Overview

OVERVIEW

DEFINING THE FUNCTIONAL MANAGER’S ROLE

DEFINING THE PROJECT MANAGER’S ROLE

DEFINING THE FUNCTIONAL EMPLOYEE’S ROLE

DEFINING THE EXECUTIVE’S ROLE

THE PROJECT MANAGER–LINE MANAGER INTERFACE

WORKING WITH EXECUTIVES

SUCCESS, TRADE-OFFS, AND COMPETING CONSTRAINTS

six constraints:

Six resources

Money

managing relationships:

Within the project team

Between the project team and the functional organizations

Between the project team and senior management

The functional manager has the responsibility to define how the task will be done and where the task will be done

COMMITTEE SPONSORSHIP/GOVERNANCE

THE PROJECT MANAGER AS THE PLANNING AGENT

PROJECT CHAMPIONS

DEFINING PROJECT SUCCESS

UNDERSTANDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

project success as the completion of an activity within the constraints of time

The project management approach is relatively modern

The rapid rate of change in both technology and the marketplace has created enormous strains on existing organizational forms.

Executives will be facing increasingly complex challenges during the next decade

THE DOWNSIDE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROJECT-DRIVEN VERSUS NON–PROJECT-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS

MARKETING IN THE PROJECT-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION

CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTS

LOCATION OF THE PROJECT MANAGER

DIFFERING VIEWS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PUBLIC-SECTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONCURRENT ENGINEERING: A PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH

ADDED VALUE

STUDYING TIPS FOR THE PMI® PROJECT MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION EXAM

Project monitoring and control

Project closure

Proyect execution

Five process group

Project planning

Project iniciation

Successful project management can then be defined as having achieved the project objectives

A project can be considered to be any series of activities and tasks that:

Have defined start and end dates

Are multifunctiona

Have funding limits (if applicable)

Within cost

Accepted by the customer

At the desired performance/technology level

Within time

five functions

Planning

Organizing

Directing

Controlling

Staffing

Project success has been modified to include completion:

Within the allocated time period

Within the budgeted cost

With acceptance by the customer/user

At the proper performance or specification level

Without changing the corporate culture

Time

Cost

Scope

Safety

Quality

Aesthetic value

Manpower

Equipment

Facilities

Materials

Information

Effective project management requires an understanding of:

Quantitative tools and techniques

Organizational structures

Organizational behavior

The functional manager has the responsibility to provide sufficient resources to accomplish the objective within the project’s constraints

The functional manager has the responsibility for the deliverable.

The functional employee is expected to accomplish the following activities when assigned to projects:

Complete the work at the earliest possible time

Bring problems to the surface quickly for resolution

Share information with the rest of the project team

Executives are expected to interface a project as follows:

As project sponsor

In priority-setting

In conflict resolution

In project planning and objective-setting

The critical node in project management is the project manager–line manager interface

Success in project management is like a three-legged stool

It is not necessary for project sponsorship to remain exclusively at the executive levels

The ultimate objective of the project sponsor is to provide behind-the-scenes assistance to project personnel for projects

Alingnment

Direction

Dashboards

Membership

Corporate governance focuses on how well the portfolio of projects is aligned to and satisfies overall business objectives

Corporate governance dashboards are based upon financial, marketing, and sales metrics

Corporate governance provides strategic direction with a focus on how project success will satisfy corporate objectives

Corporate governance committees are composed of the seniormost levels of management

As the architect of the project plan, the project manager must provide:

Complete task definitions

Resource requirement definitions

Major timetable milestones

Definition of project success

project managers cannot make any promises to a functional employee concerning:

Promotion

Grade

Salary

Bonus

Overtime

Corporations encourage employees to think up new ideas

the selection of the “proper” project manager should be based on all facets of the project.

One such reward is naming the individual the “project champion.”

Project management is often recognized only as a high-salaried, highly challenging position whereby the project manager receives excellent training in general manage

Characteristics of the workaholic project manager include:

He has no time to rest or relax

He always takes work home from the office

He takes work with him on vacations.

all organizations are either marketing-, engineering-, or manufacturing-driven.

Project management in a non–project-driven organization is generally more difficult for these reasons:

Projects may be few and far between

Executives do not have sufficient time to manage projects themselves, yet refuse to delegate authority.

There is heavy dependence on subcontractors and outside agencies for project management expertise.

A systematic effort

Custom design

Project life cycle

Marketing phase

Risks

A systematic approach is usually required to develop a new program lead into an actual contract

While traditional businesses provide standard products and services for a variety of applications and customers

Project-oriented businesses have a well-defined beginning and end and are not self-perpetuating.

Long lead times often exist between the product definition, startup, and completion phases of a proyect

The program manager not only has to integrate the multidisciplinary tasks and project elements within budget and schedule constraints

The principles of project management can be applied to any type of project and to any industry

For those industries that are project-driven, such as aerospace and large construction, the high dollar value of the projects mandates a much more rigorous project management approach

Project managers can end up reporting both high and low in an organization during the life cycle of the project

Forcing the project manager to use the chain of command (in either direction) for project planning can result in a great deal of unproductive time and idle time cost.

In project-driven organizations, there are three career paths that lead to executive management:

Through project management

Through project engineering

Through line management

In project-driven organizations, the fast-track position is in project management, whereas in a non–project-driven organization, it would be line management

Private-sector project managers like to assume that their work is more demanding than projects in the public sector

Public-sector projects can be more difficult than many private-sector projects because they:

Operate in an environment of often-conflicting goals and outcome

Involve many layers of stakeholders with varied interests

Are allowed little tolerance for failure

Operate in organizations that often have a difficult time identifying outcome measures and missions

Public-sector projects fail for all of the normal reasons that any project fails

In addition, public-sector projects can fail for a set of reasons related to the unique character of public-sector projects. In that regard

As the world marketplace begins to accept project management and recognizes the need for experienced project managers, more opportunities have become available for people aspiring to become project managers

Organizations are tending toward hiring multitalented people who are selfmotivated, intelligent, and willing to take responsibility. Some of the reasons are

The need for leaner and flatter organizations to reduce cost

The need for knowledge workers throughout the organization

Diversity

Kaizen to keep quality high while reducing cost

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

People often wonder what project managers do with their time once the project plan is created

Project managers generally do not take enough time in evaluating opportunities. In such a case, either the scope change is disapproved or the scope change is allowed and suddenly the project is at risk when additional information is discovered

This section is applicable as a review of the principles or to support an understanding of the knowledge areas and domain groups in the PMBOK® Guide

This chapter addresses some material from the PMBOK® Guide knowledge areas:

Integration Management

Scope Management

Human Resources Management

Understanding the following principles is beneficial if the reader is using this textbook together with the PMBOK® Guide to study for the PMP® Certification Exam:

Definition of a project

Definition of the competing constraints

Definition of successful execution of a project

Benefits of using project management

The fact that the project manager is ultimately accountable for the success of the project