Project Management

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  Industrial Engineering Projects

  Practice and procedures for capital projects in the engineering, manufacturing and process industries

  • Association of Cost Engineers and the Royal Institute of Cha(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Management of Engineering Projects ~ I Management of engineering projects 2.1 INTRODUCTION Project Management in one form or another exists in every creative activity involving more than one individual. The term 'management' generally implies organizing people to achieve specified objectives; however, Project Management has the additional implication of being related to a particular project and hence has a specific start and completion date. This chapter outlines the role of Project Management, some of the tools used by the Project Management team and identifies some of the factors that the Project Management team have to consider during the course of a major project. Project Management for anything other than the simplest of tasks is not an optional activity; it is a key management activity whose function is to either obtain or use available resources of labour, equipment and material to supervise and achieve defined objectives within stated restrictions of time, cost and quality. This is achieved by formulating and implementing plans to meet the defined objectives, by monitoring performance against those plans and by taking any corrective action deemed necessary. Management style is peculiar to an individual project manager and influenced by the circumstances in which the manager and his organization are required to operate. The principles of good management practice, how-ever, apply to all circumstances, and while styles may vary the fundamental requirements of good management remain. In the same way that individuals have a management style, organiza-tions have their own cultures, values and operational policies that govern and influence the way in which they and their personnel operate their busi-ness.

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  Manufacturing and Enterprise

  An Integrated Systems Approach

  • Adedeji B. Badiru, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, Babatunde J. Ayeni(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements. Project Management can also be defined as the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service, or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.

  The aim of Project Management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality, and budget. The secondary, and more ambitious, challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives. The object of Project Management is to produce a complete project which complies with the client’s objectives. In many cases the object of Project Management is also to shape or reform the client’s brief in order to feasibly be able to address the client’s objectives. Once the client’s objectives are clearly established they should impact all decisions made by other people involved in the project – project managers, designers, contractors, sub-contractors, etc. If the Project Management objectives are ill-defined or too tightly prescribed it will have a detrimental effect on decision-making. As a discipline, Project Management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense activity.

  History of Project Management

  Although there has been some form of Project Management since early civilization, Project Management in the modern sense began in the 1950s. The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern Project Management era where core engineering fields came together to work as one. Project Management became recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline with the engineering model. Most people consider the Manhattan Project to be the first project to use “modern” Project Management. This 3-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars) project had a separate project manager and a technical manager. Some people argued that building the Egyptian pyramids was a project, as well as building the Great Wall of China. This time, not only did the Chinese emperor order millions of people to complete the project, but he also made sure that his workforce was divided into three separate groups: soldiers, civilians, and criminals (we guess the latter group got a raw deal). As a discipline, Project Management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense activity.

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  The Practice and Theory of Project Management

  Creating Value through Change

  • Richard Newton(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Red Globe Press

    (Publisher)

  A project could be anything from decorating a room or restoring an old car to planning and going on that once-in-a-lifetime holiday. 1 overview of Project Management 1 Once we move out of the personal sphere, and into the domain of organizations, which is the context for this book, the range of endeavours that can be managed as projects is vast. Projects encompass IT developments, designing and implement-ing new products and services, building new facilities, and organizational change activities. A simple way to think of a project is as something that needs to be done and Project Management, a structured approach to getting things done. The origins of structured approaches to getting things done are lost in history. Arguably, some very great ancient tasks, such as building the pyramids, must have had some form of management approach to control and coordinate thousands of people. But the traceable history of Project Management starts in the 20th century with large-scale engineering works initially in the defence sectors and then spilling out into civil construction. Over time Project Management has permeated most areas of business. Like any professional discipline that thousands of people are involved in, it has developed its own terminology – not all of it easily accessible – and a range of approaches and tools, some of which are more successful than others. The most obvious question at this stage is what differentiates a project and proj-ect management from any other activity and any other style of getting things done. Surely operational management is equally about getting things done. There is a range of characteristics that separate Project Management from other forms of management, which are discussed in detail below. At its simplest, a project is an endeavour with a known end, which once achieved finishes the project. Thus, if the project is to build a new facility, then once the facility is complete the project is over.

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  Software Engineering Quality Practices

  • Ronald Kirk Kandt(Author)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Auerbach Publications

    (Publisher)

  Practice 4.10. Assign personnel to projects who are experts in key tech-nology areas . Each core technology should have an individual who can Project Management 81 help others less knowledgeable of the technology. Such an individual need not be a technical lead or manager. Key technology areas include requirements engineering, architectural design, verification, and software tools and products. Practice 4.11. Never add developers to a late project . Although one would expect that adding people to a project would increase the amount of work produced, when such additions occur near the end of a project, experience indicates that output is generally lowered [5]. Practice 4.12. Place an operational infrastructure into the work environ-ment before the real work starts . Otherwise, everyone wastes a lot of time waiting for these critical items or converting everyone to use them. A critical part of this infrastructure is the software tools that personnel use to develop software. Hence, select and deploy an integrated tool suite to each computer that will support development activities before develop-ment actually begins. That is, the complete development environment should be available to practitioners on their first day of work. 4.3 A Procedure for Planning a Project Following is a step-by-step description for planning a project. Step 1. Describe the purpose and scope of the project. Provide as much detail as is required to understand the nature of the project: Identify the project’s objectives. Describe the importance of the project to the organization. Describe the capabilities the project will provide to the organi-zation. Include any background information that is important to under-standing the project. Step 2. Provide an overview of the development strategy selected for the project. Such a strategy might include prototyping the system, the use of commercial off-the-shelf software, or conversion of an existing system from one hardware and software family to another.

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  IT Manager's Handbook

  Getting your New Job Done

  • Bill Holtsnider, Brian D. Jaffe(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Morgan Kaufmann

    (Publisher)

  • Simple projects may require only a little planning and all the key information is maintained in someone’s head. A complicated project may need special Project Management software along with group calendaring and scheduling to keep it all on track.

  • It might have a very tight and immovable deadline (e.g., installing a new tax package before the start of the fiscal year ) or the time frame may be much more forgiving (e.g., “as long as it gets done sometime this year”).

  Your ability to manage a project so that it meets its goals, within the defined time frame and within the approved budget, will be one of the single most important skills you can develop as an IT Manager.

  The Value of Project Management

  Project Management has become a formal discipline and a widely practiced part of today’s corporate life. While it isn’t necessary for you to become an official “project manager” (PM) and get certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI ), it’s useful for you to know some of the important principles of Project Management to help you in your role as a manager. Every manager has some PM responsibilities, regardless of how those needs are defined; it can be critical to your success to not only accept, but embrace these responsibilities. Take control of the projects in your business life and manage them properly—it will be well worth your effort.

  Five Key Phases to a Project

  Starting with

  Section 4.2, “Phase One: Scope the Project” on page 106

  , the five key phases of a project are discussed:

  1. Scope the project. 2. Develop a project plan. 3. Launch the project. 4. Track the project’s progress. 5. Close out the project.

  Various companies and organizations define these phases of projects differently. However, these particular five stages are taken from the PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK

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  Integrated Project Control

  State of the Art Reports 1987 Series

  • A D Berry, T Duhig, A D Berry, T Duhig(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Pergamon

    (Publisher)

  In general terms a project is an organised effort to achieve a predefined goal. It is associated with man s ability to create something new in an organised way. A project should be characterised by the following: 1 It has defined objectives; a limited timescale and a budget are associated with it. 2 There is a sense of commitment to the project both from those working on it and from those who will benefit from its results (if the two are different). At the same time, those who may be adversely affected do not take steps to sabotage the project. 3 Whatever the subject of the project is, it requires a combination of skills and different activities to be brought together in order to achieve the predefined goals. 4 A special, non-functional management and organisation framework should be constructed to support all activities and, indeed, the whole project. This is called Project Management. 211 Therefore we can say that a project is a unique, well-defined effort to produce specified results within a set timeframe, at a given cost, in a multifunctional environment, under special management. Depending on the size, type and number of projects, it may be necessary to introduce Project Management as a way of life to an organisation. Organisations which are 'repetitive' (that is, whose principal activities repeat themselves continuously, for example, finance, continuous food production, and so on) often may not recognise a project. The entire management structure is alien to the project concept. Thus it is essential that those participating in, or leading, a project are brought to realise that Project Management is a different style from 'continuous management'. A Project Management 'system' helps to structure the activities of all. It provides its own discipline, it helps to allocate responsibilities, to define terms and to monitor progress. This means that the project team members get on with the job without having to re-invent the project structure.

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  Practical Project Management

  Tips, Tactics, and Tools

  • Harvey A. Levine(Author)
  • 2002(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT 323 Each group had its specific role. On the Operations Management side, attention was given to Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Project Selection and Mix, and Cash Flow. On the Projects Management side, we look at: Schedule/Time, Project Cost, Performance, Stakeholder Satisfaction, and Scope/Change Control. So what we have here is a rebadging of these two disciplines in an environment that bridges the gap between Operations Management and Project Management. As with any of the other topics in this book, a solution requires the implementa- tion of both the methodologies and the tools to support Project Portfolio Manage- ment. To date, there has been more talk on the subject than substance. Look for tools that address enterprise and project objectives and tie them to project plan- ning and control systems. We discuss Project Portfolio Management in greater depth in Section 9. Trap Don’t be fooled by the label Project Portfolio Manage- ment. It may just be a case of pretentious inflation of tradi- tional Project Management. Real PPM would involve integration of project and operations data and concerns. This is different from Project Management, Enterprise Project Man- agement, and Engagement Management. Professional Services Automation According to Ted Tzirimis, of SPEX, Professional Services Automation (PSA) is an amalgam of Project Management (PM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), focusing on resource management (or human capital) like time, knowledge, skills, and business relationships, as opposed to simple task management. Several years ago, ERP emerged as an enterprise system designed to integrate the finance, human resources, and projects aspects of the business and to im- prove on the automation of the processes and the flow of information between them. The primary industries to apply these systems were manufacturing and process oriented businesses.

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  Project Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

  A European Perspective

  • Anna Brzozowska, Wojciech Dyduch, Aleksander Pabian, Agnieszka Dziedzic(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Auerbach Publications

    (Publisher)

  The complexity of the project is evidenced by the multitude of institutions responsible for its implementation. Therefore, planning, designing, implementing, realizing, and managing processes are very complex undertakings, requiring participants a lot of creativity, flexibility, responsiveness, regularity, and extensive knowledge not only in the field of management but also in many other areas. The implementation and management of the project is an extremely difficult undertaking that requires diligence, consistency, and enormous determination at every stage of this multi-factor process, both on a national and European scale. Implementation of all planned tasks translates into managerial, infrastructural, and human-related/personal success.

  2.4 IT Tools in Project Management

  To-date, society is dealing with a growing saturation of life with computer and Internet technologies. Appropriate IT tools have become indispensable in life and work. People using IT or ICT tools can be described as (Sobocińska, 2012 , pp. 26–27):

  • enthusiasts for whom the computer/Internet is an integral part of life and who attach great importance to the possibility of using it;
  • communicators who like to talk and express themselves also in the virtual world and use IT primarily to communicate with others;
  • those who like innovation and learning, seek to broaden their knowledge and are characterized by searching for information using IT tools; and
  • beginners who have been using computers for a short time and strive to create their own place in the virtual space.

  An important and very large group is people using IT tools to perform tasks related to their work (professional users). In this context, IT tools are also necessary to work on projects and to improve their management.

  “Project Management as a discipline was born from the combination of several types of engineering studies as early as at the beginning of the 20th century. But it took almost five decades to understand that without the right tools, achieving success in project can be only considered in terms of a wishful thinking”.

  (Sadowska, https://www.droptica.pl/blog/czym-sa-metodyki-zarzadzania-projektami-i-ktora-wybrac-dla-twojego-projektu/ , 2022)

  The usage of IT tools is nowadays a prerequisite for the efficient, reliable, and undisturbed implementation of a project’s processes, from the simplest ones to the more complex. What’s more effective control of decision-making processes in the project is also conditioned by up-to-date and reliable information that is usually obtained and transmitted through technical means of generating and processing information.

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  Introduction to Industrial Engineering

  • Avraham Shtub, Yuval Cohen(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  3.1.1 What Is a Project? A project is a one-time undertaking to achieve a set of objectives (such as cost, time, deliverables, and quality) under constraints. Project work content includes a series of activities carried out in a specific order. The following three types of constraints are common in projects: 64 Introduction to Industrial Engineering 1. Time-related constraints such as the required project start and end dates or specific dates (milestones) that specify ahead of time when deliverables must be ready. 2. Budget-related constraints such as the available budget and cash flow constraints. 3. Resource-related constraints such as the availability of person-nel, equipment, and/or materials, during specific time periods or throughout the project. In addition, environmental constraints, legal constraints, and political con-straints may be preset, as well as project-specific constraints such as techno-logical constraints. Organization of work in the form of a project has several advantages. They are listed as follows: • Flexibility: The project manager is able to use the project resources to achieve project objectives while satisfying the project constraints in an optimal manner. This includes changing plans in accordance with dynamic changes in the project environment. • A clear point of contact for the customer: The project manager serves as a point of contact. • Dealing with uncertainty: Managing uncertainty and risk are integral parts of Project Management. The nonrepetitive nature of projects reduces the availability of past information and the use of such information to improve planning. The knowledge gap created by the lack of information is a source of uncertainty and risk. The project organization is designed to handle such risks by using specific risk management processes as will be discussed later in this chapter.

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