Because projects are often complex and involve numerous stakeholders, having a project manager to lead

the initiative and keep everyone on the same page is critical to project success. According to the Project
Management Institute (PMI), organizations that undervalue project management report an average of
50% more of their projects failing outright. Failed projects can quickly derail your initiatives and delay or
even prevent business growth. Project management is more than simply tracking deadlines and setting a
budget. A good project manager takes control of a project from beginning to end, ensuring that the
initiatives and goals are strategically aligned, the project has stakeholder support, and everyone is on the
same page. To understand why project management is important, we first need to define exactly what
project management is. This module aims to introduce the basic concepts of project management.

After successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Understand the definition of project and project management

 Identify characteristics and types of a project
 Determine the difference between projects and operations, programs and portfolios
 Apply the concept of the project triangle
 Appreciate the importance of project management
 Put into practice the project management criteria
 Know the role of a project manager
 Follow the lifecycle of a project

What is a Project?
For this subject, we define project as:

“A unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish
dates, undertaken to achieve objectives conforming to specific requirements, including constraints
of time, cost and resources.”

Using the aforementioned definition, the following characteristics of a project can be identified:
 Unique Process. A project must not be a recurring, routinary or repetitive business activity.
It must be distinct from normal business operations. An operation is a set of tasks that does
not qualify to be a project. In other words, an operation is a function that performs ongoing
tasks. It does not produce a unique (new) product, and it does not have a preplanned
beginning and end.
  Coordinated and Controlled Activities. The activities or initiatives in a project are planned,
and must be coordinated and controlled for smooth flow.
 Temporary. A project has a predetermined start and end dates. It is only temporary and will
eventually end. On the other hand, operations are generally ongoing and repetitive.
 Objectives and Requirements. A project is undertaken to achieve a desired outcome or a
specific objective based on certain criteria and requirements.
 Constraints. A project normally has limitations in terms of time, costs and resources. This
is determined before the project commences through budget preparations to ensure that it
will be accomplished in an effective and efficient manner.
Projects may be undertaken either to generate revenue, such as introducing methods for improving cash
flow, or be capital projects that require additional expenditure and resources to introduce a change to
the capital base of the organization. It is to this latter type of project that the techniques and methods
described in this material can be most easily applied.

Figure 1.1 shows examples of unique processes treated as projects and repetitive business activities that
form part of normal business operations.

(A) Projects (B) Operations

Building a house Manufacturing bricks
Designing a car Mass-producing cars
Setting up a filing system Doing the filing
Building a process plant Producing sausages
Introducing a new computer system Operating credit control procedures
Figure 1.1 Comparison of projects and operations

Both types of activities have to be managed, but only the ones in column (A) require project-management
skills.

The Project Triangle

As mentioned in the previous section, a project is undertaken to achieve objectives conforming to specific
requirements. Broadly these objectives, which are usually defined as part of the business case and set out
in the project summary, must meet three fundamental criteria:

 The project must be completed on time.

 The project must be accomplished within the budgeted cost.
 The project must meet the prescribed quality requirements.
These criteria can be graphically represented by the well-known project triangle as presented in Figure
1.2. Some organizations like to substitute the word ‘quality’ with ‘performance’, but the principle is the
same – the operational requirements of the project must be met, and met safely.
 Figure 1.2 The Project Triangle
The order of priority given to any of these criteria is dependent not only on the industry but also on the
individual project. For example, in designing and constructing an aircraft, motor car or railway carriage,
safety must be paramount. The end product may cost more than budgeted or it may be late in going into
service, and certain quality requirements in terms of comfort may have to be sacrificed, but under no
circumstances can safety be compromised. Airplanes, cars and railways must be safe under all operating
conditions.

Types of Projects
Time-Bound Projects
A time-bound project is constrained by hard deadlines, in which the delivery's timing is as important as
the delivery itself. In other words, cost and quality or performance may have to be sacrificed to meet the
unalterable deadline of the project. For example, if you accepted a project to design and sew a wedding
dress, it is understood that you must finish it before the wedding day otherwise the project will be useless.

Cost-Bound Projects
A cost-bound project is limited by the cost allocation or budget for the project. Time and quality or
performance must be sacrificed to ensure that the project will be completed within the targeted cost. For
example, a local authority housing development may have to reduce the specifications of housing units
and may even overrun the original construction program, but the project cost cannot be exceeded,
because the housing grant allocated by central government for this type of development was frozen at a
fixed sum.

Quality (Performance)-Bound Project

In quality (performance)-bound projects, quality is the priority. Even if the delivery has to be delayed to
carry out more tests and the cost has increased, the specification must be met. For example, this is usually
the case for customized projects, the customer has strict specifications that must be met regardless of
time and cost constraints.

Safety-Bound Projects
A safety-bound project is where safety is the most important aspect. Safety is a factor that is required by
law as stated in the Occupational Safety and Health Standards of the Department of Labor and
Employment. Not only must safe practices be built into every project, but constant monitoring is an
essential element of a safety policy. To that extent, it could be argued that all projects are safety-bound,
since, if it became evident after an accident that safety was sacrificed for speed or profitability, some or
all of the project stakeholders could find themselves in real trouble, even in jail. A serious accident that
may kill or injure people will not only cause anguish among the relatives, but, while not necessarily
terminating the project, could very well destroy the company. For this reason the ‘S’ symbol when shown
in the middle of the project-management triangle gives more emphasis of its importance as shown in
Figure 1.2.

While the other three criteria (Cost, Time and Quality/Performance) can be juggled by the project
manager to suit the changing requirements and environment of a project, safety cannot, under any
circumstances, be compromised. As any project manager knows, the duration (time) may be reduced by
increasing resources (cost), and cost may be saved by sacrificing quality or performance, but any
diminution of safety can quickly lead to disaster, death and even the closure of an organization.

Programs and Portfolios

Your project is an important part of the work your company is doing, but you need to understand how it
fits in to the higher-level strategy your company is executing, too. That’s where programs and portfolios
come in.

Programs. A program is a group of projects that are closely linked, to the point where managing them
together provides some benefit. Projects in a program are often dependent on each other. Program
management focuses on these interdependencies.

Portfolios. A portfolio is a group of projects or programs that are linked together by a business goal. If an
architecture firm was venturing into remodeling existing buildings as well as designing new ones, it might
split its efforts into separate New Construction and Remodeling portfolios, since the goals for each are
quite different.

What is Project Management?

Project management is defined as:

“The planning, monitoring, and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those
involved in it, in order to achieve the project objectives within agreed criteria of time, cost, and
performance.”

Note that safety doesn’t need to be expressly stated in the definition because it is already understood
that it is embedded in each aspect of the project management criteria. While this definition includes the
fundamental criteria of time, cost and performance, the operative word, as far as the management aspect
is concerned, is motivation. A project will not be successful unless all (or at least most) of the participants
are not only competent but also motivated to produce a satisfactory outcome. To achieve this, a number
of methods, procedures and techniques have been developed, which, together with the general
management and people skills, enable the project manager to meet the set criteria of time cost and
performance/quality in the most effective ways.
Importance of Project Management
The next question that can be asked is ‘Why does one need project management?’ What is the difference
between project management and management of any other business or enterprise?

The answer is that project management is essentially management of change, while running a functional
or ongoing business is managing a continuum or ‘business-as-usual. It is immediately apparent therefore
that there is a fundamental difference between project management and functional or line management
where the purpose of management is to continue the ongoing operation with as little disruption (or
change) as possible. Therefore, project managers must be proactive as opposed to being reactive. In
practice, this often creates friction and organizational problems when a change has to be introduced.

Project Management Criteria

If one were to list the four project-management criteria in the order of their importance, the sequence
would be safety, quality or performance, time and cost. The rationale for this order is as follows:

 If the project is not safe, it can cost lives and/or destroy the company and other
stakeholders.
 If the quality or performance is not acceptable, the project will have been a waste of time
and money.
 If the project is not on time, it can still be a success, but may have caused a financial loss.
 Even if the cost exceeds the budget, the project can still be viable, as extra money can
usually be found.

Who is the Project Manager?

A project manager can be defined as:

“The individual or body with authority, accountability and responsibility for managing a project to
achieve specific objectives.”

Unfortunately in many instances, while the responsibility and accountability are vested in the project
manager, the authority given to him or her is either severely restricted or non-existent. The reasons for
this may be the reluctance of a department (usually one responsible for the accounts) to relinquish
financial control or it is perceived that the project manager does not have sufficient experience to handle
certain tasks, such as control of expenditure. The responsibilities and limits of authority of the project
manager are set out in the project charter.

The Project Lifecycle

As you already know, each project has a beginning and an end. The timespan from the project’s beginning
to its end is called the project lifecycle. If a project has multiple phases, all the phases are completed during
its lifecycle to complete the project. From initiation/authorization to completion/closure, a project goes
through a whole lifecycle that includes defining the project objectives, planning the work to achieve those
objectives, performing the work, monitoring and controlling the progress, and closing the project after
receiving product acceptance. Figure 1.3 shows the different stages of the project lifecycle; the arrows
indicate the flow of information.

Figure 1.3 The Project Lifecycle

The five stages, technically called process groups, of a project lifecycle are described in the following list.

Initiating a Project. This stage defines and authorizes the project. The project manager is named, and the
project is officially launched through a signed document called the project charter, a high-level document
that contains items such as the purpose of the project, description, objectives and requirements, and a
summary of the milestone schedule.

Planning the Project. In this stage, the project manager, along with the project management team,
develop the project scope, define and refine the project objectives, and develop activities to meet those
objectives. This is done through the development of the project management plan, which is a collection
of several plans and other documents that constitute a course of action required to achieve the objectives
and meet the requirements of the project.

Executing a Project. In this stage, the project manager manages the execution of the project as indicated
in the project management plan. Of course, the main output of this project is the project deliverables.
Approved changes, recommendations, and defect repairs are also implemented in this stage.

Monitoring and Controlling the Project. The project must be monitored and controlled throughout its
lifecycle, including during the executing stage. The purpose of monitoring and controlling is to make sure
that the project stays on track, i.e., is performed as planned, and, if it goes off track, to take action to bring
it back on track.

Closing the Project. In this stage, you verify that all the required project processes are complete, all
project-related contracts are closed, the outcome of the project is turned over to another group, such as
the maintenance or operations group, and you can bring the project to an end by disbanding the project
team. Closing the project also includes conducting a project review for lessons learned.