project management certification

Courtesy: project management certification

Product-based planning is a structured approach to project management, based on identifying all of the products (project deliverables) that contribute to achieving the project objectives. As such, it defines a successful project as output-oriented rather than activity- or task-oriented. The most common implementation of this approach is PRINCE2.

Process groups

The project development stages

Traditionally (depending on what project management methodology is being used), project management includes a number of elements: four to five project management process groups, and a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project management processes or stages of development will be used. Major process groups generally include:^[37]

• Initiation
• Planning
• Production or execution
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing

In project environments with a significant exploratory element (e.g., research and development), these stages may be supplemented with decision points (go/no go decisions) at which the project’s continuation is debated and decided. An example is the Phase–gate model.

Initiating

Initiating process group processes

The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business’ needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them.

The initiating stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas. These areas can be recorded in a series of documents called Project Initiation documents. Project Initiation documents are a series of planned documents used to create an order for the duration of the project. These tend to include:

• project proposal (idea behind project, overall goal, duration)
• project scope (project direction and track)
• product breakdown structure (PBS) (a hierarchy of deliverables/outcomes and components thereof)
• work breakdown structure (WBS) (a hierarchy of the work to be done, down to daily tasks)
• responsibility assignment matrix (RACI – Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) (roles and responsibilities aligned to deliverables / outcomes)
• tentative project schedule (milestones, important dates, deadlines)
• analysis of business needs and requirements against measurable goals
• review of the current operations
• financial analysis of the costs and benefits, including a budget
• stakeholder analysis, including users and support personnel for the project
• project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedules
• SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the business

Planning

After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail (see an example of a flowchart). The main purpose is to plan time, cost, and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project’s chances of successfully accomplishing its goals.

Project planning generally consists of

• determining the project management methodology to follow (e.g. whether the plan will be defined wholly upfront, iteratively, or in rolling waves);
• developing the scope statement;
• selecting the planning team;
• identifying deliverables and creating the product and work breakdown structures;
• identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the activities in their logical sequence;
• estimating the resource requirements for the activities;
• estimating time and cost for activities;
• developing the schedule;
• developing the budget;
• risk planning;
• developing quality assurance measures;
• gaining formal approval to begin work.

Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project, and holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable.

For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final product may be performed concurrent with the project planning activities and may help to inform the planning team when identifying deliverables and planning activities.

Executing

Executing process group processes

While executing we must know what are the planned terms that need to be executed. The execution/implementation phase ensures that the project management plan’s deliverables are executed accordingly. This phase involves proper allocation, coordination, and management of human resources and any other resources such as materials and budgets. The output of this phase is the project deliverables.

Project documentation

Documenting everything within a project is key to being successful. To maintain budget, scope, effectiveness and pace a project must have physical documents pertaining to each specific task. With correct documentation, it is easy to see whether or not a project’s requirement has been met. To go along with that, documentation provides information regarding what has already been completed for that project. Documentation throughout a project provides a paper trail for anyone who needs to go back and reference the work in the past. In most cases, documentation is the most successful way to monitor and control the specific phases of a project. With the correct documentation, a project’s success can be tracked and observed as the project goes on. If performed correctly documentation can be the backbone of a project’s success

Monitoring and controlling

Monitoring and controlling process group processes

Monitoring and controlling consist of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan.

Monitoring and controlling include:

• Measuring the ongoing project activities (‘where we are’);
• Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be);
• Identifying corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on track again);
• Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented.

Two main mechanisms support monitoring and controlling in projects. On the one hand, contracts offer a set of rules and incentives often supported by potential penalties and sanctions. On the other hand, scholars in business and management have paid attention to the role of integrators (also called project barons) to achieve a project’s objectives. In turn, recent research in project management has questioned the type of interplay between contracts and integrators. Some have argued that these two monitoring mechanisms operate as substitutes as one type of organization would decrease the advantages of using the other one.

In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and control process also provides feedback between project phases, to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan.

Project maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes:

• Continuing support of end-users
• Correction of errors
• Updates to the product over time

Monitoring and controlling cycle

In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems are resolved.

Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value engineering, and impacts from third parties, to name a few. Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was actually constructed. This is referred to as change management. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record is made on the contract documents – usually, but not necessarily limited to, the design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, “as built.” The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts. Construction document management is a highly important task undertaken with the aid of an online or desktop software system or maintained through physical documentation. The increasing legality pertaining to the construction industry’s maintenance of correct documentation has caused an increase in the need for document management systems.

When changes are introduced to the project, the viability of the project has to be re-assessed. It is important not to lose sight of the initial goals and targets of the projects. When the changes accumulate, the forecasted result may not justify the original proposed investment in the project. Successful project management identifies these components, and tracks and monitors progress, so as to stay within time and budget frames already outlined at the commencement of the project. Exact methods were suggested to identify the most informative monitoring points along the project life-cycle regarding its progress and expected duration.

Closing

Closing process group processes.

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned.

This phase consists of:

• Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase.
• Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the project or a project phase

Also included in this phase is the Post Implementation Review. This is a vital phase of the project for the project team to learn from experiences and apply to future projects. Normally a Post Implementation Review consists of looking at things that went well and analyzing things that went badly on the project to come up with lessons learned.

Project control and project control systems

Project control (also known as Cost Engineering) should be established as an independent function in project management. It implements verification and controlling functions during the processing of a project to reinforce the defined performance and formal goals. The tasks of project control are also:

• the creation of infrastructure for the supply of the right information and its update
• the establishment of a way to communicate disparities in project parameters
• the development of project information technology based on an intranet or the determination of a project key performance indicator system (KPI)
• divergence analyses and generation of proposals for potential project regulations
• the establishment of methods to accomplish an appropriate project structure, project workflow organization, project control, and governance
• creation of transparency among the project parameters

Fulfillment and implementation of these tasks can be achieved by applying specific methods and instruments of project control. The following methods of project control can be applied:

• investment analysis
• cost–benefit analysis
• value benefit analysis
• expert surveys
• simulation calculations
• risk-profile analysis
• surcharge calculations
• milestone trend analysis
• cost trend analysis
• target/actual comparison

Project control is that element of a project that keeps it on track, on time, and within budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning and ends late in the project with post-implementation review, having a thorough involvement of each step in the process. Projects may be audited or reviewed while the project is in progress. Formal audits are generally risk or compliance-based and management will direct the objectives of the audit. An examination may include a comparison of approved project management processes with how the project is actually being managed. Each project should be assessed for the appropriate level of control needed: too much control is too time-consuming, too little control is very risky. If project control is not implemented correctly, the cost to the business should be clarified in terms of errors and fixes.

Control systems are needed for cost, risk, quality, communication, time, change, procurement, and human resources. In addition, auditors should consider how important the projects are to the financial statements, how reliant the stakeholders are on controls, and how many controls exist. Auditors should review the development process and procedures for how they are implemented. The process of development and the quality of the final product may also be assessed if needed or requested. A business may want the auditing firm to be involved throughout the process to catch problems earlier on so that they can be fixed more easily. An auditor can serve as a controls consultant as part of the development team or as an independent auditor as part of an audit.

Businesses sometimes use formal systems development processes. This help assure systems are developed successfully. A formal process is more effective in creating strong controls, and auditors should review this process to confirm that it is well designed and is followed in practice. A good formal systems development plan outlines:

• A strategy to align development with the organization’s broader objectives
• Standards for new systems
• Project management policies for timing and budgeting
• Procedures describing the process
• Evaluation of quality of change

Characteristics of projects

There are five important characteristics of a project:

(i) It should always have specific start and end dates.

(ii) They are performed and completed by a group of people.

(iii) The output is the delivery of a unique product or service.

(iv) They are temporary in nature.

(v) It is progressively elaborated.

Examples are: designing a new car or writing a book.