.
17. Executives may fail to grasp the full reasons behind instigating a project.
18. There may be political reasons for continuing with a clearly unviable project.
19. Failure to establish top-management commitment to the project.
20. Lack of organisation’s commitment to the system development methodology.
21. Taking shortcuts through or around the system development methodology.
22. Poor expectations management.
23. Premature commitment to a fixed budget and schedule.
24. Poor estimating techniques.
25. Over-optimism.
26. Inadequate people management skills.
27. Failure to adapt to business changes.
28. Insufficient resources.
29. Failure to manage the plan.
But how can lessons be learnt from previous project failures?
There are three potential causes of project failure that are the most important of all and, if dealt
with fully and completely, can help to avoid project failure. These are Project Scope, Risks and
Key Assumptions. Also important is retaining the skills already available within an
organisation and developing existing and new talent through project management training.
Activities
Actions taken through which inputs (financial, human, technical, material and time resources)
are mobilized to produce the deliverables of a project and which when aggregated produce
outputs.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
12 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Outputs
Tangible deliverables resulting from project activities e.g. Products, goods, services and
changes that contribute to outcome (e.g. quality roads, trained people,)
Outcomes
What the project expects to accomplish at the beneficiary level and contribute to changes and
help in the accomplishment of goals and impact over time.
Goals
The highest level desired end results or impacts to which the project contributes- the ultimate
objective.
Programme management
Is the process of managing a group of related projects in a coordinated way to obtain benefits
and control which may not be available through managing the projects individually. Projects
managed through a coordinated programme have the potential to realize the programme’s
strategic objectives, change or benefits that would be impossible if they were managed
separately.
Portfolio Management
Oversees the performance of the organisation’s collection of projects and programmes.
Portfolio management is concerned with selecting, initiating and managing the overall
collection of projects in a way that addresses the strategic objectives of the organization.ie
which projects to do, which to start earlier, or which to stop doing in order to optimize the
strategic fit of the projects to fulfill the organisation’s mission.
System
A system is a set of interacting components that work together to accomplish specific goals.
For example, a business is organised to accomplish a set of specific functions.
T E X
T
www.knecnotes.co.ke
13 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Components of a System
ut
System Boundary
Inputs
These provide the system with what it needs to operate. It may include machines, manpower,
raw materials, money or time.
Processes
Include policies, procedures, and operations that convert inputs into outputs.
Outputs
These are the results of processing and may include information in the right format, conveyed
at the right time and place, to the right person.
Systems Boundary
A system boundary defines the system and distinguishes it from its environment.
Subsystems
A subsystem is a unit within a system that shares some or all of the characteristics of that
system. Subsystems are smaller systems that make up a super-system / supra-system. All
systems are part of larger systems
Environment
This is the world surrounding the system, which the system is a subsystem to.
Components of an Information System
www.knecnotes.co.ke
14 PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
People- Refers to all stakeholders that use an information system to do their work.
Hardware- Refers to computer parts used to enable users to interact with the system.
Software- Refers to a set of procedures and processes to enable the information system meet
user needs.
Characteristics of a System
1. Purpose – Systems exist to fulfil some objective or satisfy a need. A system
may accomplish more than one task.
2. Rationale – This is the justification for a system’s existence.
3. Efficiency – This is how well a system utilises its resources, that is, doing things right using
the least amount of resources.
4. Effectiveness – How well a system fulfils its purpose, assuming that its purpose is the right
one - Doing the right things.
5. Inputs – Entities that enter the system to produce output or furnish information.
6. Outputs – Entities that exit from the system either as interfaces or for end-user activities. They
may be used to evaluate system’s efficiency and effectiveness.
7. Transformation rules – They specify how the input is processed to produce output.
8. Throughput – Measures the quantity of work a system accomplishes but does not consider
the quality of the output.
9. Boundary – Artificially delimits a system for study or discussion purposes. System
designers can only control those system components within the boundary.
10. Environment – That which impacts the system but is outside the system’s boundary. The
system cannot control events in the environment.
11. Interfaces – Points where two systems meet and share inputs and outputs. Interfaces belong
to the environment although they may be inside the system boundary.
12. Feedback – Recycles outputs as subsequent inputs, or measures outputs to assess
effectiveness.
www.knecnotes.co.ke
