INTRODUCTION-

Project can also be defined as a single use plan to achieve a certain objective of
introducing something unique or a change and ensure that progress is maintained
in line with the objective, generally in terms of time, cost, and various technical
and quality performance parameters. e following are the important aspects of a
project:
 Starting date
 Specific goals and conditions
 Defined responsibilities
 Budget
 Planning
 Fixed end date
 Parties involved
Management:
Management is the technique of understanding the problems, needs and
controlling the use of Resources, Cost, Time, Scope and Quality.
Project Management (WORD)
Project management is a methodical approach to planning and guiding project
processes from start to finish. It is the method of planning the plan. It starts from
project definitions and ends with goal achievement.
PMBOK defines project management as the application of knowledge, skill, tool
and techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholder’s needs and
expectations from a project.
Bridge group defines it as the methods and disciplines used to define goals, plan
and monitor tasks and resources, identify and resolve issues, and control costs
and budgets for a specific project.

Project Characteristics
The various characteristics of the project are :
Fixed set of objectives: The project starts when the objective(s) is finalized. The
project comes to an end as soon as the objectives are attained.
Tenure: Project is never a continuous activity, it has to come to an end. Its life
span is fixed.
Team work: It needs a team to accomplish various activities.
Unique: All projects are unique in themselves, no two projects are exactly similar.
Life cycle: Like all living organisms, project starts slowly (definition phase), then
starts building up in size (planning phase), then reaches peak (implementation
phase) before finally getting terminated.
Made to order: The customer always decides the objective and informs the
constraints like time and cost.
Single entity: Generally, projects are the responsibilities of a single person/entity
but certainly there are many participants in a project, who are helping the single
entity in the accomplishment of project objectives.
Multi-skilled staff: The staff needed for a project, including the project manager
needs to have a wide range of skills including technical skills, human skills,
financial skills, negotiation skills, etc.
Subcontracting: Subcontracting is practically unavoidable in project management.
As specialized knowledge or workforce is needed for a very small duration in a
project, it is difficult and costly to employ or retain. Therefore, they are just hired
for small duration or specific job from outside agency.
Risk and uncertainty: Projects are risky as the activities involved in projects are
non-retrievable. Thus, risk is unavoidable. However, risk can be reduced
considerably using various forecasting techniques and project management and
control tools.
1.4 Objectives of Project management
There are four major objectives of project management
Scope: Scope means what are the expectations from you as a project manager
and your team. A civil contractor always has well-defined scope, like all civil works
including excavation, foundation, concreting, brickwork, plastering of all walls as
per the attached drawings.
Performance: A project is always expected to have a well defined performance
level. If a project is unable to adhere to the desired performance of a customer, it
is certainly an unsuccessful project.
Time: A successful project is the one which is completed within the time limits
perceived during the planning. As the cost is dependent on time, time
management becomes a crucial activity of project management.
Cost: It is dependent on all the above objectives. Mathematically it can be written
as: Cost = f (P, T, S).
Therefore, cost is a function of performance, time and scope. If any of the above
increases, it is surely going to increase the cost of the project. Another approach
in defining the objectives is the SMART approach.
Specific: Project should target a specific goal
Measurable: It should be quantifiable
Attainable: It should be attainable with resources available
Realistic: It should be realistic in nature
Time Limit: There should be fixed time limits
Importance of Project Management
What has led to increased usage of the concept of project management in recent
times?
Rapidly changing technologies: Technologies are changing very fast, so all
manufacturing as well as service organizations have to cope up with technological
changes, which provide a big scope for project management.
High entropy of the system: Changes are very fast. So, energy levels are high. To
adapt to the fast changing world, no organization can stick to old things or
systems. Any modification or modernization leads to the need of project.
Squeezed life cycle of products: Product life cycle is squeezed to a great extent
with innovations taking place at a very rapid rate. Projects are needed for the
upgradation of products.
Globalization impact: All producers and service providers in the present world are
exposed globally. They need to modify their system of operations to match the
global practices, thus creating opportunity for projects.
Large organizations: They face problems of management of huge workforce and
work division, so they divide their work in projects and create a team to
accomplish the objectives in the form of projects. This has also helped the
organization to develop a method for performance appraisal.
Customer focus: Increased customer focus has been a market trend in recent
times. A few years back, cost reduction was a major formula of success for an
enterprise. Thus, there was more emphasis on standardization. In recent years,
customer focus has redirected market towards customization. Though it is not
purely customization, it is more of a combination of standardization and
customization. All this has led to the application of project management.

1 - Time

A project's activities can either take shorter or longer amount of time to

complete. Completion of tasks depends on a number of factors such as the
number of people working on the project, experience, skills, etc.
Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable. On the other hand, failure to
meet the deadlines in a project can create adverse effects. Most often, the main
reason for organizations to fail in terms of time is due to lack of resources.

2 - Cost

It's imperative for both the project manager and the

organization to have an estimated cost when
undertaking a project. Budgets will ensure that project
is developed or implemented below a certain cost.
Sometimes, project managers have to allocate
additional resources in order to meet the deadlines
with a penalty of additional project costs.
3 - Scope

Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken. This consists of a list of
deliverables, which need to be addressed by the project team.
A successful project manager will know to manage both the scope of the project
and any change in scope which impacts time and cost.

Quality

Quality is not a part of the project management triangle, but it is the ultimate
objective of every delivery. Hence, the project management triangle represents
implies quality.

Initiation Phase

During the first of these phases, the initiation phase, the objective or need of the
project is explored. The project can be a business solution or an opportunity. A
project proposal is written based on the needs with recommended solution
options. This type of project proposal includes business plans and grant
applications. The financier of the project evaluates the proposal and upon
approval provides the needed financing.

The project management team conducts a feasibility study to investigate whether

each option addresses the project objective and a final recommended solution is
determined. Questions concerning scope and feasibility of the project and
expected results should be answered in the initiation phase.

Definition Phase

After the project plan has been approved, the project enters the definition phase.
Here the project requirements are specified as clearly as possible. This involves
identifying the expectations of all parties involved with regard to the project
result. During this phase, a project plan and project scope may be put in writing,
outlining the work to be performed. The project management team should
prioritize the project, calculate a budget and schedule, and determine what
resources are needed. The project definitions should be in sync with that of the
client and end user requirements.
It is important to identify the requirements as early in the process as possible. The
Preconditions for the project, Functional & Operational requirements and Design
limitations should be clearly defined in this phase.

Design Phase

The design phase answers the questions about ‘how’ you will build the best
solution. The definitions in the previous phase can be used to make design
choices in the design phase. One or more designs are developed with which the
desired project results can be achieved. The designs can include diagrams,
sketches, flow charts, prototypes, etc. The project managers then choose one that
will be produced in the project. As in the definition phase, once the design has
been chosen, it cannot be changed in a later stage of the project.

The design phase is intended to develop a detailed specification that should be

used as a base for the development team. This is where the project management
team look at the many potential solutions and come up with the most effective
and efficient way to construct the solution.

Development Phase

During the development phase, everything that will be needed to implement in

the project is arranged. In smaller projects a formal development phase is not
necessary. The important point is that it must be clear on what must be done in
the implementation phase, by whom and when. In development phase all the
man force is allotted, the raw materials and tools are fixed and instructions for
the personnel are given. When development phase is complete, implementation
is ready to start. Hence a clear cut idea is necessary for the parties involved about
what should be done and when.

Implementation Phase

The implementation phase is when the project actually takes shape. The project
development team involved work on their part and develop on the project. The
manager monitors and controls the allocation of resources, cost, scope, quality,
risk and other factors of the project. Monitoring and controlling is an ongoing
process to ensure that the project addresses its targets for each project objective.

Follow-up Phase

At the end of the project the closure happens to ensure that all of the work is
completed and the ownership is transferred from development team to
operations. However, the follow-up phase is completely neglected in most cases.
Follow-up phase is to ensure that all arrangements are made for the successful
completion and handover of the project. These include preparing handbooks,
training the end users, setting up support team, writing project report, evaluating
the project, transferring to the concerned team and dismantling the project.

The six-phase model is designed on the rule – ‘think before you act’. Each phase
has its own value and focus should be given on each of them. The flow of process
is so important and decisions made in each phase should be fixed and final. A
change in the later stages of the project can only lead to huge loss for the
organization and complete jeopardy.

Project Life Cycle

18. Initiation Phase
Define the need
Return on Investment Analysis
Make or Buy Decision
Budget Developmen
19. Definition Phase
Determine goals, scope and project constraints
Identify members and their roles
Define communication channels, methods, frequency and content
Risk management planning
20. Planning Phase
Resource Planning
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Schedule Development
Quality Assurance Plan
22. Implementation Phase
Execute project plan and accomplish project goals
Training Plan
System Build
Quality Assurance
23. Deployment Phase
User Training
Production Review
Start Using
24. Closing Phase
Contractual Closeout
Post Production Transition
Lessons Learned

TOOLS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

These diagrams are one of the most important tools in project management that
can be used in the process of project planning. Also known as an “Arrow”
diagram, because the diagram consists of
different arrows that can be used to connect
different activities and also to display
precedence. By using these arrows you can also show interdependencies between
different activities of a project.

CPM is an essential tool that is thoroughly used by project managers. This is

because this tool can monitor and assess
the progress of the project in real-time. It
is to ensure that all the ongoing projects
performed by the team are going to
finish in time.

A Gantt chart is a visual representation of all the tasks related to your project
scheduled overtime. They are used to plan
projects of all sizes and shapes.

The Project Evaluation and Review Technique,

more commonly known as PERT is a form of
Network Diagram PM tool that is also used to
figure out the critical path of the project. This
technique makes scheduling complex projects easier while creating realistic
estimates of the duration of each individual activity. It is a form of Network
Diagram but it’s different in a way that it
uses three kinds of estimates rather than
just one. The first estimate, also known as
T-O, assumes that the activity will never
falter and all the factors that are related to
the activity are going to be in favor of it.
The second estimate, also known as ‘most
likely’ assumes that the activity will eventually encounter some issues during the
execution phase. It will also provide some contingency buffers to fix the issues.
The final estimate is known as the pessimistic estimate which assumes that
whatever factor that can possibly go wrong and ruin the activity is bound to
happen no matter what.

WBS is an amazing tool in the project management paradigm. It shows a

hierarchical breakdown of work activities that are used to define the scope of the
project. It is also used to identify all of the required deliverables that are needed
in the development of the project.

Major knowledge areas of project

management

1. Project Integration Management

This area covers all PM activities from project initiation to closure. It helps to link
processes and tasks together.

2. Project Scope Management

Project Scope Management defines the scope of work to complete during the
project. It’s essential as it sets boundaries to the amount of work that can be
included in one project. This prevents the addition of unauthorized or
unnecessary tasks. Also, it helps avoid going over budget. 

3. Project Schedule Management

Project schedule management is one of the most sophisticated among all the
knowledge areas. It requires a lot of pre-preparation. A project manager has to
define project tasks first and after create a schedule where they mark the starting
and finishing dates. Moreover, the project plan and timetable often change.
That’s why a project management schedule needs frequent revisions and
stakeholders’ approval.
4. Project Cost Management

Get to know the ins and outs of estimation of the project budget. This knowledge
area provides effective estimation techniques that help to define the sums you
need to spend on your project. Doing so, you ensure that project owners and
stakeholders stay satisfied with the amounts they need to spend on product
development. 

5. Project Quality Management

Project Quality Management heavily depends on Project Time and Project Cost
knowledge areas. The more the time and budget, the better the quality.
Therefore, the deliverable quality level should be defined at the stage of project
planning and a project manager should specify it in the overall project
management plan.

6. Project Resource Management

Project Resource Management includes people, equipment, facilities, and others

to ensure successful project fulfillment. However, equipment and budgeting play
an essential role in the project performance. The project team is the key factor
that often determines the time and money spent on a project and influences on
the deliverable quality level. That’s why it’s particularly important to focus on the
team when planning your project resources.

7. Project Communication Management

When you develop your project plan, you need to establish a policy on how the
project stakeholders shall communicate during the project execution, and in case
of its changing.  It’s important to develop the communication rules for
stakeholders to get in touch quickly once there appear unforeseen issues. 

8. Project Risk Management

Project risks are often hidden and can’t be seen at a mere glance. That’s why to
ensure successful project execution and minimize unexpected issues, project
managers should perform a deep analysis of possible risks. 

9. Project Procurement Management

Not every project requires the procurement of outside subcontractors to speed
up the project development or involve niche specialists. However, if you feel the
necessity to add extra workforce to the project, you’ll need a set of clear steps on
how to do it. It’ll minimize the possibility to exceed the budget or time limits. This
keeps your project in the boundaries of your project plan.

10. Project Stakeholder Management

Stakeholders’ management is a fundamental part of any project. They initiate the

project, identify product requirements, model project processes, estimate the
project outcomes, and declare project success. Each stakeholder has its own set
of functions in a project. Therefore, a project manager should establish their roles
and responsibilities. 

It’s important to set the rules for stakeholders so that they effectively interact and
add value to the successful project development.