Project Management best practice principles, success criteria, 4-phase process/life-cycle and project tools

1. EFFECTIVE PROJECT
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
CHARLES COTTER
BEACH HOTEL, PORT ELIZABETH
17-18 JULY 2014

2. TRAINING PROGRAMME
OVERVIEW
• Introduction
• Defining the fundamental concepts
• Diagnosis and Evaluation of current Project Management
processes and practices
• 4-step Project Management life-cycle/process
 Project Initiation
 Project Planning (and Scheduling)
 Project Implementation
 Project Closure
• Summary and Closing

3. DEFINING THE FUNDAMENTAL
CONCEPTS
• Project
• Project characteristics
• Project Management
• The Triple Constraint

4. DEFINING PROJECTS
• A project is a temporary and one-time endeavour
undertaken to create a unique product or service that
brings about beneficial change or added value
• A project is a temporary piece of work with a finite
starting and ending date undertaken to create a unique
product or service
• A project is a carefully defined set of activities that use
resources to meet the pre-defined objectives
• Projects bring form or function to ideas or needs.

5. PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS
• Temporary
• Unique
• Involve new processes
• Undertaken to achieve a particular aim (deliverables)
• Value-adding driver of change and improvement

6. DEFINING PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
• Project management is the application of knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities
in order to meet the requirements of the particular
project.
• Project management is concerned with the overall
planning and co-ordination of a project from inception
to completion aimed at meeting the client's
requirements and ensuring completion on time, within
cost and to the required quality standards.
• These three (3) project management variables as often
referred to as the eternal triangle of project
management.

7. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ETERNAL TRIANGLE

9. DEFINING PROJECT SUCCESS
CRITERIA
• Projects completed on time
• Projects completed within budget
• Projects completed according to quality standards and
performance measures
• Projects completed within defined scope
• Projects completed by achieving all deliverables
• Projects completed to the satisfaction of all key stakeholders
and beneficiaries

11. PROJECTS NOT MEETING THE
MARK

12. CAUSES OF PROJECT FAILURE
(DISTRESSED PROJECTS)
• The wrong business requirements have been addressed
• It's not possible to deliver on the original business case
• Poor project governance and management
• Project managers don't usually have any influence over who
their project sponsor is
• Poor project execution/implementation
• People lose focus on the project's benefits
• The environment changes

13. WHY DO PROJECTS FAIL?

14. INTRODUCTORY LEARNING
ACTIVITY
• Evaluate and rate your current project management
practices against the six (6) project success criteria
• Identify performance gaps
• Recommend project improvement interventions

15. ILLUSTRATION: PROJECT
MANAGEMENT LIFE-CYCLE

16. PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFE-
CYCLE
• Phase 1: Project Initiation
• Phase 2: Project Planning (and
Scheduling)
• Phase 3: Project Implementation
• Phase 4: Project Closure

17. PHASE ONE: PROJECT INITIATION
– PROCESS STEPS/FLOW
• Identification of a business problem, opportunity
and/or need
• Generation of prospective project proposal/s
• Evaluation and building of a business case for the
prospective project proposal/s
• Selection and approval of most value-adding project/s
• Compilation of Terms of Reference (ToR) document,
defining and scoping of the project

18. IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM, NEED
OF OPPORTUNITY
• Conduct an Environmental scan:
 Micro
 Market
 Stakeholder Analysis
 Macro
• Perform a SWOT Analysis:
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Resources
 Capabilities
 Capacity
 Opportunities
 Threats

19. EVALUATION OF PROJECT
PROPOSAL/S
• Financial and numerical metrics:
 Cost-Benefit Analysis
 Payback period
 Return-on-Investment (ROI)
 Net Present Value (NPV)
 Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

20. PROJECT EVALUATION CRITERIA
• Viability
• Feasibility
• Sustainability
Profits
People
Planet

21. SUSTAINABILITY (TRIPLE
BOTTOM LINE)

22. PURPOSE OF THE ToR
• Defines your project and its scope
• Justifies the project
• Secures funding for the project, if necessary
• Defines the roles and responsibilities of project
participants
• Gives people the information they need to be productive
and effective right from the start

23. CONTENTS OF A ToR
• Section 1: What?
 Background
 Project Definition
• Section 2: Why?
 Purpose
 Business Case
• Section 3: Who?
 Roles and Responsibilities
• Section 4: How and When?
 Defined milestones and target dates
 Initial/head-line project plan

24. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 2 (pages 30-31)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

25. PHASE TWO: PROJECT PLANNING
• Project planning defines project activities that will be
performed, the deliverables and describes how these
activities will be accomplished and managed
• A Project Plan sets out the phases, activities and tasks needed
to deliver a project
• The timeframes required to deliver the project, along with
the resources and milestones are also shown in the Project
Plan
• The project plan establishes a baseline which identifies and
documents project scope, tasks, schedules, cost, risk, quality
and staffing needs throughout the entire project life-cycle

26. COMPONENTS OF PROJECT
PLANNING
• Resource plan
• Financial plan (project budget)
• Quality plan
• Risk management plan
• Communications plan
• Procurement plan

27. PROJECT ACTION PLAN
TEMPLATE
• Objective (What?)
• Tasks (How?)
• Responsible (Who?)
• Time (When?)
• KPI (Weight?)

28. PROJECT ACTION PLAN
TEMPLATE

29. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 3 (pages 38-39)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

30. PROJECT SCHEDULING
• Project scheduling means detailing what activities have
to be done, the order (sequence) in which they are to be
completed, who is to do each, and how they are to be
completed.
• Project scheduling entails the planning and plotting the
following project variables:
 Tasks (e.g. Work Breakdown Structure)
 Time (e.g. Gantt chart and PERT/network diagramme)
 Resources (e.g. Resource Allocation Matrix and Resource
Histogram)
 Responsibility (e.g. Load Chart and Responsibility Matrix)

31. WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
(WBS)
• A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a detailed list of all of the
things that need to be delivered and the activities that need to be
carried out to complete the project.
• A WBS is a chart in which the critical work elements, called tasks, of
a project are illustrated to portray their relationships to each other
and to the project as a whole.
• It's represented as a tree-structure, with each deliverable or activity
broken down into further components. When completed, a well-
structured WBS resembles a flowchart in which all elements are
logically connected, redundancy is avoided and no critical elements
are left out.
• The graphical nature of the WBS can help a project manager predict
outcomes based on various scenarios, which can ensure that
optimum decisions are made about whether or not to adopt
suggested procedures or changes.

32. ILLUSTRATION: WBS

33. GANTT CHARTS (SCHEDULING
TIME)
• Project Managers need to estimate time accurately if they’re
going to deliver their project on time (and on budget)
• Without this skill, PM’s won't know how long your project will
take, and won't be able to get commitment from the people
required to help achieve the project objectives
• Gantt Charts are useful tools for analyzing and planning
more complex projects. It plots scheduled projects
tasks/activities on a time-line.
• When a project is under way, Gantt Charts help PM’s to
monitor whether the project is on schedule. If it is not, it
allows PM’s to pinpoint the remedial action necessary to put it
back on schedule.

34. ILLUSTRATION: GANTT CHART

35. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 4 (page 45)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

36. ILLUSTRATION: PROJECT RISK
MANAGEMENT PROCESS

37. PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT
PROCESS
• Step 1: Risk Identification
• Step 2: Risk Analysis
• Step 3: Risk Prioritization
• Step 4: Risk Response
• Step 5: Risk Evaluation

38. PROJECT RISK MATRIX

39. PROJECT RISK RESPONSE
STRATEGIES

40. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 6 (pages 60-61)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

41. PHASE THREE: PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION
• The most important issue in this phase is to ensure
project activities are properly executed and controlled
• This phase involves the execution of each activity and
task listed in the project plan.
• While the activities and tasks are being executed, a series
of project management and quality assurance processes
are undertaken by the Project Manager to observe,
monitor, analyze and control the project deliverables to
ensure that the key project objectives are achieved.

42. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
ACTIONS
• Resource mobilization and deployment
• Organizing and delegating tasks
• Performance Management
 Project (time, cost, quality and scope)
 Project team members
 Contractors and sub-contractors (SLA)
 Earned Value Management
• Leading and motivating project team

44. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
ACTIONSS
• Problem-solving/Trouble-shooting
• Conflict Management/Resolution
• Change and Scope Management
• Communication
 Project (progress/status) meetings
 Stakeholder engagement and liaising

45. PROJECT CONTROL
• The purpose of the control process is to ensure that the project
work can be carried out as scheduled.
• Checkpoints are held throughout the project at weekly
intervals and provide the mechanism for monitoring and
controlling the day to day work on the project.
• Performance information is captured and plans are updated
prior to the Project Status meeting. This enables the meeting to
concentrate on determining what to do next.
• Defining the control procedures includes the setting of
tolerance levels for project performance.

46. ILLUSTRATION: PROJECT
CONTROL PROCESS

47. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 5 (page 54)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

48. PHASE FOUR: PROJECT CLOSURE
• This process verifies that the project has delivered the
required outcomes and that stakeholder expectations
have been met.
• It also makes sure that everyone involved in the project
knows how to move forward.
• Project closeout is a fairly routine process, but it remains
an important process.
• By properly completing the project closeout,
organizations can benefit from lessons learned and
information compiled at closure.

49. PROJECT CLOSURE ACTIVITIES
• Releasing the final deliverables to the customer
• Handing over project documentation and
administration and terminating contracts
• Communicating the closure to all stakeholders
• Releasing staff
• Closing the Project Office

50. PROJECT CLOSURE ACTIVITIES
• Perform a Post Implementation Review of the project
• Close-out report:
 Assessment of the project against actual performance
 Quality of management (focusing on quality and risk
management)
 The lessons learnt that can be applied to future projects

52. LEARNING ACTIVITY
• Complete Learning Activity 7 (page 65)
• Syndicate group discussion
• Present a summary of key discussion points

53. CONCLUSION
• Key points
• Summary
• Questions

54. CONTACT DETAILS
• Charles Cotter
• (+27) 84 562 9446
• charlescot@polka.co.za
• LinkedIn
• Twitter: Charles_Cotter