Phases in Project Management - Coursework Example

Phases in Project Management [Name of writer] [Course name] [Professor’s name] [Date] Phases in Project Management Abstract According to Project Management Institute “a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.” (PMBOK, 2000). Project management has become very popular because it provides an organization, be it in the technology, engineering, construction or health sector to name a few, an ability to plan, and control its activities using its people and resources in a highly efficient manner. The impacts of external and internal environments on organizations are often concerning and proper planning and control assure that there is more structured execution that makes it less prone to risks. This is especially true of more complex projects were setbacks are expensive in terms of time and cost. This assignment deals with the various phases of the project and the activities, tools and techniques employed in each of the phases to achieve the desired end-outcome. The Project Management tasks required for each of these phases are varied. The Project Manager is the head of the project and requires various general management skills during the different phases of the project. It takes a simple sample case study of Johnson Controls project to define and understand the phases and terms related to project management and the tasks that lead to desired outcomes. Johnson Controls had no defined expectations or targets, lack of standardized procedures and control measures and this created discrepancies resulting in chaos and undertook a project to take corrective action. Phases in a Project Management “All projects have a life cycle. From a slow beginning they progress to a buildup of size, then peak, begin a decline and finally, must be terminated” (Meredith, & Mantel, 2000). The phases of project management include Initiating – start of the project, project scope is decided (what needs to be done), budget is decided and schedule is decided – project manager is appointed to the project – project charter is written detailing above information and how the project will be executed. Planning – the schedule is planned in detail, tasks that need to be performed are identified, and resources are assigned to tasks to come up with detailed plan to execute the project in meeting the above schedule. Executing – once the project plan is a baseline, the planned tasks are executed in the specified sequence. Controlling – this is a parallel activity to execution. Monitoring is done to see if the project execution is on track, if budget, scope or schedule deviation is seen, the re-planning is done to correct the same and then execution and controlling continues with respect to the revised plan. Closing – once the project objectives are met or in some cases the project is cancelled a formal closure of the project is done, documenting the work done and the lessons learnt from the project, which can be, used in future projects. (Project Management Context. MTU Informatics Institute. 3 Mar 2006, UTC. 15 Apr 2006. http://www.ii.metu.edu.tr/~is529/course_material/lectures/Lecture-2_ProjectManagementContext-V3.pdf) Sample Case Study: Better control of development projects at Johnson Controls The automotive systems group of Johnson Controls was having trouble controlling their product development programs with each project being managed differently, disagreements about who was responsible for what, projects failing because of rapid company growth, and new employees having trouble fitting into the culture. For a solution, they went to their most experienced and successful project managers and condensed their knowledge into four detailed procedures for managing projects. Because these procedures are now common to all projects, they can be used to train employees, standardize practices, and create a common language, tie together different company functions, create common experiences, act as implicit job descriptions, and create a positive overall project management culture (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). “Successful project management requires careful planning to precede the production work itself and, indeed, this is at the heart of the modern concept of effective project management.” (What is a Project Life Cycle all about? Max’s project Management Wisdom.13 April 2006. http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/framework/lifecycle.htm) Johnson Control in the case study worked through the initiation phase very diligently. “The first procedure is project approval for authorizing expenditure of funds and use of resources. The sales department must first provide a set of product/market information, including financial data, project scope, critical dates, and engineering resource requirements before management will approve the project. Thus, projects are now scrutinized much more closely before work is started and money is spent – when more questions are asked and more people are involved, better decisions tend to be made” (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). The Initiation Phase of a Project typically begins as seen in the above sample case study. Careful initial analysis and planning are essential to any project. It is the most important part of a project because this is where exactly all the expectations are clearly defined and actual procedures to be followed are determined. Any project generally starts with a Project Charter. The Project Charter is “A document issued by senior management that formally authorizes the existence of a project. And it appoints and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities” (PMBOK, 2000). The purpose of the project charter is to assist in identifying critical information needed to ensure the success of the project. The Project Charter normally contains rough estimates for the management to budget for the project or choose to approve this project over other projects that are in contention for the funding. This could also be included in the charter document itself or be a separate supporting document as an enclosure. Consider the second procedure that Johnson Control adopted. “The second procedure is the statement of work, identifying agreements and assumptions for the project. Here, both the customer and top management must sign off before product design work begins, thereby reducing misunderstandings regarding not only the product specifications, prices and milestones but also intangible product requirements, explicit exclusions, and generic performance targets. Maintaining this documentation over the life of the project has helped avoid problems caused by late product changes from the customer, particularly for 3-5 year projects where the personnel rotate off the project. Customers have, however, been slow to agree to this level of documentation because it limits their ability to change timing, prices, and specifications late in the program when they are more knowledgeable about their needs” (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). Johnson Control insisted on a sign-off that is the norm in project management because it reduces misunderstandings to a great extent. A signed Charter authorizes the Project Team to begin work on the project. The Project Schedule that sets planned dates for starting and completing activities and milestones follows this. Project schedule could be an addendum to the project charter or be part of the charter document itself to provide a high-level timeline of the project to the management and the stakeholders. Thus “Initiation and Scope Definition” comprises determination and negotiation of requirements, feasibility analysis, and process for the review and revision of requirements. This is why when all the requirements of time, cost, schedules, resources are all firmly set, before the project actually starts, it allows better probability of the project proceeding smoothly (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). This documentation and set procedures, has also allowed the knowledge to remain even when the personnel rotate off the project. Johnson Controls customers may object, because documentation is extensive and often seems exhaustive, but a thorough documentation offsets ambiguity and invites clarity that is crucial for the project completion. “The third procedure Johnson Controls took up was the work breakdown structure, consisting of nine critical life-cycle phases running for definition through production. Included in each of these nine phases are four key elements: the tasks, the timing of each task, the responsible individuals, and the meeting dates for simultaneous engineering (a formalized procedure at Johnson Controls)” (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). This is typically, the Planning Phase that includes process planning, determining deliverables, effort, schedule and cost estimation, resource allocation, risk management, quality management, and plan management. The project manager at this juncture needs to verify the requirements, bring in the experts and revalidate requirements and technical feasibility. Once the baseline requirements of cost, schedule, and quality of delivery are set to the smallest detail, a solid framework to start work on the project. This phase is critical because unless requirements are set and baselines are defined, the project cannot take off. This leads to a Project Plan taking into account the details in the charter, schedule, staffing estimates, and organizational budget and resources. The project is broken down into phases and solid plans are made for each phase. A high level of design that which gives a broad idea and a low level design that breaks down each task into basic components are made. These plans will help set the timelines to be followed. It is vital to make sure that the plan is realistic and exactly what available resources and budget can achieve. Setting very high unrealistic expectations only serves to create problems since project will always lag behind throwing project schedules into chaos. A good dose of realism will help the project to succeed. Next would involve putting a Project Team together. Key people needed are selected typically either from the existing available pool or new hires if the project demands a particular skill that is unavailable in the current knowledge pool. Productive and knowledgeable resources contribute a lot to the success of the project. Quality Control issues need to be addressed too. The inputs will be the required level of quality by the stakeholders, standards and regulation conformance, scope and product description. Cost benefit analysis, (which takes into account both costs of conformance and non-conformance), benchmarking and flow-charting will be used to devise a quality management plan that monitors the project quality through the life of the project. Project Risk Management is a management technique that focuses on the identification and control of probabilistic occurrences that which have a potential to cause harm to a project. Different people will have different views of the impact of a particular risk, and a small risk for one person may seem enormous to another stakeholder. Consequently, it becomes invaluable to study the project environment and understand the entities that will contribute to the risk. Johnson Controls also needs to do a Risk Assessment for the project since it will ensure that more accurately the risk is determined; greater will be the success of the project (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). The presence of a risk will change the progress of a project and needs to be monitored throughout a project. This would include Risk Analysis that is a formal framework that helps assess the risks that the project manager or the organization faces and followed by a Risk Response Plan, that is drawn to mitigate the risks identified either by avoiding the risk, transferring risks that deflects it, retention of risk, or mitigating a risk by lowering its impact. A top priority for any Project Manager will be to make a complete list of the variables that can affect project performance. Priority must be given to those especially characterized by medium or high dependency, medium or high risk, and medium or low control. Although a risk assessment is done in the beginning of the project, it is a continuous process and reassessments are necessary, due to changed circumstances. Performance measurement standards are set in order to continuously monitor, whether the project is operating with set time, and cost schedules. The Execution and Controlling Phases now starts to convert the goals and objectives of the “Project Plan” into a physical realization. In the Execution phase, myriad details that allow the implementation of plans, supplier contract management, implementation of measurement process, monitor process, control process, and reporting are the various tasks undertaken by the fully occupied project manager. It is full of surprises and the path that it takes may or may not exactly follow the path planned earlier. The focus of the project and the accuracy of the execution depends on numerous factors, like the capability of the team, the emerging outcomes and the presence or absence of risks arising and the degree of impact that it offers. (Retrieved from website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_execution). Johnson Controls in the case study opted for constant control reviews. “The fourth procedure is a set of management reviews, crucial to successful project completion. Both the content and timing of these reviews are specified in advance and progression to the next phase of the project cannot occur until senior management has approved the prespecified requirements, objectives, and quality criteria for that phase. The procedure also specifies questions that must be answered and work that must be reviewed by senior management” (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). Due to the diligent control needed, often the “Controlling Phase” and execution phases run in parallel and may be repeated a number of times until it gets done. While controlling the project execution, scope or budget or schedule may vary from estimates, corrective action needs to be planned again if required and then the execution and controlling (monitoring) continues. In Johnson Controls, if the desired outputs are not exactly what are needed as identified by the control phase, say the project is lagging behind and milestones are not being met, then the plan needs to be revisited. Or if Quality Conformance is not up to the desired levels, then the senior management has to review and replan to achieve the target. This will require the project manager and the management to negotiate change requests that will continue the development of the project smoothly. Now it moves back to the planning phase where an analysis is done again and the corrective action required changes to the original plan are arrived at. These changes needed are documented. Therefore, in most cases these two phases happen in parallel and are repeated as often as necessary in order that the project objective is met. About sixty percent of the project life cycle is done during this phase and a testing phase for control purposes. This phase needs to be on schedule in order that the project deadline is met (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). Risk Assessment though done in the early stages, is now reassessed. This is because changing scenarios may profile risks differently. It may bring in newer risks and do away with earlier expected risks. It may also change the intensity and the predictability of a documented risk. The whole purpose of risk analysis is met only and only if it is current and is aligned to present scenario. Therefore, even slight changes in the execution phase will cause require a risk assessment in order planning can be may should the risk arise. Correspondingly, the Risk Response plan is revised to cater to the current risks. Project Reviews scheduled by the Johnson Control executives are a control measure allows proper control over the progress of the project. It should be remembered though that too many reviews would end up in information overload and micromanagement while too much gap between meetings will leave gaps in knowledge and precipitate problems. Status Reports that report current status of the project and a Progress Report that state the actual progress of the project are maintained and reported. The Project Managers also need to be a team player and resolve conflicts, motivate and energize a team if the morale’s sag. Keeping the resources intact will reduce knowledge loss. If the resource leave, their project knowledge is lost and the learning curve of a new employee is more and this may impact project milestones. Therefore trying to keep the team intact has good payoff and mitigates risks, especially, if it is key resource. The Closeout Phase In the closeout phase, the tasks include determining closure and closure activities. A major part of the project is the documentation and reporting of the project that allows the knowledge to be retained for future projects and is precious in business circles. It is also a highly authentic report of lessons learnt that may help to mitigate similar risks in future. In the sample case study, this phase has been documented as follows. “Through the use of these procedures, which are updated and improved with each new project experience, the learning that occurs in the organization is captured and made useful for future projects the project closeout was mainly a documentation of the experiences and improvements over and above the past scenarios and most importantly lessons learnt” (Reith & Kandt, 1991, quoted in Chap 11 of “Project Management – A Managerial Approach” by Meredith & Mantel, 2000). The Project Closeout Phase is the last phase in the project lifecycle. The project is officially closed when product, or property or service is delivered as a physical entity and the stakeholder accepts it as a deliverance of project goals. A formal acceptance document is delivered, signed off and accepted. This is followed by the closure in documentation in mainly administrative and other activities. Project closeout involves handing over the end outcome to the user, reallocation of the equipment and personnel back to the resource pool bench, or disbanding them if they are contractual workers. It also would involve extensive documentation related to financial timesheets, project timeline records, risks and their response action taken, and lessons learnt. In this case, this project was within the company, initiated by the management to streamline existing processes. If an external vendor were to be employed, often there is some maintenance and post delivery support required when the project is handed over, and this may be done by the project team, or the management may ask them to hand over the maintenance to their own team. This will require knowledge transfer, and documentation to support the deliverable. Administrative closure would involve the preparation of documentation related to all the project documents, personnel contractual agreements, appointment orders and resignations if any, team members travel and other expenses statements incurred which may or may not be paid for by the stakeholder, expenses statements for equipment hired or acquired to support the project, material sourcing and collection of project documentation. The teams are usually recognized and rewarded. The next important stage of the project phase is to document the lessons learned. These documents typically contain type of problem faced, whether expected or unexpected, how it was addressed, sourcing for materials needed, cost impacts, changes made to the original plan, and how it was rectified. However, although each project may be faced with a lot of issues and corrective measures, the weightage is given to the problems that had a high impact on the deliverables and is documented in the order of importance and help eliminate the occurrence of the same problems in future projects. With the Closeout Report, the entire project is documented from start to finish and the project is completed. Conclusion Projects today are getting bigger and more complex. “The leaders of the organization must be committed to the concepts of project management and its application and be willing to establish the necessary organizational culture for it to germinate and grow” (Cleland, 1990: p53) Structured Project management tries to resolve the conflict between the speed and quality of the deliverable on one side and with the risks and uncertainties on the other and arrive at a successful balance that achieves the project deliverable. For the benefits of project management to be realized, it has been suggested by Humphrey, that the three important ingredients are support from senior management, agreement and commitment at the level of responsibility and a willing acceptance at the level of impact (BIM Report, 1986: p86). Timely and clear communication and total involvement among all parties form the top management to the team member is vital for a project to succeed. Works Cited Cleland, D.I. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation. Tab Books, Inc., PA 1990, p53. Heldman, Kim. PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. Sybex Inc London. Humphrey, A.S. Business Planning and Development Inc. BIM (UK) Report, June (1986), p81. Meredith, Jack R, Mantel, Samuel J. Project Management a Managerial Approach. John Wiley& Sons Inc, (2000). Project execution. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 13 Apr 2006. . Project Management Context. MTU Informatics Institute. 3 Mar 2006, UTC. 15 Apr 2006. Project Management. Project Management Book of Knowledge, (PMBOK) Edition. Project Management Institute, Released (2000). W.D. Reith & D.B. Kandt. “Project Management at a Major Automotive Seating supplier”. Project Management Journal, September (1991). Weigers, Karl E. Know your enemy: Software risk management. 13 April 2006. on 23 March 2006 What is a Project Life Cycle all about? Max’s project Management Wisdom.13 April 2006. Read More