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Project Management from Simple to Complex

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Chapter 7Starting a Project

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Learning Objectives

• Describe the difference between an organization’s mission, goals, and objectives

• Describe how the missions are different depending on the type of organization

• Define economic terms used for choosing projects

• Define a project champion and his or her role

• Describe the influences of funding, timing, and unofficial considerations on project selection

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Learning Objectives

• Define scope and describe how it is affected by project complexity

• Identify the uses of a scope document

• Describe how a scope document is developed and changed

• Identify the major activities included in project start-up

• Explain how the project start-up activities may differ on a highly complex project

• Identify the purpose of the alignment process

• Identify the components of the alignment process

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Learning Objectives

• Identify the effects of a lack of trust on a project

• Describe the differences between communications in an existing organization compared with a new project

• Describe how the detail of the communication plan is related to the complexity of the project

• Describe a communication matrix and its function

• Describe conventions for naming files to indicate their content and the version

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Mission, Goals, and Objectives of an Organization

• Mission: Statement of the purpose of an organization

• Sections:

– Purpose of the organization

– Primary stakeholders

– Responsibility of the organization toward the stakeholders

– Products or services offered

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Mission, Goals, and Objectives of an Organization

• The missions of organizations can be categorized as:

– Profit - To make profit for its owners and shareholders

– Not for profit – The service it provides

– Government - Its responsibilities to the citizens it represents

• Goal: An end toward which effort is directed

• Objective: An end toward which effort is directed that has a measurable outcome

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Figure 7.1 - Relationships between Mission, Goals, and Objectives

Relationships between Mission, Goals, and Objectives.PNG

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Economic Selection Criteria

• Cash flow: The movement of money where income is positive and spending is negative

• Companies can raise money by:

– Borrowing it

– Funding the project from existing earnings

– Selling additional stock or ownership shares in the company

• Interest: Charge for a loan

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Economic Selection Criteria

• To qualify for selection, a project that is must be able to do the following:

– Repay loans if money must be borrowed to fund the project

– Increase future earnings for shareholders

– Make the company stock more valuable

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Economic Selection Criteria

• Simple payback: Time period it takes to recoup the original expense without considering interest payments or other complicating factors

• Internal rate of return (IRR): Average annual return on an investment that earns or saves money

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Figure 7.3 - Simple Payback

Simple Payback.PNG

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Figure 7.5 - Internal Rate of Return

Internal Rate of Return.PNG

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Other Selection Criteria

• Keeping up with competitors

• Meeting legal requirements

• Improving the organization’s public image

• A project might be selected at a particular time for reasons such as:

– Accumulating a year-end budget surplus

– Increasing executive bonus for the year or quarter

– Funding or certification review deadline

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Project Champions and Opponents

• Project champion: Influential person who is willing to use his or her influence to help the project succeed

• To identify the advocates and opponents of the project:

– Read public documents (meeting minutes)

– Obtain the opinion of trusted colleagues

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Project Scope

• Scope document: Written description of what activities are included in the project and some of those that are specifically not included

• The size and character of the project scope document is related to the project complexity

• On more technical projects, the scope would include a significant amount of technical specifications

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Project Scope

• A well-developed project scope statement provides the project team with:

– Information to design and implement the project execution plan

– An understanding of the purpose of the project

– The basis for defining project success

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Project Scope

• The project manager develops the first draft of the project scope and then solicits feedback from:

– The project team

– The client

– Key vendors

• The project manager attempts to develop consensus around the scope

• The project client or sponsor gives the final approval

• Changes are made to the scope document to reflect new information

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Project Scope

• Maintain a written record of changes to the scope of a project

– On the least complex projects – E-mails

– On larger projects – Standard forms

• Steps to follow when documenting changes:

– Inform project stakeholders of the change request process

– Require that the change request is made in writing

– Enter the request in the scope change log

– Estimate the time needed to evaluate the change

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Project Scope

– Evaluate the change and its impact on the schedule and budget if the evaluation is approved

– Present the change request to the project sponsor for approval

– Distribute the scope change log periodically to team members

– If the change is approved, update the project charter or other initiation documents

– Update the work plan

– Distribute the revised work plan to stakeholders and team members

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Project Scope

• Use the “Project Scope Template” to develop a project scope document

• Students can present their project scope documents to the rest of the class

Source: http://www.helbig.com.au/pmo/templates/Scope_Statement_Template.doc

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Project Start-Up

• Major activities included in project start-up:

– Selecting project manager

– Establishing funding

– Developing project infrastructure – Accounting, procurement, IT

– Holding kickoff meetings

– Determining staffing

– Building relationships

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Project Start-Up

• On a project with a low complexity level:

– Developing project infrastructure can be a simple task

• Large complex projects require:

– More dedicated infrastructure

– Full-time staff

– Longer start-up meetings involving more people

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Alignment Process

• Purpose of alignment sessions:

– Developing a common understanding of the project purpose

– Agreeing on the means and methods for accomplishing the purpose

– Establishing trust among team members

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Alignment Process

• Components of the alignment process:

– Project purpose

– Goals

– Participant roles

– Methods of tracking progress and cost

– Methods of managing change

– Methods of building trust

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Alignment Process

• When a person’s trust in another person on the project is low, he or she:

– Will doubt the information received from that person

– Might not act on information without checking it with another source

– Might not share information that is necessary to the other person’s function

• The result is delayed action

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Communications Planning

• In existing organizations:

– Information gatekeepers exist

– Generation, flow, and storage of information reflect the organizational culture

– A person’s communication style must be consistent with the organization

• Projects do not have:

– An existing organizational culture

– A communication structure

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Communications Planning

• The project leadership team:

– Understands the information needs of the project members and stakeholders

– Develops a communication plan

• Highly complex projects require a detailed communication plan

• Information needed is generated and distributed to support:

– The project schedule

– The project decisions

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Communications Planning

• Communication matrix: Table that displays the responsibilities and distribution for each type of document or information

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Figure 7.13 - Simple Communication Matrix

Simple Communication Matrix.PNG

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Document Control

• File names should be used as codes to describe the contents of the file

• Parts of the name can be used to identify:

– Category

– Location

– Subject

– Author

– Date

• File naming conventions should match those used by the parent or client organization