Project Management Growth

OVERVIEW

SYSTEMS, PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

PRODUCT VERSUS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

MATURITY AND EXCELLENCE

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1985-2012

INFORMAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1960-1985

Between the middle and late 1960s, more executives began searching for new management techniques and organizational structures that could be quickly adapted to a changing

By the 1990s, companies had begun to realize that implementing project management By the 1990s, companies had begun to realize that implementing project management was a necessity, not a choice.

In the non–project-driven sectors of the marketplace, corporate survival was based upon products and services, rather than upon a continuous stream of projects

1985

1990

1991-1992

THE MANY FACES OF SUCCESS

THE MANY FACES OF FAILURE

THE STAGE-GATE PROCESS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1945-1960

GENERAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

During the 1940s, line managers used the concept of over-the-fence management to manage projects

The project management approach is relatively modern

The growth of project management can be traced through topics such as roles and responsibilities, organizational structures, delegation of authority and decision-making, and especially corporate profitability

The growth and acceptance of project management has changed significantly over the past forty years, and these changes are expected to continue well into the twenty-first century

PROJECT LIFE CYCLES

GATE REVIEW MEETINGS

ENGAGEMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES

ENTERPRISE PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES

METHODOLOGIES CAN FAIL

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE CULTURES

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SYSTEMS THINKING

STUDYING TIPS FOR THE PMI PROJECT MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION EXAM

General systems theory has been in existence for more than four decades.

General systems theory implies the creation of a management technique that is able to cut across many organizational disciplines

Organizational theory and management philosophies have undergone a dramatic change in recent years with the emergence of the project management approach to management

TASK

Simple

Complex

Dynamic

Static

Six driving forces

Customer expectations

Competitiveness

In the preceding sections the word “systems” has been used rather loosely. The exact definition of a system depends on the users, environment, and ultimate goal.

The product manager wants his or her product to be as long-lived as possible and as profitable as possible

PROJECT SCOPE

PRODUCT SCOPE

Maturity in project management is the implementation of a standard methodology and accompanying processes such that there exists a high likelihood of repeated successes.

Companies today are managing projects more informally than before. Informal project management does have some degree of formality but emphasizes managing the project with a minimum amount of paperwork

Informal project management mandates

Effective comunications

the definition of success has been meeting the customer’s expectations regardless of whether or not the customer is internal or external

Very few projects are ever completed without trade-offs or scope changes on time, cost, and quality.

The definition of success can also vary according to who the stakeholder is each of the following can have his or her own definition of success on a project:

Costumers

In the 1980s, we believed that the failure of a project was largely a quantitative failure due to:

Ineffective planing

Ineffective sheduling

Ineffective estimating

Ineffective cost control

During the 1990s, we changed our view of failure from being quantitatively oriented to qualitatively oriented. A failure in the 1990s was largely attributed to

Poor morale

Poor motivation

Poor human relations

Poor productivity

Project management is used to manage the stages between the gates, and can shorten the time between the gates.

The stage-gate process appears to have been replaced by life-cycle phases. Although there is some truth in this, the stage-gate process is making a comeback.

The phases of a project and those of a product are compared in Figure 2–20. Notice that the life-cycle phases of a product generally do not overlap, whereas the phases of a project can and often do overlap

During the past few years, there has been at least partial agreement about the life-cycle phases of a product. They include:

Research and development

Market introduction

Growth

Gate review meetings are a form of project closure. Gate review meetings could result in the closure of a life-cycle phase or the closure of the entire project..

Contractual closure is the verification and signoff that all deliverables required for this phase have been completed and all action items have been fulfilled.

Companies have traditionally viewed each customer as a one-time opportunity, and after this customer’s needs were met, emphasis was placed upon finding other customers

If the project manager is expected to manage several projects for this client, then the project manager must understand the nature of the client’s business and the environment in which the client does business

Achieving project management excellence, or maturity, is more likely with a repetitive process that can be used on each and every project.

As stated previously, a methodology is a series of processes, activities, and tools that are part of a specific discipline, such as project management, and are designed to accomplish a specific objective

Shorten project schedules

Most companies today seem to recognize the need for one or more project management methodologies but either create the wrong methodologies or misuse the methodologies that have been created:

Project management methodologies are created around the project management maturity level of the company and the corporate culture

It has often been said that the most difficult projects to manage are those that involve the management of change

Successful development and implementation of a project management methodology requires:

Identification of the most common reasons for change in project management

Identification of the ways to overcome the resistance to change

Are allowed little tolerance for failure

Application of the principles of organizational change management to ensure that the desired project management environment will be created and sustained

We believe today that we are managing our business by projects. As such, project managers are expected to make business decisions as well as project decisions

Another reason for the growth in intellectual property is because of the benchmarking activities that companies are performing, most likely using the project management office

In the past decade, organizations have become more aware of the fact that America’s most formidable weapon is its manufacturing ability

Concurrent or simultaneous engineering is an attempt to accomplish work in parallel rather than in series

Almost everyone agrees that the best way to reduce or minimize risks is for the organization to plan better

This section is applicable as a review of the principles to support the knowledge areas and domain groups in the PMBOK® Guide. This chapter addresses:

The problem with over-the-fence management was that the customer had no single contact point for questions

Capital projects

Executive understanding

New project development

Efficiency and effectiveness

A second factor contributing to the acceptance of project management was the economy, specifically the recessions of 1979–1983 and 1989–1993.

1993

1994

1995

AIR FORCE DEFINITION

NASA DEFINITION

Effective cooperation

Effective teamwork

Trust

Employees

Management

Stockholders

Government agencies

With unmeetable expectations, failure is virtually assured since we have defined failure as unmet expectations.

Maturity

Deterioration

During the 1990s, the following processes were integrated into a single methodology:

Project management

Total Quality management

Scope Change control

Risk management

Predict results

Plan for better execution

Standardize execution

Integration manegement

Scope management

Closure