Lecture 1

MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL
COMPUTING
PROJECT
Project management
 Project : A group of milestones or phases,
activities or tasks that support an effort to
accomplish something

 Management : is the process of Planning,

Organizing, Controlling and Measuring
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk-J
wtScIlw
Project...
 A collection of linked activities, carried
out in an organised manner,with a
clearly defined START POINT and END
POINT to achieve some specific results
desired to satisfy the needs of the
organisation at the current time
Reasons for Project Failure

1. Poor project and program management discipline

2. Lack of executive-level support
3. No linkage to the business strategy
4. Wrong team members
5. No measures for evaluating the success of the
project
6. No risk management
7. Inability to manage change
Project Success Criteria

 On time
 On budget
 Meeting the goals that have been
agreed upon
Iron Triangle
Project Management
 A dynamic process that utilises the
appropriate resources of the
organisation in a controlled and
structured manner, to achieve some
clearly defined objectives identified as
needs.
 It is always conducted within a defined
set of constraints
What does Project Management Entail?
 Planning: is the most critical and gets the
least amount of our time

 Organizing: Orderly fashion

 Controlling: is critical if we are to use our
limited resources wisely
 Measuring: To determine if we accomplished
the goal or met the target?
Measuring…….
 Are we efficient?
 Are we productive?
 Are we doing a good job?
 What is the outcome?
 Is it what we wanted to be?

If you can’t plan it, You can’t do it

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
Who uses Project Management?
· Nearly Everyone to some degree
People plan their Days, their Weeks, their
Vacations and their Budgets and keep a simple
project management form known as ‘’To Do’’
list
· Any Process or Means used to track tasks or
efforts towards accomplishing a goal could be
considered Project Management
Why is Project Management used?

 It is necessary to Track or Measure the

progress we have achieved towards a
Goal we wish to accomplish
 We use Project Management to Aid us in
Maximizing and Optimizing our
resources to accomplish our goals
How much time does Project
Management take?
 Not much. Probably more time is wasted
as a consequence of lack of Project
Management tool than is spent to Plan
adequately, Organize, Control effectively
and Measure appropriately
 How long: As long as there are things to do
Why is Project Management
Important?
 Enables us to map out a course of action
or work plan
 Helps us to think systematically and
thoroughly
 Unique Task
 Specific Objective
 Variety of Resources
 Time bound
Advantages
 In built Monitoring/ Sequencing
 Easy and Early identification of Bottlenecks
 Activity based costing
 Identification and Addition of missing and new
activities
 Preempting unnecessary activity/expenditure
 Timely Completion
 Assigning tasks
 Reporting
Consequences of
not using PMT
· DELAY
· COST
· WASTE OF RESOURCES
· QUALITY
· DISSATISFACTION
· REPUTATION
COMMON PROJECT
TERMS
 • Deliverables: Tangible ‘things’ that the project produces
 Milestones: Dates by which major activities are
performed.
 Tasks: Also called Actions. Activities undertaken during
the project
 Risks: Potential problems that may arise •
 Issues: Risks that have happened
 Gantt Chart: A specific type of chart showing time and
tasks. Usually created by a Project Management
program like MS Project. •
 Stakeholder: Any person or group of people who may be
affected by your project
Steps :
Define the Problem
 identify the problem to be solved by the
project. It helps to visualize the desired
end result. What will be different? What
will you see.
 What client need is being satisfied by
the project?
Develop Solution Options
 How many different ways might you go
about solving the problem?
 Brainstorm solution alternatives (you
can do this alone or as a group). Of the
available alternatives, which do you
think will best solve the problem?
 Is it more or less costly than other
suitable choices? Will it result in a
complete or only a partial fix
Plan the Project
 Planning is answering questions: what
must be done, by whom, for how much,
how, when, and so on
Execute the Plan
 Once the plan is drafted, it must be
implemented. Interestingly, we
sometimes find people going to great
effort to put together a plan, then failing
to follow it. If a plan is not followed, there
is not much point in planning, is there?
Monitor and Control Progress
 Plans are developed so that you can achieve
your end result successfully. Unless progress is
monitored, you cannot be sure you will succeed.
It would be like having a roadmap to a destination
but not monitoring the highway signs along the
way.
 Of course, if a deviation from the plan is
discovered, you must ask what must be done to
get back on track, or—if that seems impossible—
 how the plan should be modified to reflect new
realities
Close the Project
 Once the destination has been reached,
the project is finished, but there is a final
step that should be take
 What was done well? What should be
improved? What else did we learn? We
can always improve on what we have
done.
Key Stages of Project Management
 Initiation
 Defines the project objectives and grants authority to the
project manager.
 Planning
 Refines the project objectives and scope and plans the
steps necessary to meet the project’s objectives.
 Executing
 Puts the project plan into motion and performs the work of
the project.
 Controlling
 Measures the performance of the executing activities and
compares the results with the project plan.
 Closing
 Documents the formal acceptance of the project’s product
and brings all aspects of the project to a close.
Project Initiation Phase
  a project is formally started, named and
defined at a broad level during this phase.
Project sponsors and other important
stakeholders decide whether or not to commit
to a project.
 Depending on the nature of the project,
feasibility studies are conducted. Or, as it may
require, in an IT project – requirement
gathering and analysis are performed in this
phase. In the construction industry a project
charter is completed in this phase.
 Once a decision has been made to do a project, it must be
initiated or launched.
 There are a number of activities associated with this.
 One is for the project sponsor to create a project charter,
which defines what is to be done to meet the requirements
of project customers.
 This is a formal process that is often omitted in
organizations. The charter should be used to authorize
work on the project; define the authority, responsibility, and
accountability of the project team; and establish scope
boundaries for the job. When such a document is not
produced, the team members may misinterpret what is
required of them, and this can be very costly
Project Planning Phase 
 a project management plan is developed comprehensively of individual
plans for – cost, scope, duration, quality, communication, risk and
resources
 . Some of the important activities that mark this phase are
 making WBS
 development of schedule, milestone charts,
 GANTT charts,
 estimating and reserving resources,
 planning dates and modes of communication with stakeholders based
on milestones,
 deadlines and important deliveries.
 A plan for managing identified and unidentified risks is determined as
this may affect aspects of a project later on.
 Risk management planning includes: risk identification and analysis,
risk mitigation approaches, and risk response planning.
poor planning
 One of the major causes of project
failures is poor planning
 many of us are task oriented, and we see
planning as a waste of time, so we would
rather just get on with the work. As we will
see when we turn to controlling the
project, failing to develop a plan means
that there can be no actual control of the
project. We are just kidding ourselves.
Project Execution Phase 
 a project deliverable is developed and
completed, adhering to a mapped-out
plan. A lot of tasks during this phase
capture project metrics through tasks like
status meetings and project status
updates, other status reports, human
resource needs and performance reports.
An important phase as it will help you
understand whether your project will be a
success or failure.
 There are two aspects to the process of
project execution. One is to execute the
work that must be done to create the
product of the project. This is properly
called technical work, and a project is
conducted to produce a product
Project Monitoring and Cont
rol

Phase
occurring at the same time as the execution phase, this
one mostly deals with measuring the project performance
and progression in accordance to the project plan.
 Scope verification and control occur to check and monitor
for scope creep, change control to track and manage
changes to project requirement.
 Calculating key performance indicators for cost and time
are done to measure the degree of variation, if any, and
in which case corrective measures are determined and
suggested to keep a project on track. To prevent project
failure, consider why projects are likely to fail and the
ways to prevent failure.
 Monitoring and controlling can actually be
thought of as two separate processes, but
because they go hand in hand, they are
considered one activity. Control is exercised
by comparing where project work is to where
it is supposed to be, then taking action to
correct for any deviations from target. Now
the plan tells where the work should be.
Without a plan, you don’t know where you
should be, so control is impossible
Project Closure Phase
 A project is formally closed. It includes a
series of important tasks such as
delivering the product, relieving
resources, reward and recognition to the
team members and formal termination of
contractors in case they were employed
on the project.
Project Integration Management
 Project integration management ensures
that the project is properly planned,
executed, and controlled, including the
exercise of formal project change
control.
 As the term implies, every activity must
be coordinated or integrated with every
other one in order to achieve the desired
project outcomes.
Project Scope Management
 Changes to project scope are often the
factors that kill a project. Project scope
management includes authorizing the job,
developing a scope statement that will
define the boundaries of the project,
subdividing the work into manageable
components with deliverables, verifying
that the amount of work planned has
been achieved, and specifying scope
change control procedures.
Project Time Management
 Project time management specifically
refers to developing a schedule that can
be met, then controlling work to ensure
that this happens
Project Cost Management
 estimating the cost of resources,
including people, equipment, materials,
and such things as travel and other
support details. After this is done, costs
are budgeted and tracked to keep the
project within that budget
Project Quality Management
 it includes both quality assurance
(planning to meet quality requirements)
and quality control (steps taken to
monitor results to see if they conform to
requirements).
Project Human Resources Management

 identifying the people needed to do the

job; defining their roles, responsibilities,
and reporting relationships; acquiring
those people; and then managing them
as the project is executed.
Project Communications Management
 project communications management
involves planning, executing, and
controlling the acquisition and
dissemination of all information relevant
to the needs of all project stakeholders.
This information might include project
status, accomplishments, and events
that may affect other stakeholders or
projects
Project Risk Management
 Project risk management is the systematic
process of identifying, quantifying, analyzing,
and responding to project risk. It includes
maximizing the probability and
consequences of positive events and
minimizing the probability and consequences
of adverse events to project objectives. This
is an extremely important aspect of project
management that sometimes is overlooked
by novice project managers.
Project Procurement Management
 Procurement of necessary goods and
services for the project is the logistics
aspect of managing a job. Project
procurement management involves
deciding what must be procured, issuing
requests for bids or quotations, selecting
vendors, administering contracts, and
closing them when the job is finished.
Project Manager
 a person who has the overall responsibility
for the successful initiation, planning,
design, execution, monitoring, controlling
and closure of a project. 
 The project manager must have a
combination of skills including an ability to
ask penetrating questions, detect unstated
assumptions and resolve conflicts, as well
as more general management skills.
 responsible for making decisions, both
large and small.
Roles and Responsibilities

 Planning and Defining Scope

 Activity Planning and Sequencing
 Resource Planning
 Developing Schedules
 Time Estimating
 Cost Estimating
 Developing a Budget
 Documentation
 Creating Charts and Schedules
 Risk Analysis
 Managing Risks and Issues
 Monitoring and Reporting Progress
 Team Leadership
 Strategic Influencing
 Business Partnering
 Working with Vendors
 Scalability, Interoperability and Portability
Analysis
 Controlling Quality
 Benefits Realisation
Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The project manager’s responsibility is to ensure

the customer is satisfied that the work scope is
completed in a quality manner, within budget, and
on time.
 Provides leadership in planning, organizing, and
controlling the work effort
 Coordinates the activities of various team
members
 Does not try to do it alone
 Involves the project team to gain their 5
Responsibilities of the Project Manager
(Cont.)

Planning
 Clearly defines the project objective and reaches
agreement with the customer
 Communicates this objective to the project team

6
Responsibilities of the Project Manager
(Cont.)

Organizing
 Secures the appropriate resources
 Decides which tasks should be done in-house and
which by subcontractors or consultants
 Assigns responsibility and delegates authority
 Creates an environment in which individuals are
highly motivated

7
Responsibilities of the Project Manager
(Cont.)

Controlling
 Tracks actual progress and compares it with
planned progress
 Takes immediate action if progress or costs
change

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Skills of the Project Manager

The project manager is a key ingredient in the

success of a project.
 Strong leadership ability
 Ability to develop people
 Excellent communication skills
 Good interpersonal skills
 Ability to handle stress
 Problem-solving skills
 Time management skills
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Leadership Ability

Leadership is getting things done through others.

 Inspire the people assigned to the project

 Create vision of the result and benefits of the
project
 Participative and consultative leadership style
 Establishes the parameters and guidelines for
what needs to be done
 Does not tell people how to do their jobs 10
Leadership Ability (Cont.)
 Involves and empowers the project team
 Involves individuals in decisions affecting them
 Empowers individuals to make decisions within
their assigned areas
 Understands what motivates team members and
creates a supportive environment
 Does not create situations that cause individuals
to become discouraged
 Fosters motivation through recognition

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Leadership Ability (Cont.)
 Sets the tone of trust, high expectations, and
enjoyment
 Has high expectations of themselves and of
each person on the project team
 Is optimistic and positive
 Encourages the same positive attitude
 Is highly motivated and sets a positive example
 Has self-confidence and inspires confidence
 Leads by making things happen

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Ability to Develop People

 Committed to the training and development of people

 Uses the project to add value to each person’s
experience base
 Believes that all individuals are valuable to the
organization
 Stresses the value of self-improvement

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Ability to Develop People (Cont.)

 Provides opportunities for learning and

development by encouraging individuals to
assume the initiative, take risks, and make
decisions
 Provides assignments that require individuals to
extend their knowledge
 Identifies situations in which less experienced
people can learn from more experienced people
 Has people attend formal training sessions
 May provide coaching
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Communication Skills

Effective and frequent communication is crucial.

 Communicate regularly with the project team,
subcontractors, customer, and own upper
management
 A high level of communication is especially
important early in the project
 Good oral and written communication skills
 Spend more time listening than talking

15
Communication Skills (Cont.)

 Establish ongoing communication with the customer

 Communication should be timely, honest, and
unambiguous
 Effective communication establishes credibility
and builds trust
 Provide timely feedback to the team and customer
 Create an atmosphere that fosters timely and
open communication

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Interpersonal Skills
 Good interpersonal skills are essential
 Develop a relationship with each person on the
project team
 Try to learn about the personal interests of each
individual without being intrusive
 Should use open-ended questions and do a lot
of listening
 Empathize with individuals when special
circumstances arise

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Interpersonal Skills (Cont.)

 Maintain relationships throughout the duration of

the project
 Use good interpersonal skills to try to influence
the thinking and actions of others
 Use good interpersonal skills to deal with
disagreement

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Ability to Handle Stress
 Cannot panic; remain unruffled
 Able to cope with constantly changing
conditions
 Act as a buffer between the project team and the
customer or upper management
 Have a good sense of humor
 Stress is likely to be high when a project is in
jeopardy of not meeting its objective

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Problem-Solving Skills

 Early identification of a problem or potential

problem is important
 Encourage project team members to identify
problems early and solve them on their own

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Time Management Skills
 Have self-discipline
 Be able to prioritize
 Show a willingness to delegate

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Developing the Skills Needed to Be a
Project Manager
 Gain experience — work on as many projects
as you can; each project presents a learning
opportunity
 Seek out feedback from others
 Conduct a self-evaluation and learn from your
mistakes
 Interview project managers who have skills
that you want to develop
 Participate in training programs

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Developing the Skills Needed to Be a
Project Manager (Cont.)
 Join organizations, such as the Project
Management Institute
 Read and subscribe to journals
 Volunteer and contribute to the community or a
specific cause to develop leadership skills
 Learning and development are lifetime
activities—there’s no finish line

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Delegation

 Involves empowering the team to achieve the

objective and empowering each team member to
accomplish the expected results
 Allow individuals to successfully carry out
assigned tasks
 Give team members the responsibility to
accomplish job objectives and the authority to
make decisions and take actions
 Give team members accountability for
accomplishing results
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Delegation (Cont.)
 Requires effective communication skills
 Provide a clear understanding of what is
expected in terms of specific results, but do not
tell the individuals how to do the task
 Select the team members who are best qualified
to perform each task and then empowering
them to do it
 Have confidence in each member of the team

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Delegation (Cont.)

Common barriers to effective delegation

 Project manager has a personal interest in the task
 Project manager thinks she can do it better or faster
herself
 Project manager lacks confidence in the capability
of others
 Project manager is afraid he will lose control of the
work and not know what is going on
 Team members fear criticism for mistakes or lack
self-confidence 26
Managing Change

Despite the best laid plans, changes will still

occur.
Changes may be:
 Initiated by the customer
 Initiated by the project team
 Caused by unanticipated occurrences during
the performance of the project
 Required by the users of the project results
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Managing Change (Cont.)
 The later in the project that changes are
identified, the greater their effect
 Aspects most likely to be affected are budget
and completion date
 At the start of the project, procedures need to be
established regarding how changes will be
documented and authorized

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Managing Change (Cont.)

Whenever a customer requests changes:

 Have project team members estimate the effects on
cost and schedule
 Be sure team members won’t casually agree to
changes that may require additional person-hours
 Have users participate up front in the decision to
change

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Advantages of project
Management
Advantages
  Better Efficiency in Delivering Services
 Improved / Increased / Enhanced Customer
Satisfaction
  Enhanced Effectiveness in Delivering Services
  Improved Growth and Development Within your
Team
 Greater Standing and Competitive Edge
 Better Flexibility
 Increase in risk assessment
 Increase in quality
 Increase in quantity