WHAT IS A PROJECT

A job that has a beginning and an end(time)

A specified outcome (scope)
At a stated level of performance (quality)
At a budget (costs)
 
 

A PROJECT

• A project is a means to create;

• A product
• A service
• A result
• A project is a set of activities implemented in a logical order or sequence to
achieve a well defined objective that aims at addressing the needs of people.
It has a start time and end time and is implemented within the constraints,
resources ie time, money, human resource capital materials.
• A project is about creating something new although it could also be a
complex process of improving an existing product or service.
• a project is not routine, or repetitive work
 TERMS IN PM

• Deliverables- tangible things that the project produces

• A schedule is a timeline of events and activities which can be used as an
operating timetable
• Milestones- dates by which major activities are performed
• Tasks-also called actions. Activities undertaken during the project
• Risks- Are potential problems that may arise,and are uncertain with a negative
impact on some activity
• Issues- risks that may have happened
• Stakeholders- any person or group of people who may be affected by the
project
• Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is an effective method for planning and managing

PROJECTS AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

• Projects are means to achieve ‘strategic plan’ of an organization. Some of the

strategic considerations that may lead to projects include;
• Market demand
• Customer request
• Strategic opportunity/business need
• Technological advance
• Legal requirements
 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Project Management Institute defines a project as a
temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result and whose major goal is to
satisfy a customers need.
Therefore project management involves doing a
successful activity on time, within a budget and whose
end result is quality product or service.
PM is also defined as the application of knowledge, skills,
tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet
stakeholders needs and expectations

WHY LEARN P.M

• To explore the latest concepts and techniques of project mgt

• To increase value, contribution to the org
• To prove yourself skillful in managing prijects
• To learn a new thought process that helps organized thinking and structured
approach
• To acquire a professional degree
•
 MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROJECT

• A project has an established fixed objective

• A project has defined lifespan with a beginning and an end
• Usually, there is the involvement of several departments and professionals
• It involves doing something new
• Should be result oriented
• Should be flexible to allow changes
• Requires team work and therefore diverse competencies
• Should be planned to avoid risks and uncertainties
• Should be caried out through a series of interdependent tasks
• It has a timeline, cost and performance requirements

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE
PROJECT,
• There is clarity of work by team members and vendors and what they must
accomplish.
• There is shared goals, timeliness and processes by team members,
stakeholders and vendors
• Team members demonstrate a sense of urgency and take ownership of their
responsibilities.
• There is mutual respect between team members and stakeholders.
• Stakeholders trust team members to deliver project outcomes.
• Team members feel heard and that their opinions matter.
• There is an open-door policy and culture and team members feel safe
expressing their concerns.
 TYPES OF PROJECTS

• Civil and construction projects

• Mining, extraction and quarrying projects
• Manufacturing projects
• Management process projects
• Research projects

FEATURES THAT ARE COMMON IN PROJECTS

• Clear goals
• Clear time frame
• Limited resources
• Clear scope
• Clear quality specifications
• Unique products or services
 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Management is defined as the art of coordinating, directing, controlling,

monitoring and measuring the performance of a project.
• PM is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to projects
activities to achieve project requirements. It is accomplished through the
application and integration of the project management process of initiating,
planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing
• Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills,
knowledge, experience to achieve specific project objective according to the
project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters.
• Pm is therefore the planning and coordinating of events that comprise the
project

PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Commitment principles- an equitable commitment between principals,

resources and project delivery team
• Principles of management- availability of effective policies and procedures to
ensure achievement through the cost standard and the budget
• Standard engagement principle- a single channel of communication must exist
between project sponsors, managers and the project team
• Principle of measurement and accountability management must provide an
informed supportive, continuous monitoring and evaluation system for
adherence
• Principle of strategy-life is a game of strategy
• Principles of sustainability- projects benefits should be ealized long after
project closure.
 WHY PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Life on projects is rarely boring since each day is different from the last
• Since most projects are directed at solving some tangible problems or
pursuing some useful opportunities, the managers foind their work to be
personally meaningful and satisfying
• The managers enjoy the act of creating something new and innovative
• Project managers and team members can feel immense pride in their
accomplishment
• Project managers are often stars in their organizations and are well
compensated.

IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• To ensure proper utilization of available resources. This is done through

scheduling and levelling time and finances
• To align goals to the strategic objectives of the organization/individual-all
projects aims at achieving a predetermined goal
• To ensure there is optimal return from the organisation investment
• To ensure timely achievements of the organization ojectives
• To minimize and control risks.
• To ensure that right activities are carried out-project managers must
orchestrate the completion of the project by including the right people, at the
right time, to address the right issues and make the right decisisons.
 
 FACTORS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

• Formal governance and change approval guidelines

• Accountability for projects results by implementers
• Training in project management skills
• Having measurements and feedback system
• Formal priorities for requests and changes
• Regular communications with stakeholders
• Having a monitoring and evaluation system

CONSTRAINTS

• Scope- a statement that defines the boundaries of a project it tells what will be
done as well as what will not be done
• Quality-includes both product quality and process quality
• Cost- it is the budget for doing the business
• Time- specified duration of the project. Its inversely proportional to cost
• Resources- they are assets such as people, equipment, physical materials or
inventory
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PROJECT AND A
FUNCTIONAL OPERATION
• Projects are unique and temporary, while operations are ongoing and
permanent endeavours with a repetitive output
• Projects have a fixed budget, while operations have to earn a profit to run the
business
• Projects involves starting a new business objective and terminated when
achieved, while operational work does not produce new and its ongoing
• Projects create a unique product, service or result, while operations produce
the same product, aim to earn a profit and keep the business running
• There are more risks in projects as they are usually done for the first time while
in operations, there are fewer risks as they are repeated many times
• Projects are performance intensive while operations are efficiency intensive
• Projects are managed through project management and operations require

THE ROLE OF A PROJECT MANAGER VS AN

OPERATIONS MANAGER
• The role of a project manager is to ensure that all work is completed on time,
within budget and scope and at the correct performance levels. The project
manager must therefore posses people skills
• The duty of  an operations manager is to reduce the overall cost while
maximizing the profits or returns.
 
 ROLES OF A PROJECT MANAGER

• He must clearly understand the mission and the vision of the project and see
how the project connects with the organizations mission; then must steer the
project to ensure that the interests of the organization are met
• Direct all activities required to successfully meet the project objectives
• Manage risk-scanning ahead for potential issues
• Solve problems-recommend alternative approaches to solving problems
• Track and report project progress
• Communicate to all the stakeholders in the project

IMPORTANT SKILLS OF A PROJECT MANAGER

• Leadership and management

• Teambuilding
• Technical
• Communicating
• Decision making
• Conflict management
• Customer relationship
• coaching
 WHY PROJECTS FAIL

• Poor project and program management discipline

• Lack of top management support
• Wrong team members
• Poor communication
• Lack of measures for evaluating project success
• Lack of a risk management policy
• Inability to manage change

PROJECT PROBLEM TREE

• A problem tree provides an overview of all the known causes and effect to an
identified problem. It involves writing causes in a negative form eg lack of
knowledge. Reversing the problem tree by replacing negative statements with
positive ones creates a solution tree. Therefore, a solution tree identifies
means-end relationships as opposed to cause effects.
• PPT provides an overview of interventions that need to occur to solve the core
problem
 HOW TO DEVELOP A PROBLEM TREE

• Settle on the core problem-identify the problem that the project seeks to
overcome
• Identify the cause and effects-participants can either collectively brainstorm
all the negative statements about the problem and a facilitator takes note of
the same. They may also work the cause and effects on a sequential basis
starting from the core problem. Once the problems have been established,
they are converted(inversion) to objectives and the tree becomes an objective
tree
• The decision of the project scope is taken using strategy analysis
 

PROBLEM TREE ANALYSIS

• Helps the planning of a project

• Provides a guide as to the complexity of a problem by identifying multiple
causes
• Identifies particular lines of interventions that may need to be tackled with
complimentaru projects
• Provides an outline of the project plan, activities, the goal and the outcomes of
the project
• Conducting a problem/ solution tree analysis helps design ways of
overcoming the problem
• A problem tree will likely reveal multiple branches ie cause and effect
relationships) leading to the core problem. This helps in identifying factors
that may not be addressed by the planned intervention.