Course19:ManagingProjects - exinfm

1 Course 19: Managing ProjectsPrepared by: Matt H. Evans, CPA, CMA, CFMThis course provides an overview of project management,including the project life cycle and project course is recommended for 2 hours ofContinuing Professional you are seekingcredit for taking this course, then you need to downloadand use the exe file version of this course filesand supplemental materials are posted on the internet in Financial Management2 The Framework for Project ManagementIncreasingly,organizations are driven by project related work as opposed to functionaltype work. The repetitive functions, things like payroll, accounting, and public relations,are becoming outsourced so that people can devote more time to the real value addedwork of projects. The need to change is driving much of this shift away from functionalwork to project this can range from process improvement type projects (suchas Six Sigma) to short term projects such as competitive analysis profiles.

2 Given thisincreased emphasis on project related work, it is now important for everyone to fullyunderstand how to manage projects. This short course will present the principles andpractices associated with project of the importance of projects, the discipline of project management has evolvedinto a working body of knowledge known as PMBOK - Project Management Body ofKnowledge. The Project Management Institute or PMI ( ) is responsible fordeveloping and promoting PMBOK. PMI also administers a professional certificationprogram for project mangers Project Management Professional or if you wantto get grounded into project management, PMBOK is the place to start and if you want tomake project management your profession, then you should consider becoming a what is PMBOK? PMBOKis thefundamentalknowledge you needformanaging aproject, categorized into nine knowledge Integration: Projects have all types of activities going on and there is aneed to keep the whole thing moving collectivelytogether integrating all of thedynamics that take : Projects need to have a defined parameter or scope and thismust be broken down and managed through something called a WorkBreakdown Structure or Time / Schedule: Projects have a definite beginning and a definiteending date.

3 Therefore, there is a need to manage the budgeted time accordingto a project Management Bodyof Knowledge (PMBOK) Projects are often viewed as being fundamentally rooted in technology. This isbecause most projects are technical. Unfortunately,this orientation towardtechnology has obscured the true purpose of projects. The truth is that projectsare all about business not technology. The fundamental objective for a projectis to achieve a business result, such as improving effectiveness, increasing sales,or making operations more efficient. No matter what that underlying cause, theultimate purpose of a project is very simple: to make money or to save money. Brief Case Books Project ManagementbyGary R. Heerkens, Costs: Projects consume resources and therefore, there is a need tomanage the investment with the realization ofcreating value; the benefitsderived exceed the amount Quality: Projects involve specific deliverables or work products.

4 Thesedeliverables need to meet project objectives and performance Human Resources: Projectsconsist of teams and you need to manageproject team(s) during the life cycle of the the right people,managing their outputs, and keeping them on schedule is a big part of managinga Communication: Projects invariablytouch lots of people, not just theend users (customers) who benefit directly from the project outcomes. This caninclude project participants, managers who oversee the project, and externalstakeholders who have an interest in the success of the Risk: Projects are a discovery driven process, often uncovering newcustomer needs and identifying critical issues not previously encounter unexpected events, such asproject team members resign,budgeted resources are suddenly changed, the organization becomes unstable,andnewer technologiesare introduced. There is a real need to properly identifyvarious risks and manage these Procurement: Projects will procure the services of outside vendors andcontractors, including the purchase of equipment.

5 There is a need to managehow vendors are selected and managed within the project life is the big framework for managing projects and if you want to be effective inmanaging projects, then you needto be effective in managing each of thenineknowledge areasthat makeup 2 of this short course will cover each ofthese nine areas in greater repetitive functional type work, projects have a clear beginning, middle and end tothe work that must get done. This work is expressed in terms of the life cycle, consistingof six : This is where we begin trying to nail down what this project is about andhow it will positively impact our this initial stage of the project, we mustdefinethe scope of the project major project objectives and deliverables to beaddressed by the preliminary step, we might develop and circulate aThe Project Life Cycle Project management is the application ofknowledge, skills, tools and techniquesto project activities to meet project requirements.

6 Project management isaccomplished through the application and integration of project managementprocesses of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, andclosing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing theproject objectives. A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)byProject Management Institute4 Concept Paperto senior leadership, asking them to approve or denythejustificationbehindthis project. If the Concept Paper is approved, we might do a formalBusinessCase, outlining how this project will meet a critical business need, including the costsand benefits associated with the PaperBusiness CaseVery short and brief, less than 5 pagesMuch more extensive, tells a completestory about the problems, possiblesolutions and recommended approachDescribes the overall goal of the projectAssesses the complete situation, developsdifferent alternatives, and explains how theproblem can best be how the end results of theproject will impact the organizationAddresses different performance areas,including implementation, time frame,risks.

7 AssumptionsandotherissuesMay want to include references tosubstantiate or support your ideaRequires a Cost Benefit Analysis of eachalternative with recommendationsConcept Paper should be approved bySenior Management before committingresources to prepare the Business CaseBusiness Case is prepared once SeniorManagement wants to proceed past theconceptual idea stageIf management gives the green light and agrees to fund the project, then we need toline-up a project team and formalize the projectscope. This is documented throughsomething called aProject Charter. Project Charters are the first real documentto set aproject into motion, authorizing the project team to move forward and get started. TheProject Charteroutlines the major steps anddeliverables of the project, including thecore team members. Project Charters are signed by senior level managers who serve assponsors of the : Now that we ve initiated the project through a Project Charter, we have todevelop adetail project plan for executingthe goals and objectives documented in theProject order to prepare a detail project plan, you start by breaking down theprojectscope into activities or work is accomplished by setting up aWorkBreakdown Structure(WBS).

8 The WBSis a multi-level structure that breaks all of theproject work down into work packages and each work package has a work product,deliverable, or some milestonethatallows us to measurethe output associated with thework PaperBusiness CaseProject Charter5 we have organizedallproject work into the WBS, we quantify the workin terms ofcosts (how much do we expectto spend on each work package) and schedule (how longwill it take us to complete each work package). And if we can accurately assign ameasurable milestone to each work package, the combinationof all quantified workpackages (costs, time, and milestones) forms thePerformance Measurement Baseline(PMB). This is the detail project plan we will use to manage the project going : Now that we have a detail plan in place in the form of a PerformanceMeasurement Baseline, it s time to execute assign the work packages to sub-teamsand groups.

9 Most of these smaller groups will have subject matter expertise in our WBS Example for the Banquet, we have cooks, servers, and waiters eachassigned to do different is a SME (subject matter expert) for getting theirpiece of the project large scale projects, we may want to develop and use some supplemental plans: Project Management Plan Serves as the master planning document for theproject, describing the major activities and processes that must take place, whowill do the work, and all key deliverables and work the ProjectCharter which is relatively brief and high level in nature, the Project ManagementPlan is more comprehensive, providing a road map of how the project will often includes several other planning documents, such as the QualityControl Plan and the Risk Management ScopeWBS / Work PackagesPMB6 Quality Control Plan A plan for describing how theproject measures, monitors,and manages quality in various work products, project activities and includes establishing standards for quality, such as acceptance criteria.

10 Forexample, a third party that is independentof the project may beasked to conductan IndependentVerificationand Validation(IV&V)regarding the quality of workproducts, especially new software applications. Risk Management Plan A plan that describesthe risk management process,such ashow the projectgoes aboutidentifying, analyzing, Risk Management Plan identifies how often risk assessments are done,who is responsible, and any tools and templates that are used. Communications Plan A plan for organizing how communicationworks, such asthe mediums that will be used (email, meetings, formal status reports, etc.) andidentification of all stakeholders where communication is : As weexecute our project plan, we need to regularly review our performanceto see how close we are to our project control purposes, the project plan isexpressed in the form of a time-phased budget known as thePerformance MeasurementBaseline.