Project Management, Third Edition

A Practical Approach

Roel Grit

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138679061
• eBook ISBN: 9781000035650
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This book Project Management is to facilitate the successful completion of projects. For this reason it puts particular emphasis on the importance of careful preparation and strategic co-operation within the project team.

The first part of this new textbook offers a description of the project-based approach to the work environment, an analysis of when such an approach is appropriate and an account of how to make projects work. In addition, this part of the book discusses the role of planning software within the project environment. Part Two of the book describes the practical tools and skills needed to tackle projects. A number of the skills outlined in Part Two are also relevant to learning contexts other than projects.

This new edition offers additional material on the life-cycle of the project: from setting up to completing a project. New sections deal with skills such as brainstorming and decision making in the project group. The text makes for required reading for project management students everywhere.

PART 1
Practical Theory

1 The project

2 People working on projects

3 The project from start to finish

4 Planning and scheduling

Theoretically, there is nothing particularly difficult about project management. Projects nevertheless frequently fail to attain their objectives. Since project work is very dependent on the people involved in it, those involved need to be aware of the fact that there is a difference between ordinary ways of approaching work and working in a project-based manner. This section of the book deals with the theory underlying the project-based approach to work based on real-life situations.

The following questions will be addressed in this part:

• What is the difference between project-based work and other work?
• How do I organize the project?
• How do I start the project?
• How do I monitor the project?
• How do I plan the project?

1
The project

1.1 Types of activityies, types of work

1.2 Examples of projects

1.3 What is a project?

1.4 From improvised activities to project to routine

1.5 Types of projects

1.6 Things to remember

1.7 Doing things in phases

1.8 Why do things in phases?

1.9 The phases of a project: an illustration

1.10 When to do it as a project

1.11 Lifecycle of a project

1.12 Project goals should be SMART

1.13 Carrying out the projects in this book

Assignments

Jobs for life are a thing of the past. With our society caught up in a process of constant change, organizations are finding that they have to both respond to each change while already anticipating the next one. Their responses often take the form of projects. Being able to manage projects effectively has therefore become a necessity. The important issues are not only when to take a project-based approach and how to tackle the project itself, but even what a project actually is.

This chapter describes how project-based work differs from ‘regular’ work.

1.1 Types of activities, types of work

Three groups of activities

All kinds of activities take place within an organization. They may be characterized in the following three groups of activities:

1. Improvised activities
2. Routine activities
3. Project-based activities

This book deals with the last type. To show the special position that project-based activities occupy, all three types of activity will be described.

Improvised activities

Improvised work Ad hoc

An improvised work approach to new activities is one option. People usually improvise when something unforeseen that requires an immediate response occurs. Their reaction will be an ad hoc one: not according to a laid down plan, but decided on as events unfold.

Since there are no directions about what to do that can be given beforehand, it is hard to predict with any accuracy the outcomes of working in an ad hoc manner. The advantage of not having any directions is that the new situations can be met in a flexible manner. However, while the large amount of freedom may be welcomed by the improviser, it carries the risk of chaos and could put the organization under a lot of pressure. Workers in an organization in which there is a lot of improvisation going on are likely to be working under a certain amount of strain. Having to constantly adjust to changing working conditions is, after all, quite stressful.

Routine activities

Routine

Routine activities are activities that are repeated frequently and are relatively predictable. The work will be carried out according to predetermined patterns. Since there is a precedent, it is not necessary to constantly think about what has to be done next.

Work procedures

In order to be able to perform these routine activities efficiently, work procedures or instructions have to be developed. Most of the activities carried out within an organization belong to this type. Production line activities, sales procedures, purchasing procedures and administrative activities are some examples.

Project-based activities

Project-based activities fall roughly midway between improvised and routine activities. They are non-recurring and have a limited duration, but are reasonably predictable.

According to a plan

In order to increase this predictability, the work should be done according to a plan. Plans gradually illuminate each phase of the process. Before the activities get underway, some time needs to be spent on working out what the aims are and how to achieve them.

Phases Project plan

For this to be effective, large projects are often divided up into a number of phases. After each of these phases, the aims and procedures may be adjusted. Before starting the project, a project plan is formulated, the instructions for which are given in Chapter 6. By working with a project plan based on fixed criteria, some degree of routine can be introduced to the project. In other words, ‘You introduce routine to something you have never done before’. This greatly enhances the possibility of success.

Project organization

Projects often have an organization of their own, one created specially to deal with the needs of the project. People who do not normally work together may do so as part of the project group. Each will have their own specific tasks.

Some of the activities of businesses such as shipbuilding, aircraft construction and information technology are regularly carried out as project-based activities. In other businesses, project-based activities may be the exception rather than the rule. Such a project might involve a departmental reorganization, moving into new quarters, or the introduction of a new computer network.

A project-based activity is not an objective in itself, of course. It is a way of structuring activities that are less predictable than others and that fall outside the scope of normal activities. These structured activities then become easier to manage and monitor.

Table 1.1 contains a summary of the properties of the various types of activities.

Table 1.1 Types of activities

1.2 Examples of projects

The following overview gives a number of examples of projects. The website accompanying this book (www.projectmanagement-english.noordhoff.nl) contains further examples.

• Building a new shopping centre, bridge, housing estate, nursing home or factory
• The technical development of a new product such as an electric razor, a computer or a car
• Developing a marketing plan or export plan for a new product like the iPad
• Reducing waiting lists in the field of healthcare
• Designing a new school course
• Formulating an information plan, sales plan, personnel plan or training plan
• Doing a theatre production such as “We Will Rock You” or producing a feature film or information film
• Doing the research for a thesis
• Developing a new house style for an organization
• Organizing a major exhibition such as a retrospective on Rembrandt
• Organizing a major event like Pink Pop, a major sports event or home fair
• Implementing a large-scale software package at an organization, such as financial software, logistics software, client management software or patient information system
• Setting up a website for an organization such as a hospital or commercial business
• Arranging a logi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Foreword to the Third Edition
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1 Practical Theory
• Part 2 Project tools
• Final Assignments
• Appendix 1 Risk Analysis
• Appendix 2 Website
• Bibliography
• About the Author
• Index