ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

Course: Plan Implementation and Management (8617)

Level: B.Ed (1.5 Years)

Semester: Autumn, 2022

Assignment No. 1

Name Fakhra Batool

Tutor's Name Aneela Arif

User Id 14PJG01821

Program B.Ed

Semester 2nd
Q.1 Discuss the concept and importance of feasibility testing in the

planning process. Define different measures that should be taken for plan

feasibility testing.

Ans:

Feasibility Study

A feasibility study evaluates a project's or system's practicality. As part of a feasibility

study, the objective and rational analysis of a potential business or venture is conducted

to determine its strengths and weaknesses, potential opportunities and threats,

resources required to carry out, and ultimate success prospects. Two criteria should be

considered when judging feasibility: the required cost and expected value.

A feasibility study is a comprehensive evaluation of a proposed project that evaluates

all factors critical to its success in order to assess its likelihood of success. Business

success can be defined primarily in terms of ROI, which is the amount of profits that will

be generated by the project.

Types of Feasibility Study

A feasibility analysis evaluates the project’s potential for success; therefore, perceived

objectivity is an essential factor in the credibility of the study for potential investors and

lending institutions. There are five types of feasibility study—separate areas that a
feasibility study examines, described below.

1. Technical Feasibility

This assessment focuses on the technical resources available to the organization. It

helps organizations determine whether the technical resources meet capacity and

whether the technical team is capable of converting the ideas into working systems.

Technical feasibility also involves the evaluation of the hardware, software, and other

technical requirements of the proposed system.

2. Economic Feasibility

This assessment typically involves a cost/ benefits analysis of the project, helping

organizations determine the viability, cost, and benefits associated with a project before

financial resources are allocated. It also serves as an independent project

assessment and enhances project credibility—helping decision-makers determine the

positive economic benefits to the organization that the proposed project will provide.

3. Legal Feasibility

This assessment investigates whether any aspect of the proposed project conflicts with

legal requirements like zoning laws, data protection acts or social media laws. Let’s say

an organization wants to construct a new office building in a specific location.

4. Operational Feasibility

This assessment involves undertaking a study to analyze and determine whether—and

how well—the organization’s needs can be met by completing the project. Operational

feasibility studies also examine how a project plan satisfies the requirements identified

in the requirements analysis phase of system development.

5. Scheduling Feasibility

This assessment is the most important for project success; after all, a project will fail if

not completed on time. In scheduling feasibility, an organization estimates how much

time the project will take to complete.

When these areas have all been examined, the feasibility analysis helps identify any

constraints the proposed project may face, including:

 Internal Project Constraints: Technical, Technology, Budget, Resource, etc.

 Internal Corporate Constraints: Financial, Marketing, Export, etc.

 External Constraints: Logistics, Environment, Laws, and Regulations, etc.

Importance of Feasibility Study

The importance of a feasibility study is based on organizational desire to “get it right”

before committing resources, time, or budget. A feasibility study might uncover new

ideas that could completely change a project’s scope. It’s best to make these

determinations in advance, rather than to jump in and to learn that the project won’t

work. Conducting a feasibility study is always beneficial to the project as it gives you
and other stakeholders a clear picture of the proposed project.

Below are some key benefits of conducting a feasibility study:

 Improves project teams’ focus

 Identifies new opportunities

 Provides valuable information for a “go/no-go” decision

 Narrows the business alternatives

 Identifies a valid reason to undertake the project

 Enhances the success rate by evaluating multiple parameters

 Aids decision-making on the project

 Identifies reasons not to proceed

Apart from the approaches to feasibility study listed above, some projects also require

other constraints to be analyzed -

 Internal Project Constraints: Technical, Technology, Budget, Resource, etc.

 Internal Corporate Constraints: Financial, Marketing, Export, etc.

 External Constraints: Logistics, Environment, Laws, and Regulations, etc.

Benefits of a Feasibility Study

Preparing a project's feasibility study is an important step that may assist project

managers in making informed decisions about whether or not to spend time and money

on the endeavor. Feasibility studies may also help a company's management avoid

taking on a tricky business endeavor by providing them with critical information.

An additional advantage of doing a feasibility study is that it aids in the creation of new

ventures by providing information on factors such as how a company will work, what

difficulties it could face, who its competitors are, and how much and where it will get its

funding from. These marketing methods are the goal of feasibility studies, which try to

persuade financiers and banks whether putting money into a certain company venture

makes sense.

7 Steps to Do a Feasibility Study

1. Conduct a Preliminary Analysis

A preliminary investigation is necessary to determine whether a full feasibility study is

warranted. During this stage, key information will be gathered to assess the project's

potential and make a preliminary decision about its feasibility. This should include a

review of relevant documents, interviews with key personnel, and surveys of potential

customers or users.

2. Prepare a Projected Income Statement

To do a feasibility study, you must create a projected income statement. Your projected

income statement will show how much money your business is expected to make in the

coming year. It will include both your estimated revenue and your estimated expenses.

This document will be essential in helping you make informed decisions about your

business.
3. Conduct a Market Survey, or Perform Market Research

Conducting market research is an important step in any feasibility study. By

understanding the needs and wants of your potential customers, you can determine if

there is a market for your product or service. You can also get an idea of what your

competition is doing and how to best position your business to meet the needs of your

target market.

There are a variety of ways to conduct market research. One popular method is to

conduct a survey. You can survey potential customers directly or use data from

secondary sources such as surveys conducted by other organizations. You can also use

focus groups or interviews to get feedback from potential customers.

Once you have gathered your data, you can use it to create a profile of your ideal

customer. This will help you understand your target market and how to reach them.

4. Plan Business Organization and Operations

When starting a business, one of the first things you need is to plan your organization

and operations. This involves creating a structure for your company and figuring out the

logistics of how you will run it. There are many factors to consider when planning your

organization and operations, such as:

 Company Structure: What type of company will you be (sole proprietorship,

partnership, corporation, etc.)? What will the hierarchy look like?

 Location: Where will your business be located? Will you have a physical

storefront or operate online only?

  Marketing: How will you promote your business?

5. Prepare an Opening Day Balance Sheet

The opening day balance sheet is a snapshot of the company's financial position at the

beginning of the business venture. The purpose of the opening day balance sheet is to

give an idea of the amount of money that the company has to work with and track its

expenses and income as they occur. This information is vital to making sound business

decisions. The opening day balance sheet will include the following:

 Cash on hand

 Accounts receivable

 Inventory

 Prepaid expenses

 Fixed assets

 Accounts payable

 Notes payable

 Long-term liabilities

 Share

6. Review and Analyze All Data

The feasibility study should include reviewing and analyzing all data relevant to the

proposed project. The data collected should be verified against source documentation,

and any discrepancies should be noted. The purpose of the feasibility study is to
provide a basis for making a decision, and the data should be sufficient to support that

decision.

The analysis should consider both the positive and negative aspects of the proposed

project. The financial analysis should be thorough, and all assumptions should be

documented. The risk assessment should identify any potential risks and mitigation

strategies. The team assigned to the project should review the feasibility study and

recommend the organization's leadership.

7. Make a Go/No-Go Decision

It is important to know when to cut your losses when starting a business. The go/no-go

decision in a feasibility study comes in. The go/no-go decision is a key part of a

feasibility study, and it can help you determine whether or not your business idea is

worth pursuing.
Q.2 Analyze the present procedure of selection and appointment at various

levels of education. Examine the sources of personnel recruitment for

various jobs in education.

Ans:

The Selection Process

Once you have developed your recruitment plan, recruited people, and now have plenty

of people to choose from, you can begin the selection process. The selection

process refers to the steps involved in choosing people who have the right

qualifications to fill a current or future job opening. Usually, managers and supervisors

will be ultimately responsible for the hiring of individuals, but the role of human resource

management (HRM) is to define and guide managers in this process.

The selection process consists of five distinct aspects:

Criteria development.

All individuals involved in the hiring process should be properly trained on the steps for

interviewing, including developing criteria, reviewing résumés, developing interview

questions, and weighting the candidates.

The first aspect to selection is planning the interview process, which includes criteria

development. Criteria development means determining which sources of information

will be used and how those sources will be scored during the interview. The criteria
should be related directly to the job analysis and the job specifications. In fact, some

aspects of the job analysis and job specifications may be the actual criteria. In addition

to this, include things like personality or cultural fit, which would also be part of criteria

development. This process usually involves discussing which skills, abilities, and

personal characteristics are required to be successful at any given job. By developing

the criteria before reviewing any résumés, the HR manager or manager can be sure he

or she is being fair in selecting people to interview. Some organizations may need to

develop an application or a biographical information sheet. Most of these are

completed online and should include information about the candidate, education, and

previous job experience.

Application and résumé review.

Once the criteria have been developed (step one), applications can be reviewed. People

have different methods of going through this process, but there are also computer

programs that can search for keywords in résumés and narrow down the number of

résumés that must be looked at and reviewed.

Interviewing.

After the HR manager and/or manager have determined which applications meet the

minimum criteria, he or she must select those people to be interviewed. Most people do

not have time to review twenty or thirty candidates, so the field is sometimes narrowed

even further with a phone interview.

Test administration.

Any number of tests may be administered before a hiring decision is made. These

include drug tests, physical tests, personality tests, and cognitive tests. Some

organizations also perform reference checks, credit report checks, and background

checks. Once the field of candidates has been narrowed down, tests can be

administered.

Making the offer.

The last step in the selection process is to offer a position to the chosen candidate.

Development of an offer via e-mail or letter is sometimes a more formal part of this

process. Compensation and benefits will be defined in an offer.

Steps of the selection process for hiring employees

1. Application

The application phase in the selection process is sometimes seen as passive from the

hiring team side – you just wait for candidates to respond to your job ad. However,

applications can and should be selection tools, helping you sort candidates as qualified

or unqualified.

2. Resume screening

Now that you have wrapped up the application phase of the employee selection process,

you have a collection of resumes or CVs to sift through and filter those deemed suitable
for a screening call. What you’ll need to do now is go through resumes one by one,

whether manually or software-assisted, and identify prime candidates.

This is one of the most traditional employee selection methods to move candidates to

the next step by identifying and disqualifying those who don’t quite fit what you’re

looking for.

3. Screening call

The screening call, or phone screen, is among the initial hiring stages where recruiters

shortlist applicants. The purpose of this call is to establish whether the candidate is

truly interested in the job and (at least) minimally qualified to do it successfully. This

way, only the best applicants will go to the next, stricter (and more expensive) hiring

stages, like assessments and in-person interviews, saving your team time and money.

4. Assessment test

Once you’ve screened candidates and sorted them out into “promising”, “maybe”, and

“disqualified” groups, you want to look at the surviving candidates and further assess

their ability to do the job you’re looking to fill. These assessments can take place in a

multitude of forms in the selection process:

 An in-person audition for an acting position, a sales job where you request the

candidate to pitch you a product, or a kitchen position where you ask them to

cook something for you on the spot.

 A written or online test to test for aptitude, personality, intelligence, etc.

  A practical skills test to determine a candidate’s typing speed, data entry

capabilities, memory, etc.

5. In-person interviewing

You’re now deep in the selection process, having screened candidates, evaluated their

skills, assessed their abilities, and created a shortlist of the most qualified people. It’s

finally time to meet in person with those promising candidates and determine who’s

going to be your next hire.

6. Background checks

Background checks reassure you that your finalists are reliable and don’t pose risks to

your company. For example, employers may conduct pre-employment checks to make

sure candidates have told the truth in their resumes or don’t currently do illicit drugs. In

fact, there are several types of background checks including:

 Criminal records

 Credit reports

 Driving records

 Verification reports (e.g. identity, education, work history, social security number,

national insurance number, etc.)

 Drug tests
7. Reference checks

In the final stages of the selection process, you might want to get some references for

your best candidates. This way, you’ll get feedback about their performance from

people they’ve actually worked with in the past, such as former managers, former

colleagues or business partners and clients.

You could ask candidates to provide contact details from former employers and

coworkers. Or, you can reach out directly to people you know they used to work with. In

any case, when requesting references for a candidate, it’s best to initially send an email

to introduce yourself and explain why you want this information. This way, you can

schedule a call where you’ll discuss in more detail.

During reference checks, you will:

 Confirm what candidates have already told you (e.g about time of employment

and previous job responsibilities)

 Learn how candidates use their skills on the job

 Discover potential weaknesses or lack of practical experience

 Understand how candidates behave in the work environment (e.g. if they’re

punctual, if they receive feedback well, etc.)

8. Decision and job offer

Congratulations! After a series of well-organized selection processes for recruiting new

employees, you’ve finally found your perfect hire. Now it’s time to let them know you’re

offering them a position at your company. The job offer process is a critical one; done
right, you’ll soon welcome your new employee in the office. But, if you miss something,

you might lose a great candidate and have to start the hiring process all over again.

Q.3 Evaluate the stages of project planning process. Why projects failed

after careful planning. Write your point of view practical examples from the

educational projects.

Ans:

Project Management

Project management is defined as a collection of proven techniques for proposing,

planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating projects, combined with the art of

managing people. It is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a

broad range of activities to meet the specified requirements of a particular project.

While there are many project management techniques and tools, there are considerable

differences in applying these methods to different projects.

While the basic principles apply in all situations, the project management methodology

musts be scaled to fit the benefit-to-cost ratio for each situation.

Aspiring project managers may utilize a wide range of project management tutorials

and other resources, including college-based, association-based, and consultant-

sponsored classes and courses. The Project Management Institute offers certification

as a Project Management Professional (PMP) to those who pass a rigorous exam and
demonstrate their proficiency by planning and managing a successful project.

The 5 stages of the project planning process

The life cycle of a project has five stages.

Stage 1: Visualizing, selling, and initiating the project

An effective way to get buy-in for a project or idea is to link it to what is important to the

person or group you are approaching and demonstrate that you are openly soliciting

their input. By doing so, they can help shape the concept.

Stage 2: Planning the project

Assuming the project concept and feasibility have been determined, the plan-do-check-

act (PDCA) cycle is directly applicable to project planning and management.

Stage 3: Designing the processes and outputs (deliverables)

When the project is approved, the project team may proceed with the content design

along with the persons or items needed to implement the project.

The design process includes defining:

 Measurements

 The monitoring method

 Status reporting protocols

 Evaluation criteria

 Design of the ultimate processes and outputs

 Implementation schedules
Stage 4: Implementing and tracking the project

The project design team may also implement the project, possibly with the help of

additional personnel. A trial or test implementation may be used to check out the

project design and outputs to determine if they meet the project objectives.

Using the planned reporting methods, the implementation team monitors the project

and reports on its status to appropriate interested parties at designated project

milestones. Interim results may also be communicated to interested parties. The

implementation team makes any course corrections and trade-offs that may be

necessary and are approved.

Stage 5: Evaluating and closing out the project

The implementation team officially closes the project when the scheduled tasks have

been completed.

Usually evaluations are done to determine:

 Objectives met versus objectives planned

 Actual tasks and events scheduled versus planned

 Resources used versus planned resource usage

 Costs versus budget

 Organizational outcomes achieved versus planned outcomes; any unplanned

outcomes

 Effectiveness of project planning team (optional)

 Effectiveness of implementation team (optional)

  Team’s compilation of project documents, evaluations, and lessons learned

The project is then officially closed out. Participants are recognized for their

contributions, and the team disbands.

For some projects, many organizations find value in a post-implementation assessment

of the outcomes achieved from implementing the project. This may occur several

months after project completion.

Reasons for project failure

1. Poor planning

Although sometimes overlooked in importance, lack of planning can make a project fail.

Having a successful project depends on properly defining in detail the scope, the time

frame, and each member’s role. This way, you’ll have a route laid out to follow.

2. Inconsistently defined resources

Let’s be clear: planning shouldn’t be limited to agendas, meetings, and responsibilities.

It should also include human, intellectual, financial, or structural resources. If these are

not consistently determined, deadlines can’t be met, which can jeopardize the project’s

conclusion.

3. Unclear objectives

Project objectives should be clearly defined, so as time goes by, you’ll know if you’re

doing what’s right or not. Remember that choosing measurable goals helps you better
visualize your progress and helps you see how close you are to achieving your results.

4. Lack of detail control

Monitoring is essential for successful projects, even knowing the details of many

projects simultaneously can be very challenging.

As a result, it’s important to know how your project is going, if it is on schedule and if

the budget is under control. This way, if there are any divergences from the initial plan,

you can still correct them.

5. Lack of transparency

It’s essential that everyone involved in the projects have complete project visibility so

that it doesn’t fail – not only the project manager, but other team members too.

This includes clear communication, good document management, and transparency

about tasks’ status, all of which can be achieved with centralized, all-digital files.

6. Lack of communication

Communication is the key to good project management. Without the right tools and

processes to allow interaction among team members and the project manager from the

beginning, efficient communication can seldom be achieved.

7. Change of direction

Among the ways projects fail, a very common one is scope creep. This concept refers
to changes requested when the project has already started which had not been planned

before. This is very common when projects are not appropriately documented and

defined beforehand.

8. Unrealistic expectations

When you want to do something fast, with a limited budget, and a reduced team, it can

really make your project fail. You should be realistic when it comes to your teams’

capabilities, deadlines, and the resources available – only then can you obtain the

results you want.

9. Lack of monitoring

Providing a schedule to the team is not enough for a project to be successful. You

should also make sure everything goes as planned. This means having frequent

progress checks or meetings, as well as making adaptations, when necessary, is

essential.

10. Unrealistic due dates

Planning complex tasks for short due dates is definitely one of the causes for project

failure. It is vitally important to carefully consider how long each project phase will take,

in addition to extra time for unexpected events. This is the only way to develop a quality

project.
11. Poorly assigned roles

When each team member receives their responsibilities clearly, they will know what,

when, and how to perform their activities without someone needing to constantly ask

for it.

Q.4 Critically analyze various types of Project appraisal. Identify the role of

cost benefit analysis and cost effectiveness analysis in project appraisal.

Justify your answer with suitable examples.

Ans:

Types of Project Appraisal

Projects can be of many types; their appraisal can include several different forms.

This helps you to know which type of project you need to apply for which appraisal.

However, certain types of project appraisal are needed and required in every form of

project.

There are different types of project appraisal. This includes the following:

 Technical appraisal

 Economic appraisal

 Financial appraisal

 Legal appraisal
  Organizational or management appraisal

Technical Appraisal (ATec)

A Technical Appraisal (ATec) is an assessment formed by a group of experts

representative of the construction industry, on the fitness for use of innovative systems

used in building. Technical Appraisals are issued by the Commission Responsible for

Issuing Technical Appraisals (CCFAT) attached to the ministry in charge of construction

and housing.

Economic Appraisal

Economic appraisal, hereafter referred to simply as 'appraisal', is about getting a good

deal from public expenditure. It is a key tool for achieving value for money and

satisfying public accountability requirements. It is a systematic process for examining

alternative uses of resources, focusing on assessment of needs, objectives, options,

costs, benefits, risks, funding, affordability and other factors relevant to decisions.

Appraisal is:

 designed to assist in defining problems and finding solutions that offer the best

value for money (VFM)

 a way of thinking expenditure proposals through, right from the emergence of the

need for a policy, programme or project, until its implementation

 the established vehicle for planning and approving public expenditure policies,

programmes and projects

When is economic appraisal required?

The principles of appraisal apply to all decisions and proposals involving expenditure or

resources. They apply equally to policies, programmes and projects. DoF requires the

principles of economic appraisal to be applied, with appropriate and proportionate effort,

to all decisions and proposals for spending or saving public money, including EU funds,

and any other decisions or proposals that involve changes in the use of public

resources.

Financial appraisal

A financial appraisal of a project proposal considers the potential rewards of carrying

out the project against the predicted costs. The evaluation will depend on; the size of

the project and the time-span over which the costs and benefits are going to be spread.

The justification is that the return will at least exceed the amount spent. No matter what,

finances are crucial when working on anything new and creative. Finances help you to

know your cash flow and investments that you can make.

Thereby, financial appraisal in project management is also important and should be a

part of your project appraisal.

Financial appraisal in project management assists you in knowing whether your project

can work against the predicted costs.

This return/payback is analyzed in a number of ways in order to determine the net

benefit:

 Payback analysis – simply considers the cash flow of costs and benefits
  Discounted cash flow – considers the ‘time value’ of cash flows

 Internal rate of return – sets basic return criteria on the time value of money

Cost-Benefit Analysis

A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a process that is used to estimate the costs and

benefits of decisions in order to find the most cost-effective alternative. A CBA is a

versatile method that is often used for the business, project and public policy decisions.

An effective CBA evaluates the following costs and benefits:

Costs

 Direct costs

 Indirect costs

 Intangible costs

 Opportunity costs

 Costs of potential risks

Benefits

 Direct

 Indirect

 Total benefits

 Net benefits
Cost-Benefit Analysis in Project Management

In project management, a cost-benefit analysis is used to evaluate the cost versus the

benefits in your project proposal and business case. It begins with a list, as so many

processes do.

There’s a list of every project expense and what the expected benefits will be after

successfully executing the project. From that, you can calculate the cost-benefit ratio

(CBR), return on investment (ROI), internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV)

and the payback period (PBP).

Whether the benefits outweigh the costs or not will determine if action is warranted or

not. In most cases, if the cost is 50 percent of the benefits and the payback period is

not more than a year, then the action is worth taking.

The Purpose of Cost-Benefit Analysis

The purpose of cost-benefit analysis in project management is to have a systemic

approach to figure out the pluses and minuses of various paths through a project,

including transactions, tasks, business requirements and investments. The cost-benefit

analysis gives you options, and it offers the best approach to achieve your goal while

saving on investment.

There are two main purposes in using CBA:

1. To determine if the project business case is sound, justifiable and feasible by

figuring out if its benefits outweigh costs.

2. To offer a baseline for comparing projects by determining which project’s

 benefits are greater than its costs.

Cost-effectiveness analysis

Cost-effectiveness analysis is a decision-making assistance tool. It identifies the

economically most efficient way to fulfil an objective. In evaluation, the tool can be used

to discuss the economic efficiency of a programme or a project.

Focused on the targeted major result of the activity - the number of jobs created - the

tool estimates the cost of each job generated by a specific measure. The comparison of

various programmes with similar impacts enables the comparison of the costs

generated by each job created and provides useful quantitative indicators for the

selection of comparative methodologies.

The tool compares policies, programmes or projects. It presents alternatives in order to

identify the most appropriate one to achieve a result at least cost.

Cost-effectiveness analysis may contribute to answer the following questions:

 How much a programme or a measure costs does compared with the cost of a

particular component of its objective?

 Is it preferable to invest resources in an intervention, to the detriment of another,

to achieve the target?

 What kind of intervention or group of interventions yields the best outcomes

regarding the final objectives and available resources?

 How can the use of the resources be optimized, given competing needs between

programmes?
  At what level of additional investment will the chosen intervention clearly give an

improved outcome?

Possible uses of cost-effectiveness analysis

Specificities of the cost-effectiveness analysis:

 Effectiveness is measured with a single outcome which stands as the main

expected impact of the intervention.

 It is an economic analysis methodology which assesses the effectiveness of

indicators highlighting results and outcomes. It does not evaluate the monetary

value of the outcomes.

Cost effectiveness analysis is an efficient way to evaluate projects, programs or sectors

evaluation when the main objective of the policy can be reduced to a single result. This

tool is designed for the economic analysis of the operational objectives at different

levels.

Cost-effectiveness analysis can be used in:

 Ex ante evaluations to support decision-making and guide the choices to be

made.

Depending on the cases, it can be used:

 To foster the debate among decision-makers prior to the decision

 To highlight the preferences of the groups representing different categories of

stakeholders or actors involved in the sectors where the intervention is planned

  Ex post evaluations to measure the economic efficiency of an intervention

already carried out.

 Intermediary evaluation to update the ex-ante outcomes and choose which

options should be selected to continue the intervention.

Q.5 Define the concept of project evaluation. Explain various kinds of

project evaluation.

Ans:

Project Evaluation?

Project evaluation is the process of measuring the success of a project, program or

portfolio. This is done by gathering data about the project and using an evaluation

method that allows evaluators to find performance improvement opportunities. Project

evaluation is also critical to keep stakeholders updated on the project status and any

changes that might be required to the budget or schedule.

ProjectManager is a robust project management software that has all of the tracking

and reporting features you need for your project evaluation process. Our real-time

dashboard allows you to keep track of costs, tasks and budgets and you can create

reports in minutes.

Every aspect of the project such as costs, scope, risks or return on investment (ROI) is

measured to determine if it’s proceeding as planned. If there are road bumps, this data
can inform how projects can improve. Basically, you’re asking the project a series of

questions designed to discover what is working, what can be improved and whether the

project is useful. Tools such as project dashboards and trackers help in the evaluation

process by making key data readily available.

The project evaluation process has been around as long as projects themselves. But

when it comes to the science of project management, project evaluation can be broken

down into three main types or methods: pre-project evaluation, ongoing evaluation and

post-project evaluation. Let’s look at the project evaluation process, what it entails and

how you can improve your technique.

Project Evaluation Criteria

The specific details of the project evaluation criteria vary from one project or one

organization to another. In general terms, a project evaluation process goes over the

project constraints including time, cost, scope, resources, risk and quality. In addition,

organizations may add their own business goals, strategic objectives and other metrics.

Project Evaluation Methods

There are three points in a project where evaluation is most needed. While you can

evaluate your project at any time, these are points where you should have the process

officially scheduled.
1. Pre-Project Evaluation

In a sense, you’re pre-evaluating your project when you write your project charter to

pitch to the stakeholders. You cannot effectively plan, staff and control a new project if

you’ve first not evaluated it. Pre-project evaluation is the only sure way you can

determine the effectiveness of the project before executing it.

2. Ongoing Project Evaluation

To make sure your project is proceeding as planned and hitting all of the scheduling and

budget milestones you’ve set, it’s crucial that you constantly monitor and report on your

work in real-time. Only by using project metrics can you measure the success of your

project and whether or not you’re meeting the project’s goals and objectives. It’s

strongly recommended that you use project management software for real-time and

ongoing project evaluation.

3. Post-Project Evaluation

Think of this as a postmortem. Post-project evaluation is when you go through the

project’s paperwork, interview the project team and principles and analyze all relevant

data so you can understand what worked and what went wrong. Only by developing this

clear picture can you resolve issues in upcoming projects.

Project Evaluation Steps

Regardless of when you choose to run a project evaluation, the process always has four
phases: planning, implementation, completion and dissemination of reports.

1. Planning

The ultimate goal of this step is to create a project evaluation plan, a document that

explains all details of your organization’s project evaluation process. When planning for

a project evaluation, it’s important to identify the stakeholders and what their short-and-

long-term goals are. You must make sure that your goals and objectives for the project

are clear, and it’s critical to have settled on criteria that will tell you whether these goals

and objects are being met.

So, you’ll want to write a series of questions to pose to the stakeholders. These queries

should include subjects such as the project framework, best practices and metrics that

determine success.

By including the stakeholders in your project evaluation plan, you’ll receive direction

during the course of the project while simultaneously developing a relationship with the

stakeholders. They will get progress reports from you throughout the project’s phases,

and by building this initial relationship, you’ll likely earn their belief that you can manage

the project to their satisfaction.

2. Implementation

While the project is running, you must monitor all aspects to make sure you’re meeting

the schedule and budget. One of the things you should monitor during the project is the

percentage completed. This is something you should do when creating status

reports and meeting with your team. To make sure you’re on track, hold the team

accountable for delivering timely tasks and maintain baseline dates to know when tasks

are due.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on quality. It doesn’t matter if you deliver the project within

the allotted time frame if the product is poor. Maintain quality reviews, and don’t

delegate that responsibility. Instead, take it on yourself.

Maintaining a close relationship with the project budget is just as important as tracking

the schedule and quality. Keep an eye on costs. They will fluctuate throughout the

project, so don’t panic. However, be transparent if you notice a need growing for more

funds. Let your steering committee know as soon as possible, so there are no surprises.

3. Completion

When you’re done with your project, you still have work to do. You’ll want to take the

data you gathered in the evaluation and learn from it so you can fix problems that you

discovered in the process. Figure out the short- and long-term impacts of what you

learned in the evaluation.

4. Reporting and Disseminating

Once the evaluation is complete, you need to record the results. To do so, you’ll create a

project evaluation report, a document that provides lessons for the future. Deliver your

report to your stakeholders to keep them updated on the project’s progress.

There might be a protocol for this already established in your organization. Perhaps the
stakeholders prefer a meeting to get the results face-to-face. Or maybe they prefer

PDFs with easy-to-read charts and graphs. Make sure that you know your audience and

tailor your report to them.

Benefits of Project Evaluation

Project evaluation is always advisable and it can bring a wide array of benefits to your

organization. As noted above, there are many aspects that can be measured through

the project evaluation process. It’s up to you and your stakeholders to decide the most

critical factors to consider. Here are some of the main benefits of implementing a

project evaluation process.

 Better Project Management: Project evaluation helps you easily find areas of

improvement when it comes to managing your costs, tasks, resources and time.

 Improves Team performance: Project evaluation allows you to keep track of your

team’s performance and increases accountability.

 Better Project Planning: Helps you compare your project baseline against actual

project performance for better planning and estimating.

 Helps with Stakeholder Management: Having a good relationship with

stakeholders is key to success as a project manager. Creating a project

evaluation report is very important to keep them updated.