Unit 1

Project

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

results. ISO 10006 defines project as a unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and
controlled activities, with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to
specific requirements, including the constraints of time, resource, cost and product quality.

A project aims at accomplishing a development objective like creating a product or service or a

specified outcome. The project objective is to create a facility within specified constraints.

A construction project is a high-value, time bound, the special construction mission of creating a
construction facility or service, with predetermined performance objectives defined in terms of
quality specification, completion time, budgeted cost and other specified constraints. The project
unique construction mission is accomplished within complex project environments by putting
together human and non-human resources into a temporary organization headed by a project
manager. Construction projects include numerous interdependent and interrelated activities and
employ huge resources of men, material and machines.

Classification of Construction projects:

1. Nature of construction Facility: Building construction, Infrastructure construction, Industrial

construction, Special-Purpose Projects.
2. Nature of work: Repetitive, Non-Repetitive or Combination
3. Mode of execution: Departmental or Contractual
4. Nature of Construction Contract: Cost Plus, Item Rate, Lump Sum, Turnkey, or PPP
5. Completion Time: Long duration (over 5 years), Medium duration (3-5 years), Normal
duration (1-3 years), Special short term projects (less than 1 year)
6. Need-Based Projects: Public Need Projects, Corporate Need Projects, Commercial Projects,
Re-engineering Projects.
7. Budgeted Cost : Mega Value project (over 1000 crores), large value projects (100-1000
crores INR), Medium value projects (20-100 crores INR), Small value project (less than 20
crores INR)

Project management:
Project management is the art and science of converting the client’s vision into reality
working efficiently, effectively and safely. The british standard BS 6079:2000 defines project
management as the planning, monitoring and controlling of all aspects of a project and the
motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the projective objective on time and to the
specified cost, quality and performance. Project management, according to ISO 10006: 1997
(E), includes planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling all aspects of the project in a
continuous process to achieve its objects.

Project Management Concepts:

Planning: Planning is the process of formulating of a time-based pan of action for co-
ordinating various activates and resources to achieve specified objective. It is the process of
developing a project plan. The project plan shows how to achieve the assigned goals by
 specifying a pre-determined course of action based on discussions and decisions made on
available knowledge of future trends.
Objective: the main objective of planning is to get the construction sequence right to avoid
delays and rework. It preceeds all managerial activities and it aims to combine systematic
creative thinking with planning techniques to develop a project plan. It included time plan,
cost plan, resource plan and plan for controlling the project. It also included schedules of
design and drawing preparation, work quantities, process of work planned resources
allocations, budget cost and cash flow estimates at different stages.

PHASES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Project conception and initiation

An idea for a project will be carefully examined to determine whether or not it benefits the
organization. During this phase, a decision making team will identify if the project can realistically be
completed.

2. Project definition and planning

A project plan, project charter and/or project scope may be put in writing, outlining the work to be
performed. During this phase, a team should prioritize the project, calculate a budget and schedule,
and determine what resources are needed.

3. Project launch or execution

Resources' tasks are distributed and teams are informed of responsibilities. This is a good time to
bring up important project related information.

4. Project performance and control

Project managers will compare project status and progress to the actual plan, as resources perform
the scheduled work. During this phase, project managers may need to adjust schedules or do what is
necessary to keep the project on track.

5. Project close

After project tasks are completed and the client has approved the outcome, an evaluation is
necessary to highlight project success and/or learn from project history.

Projects and project management processes vary from industry to industry; however, these are
more traditional elements of a project. The overarching goal is typically to offer a product, change a
process or to solve a problem in order to benefit the organization.

Initiating

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:

 analyzing the business needs/requirements in measurable goals

 reviewing 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 example of a
flow-chart).[29] 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

 determining how to plan

 developing the scope statement;

 selecting the planning team;

 identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure;

 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

While executing we must to know what are the terms we are planned in planning it might be
executed synergy. The execution/implementation phase ensures that the project management
plan's deliverables are executed accordingly. This phase involves proper allocation, co-ordination
and management of human resources and any other resources such as material and budgets. The
output of this phase is the project deliverables.

Monitoring and controlling

Monitoring and controlling consists 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 includes

 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.

 In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and control process also provides feedback between
project phases, in order 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:[6]

 Continuing support of end-users

 Correction of errors

 Updates to the product over time

Closing
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.

Types of Charts

Gantt chart
Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is one of the most popular and useful ways of
showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time. On the left of the chart is a list of the
activities and along the top is a suitable time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position
and length of the bar reflects the start date, duration and end date of the activity. This allows you to
see at a glance:
 What the various activities are

 When each activity begins and ends

 How long each activity is scheduled to last

 Where activities overlap with other activities, and by how much

 The start and end date of the whole project

To summarize, a Gantt chart shows you what has to be done (the activities) and when (the
schedule).

HISTORY OF GANTT'S CHART

The first Gantt chart was devised in the mid 1890s by Karol Adamiecki, a Polish engineer who ran a
steelworks in southern Poland and had become interested in management ideas and techniques.

Some 15 years after Adamiecki, Henry Gantt, an American engineer and project management
consultant, devised his own version of the chart and it was this that became widely known and
popular in western countries. Consequently, it was Henry Gantt whose name was to become
associated with charts of this type.

Originally Gantt charts were prepared laboriously by hand; each time a project changed it was
necessary to amend or redraw the chart and this limited their usefulness, continual change being a
feature of most projects. Nowadays, however, with the advent of computers and project
management software, Gantt charts can be created, updated and printed easily.

Today, Gantt charts are most commonly used for tracking project schedules. For this it is useful to be
able to show additional information about the various tasks or phases of the project, for example
how the tasks relate to each other, how far each task has progressed, what resources are being used
for each task and so on.

Gantt charts are widely used in business to describe and monitor all kinds of projects according to
the rules of project management. In today's world they are usually created by computer
applications, such as Microsoft® Project, Primavera Project Planner® and MindView. Here, we refer
to such applications as Gantt applications. Different Gantt applications have different features and
capabilities: in the discussion below we describe some of the more common ones.

The first thing you will need before setting up a Gantt chart is a detailed project plan. A project plan
is a series of interdependent tasks that need to be performed in a particular order. When moving
into a new office for instance, you cannot start redesigning the office space before the lease
agreement has been signed.

Project plans have a specific start date, corresponding to the start of the first task (for instance
defining the requirements for the new office), and a specific end date, corresponding to the end of
the last task (for instance moving in).

One way to create a project plan is to use a work breakdown structure, a technique for splitting
tasks into sub-tasks and creating a task hierarchy. Gantt applications will generally allow you to
reflect the project hierarchy in the Gantt's task list at the left of the chart.

How to Create a Gantt Chart

 Define the project settings, such as its start date, end date and scheduling mode.
The most common scheduling mode is forwards from the project start date. In this mode the
default is for tasks to start as soon as possible, which means that the whole project finishes
at the earliest possible date.

 Define the project calendar. This sets the number of working days in the week, the
number of working hours in the day, and so on.

 Enter or edit task names and durations.

 Set up a global resources list and assign resources to tasks. Although you can often
define the resources as you need them, it is usually quicker to start by setting up a global
resources list from which you can then select resources to assign to the various project
tasks. See Including resources in a Gantt chart.

 Create links to specify the dependencies between the project tasks. See Linking tasks
in a Gantt chart.

 Set constraints on the tasks as necessary. See Adding constraints to a Gantt chart.
  Make final adjustments to the project plan. See Enhancing a Gantt chart.

 Once the project has actually started, inspect it at regular intervals to detect
potential problems or scheduling conflicts and make any corrections required. See
Reviewing a project using a Gantt chart.

With all the data entered, the Gantt application displays the chart. Any change in the timing of a task
affects all the tasks that depend on it. If a task runs ahead of schedule, the Gantt application
automatically recalculates the dates of all the tasks that depend on it in order to take advantage of
the time gained. Conversely, if a task is delayed, all the tasks that depend on it are automatically
rescheduled, which may or may not impact the overall end date of the project.

By using the Gantt display you can build and manage complete project plans in this standard, well-
defined format. You can easily add or remove tasks, set or adjust the duration of tasks (length of
bars), link tasks (for example to make one task follow immediately after another), and add
constraints (for example to specify that a task must end no later than a given date).

To help you get started, some Gantt applications include various ready-made project plans for
common business activities (for example, organizing a tradeshow, producing a publication, launching
a product). You can use these for training purposes, or as a basis for your own project plans.

Linking Tasks in a Gantt chart

Project plans normally require tasks to be performed in a specific order. For instance, a publication
must be written and proofread before it can be printed. To achieve this, the Gantt application lets
you link tasks so that they depend on each other.

By default, tasks are usually linked in a 'Finish to Start' relationship (dependency), which means that
the first task you select (the predecessor task) must end before the next task you select (the
successor task) can start, and so on.

This is typically represented on the Gantt chart by lines with arrowheads joining each task to its
successor. The arrowhead indicates the direction of the link: it goes from the predecessor to the
successor.

gant chart predecessors

A task can have more than one predecessor. In this case its start date is determined by the
predecessor link that gives it the latest start date. As dates and times change during the course of
the project, the predecessor link that determines the start date of the task may also change.

gant chart multiple predecessors

Similarly a task can have several successors. In this case the task determines the start date of all its
successor tasks.
Gantt Chart successors

When you are scheduling a project plan from its start date the Gantt application calculates the end
date of the project automatically, on the basis of the task durations, the task dependencies and the
project calendar.

The possibility of linking tasks in this way is what makes project management software particularly
powerful: you can change the duration of one or more tasks, add a task or remove a task from a
chain of linked tasks, and all the dates are recalculated automatically so as to maintain the task
dependencies you have defined.

Other Link Types

There are four possible relationships (dependencies) between tasks:

 Finish to Start (FS) - the default: The task cannot start before its predecessor ends,
although it may start later. This is the most common type of relationship, and is described
above.

 Start to Start (SS): The task cannot start until the predecessor starts, although it may
start later. This can be useful if you have a task whose start date depends on the start date
of another task.

 Finish to Finish (FF): The task cannot end before the predecessor ends, although it
may end later.

 Start to Finish (SF): The task cannot end before the predecessor starts, although it
may end later. This task relationship is rarely used.

Advantages of Gantt Charts

• It creates a picture of complexity. I am quite a fan of diagrams and charts. We think in

pictures. Therefore, if we can see complex ideas as a picture, this will help our understanding.
• It organises your thoughts. I am also a big fan of the concept of dividing and conquering. A
big problem is conquered by dividing it into component parts. A Gantt chart will force you to do
this.
• It demonstrates that you know what you are doing. When you produce a nicely presented
Gantt chart with high level tasks properly organized and resources allocated to those tasks, it
speaks volumes about whether you are on top of the needs of the project and whether the
project will be successful.
• It (should) help you to set realistic time frames. The bars on the chart indicate in which
period a particular task or set of tasks will be completed. This can help you to get things in
perspective properly. And when you do this, make sure that you think about events in your
organisation that have nothing to do with this project that might consume resources and time.
• It can be highly visible. It can be useful to place the chart, or a large version of it, where
everyone can see it. This helps to remind people of the objectives and when certain things are
going to happen. It is useful if everyone in your enterprise can have a basic level of
 understanding of what is happening with the project even if they may not be directly involved
with it.

Disadvantages of Gantt Charts

• They can become extraordinarily complex. Except for the most simple projects, there will
be large numbers of tasks undertaken and resources employed to complete the project. There
are software applications that can manage all this complexity . However, when the project
gets to this level, it must be managed by a small number of people (perhaps one) who manages
all of the details. Sometimes this does not work so well in a business that is not used to this
type of management. Big businesses will frequently employ one or more project managers who
are very skilled in this. For a range of reasons, this may not work so well in a smaller enterprise.
• The size of the bar does not indicate the amount of work. Each bar on the chart indicates
the time period over which a particular set of tasks will be completed. However, by looking at
the bar for a particular set of tasks, you cannot tell what level of resources are required to
achieve those tasks. So, a short bar might take 500 man hours while a longer bar may only take
20 man hours. The longer bar may indicate to the uninformed that it is a bigger task, when in
fact it is not.
• They need to be constantly updated. As you get into a project, things will change. If you are
going to use a Gantt chart you must have the ability to change the chart easily and frequently. If
you don’t do this, it will be ignored. Again, you will probably need software to do this unless
you are keeping your project management at a high level.
• Difficult to see on one sheet of paper. The software products that produce these charts
need to be viewed on a computer screen, usually in segments, to be able to see the whole
project. It then becomes difficult to show the details of the plan to an audience. Further, you
can print out the chart, but this will normally entail quite a large exercise. If you are going to do
this frequently, it can be very time-consuming.

Milestone Charts

Milestone charts are a modification of the original bar chart. In a milestone chart, there are certain
key events in every activity which are to be carried out for the completion of the activity. These key
events are known as milestones and are represented by a triangle/ square/ circle. The y axis shows
the activity description and x axis time. They show a single data unlike bar charts. Milestones can be
shown in various colours depicting the status of the milestone. Eg: critical, completed, incomplete.
Milestones can also appear on gantt charts. In most of the instances milestones do not affect the
project duration, instead they focus on major progress points that must be reached to achieve
success.

Limitations:

1. Interdependencies between the milestones is not possible

2. The relationship between two specific milestones within an activity only is revealed by the
milestone chart, but the relationship between milestones contained in different activities is
not indicated.