PAD 409: INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION/DEFINITION
A project is a temporary endeavour designed to produce a unique product, service, or result
with a defined beginning and end, undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically
to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in
contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-
permanent functional activities to produce products or services.

Project Management Institute (PMI) (2004), defined Project Management as "the application

of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the
requirements of a particular project."

Project management, according to Project Management Professional (PMP) (2003), is the

process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints.

Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and

experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria
within agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to
a finite timescale and budget.

Project management primarily focuses on planning, managing and organizing the available

resources. Some of the activities that should be a part of project management activity are to
efficiently guide the project team through all phases and execute the project successfully.
Other activities include identifying and efficiently managing the project life cycle and
implementing it to the user-centered design process.

A key factor that distinguishes project management from just 'management' is that it has this
final deliverable and a finite timespan, unlike management which is an ongoing process.
Because of this a project professional needs a wide range of skills; often technical skills, and
certainly people management skills and good business awareness.

THE IMPORTANCE AND RISE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Projects are becoming increasingly important. One of the reasons is because innovation is
driven by projects and innovation is becoming increasingly important. Our economy has
shifted from where competition between firms focused on operational excellence (becoming
more efficient) to one where competition is driven by disruptive innovation.
To understand the link between innovation and projects, it is important to understand the two
essential characteristics of a project.

o Every project has a beginning and an end. While the start can be fuzzy as ideas
evolve gradually into projects, the end of a project should be clearly defined.

o Every project produces a unique outcome. Note that this outcome can be both
tangible - e.g. a piece of software - or intangible - e.g. a new set of guidelines.

In sum, projects are unique and temporary, similar to innovation. After all, if innovation was
not unique, then it would not be innovative. At the same time, innovation is temporary
because once an innovation is introduced, it is picked up and becomes business as usual and
is no longer considered innovative.

With the rise in importance of projects, the necessary skills to manage these projects have
also increased. On the one hand, this gave birth to the specific function of a project manager,
but also other job functions such as executives, functional managers and team members need
to have project management skills. It has become a must-have job skill that will only become
more valuable.

Project Management itself consists of methods, theories and techniques to manage the
complexity of project work. As a discipline it has evolved over the past 60 years under the
umbrella of several standards organizations, such as the Project Management Institute and the
International Project Management Association.

FOUR P’s OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Olivier Mesly (2017) in his study suggested that the success of any project depends on how
well four key aspects are aligned with the contextual dynamics affecting the project. These
are referred to as the four P's:

♦Plan: The planning and forecasting activities.

♦Process: The overall approach to all activities and project governance.

♦People: Including dynamics of how they collaborate and communicate.

♦Power: Lines of authority, decision-makers, organograms, policies for implementation and

the like.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The objectives and goals of the organization can be achieved in an efficient manner through
proper project management. Project manager plays a key role in managing the project. They
forecast all the risks that might arise during the production process and ensure that all the
risks are addressed with a proper plan. By following a good project management structure the
employees will have a good understanding about their roles and responsibilities, they will
also be aware of the schedule of the deliverables and will have the opportunity to plan their
schedule accordingly. A good project management structure ensures that the project is
completed within specified time period and within budget.

Project Management Institute has identified nine key areas within project management, and
they are as follows:

1. Integration Management

2. Scope Management

3. Time Management

4. Cost Management

5. Quality Management

6. Human Resource Management

7. Communication Management

8. Risk Management

9. Procurement Management

BUILDING AN EFFICIENT TEAM AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM

Building efficient project team

It is the responsibility of a project manager to select members for the project. The project
managers can pick team members according to their experience and also familiarity in similar
kind of projects.

Communication mechanism

One of the core quality of a good project management structure is building an efficient team
and designing a good mode of communication to ensure that all the team members and
stakeholders have complete information about the project. For this, the project manager has
to conduct regular meetings with the team members, stakeholders and top level management.
PROJECTS VS ONGOING OPERATIONS

Work within an organization can be broadly divided within two categories: projects and
ongoing operations.

Ongoing operations represent the work an organization performs repeatedly and which is
often the primary purpose why the firm or department exists. Examples are the processing of
invoices by the accounting department or the production of cars at a car manufacturer’s plant.

The characteristics of ongoing operations are very different from those of projects.

o Ongoing operations typically have no end and they consist of tackling similar
problems, producing likewise results, all by using a repeatable set of activities.

o The focus of operations management, which entails the management of

ongoing operations, typically focusses on operational excellence, i.e. the
continuous improvement of achieving a constant or increasing levels of high
quality in ever more efficient ways.

o Another managerial domain that focusses on operational (repeatable) work is

that of business process management. In contrast to project management,
process management deals with organizing and managing repeatable work.

PROJECTS AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Producing outcomes which deliver actual value is increasingly difficult in environments

where:

o the specifications keep changing along the way due to changing stakeholder
expectations,

o customer are often not capable of describing the actual problems they try to
solve,

o the goal is often to introduce something that nobody is asking for, but many
might actually need.

The goals of ‘Building the right product’ and ‘building it correctly’ actually belong to yet
another discipline, that of product development.
 o Product development entails processes and techniques for determining the
right product or service to build and methods to ensure it is developed
correctly and efficiently.

Product Development uses different criteria to measure success. Three common criteria are:

o Feasibility: Is the solution (technically) feasible?

o Desirability: Is there a market, do people want it?

o Viability: Can the solution be delivered in a sustainable way?

The argument for product development as a separate discipline states that while the
development of a new product is a unique project, there are clearly similarities in the process
to be followed to go from identifying the right product to actually constructing the product
correctly and efficiently. By creating a standard development methodology, the development
process can be made repeatable and thus allows for quality improvement and cost reduction.

There exists a strong relationship between project management and product development.
The development of a product is an innovative endeavour which requires a project-based
approach. Both disciplines also focus on producing outcome according to pre-defined
specifications.

At the same time there are also some clear differences between both disciplines.

o The product development process explains what the work is and how to do it
correctly. It describes the work required to create the product.

o Project management emphasizes communication and coordination so the work

is performed efficiently. It focuses on managing the work.

PROJECT VS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

To better understand the similarities, relationships and differences between project

management and product development management, it helps to take a closer look at the life
cycles of both processes.

A very basic process life cycle consists of four sequential stages:

o Define: The project goals, rules, approach and cost-schedule-quality

equilibrium are agreed upon by the stakeholders.

o Plan: A plan is developed for the project. As each project is unique, this must
be repeated every time for each project. This stage implies that the work to be
 done is identified, split up in workable pieces, the time required for each piece
and the entire project is estimated, resources are assigned to the work to be
done, costs are budgeted, risks are identified and risk management plans are
set up, and many other activities.

o Execute: This is the stage where the actual work is being executed. During the
execution stage, the goal of project management is to keep the project on track
and ensure that execution is done efficiently.

o Close: This stage entails activities to make the transition to the next phase
(operations or another project), to establish formal closure in the eyes of the
customer and to review project successes and failures in order to learn for
future projects.

Many different product development life cycles exist, but in most cycles one can distinguish
the following four stages:

o Requirements: During this step the requirements for the product to develop are
identified and described.

o Design: During this step, a product will be designed which meets the
requirements. The output of this step are a set of design plans which allow the
construction of the product.

o Construction: During this step, the product is built, documented and tested.

o Operate: In the final stage, the product will start to fulfill its purpose and
requires many activities such as training, support and maintenance.

PROJECT PHASES, LIFE CYCLES, AND INCORPORATING USER-CENTERED

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Project Phases

To have a better control on the project, the project is divided into different phases. Each
phase defines the tasks and activities that have to be completed within specific time period. It
also outlines how many team members will be allocated in each phase so that all resources
are used to their full potential.

Project Life-Cycle and UCD

A project life-cycle refers to all phases of a project, from initiation to completion of the
project. When defining the project life-cycle, the first phase in the cycle is referred as zero.
According to PMI, there can be four to five phases in a project life-cycle. Some may even
contain more phases, it basically depends upon the complexity and size of the project. Most
of the companies across the globe make use of Agile or Waterfall life-cycle approach. You
can also incorporate user-centered design (UCD) best practices and methods. A user-centered
design process includes planning, collecting and analyzing data, writing content, designing
and developing and testing.

Project Plan

Project plan plays a crucial role for effective project management. When the project manager
designs a project plan, they have to ensure that they include all user-centered design best
practices and methodologies.

A project plan consists aspects such as objectives, scope, budget, and team roles and
responsibilities, schedule, assumptions, dependencies, risk assessment and management plan,
and change control plan.

Basically, a project plan outlines a complete set of activities that needs to be undertaken by
team members. It is also possible that the sponsor may request some new changes in the final
product, in that case, the project plan must be updated accordingly. Then project manager
may also include charter agreement in their project plan. This decision has to be taken by the
project manager depending upon the project requirements. A project charter is a document
which is signed by the project sponsor. 

Scheduling

Scheduling is one of the key aspects of project management. If the project is not properly
scheduled then it might lead to a project failure. Scheduling basically defines what are the
activities that have to be carried, and also clarifying who is responsible for carrying out these
activities.

Conclusion

Projects and project management processes vary because of their size and complexities
involved in each project. It is advisable that the project managers gain a thorough
understanding of the project requirements and implement all the phases of project
management to smoothly execute the project.

5 PHASES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

According to PMI, “project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of a particular
project.” There are five phases of project management and if the lifecycle provides a high-
level view of the project, the phases are the roadmap to accomplishing it.

Phase 1: Project Initiation

This is the start of the project, and the goal of this phase is to define the project at a broad
level. This phase usually begins with a business case. This is when you will research whether
the project is feasible and if it should be undertaken. If feasibility testing needs to be done,
this is the stage of the project in which that will be completed.

Important stakeholders will do their due diligence to help decide if the project is a “go.” If it
is given the green light, you will need to create a project charter or a project initiation
document (PID) that outlines the purpose and requirements of the project. It should include
business needs, stakeholders, and the business case. Note: There are plenty of PID templates
that adhere to PMBOK® Guide guidelines available online that you can download to help you
get started.

Phase 2: Project Planning

This phase is key to successful project management and focuses on developing a roadmap
that everyone will follow. This phase typically begins with setting goals. Two of the more
popular methods for setting goals are S.M.A.R.T. and CLEAR:

 S.M.A.R.T. Goals – This method helps ensure that the goals have been thoroughly vetted. It
also provides a way to clearly understand the implications of the goal-setting process.

Specific – To set specific goals, answer the following questions: who, what, where, when,
which, and why.
Measurable – Create criteria that you can use to measure the success of a goal.
Attainable – Identify the most important goals and what it will take to achieve them.
Realistic – You should be willing and able to work toward a particular goal.
Timely – Create a timeframe to achieve the goal.

For more information about S.M.A.R.T. goals and to download free S.M.A.R.T.
goal templates, read "The Essential Guide to Writing S.M.A.R.T. Goals."
 

C.L.E.A.R. Goals – A newer method for setting goals that takes into consideration the
environment of today’s fast-paced businesses.
Collaborative – The goal should encourage employees to work together.
Limited – They should be limited in scope and time to keep it manageable.
Emotional – Goals should tap into the passion of employees and be something they can form
an emotional connection to. This can optimize the quality of work.
Appreciable – Break larger goals into smaller tasks that can be quickly achieved.
Refinable – As new situations arise, be flexible and refine goals as needed.
 
During this phase, the scope of the project is defined and a project management plan is
developed. It involves identifying the cost, quality, available resources, and a realistic
timetable. The project plans also includes establishing baselines or performance measures.
These are generated using the scope, schedule and cost of a project. A baseline is essential to
determine if a project is on track.
 
At this time, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, so everyone involved knows what
they are accountable for. Here are some of the documents a PM will create during this phase
to ensure the project will stay on track:

 Scope Statement – A document that clearly defines the business need, benefits of the
project, objectives, deliverables, and key milestones. A scope statement may change
during the project, but it shouldn’t be done without the approval of the project
manager and the sponsor.

 Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) –This is a visual representation that breaks

down the scope of the project into manageable sections for the team.

 Milestones – Identify high-level goals that need to be met throughout the project and
include them in the Gantt chart.

 Gantt Chart – A visual timeline that you can use to plan out tasks and visualize your
project timeline.

 Communication Plan – This is of particular importance if your project involves

outside stakeholders. Develop the proper messaging around the project and create a
schedule of when to communicate with team members based on deliverables and
milestones.

 Risk Management Plan – Identify all foreseeable risks. Common risks include
unrealistic time and cost estimates, customer review cycle, budget cuts, changing
requirements, and lack of committed resources.
Phase 3: Project Execution

This is the phase where deliverables are developed and completed. This often feels like the
meat of the project since a lot is happening during this time, like status reports and meetings,
development updates, and performance reports. A “kick-off” meeting usually marks the start
of the Project Execution phase where the teams involved are informed of their
responsibilities.

Tasks completed during the Execution Phase include:

 Develop team

 Assign resources

 Execute project management plans

 Procurement management if needed

 PM directs and manages project execution

 Set up tracking systems

 Task assignments are executed

 Status meetings

 Update project schedule

 Modify project plans as needed

 While the project monitoring phase has a different set of requirements, these two phases
often occur simultaneously.
Phase 4: Project Performance/Monitoring

This is all about measuring project progression and performance and ensuring that everything
happening aligns with the project management plan. Project managers will use key
performance indicators (KPIs) to determine if the project is on track. A PM will typically
pick two to five of these KPIs to measure project performance:

 Project Objectives: Measuring if a project is on schedule and budget is an indication

if the project will meet stakeholder objectives.

 Quality Deliverables: This determines if specific task deliverables are being met.
  Effort and Cost Tracking: PMs will account for the effort and cost of resources to
see if the budget is on track. This type of tracking informs if a project will meet its
completion date based on current performance.

 Project Performance: This monitors changes in the project. It takes into

consideration the amount and types of issues that arise and how quickly they are
addressed. These can occur from unforeseen hurdles and scope changes.

During this time, PMs may need to adjust schedules and resources to ensure the project is on
track

Phase 5: Project Closure

This phase represents the completed project. Contractors hired to work specifically on the
project are terminated at this time. Valuable team members are recognized. Some PMs even
organize small work events for people who participated in the project to thank them for their
efforts. Once a project is complete, a PM will often hold a meeting – sometimes referred to as
a “post mortem” – to evaluate what went well in a project and identify project failures. This is
especially helpful to understand lessons learned so that improvements can be made for future
projects.

Once the project is complete, PMs still have a few tasks to complete. They will need to create
a project punchlist of things that didn’t get accomplished during the project and work with
team members to complete them. Perform a final project budget and prepare a final project
report. Finally, they will need to collect all project documents and deliverables and store them
in a single place.

THE TRIPLE CONSTRAINT: THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRIANGLE OF

SCOPE, TIME, AND COST

The project management “triangle” of scope, time, and cost has been informing projects ever
since the first team member was hired to accomplish a job. In the basic setup of a triple
constraint, one of three elements (or possibly more) can constrain a project. The elements are
budget/cost, time/schedule, and scope. If a change is posed to any one of these elements,
something else must change.

What Is the Triple Constraint Triangle in Project Management?

In the modern corporate landscape, a project is typically “bound” or constrained by three

elements, which may be expressed in different ways. The triple constraint theory, also called
the Iron Triangle in project management, defines the three elements (and their variations) as
follows:

 Scope, time, budget

 Scope, schedule, cost

 Good, fast, cheap

While the names of the three elements of the triangle may change, they all measure
essentially the same thing: a fixed budget, a fixed schedule or timeline, and a fixed set of
expectations or deliverables.

The triangle comes into play when something affects one of its “legs.” If that happens, you
may need to adjust one or both of the other elements to accommodate the change. For
example, if a client suddenly shortens a time frame, then a project will likely need more
resources, or perhaps a scope reduction.
For example, let’s say that 10 people are working on creating and launching a microsite
consisting of 25 web pages of copy by September 1st. The client may then realize that an
important event is happening on August 15th, and decide those pages should launch two
weeks earlier on the 15th. The project management constraint triangle builds can help
accommodate this shortened timeline: Add more resources (in the form of more people
working on the project or other resources), or limited the content for this launch - perhaps
there are fewer pages, or the design is more basic.

In another case, a company may have two competing projects, but not enough staff to fully
support both. A project manager may then need to move employees from the first project to
the second, which affects either the scope of the first project, or the timeline, or both. In other
words, a project manager can make these changes, but something’s got to give.

The concept of “quality” is sometimes introduced as another factor in the project constraint
triangle, or as a fourth “leg” in what would be a project diamond. However, there are varying
views on this, as quality is subjective. Does the quality of a less-in depth web page suffer, or
can it still be a high-quality page with reduced scope? These are questions a project manager
must always consider and keep in mind during conversations with stakeholders and clients.

WHAT ARE THE 10 KNOWLEDGE AREAS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Another set of guidelines that project managers can find helpful when weighing the triangle
for their project is the “10 knowledge areas” of project management. The Project
Management Institute publishes the text, A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), which outlines these factors that help inform and shape the
project triangle.

 Integration Management: The overarching plan of managing a project, which takes

into account all schedules and process, and identifies the actual deliverables and scope
of a project.

 Scope Management: This element helps focus a project’s scope, which in turn allows
project managers and resource managers to plan and assign resources to it.

 Time Management: This element enables the building of processes and schedules,

and ensures time frames are realistic and achievable. 

 Cost Management: Performing this exercise allows you to plan a project’s overall

budget, from estimating to financing to controlling costs.
  Quality Management: This element identifies everything needed to plan and produce
a project that is effective and meets or exceeds the stakeholders’ goals.

 Human Resource Management: This is how team members are assigned their roles
and responsibilities on a project, as well as the hierarchy of who oversees who and
what.

 Communications Management: This element guides how stakeholders and project

managers communicate, including the communication cadence. 

 Risk Management: Identifies, analyzes, and responds to risk factors during a project.

 Procurement Management: This element applies to contractors and vendors, and all

other third parties that may contribute to a project over time.

 Stakeholder Management: This element helps project managers design effective

stakeholder management strategies and tools.

The Past, Present, and Future of the Project Constraint Triangle

As stated earlier, the concept of the project constraint triangle has been in use essentially
since the first person hired someone else to perform a task. However, the project constraint
triangle as we know it today became codified in the early to mid-20th century, in the
manufacturing industry. Projects that resulted in finished products, from auto parts to
children’s toys to airplanes, used the triangle during production. An airline like United might
order twenty 707 jets from a manufacturer like Boeing, and the project would include a total
budget, an overall timeline, and the expectation of the delivery of 20 complete, functioning
planes. If United requested five more planes, the budget and timeline would shift accordingly.

In the last two decades, with the growth of software and global products, the project
constraint triangle has adapted to fit these types of projects. The constraints are still present
and relevant, but sometimes the concept of “scope” can be less finite than the delivery of a
physical product, such as those twenty 707 jetliners. While scope and quality are still often
considered together, there’s been a growing movement in digital projects to adapt the triangle
to be a diamond, with four points instead of three.
In this model, quality is included as a fourth variable. On digital projects, quality and
functionality can be variable and still result in a project’s success. While eliminating the
hydraulic system on a plane would result in a non-functioning product, delivering a software
project with less functionality than originally agreed upon could still be considered a
success. 

Let’s say a software company is creating an update to its mapping software. The original
scope included more detailed geo-locations, interactive directions, and real-time traffic
information, as well as other enhancements. As the developers work on the project, they
realize that the real-time traffic functionality is going to take more time or resources to
accomplish than outlined in the original brief. The decision is made to hold that functionality
out of this particular deliverable to keep the rest of the updates on time and on budget; the
real-time traffic feature can be rolled out in a future update. 
Digital projects are continually iterative, and therefore, few things are ever considered
completely “finished” in the digital world. This gives project managers and stakeholders
some flexibility to keep projects moving quickly, even when they don’t deliver all the
functionality initially requested - there will likely be another project that will create and
deliver the missing features. In the project diamond model, “expectations” is the center and
outcome of this four-sided project. If the other updates to the software release encompass
enough of an improvement in functionality and ease of use, the stakeholders and end users
will be satisfied. If everyone has been waiting, however, for the real-time traffic feature, the
stakeholders and project managers must communicate this delay quickly and transparently,
ideally with a firm new delivery date. If the outlined expectations are met or exceeded, the
project is considered a success.

Some project management experts see the project triangle or diamond as not being nuanced
or detailed enough to capture all the variables of a project. These experts recommend using a
six-pointed star which includes components that are important, but perhaps too subjective to
measure as a pillar of constraint. These include factors like risk, opinion, and value. The
current thinking of the Project Management Institute and other experts is that they commend
these six-pointed stars for trying to capture these important influences, but that it makes
managing a typical project too complex and ultimately too cumbersome. Instead, project
manager should continually weigh these other factors as a project progresses over time.
Why the Triple Constraint Is Important for Project Success

Every project needs guardrails. Even on a basic level, these guardrails are all concepts
everyone should be able to agree upon before the first day of any project. The triangle
provides a clear way to signal to stakeholders scope creep. It also demonstrates what
tradeoffs can and should be weighed and made. The triangle model also empowers project
managers to measure external factors and forces and their effect on one or more “legs.”
This dashboard can help project managers track the schedule, budget, and scope of their
projects, and can be adapted to meet the needs of almost any project. Keeping the project
triangle in mind can help project managers and supervisors raise an alert before a project is
adversely impacted. To be useful, a dashboard must measure the three factors that can be
regulated to deliver the best quality in a project.

How to Work with the Project Triple Constraint Framework

It’s not necessary to sketch out a triangle for the concept to help project managers keep a
project on time, on budget, and within scope. Its factors, however, should be spelled out and
captured in a useful way so that it can quickly identify, monitor, and mitigate risks once a
project is underway. 

The triangle helps a project manager be proactive in defining constraints, rather than reactive
when something suddenly changes. The triangle will help the project manager identify
potential causes of scope creep and alternatives to suggest to address the issues. The triangle
protects stakeholders and project managers, and also provides transparency, accountability,
and an increase in the faith and confidence of a project’s stakeholders. After all, when it
comes to project management, the fewer surprises, the better.

Enforcing the triangle is part of the project manager’s job. If the “legs” are clear and a
schedule and resource plan is built to achieve project success, then any changes that arise
(which could affect one or more of the constraints) should be easy to identify and bring to the
attention of stakeholders. Ideally, there may be alternatives to solving the issue: For example,
if the scope is growing, increasing the budget and resources may solve the problem, or so
may extending the schedule. Sometimes a project manager may need to adjust both of the
other “legs”.

The Opposing View: Why Some Think the Triple Constraint Model Doesn’t Work

Some business experts think the triple constraint model may have been useful for a business
landscape focused on creating physical products, but is less relevant now in the digital world.
In his research paper, project management expert Wei Lee states that the triangle is too
simplistic in today’s more complex landscape. He points out that increasingly, issues that can
affect a project are in fact outside of a project manager’s control - making it nearly
impossible to actually manage a project’s demands and influences.

John Ferguson Smart, an author and expert in digital project management, agrees. Smart
believes that the triangle was and can be valid in a manufacturing setting, but is irrelevant in
software development, medicine, and other more complex fields. Adding 12 more heart
surgeons to an operating room, he writes, won’t speed up a heart transplant operation, or
ensure that the outcome is any better for the patient. Instead, Smart recommends higher-level
concepts such as investment, return on investment (ROI), and cost of delay.

In the end, of course, all projects and project managers are seeking the same thing: A happy
client and a positive outcome for the project. In many instances, the project constraint triangle
is still quite relevant and useful.

5 Steps to Create a Useful, Tailored Constraint Analysis for Your Project

When starting a project, it might help to sketch out a triangle with what you know for each
“leg.” However, these steps, mentioned in varying ways by different project management
experts, may be more useful in identifying what you need to set up for success:

Step 1: Identify the constraint(s), which include (but aren’t limited to) the policies or
resources that could prevent the successful execution of your project.
Step 2: Decide how you’ll most effectively adapt and use the constraint and its elements.
Step 3: Make sure all other project and organizational processes comply with and support
steps one and two.
Step 4: Raise the constraint if needed, but do so in concert with the other two constraints.
Where you start may not be where you finish, but each factor should still be relevant and
managed.
Step 5: As you identify the constraints and realize something has moved or is no longer
relevant, return to step one.

In addition to these steps, the PERT principles can be business-critical in creating accurate

budgets and timeframes, and dovetail perfectly with the creation of a triple constraint project
management triangle.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES

Over the past decades, different frameworks, standards and methodologies with respect to
project management have been established. In this course, we will highlight three such
methodologies: PMBOK, Prince2 and Agile Project Management.

PMBOK

The Project Management Body of Knowledge is a set of standard terminology and guidelines
(a body of knowledge) for project management. The PMBOK Guide is published by the
Project Management Institute (PMI) and recognized as a standard by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Its sixth edition was released in 2017.

The PMBOK Guide defines 47 processes, which describe a set of tools and techniques to turn
a set of required inputs into a set of expected outputs, with the goal to achieve a pre-specified
result.

o Some example processes are ‘Estimate Activity Durations’ or ‘Plan Human

Resource Management’

These 47 processes are on the one hand grouped into 5 Process Groups, which define
categories of processes that show a strong resemblance with the different stages in the project
life cycle. These five process groups are:

o Initiating

o Planning

o Executing

o Monitoring and Controlling

o Closing

Additionally, PMBOK also organizes these 47 processes into 10 Knowledge Areas. It defines
a Knowledge Area as representing a “complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make
up a professional field, project management field, or area of specialization”. These 10
Knowledge Areas are:

o Project Integration Management

o Project Scope management

o Project Schedule Management

o Project Cost Management

o Project Quality Management

o Project Resource Management

o Project Communications Management

o Project Risk Management

o Project Procurement Management

 o Project Stakeholder Management

Together, the Process Groups and Knowledge Areas form a matrix containing the 47
processes.

PMBOK has a rather descriptive nature, i.e. extensively describing different aspects of

project management.

PMBOK is mainly popular in the USA.

One of the main strengths of PMBOK is that it provides a comprehensive range of useful
tools and techniques (119 in total!). Many of these tools are not described in detail, but
PMBOK does describe when they might be useful.

Prince2

Prince2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management method,

originally developed by the UK Government as a standard for information systems projects.
It has become increasingly popular and is now one of the de facto standards for project
management. It’s mainly popular in the UK, the EU and Australia.

There have been two major revisions of PRINCE2 since its launch in 1996: “PRINCE2:2009
Refresh” in 2009, and “PRINCE2 2017 Update” in 2017. Prince2 identifies 41 activities in
total which closely resemble the processes in the PMBOK Guide.

These 41 activities are grouped into 7 processes, which should not be confused with
processes in the PMBOK Guide. Processes in Prince2 are rather similar to the Process
Groups in the PMBOK Guide. These Prince2 processes are:

o Starting Up a Project

o Initiating a Project

o Directing a Project

o Controlling a Project

o Managing Product Delivery

o Managing a Stage Boundary

o Closing a Project
These Prince2 processes also describe who is responsible and accountable for what, and
when. This makes Prince2 much more prescriptive, in contrast to the descriptive nature of
PMBOK.

Additionally, Prince 2 identifies 7 themes, which are aspects of project management which
must be continuously addressed throughout the project lifetime, as well as 7 principles which
act as the building blocks upon which everything is based.

One of the strengths of Prince2 is the central role the business case plays in the methodology.
Prince2 requires that prior to the project a robust business case is developed which provides a
clear understanding of the benefits versus the costs and risks. This business case is further
refined during the initiation stage and is updated on a stage-by-stage basis throughout the
project. This ensures that the project is always seen as a means to an end, rather than an end
in itself and should avoid that the product is successful in terms of time, cost and resources,
but fails to provide value. Furthermore, Prince2 prescribes explicit responsibilities for
developing, maintaining and approving the business case.

Agile Project Management

Agile Project Management is a significantly different approach to project management

compared to the more traditional approaches such as described in the PMBOK Guidelines or
by Prince2. Whereas, PMBOK and Prince2 follow a very structured approach, with
predefined processes, roles and responsibilities, Agile Project Management is fundamentally
much less structured.

Agile Project Management actually originates from Agile Software Development (and thus a
product development approach!), which was a reaction against traditional waterfall
approaches that relied on structure and documentation. The Agile Software Development
movement was kick-started by the Agile Manifesto which identified 4 core values and 12
fundamental agile principles.

The core values are:

o Communication with parties is more important than standard procedures and

tools.

o Focus on delivering a working application and less focus on providing

thorough documentation.

o Collaborate more with clients.

o Be open to changes instead of freezing the scope of the work.

The fundamental principles are:

o Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of value.

o Welcome change, even when it arrives late.

o Deliver frequently.

o Work together (with different skills).

o Trust and support your people to get the job done.

o Face-to-face conversations.

o Produce results that get (part of) the job done (Working software).

o Sustainable development.

o Continuous attention to excellence and design.

o Simplicity is essential.

o Self-organizing teams.

o Reflect and adjust.

In a sense, Agile is more of a belief system than a methodology. It has become an umbrella
term for different project management methodologies, such as Scrum.