PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENTS

Spring 2010 (Jan-June)

Q1. Explain briefly the life cycle of a project

Ans: As per the Indian Project Management Association, any projects have to pass through the following 7 life cycles to be concluded in order to be concluded. 1. Conc Concep eptu tual aliz ize e 2. Plan 3. Organize 4. Implement 5. Control 6. Integrate 7. Deli Delive verr & clos close e out out 8. Know Knowle ledg dge e lev lever erag age. e.

1.

Conc Concep eptu tual aliz ize e:

This This is the initia initiall stage stage in the project project.. At this this stage stage the proje project ct is sprouted sprouted as an organizational dream or vision which stems out of the demand of the business, social or environmental need of the organization in line with its stated business objective. The conceptualization takes place at Apex level of the organization ( Sponsor of the project) may or may not relay upon the feed backs from various stake holders.

At this stage a business case analysis duly authorized by the top management is carried out to evaluate the following

•

The need and reason for which the project is undertaken

•

The changes that the project is expected to accomplish

•

The key project requirement that are required to achieve the project goal(s)

Further Further to the business business case analysis, analysis, feasibili feasibility ty study study covering covering both financia financiall and nonfinancial aspect of the project is done. Various evaluating tools available for this purpose is employed as as per the scale scale of the project. A Project Charter comprising of the above aspects is delivered in to next stage in the life cycle.


2. Planning Planning is an art and science of converting a set of objectives to realization through a series of steps executed in an organized and predicted way so that there will be less requirement of changes in the scheme on a later day. Planning is a dynamic activity and it may change from time to time but planning is essential before the implementation or execution phase of the project starts.

The ultimate aim of the plan is to avoid course and mid course changes as too many changes can lead to time and cost over runs and eventually affect the project success. Role of a Project Manager and his team is of paramount importance at this stage. A Project Management Plan is the outcome of this stage of project life cycle. The project management plan encompass the following aspects in details.

•

Why of the project ( Mitigating a threat or utilizing an opportunity)

•

What is the objective of the project

•

Who will execute what

•

When will various activities be executed

•

Where will the project be set up.

•

How the project activities will be carried out

•

How much of various items will be executive.

Plan and control are two significant stages in the project. The plan forms the basis for control of project activities. In essence, without plan there will not anything to control. Therefore, planning forms a major stepping stone towards project implementation and its success.

3. Organize : This stage follows the planning stage. Organizing stage deals with laying foundation for implementation stage.

In organization stage various statutory approvals, financial

commitment from sponsor, concurrence from other stake holders of the projects etc are obtained.

Responsibility matrix, in line with the work breakdown structure delivered from project management plan, is put in place. The implementation team and control teams are drawn and due responsibilities are assigned.


Various vendors, suppliers and service providers are finalized. A start up check list is drawn.

The readiness to commence the physical work is the outcome of the

Organization stage.

The organization stage marks firm financial and management commitment on the project and abandoning the project at this stage and beyond carries increased risk. Therefore a system of risk and risk management system is also put in place at this stage and beyond.

04.Implement Implementation stage is marked with increased physical activities and cash flow. The various elements of the projects are procured, constructed, installed and monitored. A project implementation team is put in place before the commencement of this phase. They derive inputs from planning and organizing stage to draw execution strategies.

Issue management, team management and interface management play vital role in project implementation. The implementation team has to coordinate with planning and organizing team on one hand, Client and other stake holders on the other hand. As the expectation of the stake holders can vary, the implementation team has to play a balancing role while keeping the project charter in general and objective of the project particularly in focus.

Abandoning of the project at this is highly risky. The changes in the scope at the advanced implementation stage become difficult, costly and risky. This calls for greater change control management and cost control management.

05. Control : The control phase of the project spreads over the implementation, integration and delivery stages of the project. Controls are exercised in order to avoid deviations from the plan. It also ensures conformance of the project to t he set goals.

Various Control aspect and their brief function are listed •

Budget control

: Monitoring of project budget and controlling cost.

•

Quality control

: Compliance to standards are monitored

•

Schedule Control

: Monitoring of time duration of the project activities

•

Change control

: Evaluation and implementation of changes.


•

Risk Control

: Evaluation and mitigation of risks

The control process starts at post planning stages and span over the rest of project life cycles. It provides vital management information to the various stake holders to enable them to evaluate the project progress from their perspective.

Control process calls for

through understanding of project charter and project implementation plan with specific stress on the scope of the project. It is the control that steer the project into success with least deviation in time frame, budget and scope.Control phase also delivers valuable information for similar future projects.

06. Integrate: Integration phase is where interfacing of different project elements takes place . Different activities, elements and interfaces are integrated, checked and tested in conformance with the stipulated scope objective.

It involves assembling, articulating, consolidating and executing integration activities so that the project output is ready to be delivered.

Since integration stage acts as a conformance conduit through which the finished product or service reaches the client or end user, it is essential that the stage is handled with high personnel and professional standards in order to avoid rejection of the product or service and thereby affecting the project goal and organizational objective.

The product or service that does not conform to the standard shall be sent back to the implementation stage for re work or rectification.

07.

Deliver and Close out Stage

Once the output of the project is ready and has passed through the integration phase, it has to be handed over to the client for intended use. This involves provision of certificate of completion, installation/ implementation, training and conformance acceptance by client or end user etc. Once the delivery is successfully completed and the deliverable and handed over to the client and maintenance is taken over by services or operation department, the close out activities of the project began.

The close out stage is related to following activities are of prime importance.


•

PO Close out

•

Legal Close out

•

Project close out

All the vendor transactions have to concluded and closed. All agreements have to be taken to their legal conclusion and files have to be closed. The project team has to be disbanded after due performance evaluation for awards, recognition and future records. All the files, drawings, assets and accounts have to be deposited with the project sponsor or management authorized by its. A details project close out report is the outcome of the close out stage. It provides valuable inputs to the Knowledge leverage stage.

9. Knowledge Leverage:

Every project is unique and therefore brings out new revelations which can gainfully be used in similar projects.

In view of the above, the lessons learned from a projects is systematically recorded and deposited with the organizations knowledge bank for future use, Such reports derived from project close out reports provides immense information and aid the management to decide upon further scaling up of the project and embarking on similar projects. The project conceptualization and evaluation becomes less risky when bench marked against already successfully completed projects. Thus knowledge leverage provides the management with a decision making indicator.


Q2. Examine the Tools used in project planning

Ans: The planning tools and their characteristics are evaluated and give below.

1.

Project organization:

The project organization deals with due distributions

responsibility of project stages to teams with appropriate skill, authority and experience. The skill set and activities required at different stages of the project are t abulated below.

Process •

Initiation

Skill and Activities Preparation of Basic project justification, plan and budget

•

Selection and briefing of project team and assigning roles and organization.

Planning

•

Feasibility study, risk and key success factors

•

Project definition and project plan

•

Communication to the team Allocation and monitoring of the work and cost

•

Ensuring work and team cohesion

•

Execution

•

Control

•

•

Helping the team to solve project problems Satisfactory delivery and training

•

Compiling

•

Close

Progress reporting Monitoring progress and managing changes

of

lessons

from

the

project

experience. •

2.

Project Structure:

Evaluation and disbanding of project team.

Project structure refers to the hierarchy of activity flow in an

organized way. This provides job clarity and proper direction for each team. The team goals are distributed and the same is divided into manageable sub structures. It brings out manageable entities and segments with specific input and desired output. Project Manager deals with coordination between teams and segments.

Project structure is

essential to provide role clarity and boundary for each team or group. structure can be depicted by simple logic diagrams.

The Project


3.

Project Key Personnel: The key personnel refer to individuals who will shoulder the responsibility of specific business area which are within the scope of the project. The project assignment matrix or work sheet is used to draw up responsibility matrix with scope boundary on one side and key personnel on the other side. Responsibility matrix is shared by all project key personnel so that that the interfacing and communication becomes more focused and less time consuming.

The key personnel must have

excellent working and technical knowledge with respect to scope assigned to the team or segment of his operation and also process good directional knowledge the overall project charter. This is essential to duly execute the assigned scope in synergy with the rest of the key result areas of the project which are executed by other specialists ( Key project Personnel)

4.

Project Management Team: The apex management team which will be accountable for successful implementation of the project is the Project Management Team.

Project

Management Team is responsible for converting the project Charter in to Project Management Plan and facilitates organizing, and implementation of the projects. Project Management team has to play a vital role in managing the stake holder interest which can at times be against the project also. It is the Project Management Team that aids the sponsor to muster supports from the stake holders who are for the project and manage to minimize the resistance from the stake holders who are against the project.

The project management team are the stage managers who plan and direct the day to day activities of the project.

It is also the responsibility of the project management team to find out best suitable project coordinators so as to interface with various stake holders and functional departments. Such as quality control, technical and design department, implementation, finance, statutory agencies etc.

5.

Key Stake Holders: The key stake holders are the individuals or groups who are affected or benefited by the outcome of the project. It is essential and unavoidable for the successful planning of the project to identify key stake holders and record their expectations form the projects. Key stake holder’s responsibility towards the project also should be recorded so that the project management team can approach the appropriate stake holder(s) for support, problem resolution, approval or concurrence as the case or demand may be.


Understanding of the Key Stake Holders and their expectation is essential for scope planning. Changes in the scope generally emanate from the stake holders and managing changes being a difficult task in Project Management, the management team has to give due consideration to the key stake holders view to successfully implement the project without undue hurdles.

6.

Stage teams : Apex team of the project selects appropriate personnel required for the different stages of the project. They are imparted required knowledge which facilitates their functioning. A team leader with relevant experience is also appointed. A target for the team in line with the requirement of overall project schedule is set. A commitment of cost, quality and time is obtained from the team leader. The work breakdown and management of the activities within the stage rests with the stage team leader. Stage team leaders should focus on the cost, quality and time schedule for deliverables from the stage assigned to them. They also should have a fair idea of the overall project schedule so that criticality of the assigned stage to the overall project schedule is understood and acted upon accordingly. Stage team relives the top management from the task of monitoring micro activities. This is the task of the team leader.

7.

Key Resources: Key Resources required for the project has to be made available to the project management and implementation team at appropriate time. Resource crunch will cripple the project and ultimately affect the successful completion. It , therefore, is of paramount importance that due consideration is given to assign the key resource rolls to appropriate coordinators for gathering “ Business Key Resources” and “Technical Key Resources”. It is essential for the top management to know the distribution of resources along the life cycle of the project. Resource requirement for the project follows an “S” curve. The typical “S” Curve is shown below.


RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION ALONG PROJECT LIFE CYCLE - S CURVE <-----------------------------------------STAGE 8 : KNOWLEDGE LEVERAGE ------------------------------->> STAGE STAGE STAGE1 2 STAGE 3 STAGE 4 5 STAGE 6 STAGE 7 CONCEPTUALI ORGANI IMPLEME CONTR INTERGAR CLOSE ZE PALN ZE NT OL TE OUT

> E C R U O S E R

PROJECT STAGES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->> 8.

Work Breakdown Structures (WBS): The work Breakdown Structures is a key planning tool whereby the entire project scope is broken down in a logical way so as to make them manageable and assignable components. This is the technique to analyze and breakdown the contents of work further in to manageable work package.

Work break down is accomplished by identifying key elements of the project, breaking them into component parts. Each component is then further knocked down until they form manageable work packages. This work packages are allotted to appropriated person to complete. The completed work packages are reintegrated into components stages and overall projects.


The WBS by its very nature does not show dependencies other than a grouping under a key stage. It can be termed as a part of whole. WBS is not time based. It is a list of well defined activities.

WBS enables the line managers to manage the activities better and in a focused way. At the same time the task assigned to an individual being concise and easy to manage will receive desired attention which improves the chances of the activity being completed with desired quality within the assigned cost and time.

A work

break down structure for construction of a building is given below.

BUILDING CONSTRN.

ARCHITECT

DESIGN DRAWING

9.

ESTIMATE APPROVAL

CONTRACT

CIVIL

WORK

ELECTRICAL WORK

FINANCE

OWN FUND

LOANS

Task Duration: Detailed estimation of project duration is done at planning stage and reviewed along the project life cycle. This calls for experience of the project managers to asses the task duration. The Task duration estimation based on the WBS and integrated to arrive at the project duration yields better results. The duration of various activities and their interdependencies are represented in Arrow Diagrams or PERT Charts. This will provide lead and lag time available for each activity and also show the critical activities that do not have any flexibilities with respect to their completion. Any delay caused in the activities on critical path will lead to delay in overall project completion. Task duration estimation is therefore an active project planning tools as time being an important element in any project.


Q3. Describe the various steps involved in monitoring and controlling a project

Ans: Monitoring and controlling the project is a complimentary function of planning. Without planning controlling cannot be done. Monitoring refers to the activity of overseeing that if the project is progressing according to the scheduled project plan. Controlling refers to the activities of setting conditions so that the project conforms to the scope set.

Monitoring and controlling are therefore the prime area of responsibility on the shoulders of the Project Manager.

There are standard tools and techniques available to the Project

Manager and his team to keep the project on track.

Various milestones to be covered in monitoring and controlling the project from start to end are given below.

01. Preliminary Work : The primary stage involves understanding the project charter by the project team. Various key success factors with scope as the focus is drawn and understood. A summary of stages, Stage estimates, Resource requirement , primary WBS, quality requirements, stage tolerance with respect to time duration, quality and cost ,change control hierarchy and change control log, quality etc are discussed and finalized. Preliminary work also emphasis on various MIS and monitoring / control requirements like Progress reports, periodicity of reports, stage end reports, stage conformance certification, interfacing etc.

02. Project Progress: The project team members keep track of the project progress and communicate the same to other team members so as to bring stage integration into focus of the members. It also helps the team to realize lead and lag time and accordingly plan the completion. The project progress is monitored and controlled through regular check points, various charts for quality and schedule, statistical data, quality controlling tools etc. Since changes and variations can not the entirely ruled out, The change management is also an important function during project progress. Project review meeting is also a tool of importance as the project progress to enable the project team to evaluate the status and charter the further course. Any course correction required with its impact on the scope, cost, time duration and quality are analyzed at these review meetings and put through change management system for implementation.


03. Stage Control: It is humanly not possible for the Project Manager (PM) monitor micro level activities. Therefore, the PM establishes a stage wise check points which constitute major mile stones in each stage. Stage version control procedures may be adopted for this. The micro management is delegated to stage managers.

The stage documentation with

version control numbers and revision are maintained for the changes. These are used by appropriate team members to make corresponding changes or modification the related stages. Team members are identified and assigned the task of monitoring and controlling various stage progress and integrate them with the overall project monitoring plan.

04. Resource Planning: Resources being the blood in the veins of any project , the absence or shortage of it can paralyze the project. It is therefore essential that resources required for the project during its different stages are duly planned and arranged. Both the project team and key resources coordinators have to frequently and periodically interact and review the resource positioning for the planned stages. It is also essential to communicate to all stage managers of the resource availability or shortage of the resources so that to modify or expedite or reschedule the stages / segments or activities as required.

05. Quality Control: Quality control relates to measuring the standards specified to standards achieved. It is very important in today’s globalized scenario where market is flooded with choices. Quality monitoring or control has several tools which has emanated from post world war production era. The general tools used are statistical Quality control, Bar Charts, Pareto diagram, Cause & Effect analysis, Histograms, Bench Marking etc. The Quality control is an activity which is spared all the project life cycles. Therefore it is essential that the quality requirement is understood by the project team at all levels.

06. Schedule Quality Review: The quality monitoring has to be duly institutionalized. The schedule for quality review has to be planned in such a way that the quality requirement or bench mark has to be laid down and communicated in the beginning of each stage and to be review in the check control point. The quality conformation to be done at the stage ends before stage transition.

07. Agenda for Quality Review: The agenda for quality review should be created envisaging all quality requirements and shall be communicated to all concerned in the project. Various components like objectives, product specification, logistics, tools, roles, responsibilities, time frame etc have to be identified and logged into the agenda. This will enable the quality planners to make a comprehensive quality assurance plan.


08. Conduct Quality Review: With the aid of schedule and Agenda for quality review , the quality review has to be conducted at specified interval in a structured and formal manner. Quality review should focus on bench marked quality standards and evaluate the product or service for conformance.

09. Follow up: Quality review may observe deviations from the set standards and therefore may need corrective measure to ensure conformance. Further the implementation of the quality policy may not be as planned. In such cases of the, QC may introduce corrective actions or modification. The base QC policy and well as the stage corrections will need systematic and strict follow up actions to ensure the conformance to standards.

10. Review of the Quality Control Procedure: The quality control procedures are instituted and adopted for a particular project at the time of planning stage. Due to lack of complete information or omission, the QC procedure may not befit some of the process, product or service. Quality control procedure therefore will need review to reorient the same with the update project quality need. This calls for review of each QC procedures as to whether each of them and in sync with the process, product or services.


Q4. Explain the term ‘knowledge factor’.

Ans: While transcending from unknown to known, the factor which guides one is nothing but knowledge. Since a project in conceptualized from a vision or compulsion uncertainties and changes do bother the management at some stage or the other. The project theme, objective and scope undergo changes and revisions and in order to charter the right direction nothing but knowledge is the guide. Knowledge Factor therefore plays a very vital and dominant role in project management as well as other facets of general management. K Factor is an index of extent to which one can manage today with yesterdays knowledge contents and leverage today’s knowledge for managing tomorrow. This aspect force so many organizations for develop Knowledge Hubs ( K Hubs) where in a collective pool of knowledge is centrally available to all the team members to imbibe from. With the advance networking of computers with cost of data storage becoming affordable, managing K Hubs have become easier.

Since there are rapid and phenomenal changes taking place in the industrial and technological canvas across the globe, the K Factor also undergoes changes through obsolescence. This brings in the need for the senior management to keep abreast with the knowledge advancement.

In today’s business world it is important for management to

recognize the knowledge potential of the juniors and leverage it for the advancement of the project.

Despite the knowledge and wisdom gained by experience, it is lost until it is

updated and utilized.

It is a task that every member of the team should participate to

maximize the K Factor in all directions so as to benefit self and the team for today and days to come.


Q5. What roles do cross functional teams play for project efficiency? Explain with examples.

Ans: There are different kinds of project structures adopted in organizations. They are functional Organization, Matrix Organization and Product or project organization

Matrix organization or cross functional organization refers to project team drafted from different functional groups reporting to the project manager while continue to have alliance to their core function. A graphical representation such team is given below.

As can be seen, the staff with relevant experience for other department concurrently working in a project. This brings in wisdom of the department without bias to the project. Eg. A finance person being a part of the project team, while working towards the project objective will also ensure that the finance standards and statutory requirements are also adhered to.


Q6. Do core groups enhance the performance of projects?

Ans. Core groups deals with management decisions and tracking at any organizations. Core groups are responsible to keep the apex management about the groups performance and needs. Due consideration is given to analyze the needs and scope variance by the core groups after seeking management Information from the project.

Thus the core groups

primarily acts as special advisory the apex management at the same time links the projects management with Apex management of the organization. The absence of core group will lead to flow of uncensored data to top management which will lead to wastage of valuable time of the top management. Constitution of core group consists of group members who are expert in their chosen field and are experienced in summarizing and ground level reports into concise management Information, which can be used to derive conclusions and decisions. The core group also receive macro analysis from the apex management and convert them into implementable goals and conveyed to the group members and project managers.

Thus, Core groups will enhance the probability of success of the project by maintaining right decision and resource balance between apex management and project / functional groups.


PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENTS

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