Project Planning and Management

Lecture 1

Professor Wilson Muyinda Mande

Definition of the term project
 Lecture 1 Project management
The purpose of this lecture is to define basics of projects management.

The following are addressed:

(a) the concept of project planning;

(b) the nature of projects;

(c) the project cycle

(d) the theory of management by project.

(e) project management differs from general management which uses conventional
approaches. Project management is innovative and imprecise.
The concept of a project planning and management

Projects can be defined in a variety of ways.

Turner (1999) defined it as “an endeavour in which human, financial and material
resources are organised in a novel way to undertake a unique scope of work, of
given specification, within constraints of cost and time, so as to achieve
beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives”.
Armstrong (2003:281) describes a project as a unique job that makes a one-off
product. It has a distinct start and finish, and all operations must be co-ordinated
within this time frame.
The Project Management Institute (2000) considers a project to be a “temporary
endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service”.
• Meredith and Mantel (2002) define a project as a one time activity with a well defined set of
desired end results”.
• Others defined “project management as art and science of converting vision into reality.“
• United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), says a project is a proposal
for an investment to create and develop certain facilities in order to increase the production
and services in a community during a certain period (UNIDO, 1988).
• All these definitions are similar because they talk about the same things in more less the
ways. For instance, they mention the following aspects:
a) uniqueness
b) having definite time scale
c) having desired end results
d) All its activities being co-ordinated.
• In view of the above definitions it can be argued that projects are smaller than programmes.
The latter usually lack time a frame as far as completion is concerned
 Real action
( Project)
Action
outline

Decision
Real action
(Plan) (project)

Programme

Real action
(Project)
 Explanation

From the figure above, when programme is broken into manageable units,
the units become projects because that is where real action takes place.
At point A an idea is conceived for instance increased agricultural production.
This decision or plan is turned into a programme at point B.
actions are outlined and given a name
A programme is an on-going work with a known beginning but no fixed end.
It is at point C that projects emerge.
The real actions take place at this stage.
 In the light of the above understanding of projects,
it is plausible to infer that a project is a subset of a big programme.
As a project, it must have a shorter time schedule,
It requires limited resources,
It should have clear expected results which may be designed to solve a specific
development need,
or to generate more income.
When a number of projects are combined together and function over a long
period of time, they constitute a programme that meets a number of
development needs.
The Nature of Projects
The term “nature of projects” refers to the characteristics that mark or single out an
undertaking as a project.
Turner (1999) stated that a “project is an endeavour, a package of work, designed to
produce some novel, unitary objective which we expect to derive new benefit.
The endeavour is unique, novel and transient. The transience creates urgency, a
need to complete work and obtain benefit to repay the money spent.
The novelty requires us to create new ways of working and hence to integrate the
working of people across established organisational structures.
The uniqueness creates uncertainty.” The future appears to be unpredictable. So
some people do not care about planning.
In reaction to this, it is said “if you fail to plan then you plan to fail”.
Or “we never seem to have time to plan our projects, but we always have time to do
them twice.”
Planning a project is important because it is a framework within
which people’s activities, the delivery of materials and the use of
resources including money can be co-ordinated.
Furthermore, a project is marked by the following characteristics:
Being a specific undertaking
having defined specific objectives
goal – orientedness
defined start and end dates
use of varied resources including financial, time, skills, equipment,
materials and human.
Co-ordination of activities across the project units.
The Project Cycle
A project has a life that involves steps. These steps are the project cycle. The steps
are:
(a) Identification of a project. This first step is where a project idea is conceived.
(b) Preparation. This step requires turning the identified idea into a proposal.
(c )Appraisal. At this step, the prepared plan or proposal is analysed.
(d) Implementation. The focus at this step is on carrying out the project as
planned including both installation and operation.
(e) Monitoring. At this step there is checking to determine whether the
objectives are being met or adjustments would have to be made.
(f) Evaluation. Assessment of the project is done at the end or even in the
middle.
competencies of a project manager
All successful projects are possible partly because of effective management. So, project
managers should have competences. Burke (2003) outlined the following desirable
attributes or competences:

i. Ability to select and develop an operational team.

ii. Leadership and management ability

iii. Ability to anticipate problems, solve problems and make decisions

iv. Ability to integrate project stakeholders

v. Ability to operate flexibly

vi. Ability to plan, expedite and get things done

vi. Ability to negotiate and persuade

vii. Understand the environment within which the project is being managed

viii. Ability to monitor and apply control

ix. Ability to administer the contract, the scope of work and scope changes.

x. Ability to manage within an environment of constant change

xi. Ability to keep the client happy.

Management by projects
It’s observed that many organisations are accomplishing business through projects.

The implication is that conventional management is silently being abandoned.

In conventional management there is hierarchy and vertical reporting responsibility.

 At the head of each major function there is a line manager who has responsibility for

people who work in their departments.

The project manager may have a line management role as well, but is responsible for

projects that may run across several functions.

General Management Project Management
a) Responsible for managing the status quo Responsible for overseeing change
 
b) Authority defined by management structure Lines of authority fuzzy (imprecise)
 
c) Consistent set of tasks Ever changing set of tasks
 
d) Responsibility limited to their function Responsible for cross-functional
activities
e) Works in permanent organisational Operates within structures which exist
structures for the life of the project
 
f) Tasks described as maintenance Concerned with innovation mainly
 
Management by projects encourages:

 Organisational flexibility

 Decentralised management responsibility

 Holistic view of problems

 Goal-oriented problems

 Goal-oriented problem solution processes

The Role of Project Managers
The tasks to be handled by a project manager to run a project include:
1) Integration Management - This is developing and managing the direction of
the project
2) Scope Management - This includes planning, defining and managing the
scope of the project.
3) Time and Cost Management - This covers developing a schedule, allocating
resources and managing funds for the project.
4) Quality Management - This involves taking care of the quality of the process
in question such that it meets or even exceeds
various quality parameters set earlier.
5) Human Resource Management - A manager needs to take care of
his team, encourage and motivate them and
make sure the team moves in right direction.
6) Communication Management - The manager needs to prepare a communication
plan and make sure that there is a healthy communication, both
horizontally and vertically.

7) Risk Management - Various risks involved in a project should be identified and a

mitigation and contingency plan needs to be developed to ensure that
the project is not derailed at any point.

8) Procurement Management - Various materials needed during the project need

to be procured and managed with the vendors and suppliers for
successful completion of the project.
Conclusion
A project manager is responsible for the success or the failure of the project.
He needs to define the project and then build its work plan.
If the scope of the project is not very clear, or the project is executing poorly,
the manager is held accountable.
However, this does not mean that the manager does all the work by himself
(which is practically impossible).
There is an entire team under the project manager, which helps to achieve all
the objectives of the project.
 However, if something goes wrong, the project manager is ultimately
accountable.
That is the end of the lecture