Project Management 101

Yes, it really is fun!

What is Project Management (PM)?

• The discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is often closely related to and sometimes conflated with program management. Cleland, and Gareis (2006).

Let’s Look Closer

• How is does a project differ from the usual day to day business/institutional operations?

• If you answered that a project has a scope limited by time or deliverables, you’d be correct.

• Projects, as opposed to normal operations, have a discernable starting and stopping point.

Projects in Libraries

• What are some examples of projects in a library?

• Building a piece of a digital collection;• Creating a new website for your

department (of course there is an ongoing component as well);

• Choosing and implementing a new ILS.

Your Projects?

• What are some projects you have been involved in?

• Was there a definite beginning and ending?

• What kind of deliverables were there?

• What were the biggest problems?

references

• Cleland, D.I. and Gareis, R. (2006). Global project management handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006.

History

• PM developed in several fields: defense (particularly in WWII, engineering, and construction.

• Frederick W.Taylor (1856-1919) , a mechanical engineer, known as the father of scientific management carried out time /work studies. His work led to such PM tools as work breakdown structre (wbs0 and resources allocation.

History, cont’d• Taylor’s students• Henry Gantt (1861-1919)- a mechanical engineer

known for the Gantt Chart, a planning tool used on the Hoover Dam, among others;

• Henry Fayol (1841-1925)- a French minig engineer, who is know from creating the 5 management which have been modernized as follows:

• planning• organizing• leading• controlling

History, cont’d

• Modern Project Managemt• 1950s recogniaed as a discipline• Tow mathematical project-schduling

models were developed: the Critical path Method (CPM) developed by DuPornt and Remington Rand

• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) developed y Booz-Allen & Hamilton. As part of the Nav and Lockheeds Polaris missle submarine program

History, cont’d

• Project managemtn Institute waas formed in 1969 to service the PM industry

• “the tools and techniques of PM are common among widepread application of projects form the software indutry to the construction indutry.

• An international PMA was developmed in Europe in 1967.

PM and how it works

• There are several approaches:• Traditional; All of the other methods are

derivatives, to some extent of the traditional approach. If you want to read about them, I can give you a cite.

• Critical Chain• Extremem Project• PRINCE2• Process-based management

Traditional Approach

• Phased approach consiting of:• Initiation• Planning and design• Executing• Monitoring and Controlling• Closing

Traditional PM cont’d

• Not all projects include every step• Sometimes there is reiteration

among steps 2,3,4.• Some projects are never

completed.

Stages of Project Development

• Initiation: determines nature and scops of the development. if this stage is not done well - the project will ikely fail.Requires excellent communication. .

• Study the busienss needs/requirements in measurable goals• Review current operatons• Conceptual design of final produc ot the poject.• Assessment of llong lead times, equipment and contracting

requirment• Financial analysis of the costs and benefits; building a

budget• Stakeholder analysis = wjp os omvolved, who are users. Who

is support?• Porject charter is developed including costs. Tasks,

devlierables, and schoedue

Initiation

• Nature and Scope– Deliverables– People

• Project Documents• Risk Management

Initiation: Nature and Scope

• Assumption: that you have already chosen the project or it has been assigned to you.

• What is the nature of the project? Can you briefly describe it? (Elevator speech)

• What is the scope of the project? The detail, extent, what it will cover and not cover.

• What are the end results expected? Are there deliverables?

Initiation: Deliverables*

Tangible or non-tangible items that are the desired outcomes or products resulting from a project.

May also be products that are needed along the way to completion of the project

*Warning: While a much-used term, this is business jargon. Such terms generally make me ill and will suggest that your IQ was hampered by watching too many FSU football games..or that you have an MBA.

Initiation: Deliverables, cont’d

• Outcomes of projects– Completed building– A complete course on Digital Libraries– Completed term paper– Assessment and buy recommendation

for new software.

Initiation: Deliverables, cont’d

• Products along the way– Architectural drawings for a building – Powerpoint presentations as part of

the Digital Libraries course– A list of potential references for you

term paper– A brief detailing the assessment

results.

Initiation: People

• 1. Project Sponsor• 2. Stakeholders *• 3. Customers - internal and external• 4. Suppliers (materials, computer systems,

services)• 5. Management• 6. Contractors• 7. Government - regulators, politicians, compliance• 8. Your team• 9. You

Initiation: Stakeholders -

definition• People or groups that have some or all of these qualities: participate in the project, win or lose or are affected by the outcome of the project, have invested (money, time, resources) in the project, is somehow accountable for an aspect of the project.

Initiiation: Project Documents

• 1. Project Requirements• 2. Project Definition• 3. Statement of Work• 4. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)• 5. Project Schedule (Gantt format popular for display of

timeline and tasks)• 6. Budget• 7. Design Document (blueprint, systems design, or other)• 8. Deliverables• 9. Acceptance (Customer sign-off)• 10. Manuals - user, system, consumer, installation,

maintenance• 11. Project Close-out (Conclusion)

Intiation: Risk Management

Mistakes will be made, be proactive and plan for them

• Identify risks, uncertainties, potential problems, threats.

• Quantify risks, what are the possible results ?• Prioritize : Consider the most likely problems:

rank them and then asses the significance of a problem in each.

• Construct Action Plans - determine appropriate responses in the even to most likely occur.

Risk Management Example: Paper

Step Description

Problem Likelihood Significance

Preventive Action

Topic Selection of good topic

Professor hates topic

Moderate Crucial to success

Check topic with professor (in writing)

Reference list

Selection of good reference list

Takes too long, can’t stop looking

LikelihoodVery high(for me)

Moderate to high (time sink)

Limit the number I need. What is enough? Check with librarian:)

Writing the draft

Timely, well-organized

Poor organization, rushed

Low to Moderate

Crucial Set time schedule and follow, modify other plans

Planning and Design

• Build prototype and test on end users. • Plut controls in place to be sure end

product meets the original speciications • Output of this step is a design that• Satistices project sponso, end user and

business requirements• Funtions as intended

Can be produced within quality

standardscan be produced within time and

budget constraints.

Executing

• Coordinate people and resources• Integrate and erform the acitigites

of the project in accordance with the PM plan.

• Delierables are prduced as aoutputs .

Monitoring and Controlling

• Measuring the ongoing project acitities• (where are we?)• Monitor project variables (ost, effort, scope)

against the managemtn plan and project performance baseline (where should we be?)

• Identify corrective action to addresse issues and risk (How do we get back on track”)

• Influceing the factors that could circumvent integrated change so only approved changes are made. There may be feedback between

Changes

• Changes during a porject are nromal• Results of deisng modifications. Site

conditions, material availability and the like• Chane must be documentedto show what

was actualy done. This is called Change Management

• Owners will inst on knowing what changes were made.

• As-built (modifications shown) drawings are made.

Closing

• Formal acceptance of the project and the ending.

• Archingin files and documenting the lessons learned.

• Finalize all activities acreoos all process groups

• Complete and settle each contract and close each contract applicatble to the project.