The AMA Handbook of Project Management

Paul C. Dinsmore, Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2010
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9780814415443
• Subtopic: Business Communication
• Index: Business

A comprehensive reference presenting the critical concepts and theories all project managers must master, The AMA Handbook of Project Management compiles essays and advice from the field's top professionals. Compatible with the most recent edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge® and featuring new data on the Project Management Office, the completely revised third edition shows readers how to: • Establish project goals • Implement planning on both the strategic and operational levels • Manage the project life cycle and meet objectives • Budget the project • Handle the transition from project idea to project reality • Manage political and resource issues Packed with research-based information and advice from experienced practitioners—as well as new information on agile project management, Six Sigma projects, the use of social media, and the alignment of strategy and projects—this guide is a vital resource for everyone involved in project tasks.

CHAPTER 1
What Is Project Management?
Project Management Concepts and Methodologies

FRANCIS M. WEBSTER, JR., PHD, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, RETIRED

JOAN KNUTSON, PM GURU UNLIMITED

PROJECTS: THE WORK

Projects are ubiquitous. They are everywhere, and everybody does them. Projects are the driving force for many organizations in most industries. Projects can be looked upon as the change efforts of society, and the pace of change has been increasing. Therefore, effectively and efficiently managing change efforts is the only way organizations can survive and grow in this modern world.

One way to describe projects is by example. Most such descriptions start with such things as the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and other undertakings of ancient history. These were major construction projects, and indeed, construction is inherently a project-oriented industry. But there are other project-oriented industries: pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and IT all operate on a project basis and all are notable for technological developments that have changed the way we live and work.

But not all projects are of such great magnitude. A community fund-raising or political campaign, the development of a new product, creating an advertising program, and training the sales and support staff to service a product effectively are all projects. Indeed, it is possible that most executives spend more of their time planning and monitoring changes in their organizations—that is, projects—than they do in maintaining the status quo.

All of these descriptions focus on a few key notions. Projects involve change—the creation of something new or different—and they have a beginning and an ending. Indeed, these are the characteristics of a project that are embodied in the definition of project as found in A Guide to the Project Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI): “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” ¹ This definition, while useful to project managers, may not be sufficient for others to distinguish projects from other undertakings. Understanding some of the characteristics of projects and comparing projects to other types of undertakings may give a clearer perspective.

Some Characteristics of Projects

Projects are unique undertakings that result in a single unit of output. The installation of an entertainment center by a homeowner with the help of a few friends is a project. The objective is to complete the installation and enjoy the product of the effort. It is a unique undertaking because the homeowner is not likely to repeat this process frequently. It is not unusual, however, for multiple units to be involved in a project at one level of detail or another.

Projects are composed of interdependent activities. Projects are made up of activities. Consistent with the definition of a project, an activity has a beginning and an end. Activities are interrelated in one of three possible ways. In some situations, one activity must be completed before another can begin. Generally, these mandatory relationships are very difficult to violate, or to do so just does not make sense. The relationship of other activities is not as obvious or as restrictive. These more discretionary interdependencies are based on the preferences of the people developing the plan. Some activities are dependent on some external event, such as receiving the materials from the vendor. In any of the three instances, mandatory, discretionary, or external, activities have a relationship one to another.

Projects create a quality deliverable. Each project creates its own deliverable(s), which must meet standards of performance criteria. In other words, each deliverable from every project must be quality assured. If the deliverable does not meet its quantifiable quality criteria, that project cannot be considered complete.

Projects involve multiple resources, both human and nonhuman, which require close coordination. Generally there are a variety of resources, each with its own unique technologies, skills, and traits. When focusing on human resources, this leads to an inherent characteristic of projects: conflict. There is conflict among resources as to their concepts, approaches, theories, techniques, and so on. In addition, there is conflict for resources as to quantity, timing, and specific assignments. Thus, a project manager must be skilled in managing both such conflicts.

Projects are not synonymous with the products of the project. For some people, the word project refers to the planning and controlling of the effort. For others, project means the unique activities required to create the product of the project. This is not a trivial distinction, as both entities have characteristics specific to themselves. The names of some of these characteristics apply to both. For example, the life cycle cost of a product includes the cost of creating it (a project), the cost of operating it (not a project), the cost of major repairs or refurbishing (typically done as projects), and the cost of dismantling it (often a project, if done at all). The project cost of creating the product is generally a relatively small proportion of the life cycle cost of the product. Figure 1-1 shows some of the various ways of thinking about products and projects.

Projects are driven by the competing constraints. These competing constraints represents the balance of including but not limited to Scope, Quality, Schedule, Budget, Resources, and Risk. ¹ One of these constraints is the driving or gating factor of each project. Different projects may be driven by a different constraint depending on the emphasis established by management. Being first in the market often determines long-term market position, thus creating time pressure as the major driver. Most projects require the investment of considerable sums of money and/or labor before enjoying of the benefits of the resulting product. Thus, containing resource expenditures may be the driving factor. A need exists for the resulting product of the project to be of the highest quality, as for example, with a new system within the healthcare industry.

FIGURE 1-1. COMPARISON OF PROJECT AND PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES

In summary, projects consist of activities, which have interrelationships among one another, produce quality-approved deliverables, and involve multiple resources. Projects are not synonymous with products. During the life cycle of any product, the concept of project management is used while, at other times, product or operations management is appropriate. And finally, how projects are managed is determined by which of the competing project constraints is the driving factor.

Development Life Cycles

As one of the characteristics above stated, the “project” is not synonymous with the “product of the project.” The work to create the product and the work to manage the project that creates the product are different. However, a Development Life Cycle often integrates work efforts to accomplish both. A Development Life Cycle defines the activities to create the product and designates other activities to plan and control work being performed to create the product. The work efforts related to creating the product might be Design It, Build It, Quality Assure It, and Ship It; while the processes to manage the project might be Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.

The activities to create the product are specific to the industry and to the product being created. In other words, the pharmaceutical product life cycle is very different than the software development life cycle. Yet the same project management life cycle could be used to organize and monitor either the pharmaceutical or the software product creation.

Traditional. The design and the use of the integrated product and project life cycles have changed. Traditionally, the product life cycle is decomposed into phases or stages, such as the example above. Each phase is performed, completed, and approved during a Phase Review effort, and the next phase begins. This technique is called the Waterfall Development Life Cycle. The project management life cycle works in sync with the product life cycle. Each phase of the product life cycle (for example, the Design phase) would be planned, executed, and controlled before the Build phase begins. In other words, the work efforts to produce the product would be performed serially and only once. The efforts to project manage the effort would be repeated for each sequential phase of the product life cycle

Iterative. This recognition that a phase of the product process might be revisited—for example, if something was discovered during the design phase that necessitated going back and revising the specifications created in the requirements phase. The traditional waterfall can be modified slightly. The modification of the waterfall is called a spiral, or an iterative, approach.

Relative to the project management efforts, the upcoming phase is planned and managed at a very detailed level, while the later phases are planned at a lesser level of detail until more information is gained, which justifies a detailed planning effort. This type of project management effort is referred to as the Rolling Wave, or the phased approach to project management.

Evolving. With time-to-market or time-to-money becoming more important, the above sequential techniques are ineffective. New approaches, such as incremental builds and prototyping, have emerged. A prototype (a working model) is produced. The customer “plays” with it, modifying/adding/deleting specifications, until the product is the way that he or she wants it. Only then is the product officially released to be used by the entire customer community. Incremental build suggests creating a minimally functional product and releasing it. Even before it is in the customer’s hands, more features and functions are being added for the next release.

Still not fast enough? Deliverable-driven and time-boxed efforts become the basic premises for these faster (cheaper) and better development life cycles. Using the same theory as incremental and interactive, a new “version” of the product must be completed in a specified, but very short period of time. Typical project management schedule charts become extinct or at least modified to accommodate this agile development approach. Short interval scheduling that produces quality-controlled deliverables becomes the mode of the day. Teams become closer and more energetic. Customers start seeing output quicker. Paperwork becomes less important and flexible decision making becomes a necessity. Risks, mistakes, and some wasted time are acceptable. Yet the product is produced faster thus generating revenue and/or containing costs occurs sooner.

In summary, each of the above variations to product/project development life cycles has its place. ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• About the Editors
• Chapter 1 What Is Project Management? Project Management Concepts and Methodologies
• Section One The Project Management Body of Knowledge: Comprehension and Practice
• Section Two The Profession of Project Management
• Section Three Organizational Issues in Project Management
• Section Four Issues and Ideas in Project Management Practice
• Section Five Industry Applications of Project Management Practice
• About the Contributors
• Index