Project Management: The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course Summary

Historical Projects

The need to plan and execute highly complex projects is nothing new. Indeed, project management strategies and techniques can be found in the records of the ancient Chinese war lords as recorded by Sun Tzu, as well as in the work of Machiavelli.

The ancient people who built Egypt’s great pyramids undertook a mammoth project management task. Scientists say 20,000 workers labored about 20 years to complete the Great Pyramid at Giza. The task required technology, skilled techniques and tons of raw materials. Workers used wooden beams as levers, and hauled loads of wet sand to construct surfaces for sliding multi-ton stone blocks off their pallets. By one estimate, building the Giza pyramid consumed more than three million work-years of labor.

In more recent times, the construction of the United States’ railroad system required 10,000 workers pounding away around the clock to install two or three miles of track per day. Each rail weighed 700 pounds. Massive modern project management initiatives in the U.S. include the Polaris submarine program, NASA’s Apollo space program that landed men on the moon, the Space Shuttle program and the development of the strategic defense initiative “Star Wars” system.

Project management continues to evolve. Today, many companies identify project management as “a new key business process” that plays a critical role in attaining strategic objectives. Many organizations identify the ability to manage projects successfully as a new “core competency.” In 1992, the Project Management Institute had 10,000 members; by 2005, it had 150,000.

Project Insights

Projects all have certain characteristics, including a time frame and schedule, a sponsor or sponsors, costs, required resources, deliverables and criteria for final acceptance. Every project has a life cycle, and fulfilling it often requires the ability to overcome challenges. Projects tend to move through natural segments. They begin with conceptualization and initiation. Then, they proceed to the planning and design phases, which establish the project’s aims and scope, and lead to a detailed work plan, project execution and closeout, to wrap up the project. All projects also face the “Triple Constraint.” While constraints may appear to limit a project, they also help define it. The triple constraint is represented as a triangle balancing three factors:

1. “Schedule” – The amount of time allotted for project completion.
2. “Cost” – The amount of resources dedicated to the project.
3. “Scope” – The quality or performance standards the project must attain.

The triangle is a useful metaphor, because when you lengthen or shorten one side of a triangle, you affect the other two sides. Changing the resources you put into a project will likely affect its scope and schedule. Conversely, if you expand a project’s scope, then it is reasonable to expect the project to take longer and cost more. The exact process of planning, accepting and executing a project varies based on the type of project. Common types include:

• “Concept Development” – Some projects are strictly intended to generate ideas on how to solve specific problems. For this type of project, familiarize yourself with the techniques available for generating, discussing and prioritizing ideas.
• “Planning Projects” – Developing highly sophisticated, so-called “master plans” is a project in its own right.
• “Design Projects” – Generally, architectural firms undertake this kind of project most often, but they can be important to other industries as well.

Project Leaders

Every project needs a leader and some may require several. A project leader needs these qualities, among others: The ability to plan, select team members, communicate and solve problems; relevant technical ability; conceptual creativity, especially during the design phase; organizational and time management skills; and integrity. The leadership team must include a “knowledge expert,” a “process engineer” and a “project engineer.” In any project, encourage smooth communication and feedback between the design team and the user.

Takeoff

The early stages of a project are pivotal: Selecting your team, assigning individual roles, making the project delivery schedule and – most critically – setting goals, deliverables and budgets. Many a project has failed because the project manager was unrealistic at this stage. To stay on top of the process, you must consider many different factors simultaneously, including:

• “Initial estimates are usually wrong” – If you think you’ve got it all figured out, you probably haven’t. Estimates often become stronger as a project goes forward, and various unknowns are exposed and handled. Be humble; early on, you probably don’t have all the data you need to make informed decisions.
• Consider your “technical approach” – How are you going to use technology and related processes to accomplish your objectives? Seek advice from technical experts and analyze the problems you expect to face, and the resources and constraints you must balance.
• “Define the business need” – What exactly does your organization hope to address? For every goal, the company has an underlying justification, be it competitive advantage, enhanced marketing capability, technological development or some other objective.
• “Project charter” – This document states management’s expectations and goals for the project, and may list critical factors for success, time frames, business needs, the project’s primary and secondary goals, deliverables and, perhaps, a list of key stakeholders. The charter delineates the organization’s commitment to improve certain areas of operation, and becomes a useful reference as the project moves forward.
• “Hiring vendors” – Develop clear and comprehensive requests for proposals (RFPs) and launch outside initiatives to support your project.
• “Feasibility studies” – If your company needs more data about the project or problem, urge management to conduct a feasibility study before making key decisions.

Planning Your Plan

Success takes planning, and the more detailed and accurate the planning, the better. Consider these key factors as you map out the course of the project you will manage:

1. What are your anticipated resources? – Capabilities, in terms of what you can do and how fast, tend to be linked to costs. Get an accurate count of the resources you’ll have over the course of the project.
2. How do you intend to distribute the workload? – Many planners create a “subproject tree diagram” that groups tasks in terms of who will be doing the work. As you move down the tree diagram, you’re developing a more and more detailed view of tasks that must be completed, and who is expected to accomplish them.
3. Do you have proper documentation, software and templates? – Existing software templates and formats will help you compose your ideas, document your plan and keep the project on track. An information bank can provide standard success criteria, a database of past projects and other valuable resources.
4. What are your process review points? – Use checkpoints to evaluate whether the necessary processes are occurring satisfactorily. Make sure the various aspects of the project are being properly integrated, whether “mission creep” is expanding the scope of the project, and whether events are taking place on schedule and reflect effective time management.
5. Conduct budget reviews to evaluate the pace of expenditures. Periodically evaluate whether the project is meeting its standards in quality control, human resources, risk management, procurement and communication.

The Work Plan

First, develop strategic plans and create a quick sketch of the various considerations that will affect the project’s success. Put these issues under the microscope for detailed planning and analysis, drilling deeper to develop a far more detailed planning landscape. This effort ultimately leads to a work plan – who does what and when – that will guide you and your team through the execution phase. The two key elements of your detailed plan are “activity duration,” estimates of how long each task will take, and “activity sequencing” or critical path planning, establishing which tasks should be performed first to avert bottlenecks and to insure the overall smooth flow of the project.

Ideally, even at this stage, your organization still hasn’t committed to carrying out the project. The company should undertake a new project only when all the parameters and planning issues are fully accounted for in a detailed plan. One you have a specific execution plan, present it to management for a “go/no-go decision.” Everything to date has helped you define the triple constraints the project will face: time, cost and scope of deliverables. Changing any aspect of the triangle from this point forward will change, if not jeopardize, the entire plan.

Maintaining Control

Once you begin to execute, maintaining control is the big challenge. In alignment with the “Triple Constraint” concept, you must control the project’s scope, cost and schedule.

• To control scope – Schedule a review of scope at key stages during the project’s life cycle. Verify that the original mission remains valid.
• To control schedule – Status reports will help you track the pace. Update the schedule status frequently, so that project leaders know whether the project is proceeding on schedule. Scheduling software may be useful.
• To control costs – Consider hiring a cost engineer to help with cost planning and control. Track your inventory and watch labor costs. Some managers use the “earned value” method to insure that the project pays a worthwhile return on the resources invested in it.

Delivering Deliverables

When the time comes to deliver the project as promised, tie up these loose ends:

• “Turnover of deliverables” – The responsibility for maintaining the deliverables now shifts to the operational group in charge. This often involves a period of training as the “operational owner” takes over.

• “Lessons learned” – Every project offers insights into how to handle future projects. Documentation is essential to record valuable institutional knowledge.

• “Releasing technical resources” – Transfer technical employees and their equipment to their prior assignments. This isn’t automatic; a transition period may be necessary. “Announcing project completion” – Stakeholders, customers and vendors will all want to know once the deliverable is up and running.

• “Team celebration” – A final team event helps mark the transition and recognizes those who have been instrumental in the project’s successful conclusion.

• “Administrative closure” – Once the paperwork is filed and documents are archived, it’s time to turn out the lights and formally announce the project’s closure.

Your organization’s ability to execute projects is a measure of its “project management maturity.” Most companies rely on projects as their primary method of executing strategic objectives, and some pull off excellent projects one after the other. Success at this level requires support from the very top of the organization. Some companies create a project management office (PMO) to facilitate ongoing series of projects. Good companies duly recognize project managers who help institute strategic change.