LESSON 9: MANAGING PROJECTS

Methodologies

There are various methodologies that you can follow when managing a project. Each has its own
strengths and weaknesses, depending on the type of project being managed. Some, you may notice, are
quite similar and even complementary. It is important to choose one that fits the context of your
project.

 Traditional
- Also referred to as the waterfall method, executes processes linearly or sequentially. It
is the recommended methodology for projects where the solution to the problem is
known. This is often the case routine projects where the best or recommended practices
have already been identified and proven to work.
- For example, the steps and resources needed to build a one-story house or cook
spaghetti are already known. Tasks can be organized in a linear manner where the
completion of one task naturally leads to another.

Phases of Traditional Project Management

1. Initiation – the projects goal and scope are defined in this phase. The project
charter is also drafted. It is a brief document that cites the projects objectives, by
when these objectives should be met, how you intend to meet these objectives,
who will be involved, and what resources will be available.
2. Planning – in this phase, you elaborate on how you will meet the objectives. This is
where you translate the objectives into specific milestones and identify the tasks
needed to meet those milestones. Larger tasks are segmented and organized in a
work breakdown structure (WBS) to make things more manageable for the team.
Deliverables or the products or services that must be fulfilled by the end of the
project are also identified in this phase.
3. Execution – This is when the bulk of the work is done. People are brought in.
resources are acquired. Processes are implemented. Tasks are accomplished.
4. Monitoring and Control – Monitoring takes place alongside the execution phase.
Progress is tracked, and performance is measured. These ensure that the project is
kept on track. Obstacles are also identified so that they can be addressed.
5. Closure – The final phase of the project. The deliverables are formally turned over
and fulfilled.
 The WBS
- The WBS shows the hierarchy of tasks in a project. Creating a WBS allows you to identify
all the necessary tasks that need to be some. This also makes it possible to estimate how
long each task will take and see how one task might depend on another. For instance,
cooking salmon is dependent on the result of the task of buying salmon. When working
with a group, the WBS also allows you to assign each task to a team member readily.
 Gantt Chart
- A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that helps you visualize your project schedule. It lists
the tasks that need to be done, and the bars correspond to the time it should take to
finish each. The chart also shows the dependencies of the task. Gantt charts can be used
to monitor the project. It can be updated to reflect the percentage of completion of
each task.
 Agile
- Agile project management is the recommended methodology to take when the
problems solution is not definite or straightforward. It encouraged iteration, unlike the
linear approach of traditional project management. It embraces the reality that things
always do not go as planned. So, rather than having a rigid plan that must be followed, it
accommodates changes to finish a project.
- Agile is popularly used in innovation projects, such as developing new software. The
methodology draws its principles from the agile manifesto, which resulted from an
effort to find a non-traditional way to deal with software development.
- Essentially promotes a people-centric approach to the project. Rather that focusing on
accomplishing tasks, it encourages projects to deliver value for stakeholders.

Phases of Agile Project Management

1. Envision – Similar to the initiation phase. The objectives of the project are identified
based on the needs of the costumer.
2. Speculate – Similar to the planning phase. A feature list for the product is
conceptualized. The scope and constraints are also evaluated. This phase’s primary
deliverable is the release plan, which lists the features that must be delivered after a
specified period of time.
3. Explore – Similar to the execution phase. This is when the features are developed
and tested. The project timeline is often broken down into sprints that span only a
maximum of one month. The team works on only an agreed-upon list of features to
work on during each sprint. Team members experiment and collaborate to solve
problems.
4. Adapt – Agile promotes flexibility. In this phase, teams review each sprint’s result
and evaluate how well they were able to meet expectations. It issues arise, the team
makes the necessary adjustments to resolve them and agree on moving forward.
5. Close – Similar to closure, the final deliverable is checked against the feature list and
is finally delivered to the costumer.
 Kanban
- “Kanban” means “billboard” in Japanese.
- Is a scheduling and workflow management method. It visualizes the flow of tasks
needed to complete a project. In this work method, each task or work is represented by
a card. The card is placed on a board that is divided into columns. Each column
represents a phase or step in the workflow. Once a work item progresses, the card is
moved up a column.
- The simplest Kanban board consists of just three columns: To Do, In Progress, and
Done.
- Kanban is considered as complementary to other project management methods,
especially with agile. It is common to see agile projects use the Kanban board to manage
and monitor work. Each sprint can have its own board. A card is assigned to represent
each feature.
 The Scope Triangle
- Captures the relationships of the essential factors affecting the quality of the output,
namely time, cost, and quality.
- Top-quality deliverables need plenty of time and resources to make. If you lessen the
available time to the project, then expect to spend more on resources to maintain
quality. If you skimp on both time and costs, then expect the quality to decrease or be
prepared to cut down on non-essential requirements.
LESSON 10: HOW ICT EMPOWERS

INNOVATION

Is the process of bringing about new ways of doing things. Innovation can be disruptive. New products
and services can challenge existing practices. As a result, markets can also shift. Here are examples of
disruptive innovation due to development in ICT:

 Streaming
- Disrupted the television and film industries. Instead of watching live broadcasts on
television sets or visiting movie theaters, many now prefer to watch shows and
movies by streaming them on their mobile devices.
- Essentially killed of the video rental industry. In the US, video rental company
Blockbuster went from having more than 9,000 stores in the late 1990s to just one
store left in 2020. It filed for bankruptcy in 2010 (Ash, 2020).
 E-commerce
- Today, online sopping has risen over the past years. The availability of local
platforms like Lazada and Shopee also made it easy for merchants and consumers to
participate in e-commerce.
- Merchants do not have to put up their own e-commerce channels anymore. Coding
a secure e-commerce site, availing of payment service, and shipping providers are
readily provided by e-commerce platforms, making it convenient for merchants.
- These platforms make matters convenient for the shoppers as well. Shoppers only
have to use the platform to access a variety of products and services.
- the prolonged lockdowns and physical distancing protocols have also played a
significant role in the increase in e-commerce adoption.

INFLUENCE

ICT also has the capacity to influence our ways of thinking and change how we behave. Here are
several ways ICT is doing so:

 Inclusion
- The process of addressing inequalities in society and preventing them from
happening by ensuring that everyone gets access to the same opportunities,
technologies, and resources.
- With the emergence of digital banking and digital wallets like Gcash and PayMaya,
users can perform cashless payments and fund transfers, save, and even purchase
insurance. Gcash is even accessible through SMS, which means it can be used even
in areas without internet connections. The coronavirus pandemic even hastened the
adoption of these technologies since cashless transactions have been considered
safer due to less physical contact (Endo, 2020).
 Awareness and Social Change
- Social change encourages us to look at our collective attitudes, behaviors,
relationships, and practices and change them for the better. ICT has provided the
means to make people aware of the various issues and injustices we experience.
- Social media has been an instrumental in making the world aware of the disasters
and crises that are happening.
 Crowdsourcing
- Another way people seek to influence others is through crowdsourcing. The idea is
to harness the “wisdom of the crowds” to get things done. It is similar to the Filipino
concept of bayanihan, which relies on the collective action of communities to
accomplish goals.
 - Some popular apps and services even rely on crowdsourcing. For example, the
navigation app Waze takes the traffic flow data shared by each user to create a map
that indicates the traffic flow, accident locations, and road hazards.
- Crowdfunding, a type of crowdsourcing, is one way projects and causes can quickly
raise funds

BEWARE OF DANGERS

Despite all the positive things that ICT can provide, we must also consider the dangers it can bring.
Malicious and unscrupulous parties can take advantage of ICT’s capabilities to carry out their misdeeds.

 Misuse
- Includes cybersecurity threats
- The dark web, which are sites and channels not usually accessible through regular
web browsers and search engines, are used by criminals to facilitate and commit
various crimes, including arms trafficking, drug trade, and human abusers (Kumar &
Rosenbach, 2019).
 Misinformation
- Social media is facing a massive misinformation and fake news problem. Trolls are
being used by certain forces to push fake narratives to drive user sentiment towards
a particular direction.
 Fraud
- In crowdsourcing, while many projects and causes have good intentions, there are
malicious parties that try to prey on others by posting about fake causes and
projects.

EMPOWERMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY

ICT empowers. it allows you to do so many great things. It gives you the ability to change minds and
drive others to action. It is up to you to use it responsibly and for the greater good.