Assignment # 01 Project Management & Project Planning Submitted to: Sir Umair Submitted by: Hassan Mahmood Roll

No # 09 B.S.C 8th Semester (Morning) Session: 2008-2012

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research, Faisalabad.

Project
A project is a set of activities which are networked in an order and aimed at achieving the defined goals for which the project is undertaken. Upon completion of all the activities, the goals of the project would have been achieved.

Management
Management is the technique of understanding the problems and needs and controlling the use of resources, such as cost, time, manpower, and materials.

Project Management
It is an art of controlling the cost, time, manpower, and hardware and software resources involved in a project.

Examples of a Project
Commissioning a new industrial unit Constructing a house Setting up an office Developing a technology Launching a new product in the market

Need for Project Management

Project management is necessary because it helps an organization execute a project successfully by: 1. Preventing Project Failure: A project requires huge investments which should not go waste. A loss in any project would have direct or indirect impact on the society. Project management helps an organization prevent failures in projects. 2. Controlling Project Scope: Scope of the project activity may undergo a change. Project management helps an organization define and control project scope.

3. Improving understanding: Lack of understanding of the project among the participants leads to failure. Project management helps participants understand the project and its purpose.

4. Managing Risks: A project is vulnerable to various risks. A project is affected if the technology used is changed during the course of project execution. Similarly changes in economic conditions may affect a project. Project management is very useful in assessing and mitigating such risks. 5. Managing Project Problems: Consequences of ignoring project related problems can be very serious. Project management helps in identification and communication of problem areas.

The Project Manager (PM)

A project manager is a person who manages the project. The project manager is responsible for carrying out all the tasks of a project. Responsibilities of the project manager include:

Budgeting and cost control Scheduling tasks Allocating resources Tracking project expenditures Ensuring technical quality Managing relations with the customer and company

Life cycle of a project manager overlaps with the development life cycle in the middle. Duties of a project manager start before the development and continue even after delivery of the product.

Phases of Project Management Life Cycle

The various phases in project management life cycle are: Analysis and evaluation

Marketing Design Inspecting, testing and delivery Post completion analysis

Following Figure shows the phases in a sequence.

Analysis and Evaluation Phase It starts with receiving a request to analyze the problem from the customer. The project manager conducts the analysis of the problem and submits a detailed report to the top management. There port should consist of what the problem is, ways of solving the problem, the objectives to be achieved, and the success rate of achieving the goal Marketing Phase A project proposal is prepared by a group of people including the project manager. This proposal has to contain the strategies adopted to market the product to the customers.

Design Phase Based on the inputs received in the form of project feasibility study, preliminary project evaluation, project proposal and customer interviews, following outputs are produced: System design specification Program functional specification Program design specification Project plan

Inspecting, Testing and Delivery Phase During this phase, the project team works under the guidance of the project manager. The project manager has to ensure that the team working under him implements the project

designs accurately. The project has to be tracked or monitored through its cost, manpower and schedule. The tasks involved in these phases are: Managing the customer Marketing the future work Performing quality control work Post Completion Analysis Phase After delivery or completion of the project, the staff performance has to be evaluated. The tasks involved in this phase are: Documenting the lessons learnt from the project Analyzing project feedback Preparing project execution report Analyzing the problems encountered during the project.

Project Management Processes

Project management consists of the following interacting processes organized in groups.

Project processes
Process groups Process interactions Customization Project Processes A project process is a series of activities to achieve the target. Project process is classified into two main categories: Project management process and Product oriented process. Following figure compares the two categories

Process Groups Project processes are categorized under five Process Groups. 1. Initiating processes: These processes initiate the project and establish commitment. 2. Planning processes: These processes are meant for devising and maintaining a workable scheme to accomplish the business need. 3. Executing processes: These processes are used for coordinating people to carry out the plan.

4. Controlling processes: These processes monitor and measure progress and take remedial action. 5. Closing processes: These processes are meant for formalizing acceptance and bringing project to an orderly end. Following figure shows the connection between Process Groups in a Phase

Project Planning
It is well known that organizations continue to grow year by year. As there is a need to grow, it becomes necessary for a growing organization to resort to effective growth plan. The plan needs to be properly prepared. It is possible to prepare proper plans only if the manager has sufficient knowledge of the various processes of the project. The manager has to work on the various project life cycle stages and apply necessary planning tools to come out with a proper growth plan for the company. The project manager needs to be meticulously aware of the various techniques of identifying the project items, work break down structure of the project, task duration, and estimation.

Project Life Cycle and Process Flows

The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the projects goals or objectives. It thus outlines the important processes that are required by any project from start to end. Normally a project will go through a sequence of processes as shown in the figure.

Project process flow

Let us now try to understand the project life cycle with reference to the process flow mentioned above. In the preparation stage, the project manager, along with the associates and team members, draft the outline of the project. They identify the various factors required to be taken care of in the project. Based on their discussion, they formulate the plans and model the activities for execution. They prepare the budget. After the model is approved, they recommended it for implementation. During the planning stage, roles and responsibilities of the various members involved in the project are listed out. In addition, the project team works on the feasibility report to assess the project feasibility with respect to time, finance and technicalities. A thorough risk analysis is also performed to arrive at the uncertainty factors. The findings of the risk analysis are used to establish the control factors to be exercised during the execution of the project. Various monitoring tools are set to monitor the project progress. All the key issues found at the planning stage of a project are documented in a project plan.

Project Plan
A project plan is documented with the following key issues: Key stages of the project Project logic diagram Key stages responsibility chart Estimates for all key stages

Optimized project Gantt chart Updated and reviewed project risk log Risk management forms for new high risks Project operating budget

Project Planning and Scoping

Before you create a project plan, you need to define the project scope. A project scope provides the information that you need to complete the project plan. The purpose of project planning and scoping is to first identify the areas of the project work and the forces affecting the project and then to define the boundaries of the project. In addition, the scoping has to be explicitly stated on the line of the project objectives. It also has to implicitly provide directions to the project. The planning and scoping should be such that the project manager is able to assess every stage of the project and also enabling the assessment of the quality of the deliverable of the project at every stage. Fist, let us list the steps involved in project scoping. These steps include: i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) viii) ix) x) xi) Identifying the various parametric forces relevant to the project and its stages. Enabling the team members to work on tools to keep track of the stages and thereby proceeding the planned manner . Avoiding areas of problems which may affect the progress of the project. Eliminating the factors responsible for inducing the problems. Analyzing the financial implications and cost factor at various stages of the project. Understanding and developing the various designs required at various stages of the project. Identifying the key areas to be included in the scope through various meetings, discussion, and interviews with the clients. Providing a base and track to enable alignment of project with the organization and its business objectives. Finding out the dimensions applicable to the project and also the ones not applicable to the project. Listing out all the limitations, boundary values and constraints in the project. Understanding the assumptions made in defining the scope.

After completing the project scoping, you can start your project plan. Project planning involves three processes as shown in the following figure.

The identification process

The main steps in the identification process of any project are: i) ii) iii) Identifying initial requirements. Validating them against the project objective. Identifying the criteria such as quality objectives and quantitative requirements for assessing the success of both the final product and the process used to create it. Identifying the framework of the solution. Preparing a template of the frame work of solution to illustrate the project feasibility. Preparing relevant charts to demonstrate the techniques of executing the project and its different stages. Preparing a proper project schema of achieving the defined business requirements for the project. Identifying training requirement. Making a list of the training program necessary for the personnel working on the project. Identifying the training needs of the individuals working in various functions responsible in the project. Preparing a training plan and a training calendar . Assessing the capabilities and skills of all those identified as part of the project organization.

iv) v) vi) vii) viii) ix) x) xi) xii)

The review Process

The main steps in the review process of any project are: i) Establishing a training plan to acquaint the project team members with the methodologies, technologies and business areas under study. Updating the project schedule to accommodate scheduled training activities. Identifying the needs for review and reviewing the project scope.

ii) iii)

iv)

v) vi) vii)

Reviewing a project with respect to its stages and progress by preparing a plan for the review, fixing an agenda to review the project progress and keeping the reports ready for discussion about stage performance. Reviewing the project scope, the objective statement, the non conformances in the project stages and identifying the need to use the project plan. Preparing a proper project plan indicating all the requirements from start to finish of the project and also at every stage of the project. Preparing a checklist of items to be monitored and controlled during the course of execution of the project.

The analysis process

The main steps in the analysis process of any project are: i) ii) iii) Comparing the actual details with that in the plan with reference to project stages. Measuring various components of the project and its stages frequently to control the project from deviating and also monitor the performance. Deciding how the task, the effort and the defects are to be tracked, what tools to be used, what reporting structure and frequency will be followed at various stages. Identifying the preventive and corrective steps to be taken in case of any variance. Performing root cause analysis for all problems encountered. If all the above steps are performed, scoping and planning become effective and the ideal outcome are achieved.

iv) v)