Unit – I

Q. What is project management? Discuss its objectives and importance.

Ans. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and controlling resources
and activities to achieve specific goals within a defined timeframe. It involves the application
of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to effectively execute projects and deliver desired
outcomes. Project management is applicable across various industries and sectors, ranging
from construction and engineering to information technology, healthcare, and marketing.

Objectives of Project Management:

1. Goal Attainment: The primary objective of project management is to achieve the

project's objectives and deliver the desired outcomes within the defined constraints of
time, budget, and scope. It ensures that project goals are clearly defined, and all
efforts are focused on accomplishing them.
2. Resource Optimization: Project management aims to efficiently allocate and utilize
resources, including personnel, finances, equipment, and materials. By effectively
managing resources, project managers strive to minimize wastage, control costs, and
maximize productivity, ultimately enhancing project performance.
3. Risk Management: Projects often encounter uncertainties and risks that can impact
their success. Project management involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating
risks to minimize their potential negative effects. It includes developing risk
management strategies, contingency plans, and proactive monitoring and control
mechanisms to address potential threats and seize opportunities.
4. Time Management: Projects operate within specific timeframes and deadlines.
Project management focuses on establishing realistic project schedules, defining
activities, sequencing tasks, and monitoring progress. By effectively managing time,
project managers ensure that projects stay on track, milestones are achieved, and
deadlines are met.
5. Quality Assurance: Delivering high-quality outcomes is crucial for project success.
Project management emphasizes the establishment of quality standards, quality
control measures, and continuous improvement processes. It includes activities such
as quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control to ensure that project
deliverables meet or exceed stakeholders' expectations.

Importance of Project Management:

1. Project Success: Effective project management significantly increases the chances of

project success. It provides a structured approach to guide project teams and deliver
desired outcomes within the defined constraints. It helps minimize project failures,
delays, and cost overruns by ensuring efficient resource utilization and risk
mitigation.
2. Stakeholder Satisfaction: Project management places emphasis on understanding
and managing stakeholder expectations. By involving stakeholders throughout the
project lifecycle, project managers can align project goals with stakeholders' needs,
ensure effective communication, and foster stakeholder satisfaction. Satisfied
stakeholders contribute to positive project outcomes and increased organizational
success.
 3. Improved Efficiency and Productivity: Proper project management practices
enhance efficiency and productivity by streamlining processes, optimizing resource
allocation, and minimizing rework. It helps facilitate smooth coordination among
team members. This leads to improved project execution and timely delivery.
4. Effective Risk Management: Projects inherently involve risks, and effective project
management helps identify, analyse, and manage these risks proactively. By
implementing risk management strategies, project managers can mitigate potential
threats, seize opportunities, and prevent or minimize project disruptions. This
increases the likelihood of project success and reduces the impact of uncertainties.
5. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration: Project management promotes
effective communication and collaboration among project stakeholders, including
team members, clients, suppliers, and sponsors. It establishes clear channels of
communication, facilitates information sharing, and promotes collaboration to ensure
everyone is aligned and working towards common project goals. This fosters a
positive project environment and enhances teamwork.

PROJECT TEAM
Successful projects are usually the result of careful planning and the talent and collaboration
of a project’s team members. Projects can’t move forward without each of its key team
members, but it’s not always clear who those members are, or what roles they play. Here,
we’ll describe five roles – project manager, project team member, project sponsor, executive
sponsor and business analyst – and describe their associated duties.

Project Manager:
The project manager plays a primary role in the project, and is responsible for its successful
completion. The manager’s job is to ensure that the project proceeds within the specified time
frame and under the established budget, while achieving its objectives. Project managers
make sure that projects are given sufficient resources, while managing relationships with
contributors and stakeholders.

Project manager duties:

• Develop a project plan
• Manage deliverables according to the plan
• Recruit project staff
• Lead and manage the project team
• Establish a project schedule and determine each phase
• Assign tasks to project team members
• Provide regular updates to upper management

Project Team Member:

Project team members are the individuals who actively work on one or more phases of the
project. They may be in-house staff or external consultants, working on the project on a full-
time or part-time basis. Team member roles can vary according to each project.

Project team member duties may include:

• Contributing to overall project objectives
• Completing individual deliverables
• Providing expertise
 • Working with users to establish and meet business needs
• Documenting the process

Project Sponsor:
The project sponsor is the driver and in-house champion of the project. They are typically
members of senior management – those with a stake in the project’s outcome. Project
sponsors work closely with the project manager. They legitimize the project’s objectives and
participate in high-level project planning. In addition, they often help resolve conflicts and
remove obstacles that occur throughout the project, and they sign off on approvals needed to
advance each phase.

Project sponsor duties:

• Make key business decisions for the project
• Approve the project budget
• Ensure availability of resources
• Communicate the project’s goals throughout the organization

Executive Sponsor:
The executive sponsor is ideally a high-ranking member of management. They are the visible
champion of the project and are the ultimate decision-maker, with final approval on all
phases, deliverables and scope changes.

Executive sponsor duties typically include:

• Carry ultimate responsibility for the project
• Approve all changes to the project scope
• Provide additional funds for scope changes
• Approve project deliverables

Business Analyst:
The business analyst defines needs and recommends solutions to make an organization better.
When part of a project team, they ensure that the project’s objectives solve existing problems
or enhance performance, and add value to the organization. They can also help maximize the
value of the project deliverables.

Business analyst duties:

• Assist in defining the project
• Gather requirements from business units or users
• Document technical and business requirements
• Verify that project deliverables meet the requirements
• Test solutions to validate objectives

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF

PROJECT MANAGER

The role of a project manager is crucial in planning, executing, and overseeing projects to
ensure their successful completion. The specific responsibilities of a project manager may vary
depending on the industry, organization, and project scope. However, here are some common
roles and responsibilities associated with the position:
 1. Project Planning: A project manager is responsible for developing a comprehensive
project plan, including defining project goals, objectives, tasks, and deliverables. This
involves creating a project schedule, determining resource requirements, and estimating
budgets.

2. Stakeholder Management: Project managers interact with various stakeholders,

including clients, team members, senior management, and external vendors. They must
effectively communicate project status, manage expectations, and address any concerns
or issues raised by stakeholders.

3. Team Leadership: Project managers are responsible for assembling and leading
project teams. They assign tasks, set clear objectives, and motivate team members to
ensure productivity and collaboration. They also foster a positive team culture and
resolve conflicts that may arise during the project.

4. Scope and Risk Management: Project managers define and manage project scope,
ensuring that project deliverables align with the agreed-upon objectives. They identify
and evaluate risks associated with the project and develop mitigation strategies to
minimize potential disruptions or setbacks.

5. Budget and Resource Management: Project managers oversee project budgets,

tracking expenses and ensuring that financial resources are allocated effectively. They
manage project resources, including human resources, equipment, and materials, to
ensure they are available when needed.

6. Project Monitoring and Control: Project managers monitor project progress, tracking
milestones, tasks, and timelines. They identify deviations from the plan, assess their
impact, and take corrective actions to keep the project on track. They also maintain
project documentation and provide regular status updates to stakeholders.

7. Quality Assurance: Project managers ensure that project deliverables meet quality
standards and satisfy customer requirements. They establish quality control processes,
conduct reviews and audits, and implement improvements as necessary.

PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

The project life cycle is a series of phases that a project goes through from initiation to
closure. Although the number of stages in a project life cycle can vary depending on the
industry, complexity, and organization, a commonly accepted model includes six stages:

1. Project Initiation: This is the first stage of the project where the project objectives
and scope are defined. The project initiation stage is critical as it lays the foundation
for the entire project. During this stage, project stakeholders are identified, project
charter is developed, and feasibility studies are conducted to ensure that the project is
viable.
Example: An organization decides to develop a new product, and the project initiation stage
involves identifying the product requirements, budget, and timeline.

2. Project Planning: In this stage, the project plan is developed to provide a roadmap
for the project. The project plan includes a detailed project scope, a work breakdown
structure, a project schedule, and a budget.
Example: After the project initiation stage, the product development team creates a project
plan that includes the development process, milestones, and quality metrics.

3. Project Execution: This stage involves the implementation of the project plan. The
project manager assigns tasks, and the team members execute their responsibilities.
Project execution requires close monitoring of the project schedule and budget, as
well as effective communication with stakeholders.
Example: The product development team begins the manufacturing process, ensuring that all
milestones are met within the project timeline and budget.

4. Project Monitoring and Control: In this stage, project progress is monitored and
controlled to ensure that the project is on track. The project manager tracks project
progress, identifies and addresses any issues, and ensures that the project stays within
scope, budget, and schedule.
Example: During the product manufacturing process, the project manager ensures that the
manufacturing process adheres to the project plan, budget, and timeline. Any deviations are
identified and addressed promptly.

5. Project Closure: The project closure stage involves finalizing all project deliverables
and transferring ownership of the project to the client. This stage also includes project
evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the project plan and to identify areas for
improvement.
Example: The product development team completes the manufacturing process and transfers
ownership of the product to the client. The team conducts a post-project evaluation to
determine areas of success and areas for improvement.

6. Project Review: The project review stage involves a comprehensive review of the
project from initiation to closure. The project review is conducted to identify lessons
learned and to develop best practices for future projects.
Example: The product development team conducts a comprehensive review of the project to
identify areas for improvement and to develop best practices for future product development
projects.

CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTS

According to complexity:
• Easy: A project is classified as easy when the relationships between tasks are basic
and detailed planning or organisation are not required. A small work team and few
external stakeholders and collaborators are common in this case.
• Complicated: The project network is broad and complicated. There are many task
interdependencies. With these projects, simplification where possible is everything.
Cloud-based apps such as Sinnaps will immensely help to simplify complicated
projects by automatically calculating the project’s best work path and updating any
changes introduced through its use of different types of project management tools.
According to source of capital:
• Public: Financing comes from Governmental institutions.
• Private: Financing comes from businesses or private incentives.
• Mixed: Financing comes from a mixed source of both public and private funding.
According to project content:
• Construction:These are projects that have anything to do with the construction of a
civil or architectural work. Predictive methods are used along with agile techniques
which will be explained later on.
• IT: Any project to do with software development, IT system etc. The types of project
management information systems vary across the board, but in today’s world are very
common.
• Business: These projects are involved with the development of a business,
management of a work team, cost management, etc., and usually follow a commercial
strategy.
• Service or product production: Projects that involve themselves with the
development of an innovative product or service, design of a new product, etc. They
are often used in the R & D department.
According to those involved:
• Departmental: When a certain department or area of an organisation is involved.
• Internal: When a whole company itself is involved in the project’s development.
• Matriarchal: When there is a combination of departments involved.
• External: When a company outsources external project manager or teams to execute
the project. This is common in digital transformations, process improvements and
strategy changes, for example.
According to its objective:
• Production: Oriented at the production of a product or service taking into
consideration a certain determined objective.
• Social: Oriented at the improvement of the quality of life of people.
Educational: Oriented at the education of others.
• Community: Oriented at people too, however with their involvement.
• Research: Oriented at innovation and the gaining of knowledge.