PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

LECTURE ONE: DEFINITIONS

1.0 Introduction

1. The increasing importance of project management indicates that the application of knowledge,
skills, processes, tools and techniques can have a great impact on project success. Project
management, which is underpinned by project planning, has been a recognized profession since
about the 1950s, but project management work in some form has been occurring for as long as
people have been doing complex work.
2. When the Great Pyramids at Giza in Egypt were built, somebody somewhere was tracking
resources, schedules and specifications in some fashion.
1.1 What is a project?

A considerable number of definitions of a project have been advanced and some of these are:
A project is:
1. “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service”. (Project Management
Institute (1996)
2. “A project is a task of creating an outcome with predetermined objectives. It involves the complex
interaction of resources, services and organizations”. (Association of project managers (1984).
3. “A project is a solution to a problem”. (Einsiedel, A.A. (1984)
4. “Any undertaking with a defined starting point and defined objectives involves a variety of resources
and is unique. (Project Management Institute (1987)
5. “A project is any undertaking that has a beginning and end, and is carried out to meet established
goals within cost, schedule and quality objectives”. (Haynes (1991)
6.“An endeavor in which human, material and financial resources are organized in a novel way to
undertake a unique scope of work, of a given specification, with constraints of cost & time so as to
achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives.(Turner,J.R.(1993).

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7. “A temporary process undertaken to create one or a few units of a unique product or service whose
attributes are progressively elaborated”. (Duncan (1993)
Note: A project is a temporary, organized human endeavor to provide a solution to an identified need.
It is not an on-going operational organizational activity.

Analysis of definition:
Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service:
Explanation:
A project can create the following:
 A product that can be either a component of another item or an end item in itself.
 A capability to perform a service (e.g. a business function that supports production and
distribution).
 A result such as an outcome or document (e.g. a research project that develops knowledge that
can be used to determine whether a new process will benefit society.
Meaning of the definition:
1. A project is temporary. This is further explained as follows:
 The temporary nature indicates a definite beginning and end of a project. A
project’s duration might be just one week or it might go on for years, but every project has an end
date.
 The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved or
when the project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met or when the need
for the project no longer exists.
 Temporary does not necessarily mean short in the duration of a project.
 Temporary does generally apply to the product, service, outcome created as
most projects are undertaken to create a lasting impact.
Projects vs. ongoing operations: Projects are not the same as ongoing operations, although the two
have a great deal in common. Ongoing operations on indefinitely e.g. activities of ICT department of
Ndejje University. People who run ongoing projects might also manage projects.
2. A project is an endeavour. Resources such as people and equipment need to do work. The endeavor
is undertaken by a team or an organization, and therefore projects have a sense of being intentional, i.e.

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planned events. Successful projects do not happen unexpectedly; some amount of preparation and
planning happens first.
3. Every project creates a unique project or service. This is also the deliverable for the project and the
reason that the project was undertaken e.g. the process of developing software. An outcome can take
the form of a research report for a research project.
NB: It should be realized therefore that much of the work that goes on in the world is project work!

1.2 A Project as a Process

A project is a process aimed at the achievement of specified objectives which means that a project refers
to a process and not the end product or result.
Process can be defined as a series of actions or operations directed towards generating a particular
result. The process of developing software is the project and not the end product.
1.3 Summary of a project

The following should be noted about the definitions:

 It is time bound
 Has a fixed budget (resource constraint)
 Has a target or an objective to achieve
 Has a logical / interrelated activity
 Requires team work
 It is possible to have sub-project within a project
N.B A project can involve a single person, a single organizational unit, or multiple organizational units.

1.4 Types of Projects

Projects take different forms and these are:

1. Public projects: These are government projects i.e. initiated and funded by government funds e.g. I.D
project, computerization of the land registry project.
2. Private projects: These can take the form of private for profit and Private not for profit e.g.
3. Joint venture i.e. public- private partnership e.g. the Bujagaali Power Project.

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4. We can also have service oriented projects and Product oriented projects

1.5 Sources of projects

Projects are generated from many possible situations and a few of them can include the following:
1. Satisfying market demand: When a project or service enters a certain market, it prompts response
from market and if demand exceeds the supply capacity, a project has to be planned and executed to
raise production e.g. an I.T company will develop Point of Sale (POS) software after realizing that there
is growing demand of the product by the booming supermarket business.
2. Exploiting a new business opportunity: Business opportunities are ever emerging and those with the
ability to exploit such can realize this using projects.
3. Technological advancement: Technology advances day-by-day and established setups are often
compelled to make major changes in operations in order to cope with technological changes, for instance
machinery replacement activities will call for a project.
4. Satisfying a social need/social responsibility: Many public projects are generated by social needs and
these could include education, health and sanitation etc. Businesses are increasingly investing in
corporate social responsibilities where they undertake projects to improve the welfare of the societies in
their surroundings
5. Policy/legal requirements: Some projects are generated by demand from government for the public to
fulfill some legal/policy requirements e.g. digital migration generated projects geared towards producing
compatible TV sets like smart televisions, plasma TVs etc.
6. Working on business sustainability: In a dynamic and competitive world, there must be continuous
improvement for sustainability, therefore some projects are generated by the need to change significantly
or else risk collapse e.g. if a commercial tertiary institution is offering courses that are facing stiff
competition from other emerging institutions, some projects may have to be undertaken to improve on
the competitiveness e.g. projects geared towards offering online education and increasing web presence
e.g. through websites,etc.
7. Crisis management: Many situations lead to crisis with the worst arising from natural disasters.
Projects must be set up to urgently address such arises because day today management practices can
fail to contain such crises.

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8. Globalization: As world market forces spread across the globe, some players design projects to attract
new markets while others design projects to respond to the global changes.
9. Compressed product life cycle: Every product has a life cycle and consumers have increasingly
become demanding on the product development. They want changed products in the short term and this
is worsened by competitors who introduce alternative products compelling others to design new versions
as well.

1.6 Program vs. Project

A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not
availab le from managing them individually. Benefits can include: increased profits, increased income,
decreased costs, and more satisfied customers.
A project may or may not be part of a program but a program will always have projects. Therefore,
programme management is the process of managing several related projects often with the intention of
improving an organization’s performance.
The point of having a program is to exploit economies of scale and to reduce coordination costs and
risks.
Programs are normally designed to deliver the organization’s strategy e.g. an ambition to be the fourth
biggest I.T firm in East Africa by 2015 or reduce wastage by 5% in two year’s time.
Example:
A company can have the following set of projects within its program:
 Designing a new product-this delivers a design specification
 Modifications to the production line or factory-delivers a manufacturing capability
 Marketing-delivers advertisements.brochures,pamphlets
 Staff training-delivers staff trained to sell and support the new product.

1.7 Differences between projects and a program

1. A Program is broader than a project. It covers a wider area than a project.

2. A Project is more specific in the sense that it aims at achieving a particular objective or objectives
in the short term or in the immediate future by using limited resources. A program is not very

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 specific as it may be a collection of a variety of activities which are not so much focused or
particularly aimed at achieving a given objective or objectives.
3. A project is a sub set of a program. You may find a programme having different projects that are
geared at achieving programme objectives.
4. A program has a longer life span or duration than a project. A project is of definite duration
whereas a program is ongoing and implemented within a business to consistently achieve certain
results for the business.
5. Projects deliver outputs whereas programs deliver outcomes. Successful projects deliver on time,
to budget and to specification, whereas successful programs deliver long term improvements to an
organization. Improvements are usually identified through benefits e.g. increased profits, increased
income, decreased costs, more satisfied customers.
6. There will normally be a process to change the predetermined scope of a project. Programs often
have to react to changes in strategy and changes in the environment in which the organization
changes.

2.0 AN OVERVIEW OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

2.1 What is Project management?

It is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project
requirements. It involves planning, organization, controlling, monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of a
project and motivation of all those involved to achieve project goals in a time and within cost. It’s,
therefore, the process of establishing objectives, planning, and employing resources. It could also mean
getting things done with and is through other people.

Project management is a wider term covering management of every detail of a project from its inception
(beginning) to final completion.

Thus, project management involves coordination of a multifunctional team. It is a defined discipline that is
not unique to any industry or subject area and the tools and techniques are standard and they apply to
projects irrespective of industry.

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TRIANGLE OF TRIPLE CONSTRAINTS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

Project management is often summarized in a triangle which is also called the triangle of triple
constraints. This means that the project is viewed in terms of three most important factors i.e.:
 Time,
 Cost and
 Scope.
These form the vertices with quality as a central theme:

Time Cost

Scope

Interpretation:
1. Time: Projects must be delivered on time: Limited time is the one constraint of any project. Team
members for any given project might not know the project budget or the scope of in great detail, but
chances are they will all know the project deadline.
Example
An I.T specialist is developing a new inventory-tracking system that must be tested and running by the
start of next financial year. For many projects that must create a product, time is the most important
constraint to manage.
2. Cost: They must be within cost. This has a broader meaning as costs include all of the resources
required to carry out a project. Costs include the people and equipment that do the work, the materials
they use, and all of the other events and issues that require money or someone’s attention in a project.
Examples:

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  As an I.T specialist, you have signed a fixed-price contract to deliver an inventory-tracking
software system to a client. If your costs exceed the agreed-upon price, your customer might be
sympathetic but probably will not be willing to renegotiate the contract.
 You have received a $ 5,000 grant to set up a computer lab at Ndejje University, Kampala
campus. You have no other funds.
NB: Virtually for all projects, cost is ultimately a limiting constraint; few projects could go over budget
without eventually requiring corrective action.
3. Scope: They must be within scope; Scope describes the work required to deliver a product or service
with the intended product scope. Project scope is usually measured in tasks and phases.
Examples:
 Your organization won a contract to develop academic records management software that can be
used to process students’ results, register students and keep track of alumni of Ndejje University.
This is a product scope constraint that will influence project scope plans.
 You can only use internal services to develop part of your product, and those services follow a
product development methodology that is different from what you had planned.
NB: Product scope and project scope are closely related. The project manager who manages project
scope well must also understand product scope.
4. Quality: They must meet customer quality requirements

Managing projects constraints: Time, cost, and scope

Project management gets interesting when a manager must balance the time, cost, and scope
constraints of projects. The project triangle illustrates the process of balancing constraints because the
three sides of the triangle are connected and changing one side of the triangle affects at least one other
side e.g.:
 If the duration of the project schedule (time) decreases, the manager might
need to increase budget (cost) because he must hire more resources to do the same work in less
time. If the budget can not be increased, the scope might be reduced because the available
resources might not complete all of the work planned in less time.
If the project’s duration must be decreased, there is need to ensure that the overall project quality
is not unintentionally lowered. For example, testing and quality control often occur last in software

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 development project; if project duration is decreased late in the project, those tasks might be the
ones to suffer with cutbacks.

2.3 Functions of a Project Manager

There are several functions of a manager that are important for the implementation of decision in any
given project. These include the following;

 Organizing/organization:
This requires a manager to establish an organizational structure with putting up human and non
human resources and drawing up positions and job descriptions and the extent of delegation of
duties with in the organizational structure.

 Planning:
It is the process of preparing for the commitment of resources in the most economic sense. It
involves formulating goals and carrying out action to achieve the set objectives.

It involves identifying needs, problems, their causes and effect and developing alternative
solutions which may require gathering relevant information.

Planning also involves forecasting to predict where the cause of action will be.

In addition, it involves developing strategies, programming, budgeting and developing policies.

 Controlling:
Staffing, recruiting and assigning duties/responsibilities

 Directing

2.2 Skills necessary for effective Project Management

Project management requires certain skills and these include the following.

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  Technical skills: This facilitates knowledge of how to use the procedures, techniques and it
requires professional knowledge.
 Interpersonal skills: This related the ability to work with other colleagues and make subordinates
to work together collectively.
 Conceptual skills: This enables managers to coordinate and integrate all organizational interests
and activities.
 Decision making skills: All mangers are decision makers and they should be able to make optimal
decisions.
 Communication skills: Managers should good communicators are both oral and written.
 Business skills, customer relations skills.
 Psychologically, they must be results-oriented, self-starters with a high tolerance for ambiguity,
because little is clear-cut in today's business environment.
 Leadership skills
 People management (customers, suppliers, functional managers and project team)
 Negotiation skills
 Conflict Management skills
 Planning skills
 Contract management skills
 Problem solving skills
 Time management skills

Barriers to Effective Project Management

 Poor communication
 Disagreements
 Misunderstandings
 Poor weather
 Union strikes
 Personality conflicts
 Poor management
 Poorly defined goals and objectives

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