CNST 250

Introduction to Project
Management
Week 03: Readings
Chapter 3
Initiating Projects

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 Describe the five project management process groups,
map them to the project management knowledge areas,
discuss why organizations develop their own project
management methodologies, and understand the
importance of top management commitment and
organizational standards in project management

 Discuss the initiating process used by Global

Construction, including pre-initiating tasks, breaking
large projects down into smaller projects, and
initiating tasks

2
 Prepare a business case to justify the need
for a project
 Identify project stakeholders and perform
a stakeholder analysis
 Create a project charter to formally initiate
a project
 Describe the importance of holding a
good project kick-off meeting

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 Project management process groups progress from
initiating activities to planning activities, executing
activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and
closing activities
 A process is a series of actions directed toward a
particular result (the unique product or service)

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 Initiating processes include actions to begin projects and project
phases
 Planning processes include devising and maintaining a workable
scheme to ensure that the project meets its scope, time, and cost goals
as well as organizational needs
 Executing processes include coordinating people and other resources
to carry out the project plans and produce the deliverables of the project
or phase.
 A deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part of a
project
 Monitoring and controlling processes measure progress toward
achieving project goals, monitor deviation from plans, and take
corrective action to match progress with plans and customer
expectations
 Closing processes include formalizing acceptance of the project or
phase and bringing it to an orderly end

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 The level of activity and length of each process group varies for every project
 Normally, executing tasks require the most resources and time, followed
by planning tasks
 Monitoring and controlling processes are done throughout the project’s
life span
 Initiating and closing tasks are usually the shortest (at the beginning and
end of a project or phase, respectively), and they require the least
amount of resources and time
 However, every project is unique, so there can be exceptions
 Note that process groups apply to entire projects as well as to project phases
 A phase is a distinct stage in project development, and most projects
have distinct phases

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 The best or “alpha” project managers spend more time on every
process group than their counterparts except for execution, as
follows:
Process Group Alpha PM Average PM Alpha Difference (%)
Initiating 2% 1% 100% more
Planning 21% 11% 91% more
Executing 69% 82% 16% less
Monitoring & Controlling 5% 4% 25% more
Closing 3% 2% 50% more
Total 100% 100%

Figure 3-1. Time Spent on Each Project Management Process Group

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 You can map the five process groups into the ten
project management knowledge areas

 Based on the PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition (2012),

there are forty-seven (47) total processes in project
management

 Figure 3-1 provides a big-picture view of the

process groups and knowledge areas

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Fig 3-2. Project Management Processes (Source: PMO To Go LLC,
2013)
Initiating Processes Project Management Processes Closing Processes

4. 1 Adapted from the Fifth Edition of 4.6 12.4

13. 1 Close
Develop Project A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Close
Identify Stakeholders Project or
Charter © Project Management Institute , 2013 Procurements
Phase

Planning Processes Executing Processes Monitoring & Control

4.2
. 5.1 5.2
. 5.3 5.5
4. 3 4.4
Develop Project Plan Scope Collect Define Validate
Direct and Monitor and
Management Management Requirements Scope Scope
Manage Control
Plan
Project Work Project
7.1 6. 1 Work 5.6
Plan Cost Plan Schedule Control
11.1 Management Scope
Management
Plan Risk 5.4 8. 2
Management Create Perform Quality 6.7
WBS 6. 2 Assurance 4.5
7.2 Control
Define Perform
Estimate Schedule
Activities 9. 2 9.3 Integrated
11.2 Costs
Identify Risks Acquire Develop Change
Control 7.4
7. 3. 6.3 Project Team Project Team
Control
Determine Sequence
11.3 Costs
Budget Activities 9. 4
Perform 10.2 Manage
Qualitative 8.1 Manage Project team 8.3
Risk Analysis 6.4
Plan Quality Communic. Control Quality
Estimate
Management
Activity
11.4
Resources 12.2 10.3
Perform 9.1
Quantitative Conduct Control
Plan HR Procurements Communic.
Risk Analysis Management 6.5
Estimate
Activity 13.3
. 11.6
11.5 10.1 Duration Manage Control Risks
Plan Risk Plan Communic. Stakeholder
Responses Management Engagement 13.4
6.6 12.3
Control
Develop Control
Stakeholder
Schedule Procurements
13.2 12.1 Engagement
Plan Stakeholder Plan Procurement
Management Management
5 Scope 8 Quality 11 Risk
6 Time 12 Procurement 9 HR
7 Cost 10 Communications 4 Integration
13 Stakeholders

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 The PMBOK® Guide is a standard that
describes best practices for what should be
done to manage a project
 A methodology describes how things should
be done, and different organizations often have
different ways of doing things
 Successful organizations develop and follow a
customized, formal project management
process

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 PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2): Originally
developed for IT projects, PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic
project management methodology by the U.K. Office of Government
Commerce. It is the defacto standard in the U.K. and is used in over 50
countries
 Agile methodologies: Many software development projects use an
iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software. Popular agile
methodologies include extreme programming, scrum, feature driven
development, and lean software development
 Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework: RUP is an iterative
software development process that focuses on team productivity and
delivers software best practices to all team members
 Six Sigma: Many organizations have projects underway that use Six
Sigma methodologies. Six Sigma’s target for perfection is the
achievement of no more than 3.4 defects, errors, or mistakes per million
opportunities

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 Agile
• Many software development projects use agile methods, meaning
they use an iterative workflow and incremental delivery of software
in short iterations
• Popular agile approaches include Scrum, extreme programming,
feature driven development, and lean software development.
• In 2011, PMI introduced a new certification called Agile Certified
Practitioner (ACP) to address the growing interest in agile project
management. project management

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 Agile
 Many software development projects use agile methods,
meaning they use an iterative workflow and incremental
delivery of software in short iterations

 Popular agile approaches include Scrum, extreme

programming, feature driven development, and lean
software development.

 In 2011, PMI introduced a new certification called Agile

Certified Practitioner (ACP) to address the growing interest
in agile project management. project management

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 Agile Project Management
Definition of agile:
Relating to or denoting a method of project management, used
especially for software development, that is characterized by
the division of tasks into short phases of work and frequent
reassessment and adaptation of plans

 Early software development projects used a waterfall

approach, where requirements were defined in detail before
any software was written

 As the rate of change of business and technology

increased, this approach became unrealistic for many
projects

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Manifesto for Agile Software Development
(www.agilemanifesto.org)

We are uncovering better ways of developing

software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more

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• Scrum is the leading agile development method for
completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work

• The term was coined in 1986 in a Harvard Business Review

study that compared high-performing, cross-functional teams
to the scrum formation used by rugby teams

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 Figure 3-3. Scrum Framework

Schwalbe Information Technology Project Management, Revised Seventh Edition, 2014

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 Video Highlights

• In the Axosoft video “Scrum in 10 Minutes,” Hamid Shojaee

briefly explains key concepts like product backlogs, team
roles, sprints, and burndown charts.

• Techniques from the just-in-time inventory control method

Kanban can be used in conjunction with Scrum. Kanban
was developed in Japan by Toyota Motor Corporation. It
uses visual cues to guide workflow.

• Kanban helps improve day-to-day workflow, while Scrum

provides the structure for improving the organization of
projects.

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 Without top management commitment,
many projects will fail
 Some projects have a senior manager called
a champion who acts as a key proponent for
a project
 Projects are part of the larger organizational
environment, and many factors that might affect
a project are out of the project manager’s
control

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 Provide adequate resources
 Approve unique project needs in a timely manner
 Encourage cooperation from people in other parts
of the organization and deal with political issues
 Mentor and coach them on leadership issues
 Develop and enforce organizational standards
 Support a project management office (PMO)

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 A project management office (PMO) is an
organizational entity created to assist
project managers in achieving project goals

 A PMO can help development standards and

methodologies, provide career paths for
project managers, and assist project
managers with training and certification

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Source: PM Solutions, “The State of the PMO 2014” (2014)

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 Possible Goals of a PMO

• Collect, organize, and integrate project data for the entire

organization
• Research, develop, and share best practices in project
management
• Develop and maintain templates, tools, standards, and
methodologies
• Develop or coordinate training in various project management
topics
• Develop and provide a formal career path for project managers
• Provide project management consulting services
• Provide a structure to house project managers while they are
acting in those roles or are between projects

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 It is very important to follow best practices
while initiating projects, especially to avoid
major scope problems. Senior management
must take an active role in following these
best practices:
◦ Keep the scope realistic
◦ Involve users from the start
◦ Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever
possible
◦ Follow good project management processes

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Senior management work together to: Project managers lead efforts to:

 Determine scope, time, and cost constraints  Identify and understand

project stakeholders
 Identify the project sponsor
 Create the project charter
 Select the project manager
 Hold a kick-off meeting
 Develop a business case for the project

 Review processes/expectations

 Determine if the project should be divided

into two or more smaller projects

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 It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project before
it officially starts
 After a project is approved, senior managers should meet
to accomplish the following tasks:
◦ Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project
◦ Identify the project sponsor
◦ Select the project manager
◦ Meet with the project manager to review the process and
expectations for managing the project
◦ Determine if the project should be divided into two or more
smaller projects (like the Just-In-Time Training Project was)
because it is easier to manage smaller projects than larger ones

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Scope Goals
• Investigate and document the training taken in the last two years by all
internal employees.
• Determine what courses were taken, the cost of all training, the process for
approving/assigning training, and the evaluation of the training by
participants, if available.
• Survey employees to get their input on what training they believe they’ll
need in the next two years, how they’d like to take the training (i.e.,
instructor-led in- house, instructor-led through a local college, university, or
training company, Web-based, CD/ROM, etc.). Also hold focus groups to
determine training needs. Recommend how to provide the most valuable
training for Global Construction employees in the next two years.
• Determine the scope, time, and cost goals for the development
and implementation of the Just-In-Time Training Phase II
project.

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Time Goals: Three months
Cost Goals: $50,000
Approach/Assumptions:
All of the costs would be for internal labor.
All managers and employees would receive information about this study project.
A response rate of 30% would be acceptable for the survey.
The project team would do extensive research to back up their
recommendations.
The team would also provide detailed monthly reports and presentations to a
steering committee.
The final deliverables would include a one-hour final presentation and a
comprehensive project report documenting all of the information and
recommendations.

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 A business case is a document that provides
financial justification for investing in a project
 Typical contents:
◦ Introduction/Background
◦ Business Objective
◦ Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement
◦ Critical Assumptions and Constraints
◦ Analysis of Options and Recommendation
◦ Preliminary Project Requirements
◦ Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis
◦ Schedule Estimate
◦ Potential Risks
◦ Exhibits

See Figure 3-4 in the text for a sample (pp. 90-92)

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30
Instructor Comments:

Where possible try to

restate a qualitative
statement into a
quantitative statement.
The last sentence
would be more
impactful if it were to
read “ By redesigning
training, Global
Construction can
reduce training costs
by 20% and improve
productivity by 40%;
thus improving
profitability by
$300,000 annually.
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Instructor Comments:

Audiences love
numbers.
Unfortunately, none are
denoted in this
objective. Try to focus
in on realistic
objectives when you
write up your
assignment.

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33
Instructor Comments:

Can you highlight the

assumptions and
constraints?
Unfortunately, not
clearly stated. Let’s
discuss this week.

34
Instructor Comments:

If this were your money,

which option would you
choose based on
reading these three
options? I.e., not very
clear.

35
Instructor Comments:

This section was well

written for level 1
requirements.

36
Instructor Comments:

Again, very well stated.

37
Instructor Comments:

Better to summarize
your milestone list in
this section.

38
39
Instructor Comments:

Simply cut and paste

visual into your exhibit
as part of your
assignment.

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 Identifying project stakeholders
 Creating the project charter
 Holding a kick-off meeting

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Knowledge area Outputs
Initiating
process
Project integration Develop project charter Project charter (funds
management are assigned)

Project scope Initial scope defined Initial scope document

management which will be used as
basis of scope
document during
planning
Project Stakeholder Identify stakeholders Stakeholder register
management

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 Project stakeholders are the people involved in
or affected by project activities
◦ Internal project stakeholders generally include the project
sponsor, project team, support staff, and internal
customers for the project. Other internal stakeholders
include top management, other functional managers, and
other project managers
◦ External project stakeholders include the project’s
customers (if they are external to the organization),
competitors, suppliers, and other external groups that are
potentially involved in or affected by the project, such as
government officials and concerned citizens

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 A stakeholder register is a document that includes
details related to the identified project stakeholders -
usually available to many people, so it should not include
sensitive information
 A stakeholder analysis is a technique for analyzing
information to determine which stakeholders’ interests
to focus on and how to increase stakeholder support
throughout the project

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Name Position Internal/ Project Contact Information

External Role

Mike VP of HR Internal Project msundy@globalconstruction.com

Sundby champion
Lucy Training Internal Project lcamerena@globalconstruction.com

Camerena Director sponsor

Ron Ryan Senior HR Internal Led the rryan@globalconstruction.com

staff Phase I
member project

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Name Level of Level of Potential Management Strategies

Interest Influence
Mike Sundby High High Mike is very outgoing and visionary. Great traits for a project
champion. He is concerned about financials and has an MBA.
Keep him informed and ask for his advice as needed.

Lucy Camerena High High Lucy has a Ph.D. in education and knows training at this
company. She is very professional and easy to work with, but
she can stretch out conversations. Make sure she reviews
important work before showing it to other managers.

Ron Ryan Medium Medium Ron led the Phase I project and is upset that he was not asked
to lead this Phase II project. He’s been with the company over
20 years and can be a good resource, but he could also
sabotage the project. Ask Lucy to talk to him to avoid
problems. Perhaps give him a small consulting role on the
project.

46
47
 Categorizing Engagement Levels of Stakeholders

• Unaware: Unaware of the project and its potential

impacts on them
• Resistant: Aware of the project yet resistant to
change
• Neutral: Aware of the project yet neither supportive
nor resistant
• Supportive: Aware of the project and supportive of
change
• Leading: Aware of the project and its potential
impacts and actively engaged in helping it succeed

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Figure 3-11. Analyzing Stakeholder Interests
(www.xkcd.com)

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 A project charter is a document that formally
recognizes the existence of a project and provides
a summary of the project’s objectives and
management
 It authorizes the project manager to use
organizational resources to complete the
project
 Ideally, the project manager will play a major role in
developing the project charter
 Instead of project charters, some organizations
initiate projects using a simple letter of
agreement or formal contracts
 A crucial part of the project charter is the sign-
off section
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 The project’s title and date of authorization
 The project manager’s name and contact information
 A summary schedule or timeline, including the planned start and finish
dates; if a summary milestone schedule is available, it should also be
included or referenced
 A summary of the project’s estimated cost and budget allocation
 A brief description of the project objectives, including the business need or
other justification for authorizing the project
 Project success criteria, including project approval requirements and who
signs off on the project
 A summary of the planned approach for managing the project, which should
describe stakeholder needs and expectations, important assumptions, and
constraints, and refer to related documents, such as a communications
management plan, as available
 A roles and responsibilities matrix
 A sign-off section for signatures of key project stakeholders
 A comments section in which stakeholders can provide important comments
related to the project

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Project Title: Just-In-Time Training Project
Project Start Date: July 1 Projected Finish Date: June 30 (one year later)
Budget Information: The firm has allocated $1,000,000 for this project. Approximately half of these costs will be for
internal labor, while the other half will be for outsourced labor and training programs.
Project Manager: Kristin Maur, (610) 752-4896, kmaur@globalconstruction.com

Project Objectives: Develop a new training program that provides just-in-time training to employees on key topics,
including supplier management, negotiating skills, project management, and software applications (spreadsheets and
Web development). Reduce the training cost per employee by 10%, or $100/employee/year. Develop an approach
for measuring productivity improvements from this approach to training on an annual basis.

Success Criteria: This project will be successful if it reduces training cost per employee by 10% or $100/employee/
year. It should also be completed on time, be run professionally, and meet all of the requirements. The project
sponsor will determine if the project is a success or not.
Approach:
 Terminate all internal training courses except the Six Sigma training once new courses are developed
 Communicate to all employees the plans to improve internal training and let them know that tuition
reimbursement will continue as is.
 Work closely with internal managers and employees to determine the best approaches for providing training in
supplier management, negotiating skills, project management, and software applications.
 Research existing training and work with outside experts to develop several alternatives for providing each
training topic.
 Develop and implement new training.
 Take advantage of new training approaches and technologies and encourage employees to take some training
during non-work hours.
 Encourage experts within the company to mentor other workers on current job duties.
 Determine a way to measure the effectiveness of the training and its impact on productivity on an annual basis.

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Roles and Responsibilities:
Name and Signature Role Position Contact Information
Mike Sundby Project VP of HR msundby@
Mike Sundby Champion globalconstruction.com
Lucy Camerena Project Sponsor Training Director lcamerena@
Lucy Camerena globalconstruction.com
Kristin Maur Project Project Manager kmaur@
Kristin Maur Manager globalconstruction.com
Julia Portman Steering VP of IT jportman@
Julia Portman Committee globalconstruction.com
Member
Tim Nelson Steering Supplier tnelson@
Tim Nelson Committee Management globalconstruction.com
Member Director
Mohamed Abdul Team Member Senior programmer/ mabdul@
Mohamed Abdul analyst globalconstruction.com
Kim Johnson Team Member Curriculum kjohnson@
Kim Johnson designer globalconstruction.com
Etc.
Comments: (Handwritten or typed comments from above stakeholders, if applicable)
“I am concerned about people’s reactions to cancelling most internal training and totally
changing most training classes. I also hate to terminate some contracts with local training firms
we’ve used for several years. We should try to get some of them involved in this project.” Lucy
“I want to review all of the information related to providing the supplier management training.
We need to make something available quickly.” Tim

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 In television shows like Trading Spaces, participants have two
days and $1,000 to update a room in their neighbor’s house.
 Because the time and cost are set, it’s the scope that has
the
 most flexibility
 Unlike most projects in which the project team works closely
with the customer, homeowners have little say in what is done
and cannot inspect the work along the way. They walk into
their newly decorated room with their eyes closed
 What happens when the homeowners don’t like the
work that’s been done? They’re stuck because they
signed a release statement
 Too bad you can’t get sponsors for most projects to sign a
similar release form. It would make project management
much easier!

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 Experienced project managers know that it is crucial to
get projects off to a great start
 A kick-off meeting is a meeting held at the beginning of a
project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the
goals of the project, and discuss future plans
 Often used to get support for a project and clarify roles
and responsibilities
 The project champion should speak first and introduce
the project sponsor and project manager
 Often a fair amount of work is done to prepare for
the meeting
 Best if it can be held face-to-face

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 Just-In-Time Training Project
Kick-off Meeting
July 16
Meeting Objective: Get the project off to an effective start by introducing key
stakeholders, reviewing project goals, and discussing future plans
Agenda:
•Introductions of attendees
•Review of the project background
•Review of project-related documents (i.e., business case, project charter)
•Discussion of project organizational structure
•Discussion of project scope, time, and cost goals
•Discussion of other important topics
•List of action items from meeting
Action Item Assigned To Due Date

Date and time of next meeting:

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 Chapter Summary

• The five project management process groups are

initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and
controlling, and closing. These processes occur at
varying levels of intensity throughout each phase of
a project, and specific outcomes are produced as a
result of each process

• Mapping the main activities of each project

management process group into the ten project
management knowledge areas provides a big
picture of what activities are involved in project
management
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 Chapter Summary (contd…)
• Global Construction’s Just-In-Time Training
project demonstrates the process of initiating a
project. After a project is approved, senior
managers often meet to perform several pre-
initiating tasks

• The main tasks normally involved in project

initiation are the following:
• Identifying and stakeholders
• Creating the project charter
• Holding a kick-off meeting

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