Drexel University

PROJ 501 Introduction to Project Management

Week Ten Lecture Notes

Theme: Course Close Out

Outline: Final review of project management topics including: time management,

integration management, risk management, cost management, quality
management, procurement management, human resource management
The Project Management Office

Over the last ten weeks we have covered a lot of ground relative to project management.
We studied the following core elements of project management:

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service,

or result.
o Each project has a set start date and end date.
o The primary objective of any project is to ensure product delivery on time,
to cost and to the customers expected quality.
o Project success is achieved with thorough planning, monitored and
controlled execution, with a lot of communication and dialogue.
o Projects should be managed through the lifecycle of initiating, planning,
executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.

Final review of project management topics including: time management, integration

management, risk management, cost management, quality management, procurement
management, human resource management

The project management knowledge areas interact with one another and may involve
effort from one or more individuals or groups based upon the needs of the project.
Although the processes are discussed as discrete elements with well-defined interfaces, in
practice, they may overlap and interact considerably between these knowledge areas of
the broader and comprehensive project.

A. PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT

Includes the processes required to insure that the project addresses all the work necessary
to complete the project successfully. It is primarily concerned with defining and
controlling what is or is not included in the project. Project Scope Management includes
the important steps of the initiation of the project, scope definition, scope planning, scope
verification and approval by management and scope change control of the project.
 B. PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT
Project Integration Management is composed of the processes required to ensure that the
various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It involves making tradeoffs
among competing objectives and alternatives in order to meet or exceed stakeholder
needs and expectations. The focus of Project Integration Management is the appropriate
combining of all the necessary project tasks and plans for all functional groups necessary
to achieve the project as well as integration of all the planning, execution and control
processes. Project Integration Management includes project plan development, project
plan execution and the coordination of overall change control during the life of the
project.

C. PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT

Project Time Management is comprised of the processes required to ensure timely
completion of the project. This process defines the specific project activities that must be
performed, the activity sequencing, activity duration estimating and the development and
control of the project schedule.

D. PROJECT COST MANAGEMENT

Project Cost Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project is
completed within the approved budget. Project Cost Management includes resource
planning (personnel, materials, equipment), cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost
control over the life of the project.

E. PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Project Quality Management is comprised of processes required to insure that the project
will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. Project Quality Management focuses
on:
- Quality Planning identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project
and how to satisfy them.
- Quality Assurance evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis in
order to provide confidence that the project will satisfy relevant quality standards
- Quality Control monitoring project results to determine if they comply with
relevant quality standards and to identify ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory
performance.

F. PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Project Human Resource Management includes the processes required to make the most
effective use of the personnel involved with the project. This involves not only those
individuals directly on the project effort, but also the project stakeholders, sponsors,
customers, suppliers, etc. Project Human Resource Management addresses
organizational planning for the project staff acquisition and team development.

G. PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT

Project Communications Management is comprised of the processes required to insure
timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage and ultimate
disposition of project information. It provides the critical links among personnel, ideas
and information that are necessary for project success. Project Communication
Management focuses on communication planning, distribution of project information,
collection and disseminating project performance information and administering closure
of the project.

H. PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT

Project Risk Management includes the processes concerned with identifying, analyzing,
and responding to project risk. The overriding goal of Project Risk Management is to
maximize the results of positive events and minimize the consequences of adverse events.
Project Risk Management addresses risk identification, risk qualification, risk response or
mitigation development and implementation and risk response control.

I. PROJECT PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

Project Procurement Management is comprised of the processes required to acquire
materials and services to support the development and completion of the project from
outside the performing organization. Project Procurement Management focuses on
project procurement planning, solicitation planning, the solicitation processes, selection,
project contract administration and project contract close-out.

The Project Management Office

As an organization grows and matures in its implementation of project management, a
natural progression that many firms follow is the formation of a Project Management
Office (PMO). The formation of the PMO addresses two critical needs:

A. Establishment of consistency of definition, planning and execution across all

projects within an organization.

B. Provides for a single point of contact and responsibility for management on

project related activities as they pertain to communication, decision making and project
oversight.

The PMO provides leadership and infrastructure for managing and controlling multiple
projects. It represents a compilation of project management organization and
infrastructure, support, tools and best practices that are melded together to improve
business and operational results and drive continual improvement gains in the
organizations project development efforts.

A final note about project management success:

Michael Greer1 outlined the following key success factors for all project managers.

1. Focus on the triple constraints. Project success means completing these three
dimensions of the project: on time, within budget, and to a quality standard
acceptable to the customer and sponsors.
2. Everything boils down to planning, and planning is ongoing: All texts and
authorities relative to project management agree that the most important activity
for the project manager is planning. Planning, and (re)planning is a way of life for
the project manager.
3. Project managers must promote a sense of urgency: The definition of a project
denotes as sense of finality. Further, projects have limited resources time,
money, personnel, etc. Since there are always competing priorities, the project
manager must create a level of tension to keep attention on attaining project
deliverables and deadlines. Status reporting and monitoring is essential in keeping
this urgency.
4. Successful projects use a time-tested, proven project life cycle: Proven models
help assure standards and best practices are part of the project plan. These model
support quality management and help mitigate rework. When pressures of time or
budget increase, the effective project manager relies on project life cycle
standards to defend against short cuts in project success.
5. All project deliverables and activities must be visualized and communicated in
vivid detail: Effective project managers engage the team to create tangible
illustrations of the projects roadmap and expected final product details. This
effort helps everyone focus in the same direction and understand each others
work activities.
6. Deliverables must evolve gradually: Project evolve from tasks into work products
into deliverables and into final products. Incrementalism is prudent way forward
in terms of cost, schedule, scope, and quality. (If you need a refresher about the
triple constraints, reread item #1 from this list.)
7. Projects require clear approvals and sign-off by sponsors: Clear approvals for
go/no-go decisions by sponsors and other stakeholders are paramount and should
be illustrated in the project plan, schedule, and deliverables.
8. Project success is correlated with thorough analyses of the need for project
deliverables: The likelihood of project success increases when project results are
designed to meet documented business needs. Knowing this, effective project
managers insist on there being clearly documented business needs relative to the
project before committing organizational resources to the endeavor.
9. Project managers must fight for time to do things right: Project managers are in
constant battle with competing resources. As such they must fight for active and
supportive sponsorship, dedicated resources, and deliver quality products.
10. Project manager responsibility must be matched by equivalent authority: Project
managers often have responsibility for deliverables with little authority. This is
another area requiring project managers to fight for authority or at least resource
to support their authority through subject matter expert cooperation,

1
Greer, M. (1999). Planning and managing human performance in technology projects, Handbook of human
performance technology, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1999.
11. Project sponsors and stakeholders must be active participants, not passive
customers: With authority comes responsibility. Sponsor authority and
responsibility needs to be conveyed the project manager, understood, and agreed
upon. Participants serving in each role have important parts to play in effective
project planning, executing, and delivering. Active participation throughout the
project is paramount.
12. Projects typically must be sold, and resold: The project manager wears many hats,
one of them is of salesperson. The project manager must continuously sell the
project and its value to the organization to help maintain sponsor and stakeholder
commitment.
13. Project managers should acquire the best people they can and then do whatever it
takes to keep the garbage out of their way: The important component of this item
is noted in the heading, acquiring the best people possible. Project managers are
advocates and need to advocate for skills and abilities necessary to deliver
success.
14. Top management must actively set priorities: As noted about the importance of
sponsor activities, they have a role in setting priorities. This emphasizes a point
that project managers are not alone. While they must shoulder a lot of
responsibility, they need to share in the responsibility with others and a key
person responsible for supporting the project manager is the sponsor and senior
management.