Project Management: Definitions, Importance, and Roles

1. Chapter 1 Introduction • Introduction • Basic definitions • Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you • Project management past and present • Summary Project Management in Practice: Three project managers with distinctly different roles

2. Introduction ‘Life is one big project.’ The trick is managing it. • There are many successful projects • Fixed duration, array of interlinking activities, definable benefits, achieve change • Managing them is an art and science • Gleeful press pick up on the project failures and their consequences • Vital we start by defining projects (what is and what is not a project) and project management(a profession with a career path) • Projects represent significant parts of all economic activity, they are important to individuals, organisations and society

3. 1.1 Basic definitions • Projects are unique, transient endeavours undertaken to achieve a desired outcome. [Association for Project Management, 2004] • A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. [Project Management Institute, 2004] • A unique set of coordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific performance objectives with defined schedule, cost and performance parameters. [British Standard 6079, 2000]

4. A management environment that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case. [Prince2, 2009] A temporary organisation that is needed to produce a unique and predefined outcome or result at a given time using predetermined resources. [Prince2, 2009] A project refers to a value creation undertaking based on a specific mission, which is completed in a given or agreed timeframe and under constraints, including resources and external circumstances. [Project Management Association of Japan, 2005] 1.1 Basic definitions (Continued)

5. Unique Or aspects of uniqueness Temporary Organisation, finances Focused Delivering a result (product or service Business case (Prince2) Or at least a mission to deliver benefits Emergence High level benefits known Exact objective and means to achieve them evolve after a certain amount of work has been done Uncertainty The future is unpredictable Unknowns : achievable objective, costs, durations Change Any new system (deliverable) will impact on the way people work Social construction People and systems of people have complex and dynamic interactions Integration People (staff and end users; training and media coverage), systems, technology, knowledge 1.1 Basic definitions (Continued) Common themes:

6. 1.1 Basic definitions (Continued) Figure 1.1 Project characteristics

7. Organising to deliver a project as a process: Low volume/high variety process First-timers Unique Allure of the complex, difficult and risky Need highly skilled project managers ‘as…buts’ Similar to previous work in terms of either process followed or product delivered Decrease in risk and uncertainty Painting by numbers Process and outcomes are well known Even less risk and uncertainty 1.1 Basic definitions (Continued)

8. 1.1 Basic definitions (Continued) Figure 1.2 Volume versus variety and projects

9. 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you Projects are central to our economy • Siemens estimate 50% of revenue is from projects • Management consultants earn 90% revenue from projects Whole sectors of industry are project based organisations • Engineering • Construction • IT

10. Projects and you Accidental: e.g. festival organisers, politicians launching new policy Professional with the title of project manager Used to be a transition from a technical role Today formal training available Formal qualifications not always mandated 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you

11. 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you (Continued) Table 1.1 Accidental profession or profession of choice?

12. PM and line management 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you (Continued) Figure 1.3 Project organisational structure (for project of medium complexity)

13. PM and line management Functional/line managers Responsibility for people who work in the organisation Maintenance, maintaining the status quo Project managers Responsible for projects that may run across several functions Innovation PM’s may be line managers for a proportion of their time Career paths Project office Project manager Programme manager Project or programme support office manager Project director 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you (Continued)

14. 1.2 Importance of successful project management to an organisation and to you (Continued) Figure 1.4 Innovation and maintenance activities in project and line management

15. 1.3 Project management past and present Table 1.3 Historical development of project management

16. Current issues ‘Ready, aim, fire’ ‘It’s all in my head’ ‘We work in a nanosecond environment, we don’t have time to do this stuff’ ‘Project management – we have a procedure for that’ ‘It’s all just common sense, isn’t it?’ ‘I’ve got the badge, therefore I am a project manager’ ‘We’ve done this lots of times before. It never worked then, why should it this time?’ ‘It won’t work here!’ 1.3 Project management past and present (Continued)

17. Academic subject Project management taught extensively in management, engineering and science schools Growth of research, writing, teaching, consultancy Academic and practitioner journals 1.3 Project management past and present (Continued)

18. Summary • Projects are important to individuals and organisations • Limited view if we think in terms of large scale constructions, projects and associated basic tools and techniques • Project management is live, going on around us all the time • A profession, growing recognition, covers the entire spectrum of management knowledge, not confined to tools and techniques

19. Summary (Continued) Projects are on going in every organisation Vital for organisations: execution of vision, mission and objectives Vital in personal life: pursuing study, buying a house Complexity varies, delivers a result at a point in time, can provide competitive advantage The first steps to understanding projects are the definitions Diversity in characteristics which require different approaches to management High profile bodies of knowledge at the core of the professional discipline