Use project management software as a tool—not as a substitute for effective planning or interpersonal skills. Herman Krier, my Friend and Guru, who taught me well the meaning of the word "perseverance".
Preface
There is also a separate case book (Project Management Case Studies, ISBN that provides real-world examples. These articles were the basis for most modern developments in project management and are therefore identified throughout the text.
Overview
INTRODUCTION
Today, the concept behind project management is applied in industries and organizations as diverse as defense, construction, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, banking, hospitals, accounting, advertising, law, state and local governments, and the United Nations. Project management has long been discussed by business leaders and academics as one of many viable options for organizational forms of the future that could integrate complex efforts and reduce bureaucracy.
UNDERSTANDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is designed to make better use of existing resources by allowing work to flow horizontally as well as vertically within the company. The purpose of the figure is to show that project management is designed to manage or control company resources on a given activity, within time, within cost and within performance.
DEFINING PROJECT SUCCESS
Managers often select project managers based on who the client is and what kind of client relationships will be needed.
THE PROJECT MANAGER–LINE MANAGER INTERFACE
When a project manager finds himself in trouble, the only place he can turn is the line manager, as additional resources are almost always required to mitigate the problem. When the relationship between management and line management begins to deteriorate, the project almost always suffers.
DEFINING THE PROJECT MANAGER’S ROLE
To do this, the project manager needs strong communication and interpersonal skills, must become familiar with the operations of each line organization and must have knowledge of the technology used. The project manager is actually a general manager and gets to know the total operation of the company.
DEFINING THE FUNCTIONAL MANAGER’S ROLE
Project management is designed to have shared authority and responsibility between project and line managers. The only exception to Table 1-1 occurs when the project and line managers are the same person.
DEFINING THE FUNCTIONAL EMPLOYEE’S ROLE
DEFINING THE EXECUTIVE’S ROLE
WORKING WITH EXECUTIVES
When an executive is required to act as a project sponsor, the executive has the responsibility to make effective and timely project decisions. Keeping management informed serves this purpose, while the all too common practice of "stonewalling" prevents a manager from making effective project decisions.
THE PROJECT MANAGER AS THE PLANNING AGENT
These seven points can only be managed by line managers, but the project manager can have indirect involvement by telling the line manager how well an employee is doing (and putting it in writing), requesting overtime because the project budget allows, and offering individuals the opportunity to perform work above their current pay grade. The managers must either work together with the project managers at the start of the project or act as resources later.
PROJECT CHAMPIONS
However, such work above the pay scale can cause serious management headaches if not coordinated with the line manager, as the individual will expect immediate rewards if he performs well. Rather, it implies that the selection of the “right” project manager should be based on all facets of the project.
THE DOWNSIDE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PROJECT-DRIVEN VERSUS NON–PROJECT-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS
Figure 1–5 shows the tip-of-the-iceberg syndrome, which can occur in all types of organizations but is most common in non-project-driven organizations. As Figure 1–6 shows, informal project management is most common in non-project-driven organizations.
MARKETING IN THE PROJECT-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION
It is doubtful whether informal project management would work in a project-driven organization where the project manager has responsibility for results and losses. The company has few additional sales costs and has a predictable market over the project's life cycle.
CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTS
The first step in a new business development effort is to define the market to be pursued. The market segment for a new program opportunity is usually in an area of relevant prior experience, technical capability, and customer involvement.
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT MANAGER
During the planning phase of the project, the project manager can report high, while during execution he can report low. The positioning of the project manager can also depend on the risk of the project, the size of the project or the customer.
DIFFERING VIEWS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
With this kind of encouragement, the organization can become a living thing—sensitive to problems and able to deal with them with much more speed and understanding than would normally be expected in a large operation. That way, we can easily regroup or reorganize as situations dictate and can quickly focus on a "crisis". In this industry, a company must always be able to reorient itself to meet new objectives.
CONCURRENT ENGINEERING: A PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH
1–10 Do you think there would be a shift in the relative importance of the following terms in a project management environment as opposed to a traditional management environment. Much of the credit was given to the performance and maturity of the project management system.
Project Management Growth
Concepts and Definitions
- INTRODUCTION
- GENERAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT: 1945–1960
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT: 1960–1985
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT: 1985–2003
NASA has established the use of project management for all activities related to the space program. Elevating the computer to the highest level of the organization was an important step towards project management.
SURVIVAL
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
The rapid growth and acceptance of project management over the last ten years has occurred in the non-project driven/hybrid sectors. Now project management is promoted by marketing, engineering and production, rather than only by the project-driven departments (see figure 2-8).
Time
There were no allies or alternative management techniques to promote the use of project management. The recession of 1989-1993 finally saw the growth of project management in the non-project oriented sector.
Hybrid
Allies to project management emerged and emphasis was placed on long-term solutions to problems.
1960–1990 Hybrid
1990–2003 Hybrid
SYSTEMS, PROGRAMS, AND PROJECTS
Usually a "system" is the first major subdivision of project work (spacecraft systems, launch vehicle systems). Projects are also timed efforts (much shorter than programs) and are the first level of breakdown of a program.
PRODUCT VERSUS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The reason is that technically oriented project managers get too caught up in the technical details of the project and lose sight of when and how to "kill" the project. A marketing executive could become the focal point of an entire organization with the ability to build a very large empire.
MATURITY AND EXCELLENCE: A DEFINITION
When a product appears horizontally on the organizational chart, the implication is that the product line is not large enough to control its own full-time resources and therefore allocates key functional resources. Also shown in Figure 2–10 is the extraordinary fact that the project manager (or project engineer) is reporting to a marketing-type person.
INFORMAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT: A DEFINITION
As a final note, not all companies have the luxury of using informal project management. Clients often have a strong say in whether formal or informal project management is to be used.
THE MANY FACES OF SUCCESS
Critical success factors identify what is needed to meet the customer's desired outcomes. Companies that excel at project management measure success both internally and externally using CSFs and KPIs.
THE MANY FACES OF FAILURE 9
Is the difference due to poor technical ability or a combination of technical inability and poor risk management. If the project ends with actual performance less than customer expectations, it is due to poor risk management by the technical assessment and forecasting staff or poor marketing risk assessment.
THE STAGE-GATE PROCESS
Companies embark on the stage-gate process with good intentions, but there are pitfalls that can disrupt the process. It must be recognized that the stage-gate process is neither an end result nor a self-sufficient method.
PROJECT LIFE CYCLES
Note that the life cycle phases of a product generally do not overlap, whereas the phases of a project can and often do. Several companies prepare procedure manuals for project management and for structuring work using life cycle phases.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES
More time available for value-creating efforts rather than internal politics and internal competition. One company found that its clients liked its method so well and that the projects were so successful that the relationship between the contractor and the client improved to the point where clients began to treat the contractor as a partner rather than a supplier.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE CULTURES
The sales force fears that project managers might become involved in the sales effort, reducing the strength of the sales force. Human Resource Management: The HR department may fear the creation of a project management career ladder that will require new training programs.
SYSTEMS THINKING
Management then implemented the unhealthy decision to have each of the three departments bid for each task. The alternatives are then compared on the basis of the resource costs and the associated benefits.
Organizational Structures
INTRODUCTION
Wallace, "The Winchester-Western Division Concept of Product Planning" (New Haven: Olin Mathieson Corporation, January 1963), p. Which aspect of the organization's activities must be closely related if the overall mission is to be achieved.
ORGANIZATIONAL WORK FLOW
For the most part, they are a matter of judgment exercised by organizational and behavioral managers. For each of the organizational structures described in the following sections, advantages and disadvantages are listed.
TRADITIONAL (CLASSICAL) ORGANIZATION
Rapid response exists, but this may depend on the priorities of the functional managers. With the growth of project management in the late 1960s, executives began to realize that many of the problems resulted from weaknesses in the traditional structure.
DEVELOPING WORK INTEGRATION POSITIONS
In a traditional organization, one of the most important responsibilities of upper-level management was to resolve conflicts through "hierarchical referral." Constant conflicts and power struggles between functional units consistently required higher-level staff to resolve those problems arising from situations that were either non-routine or unpredictable and for which there were no policies or procedures. A project manager in one department had no authority to coordinate activities in any other department.
LINE–STAFF ORGANIZATION (PROJECT COORDINATOR)
The authority given to the liaison division extends only to the outer limits of the division. Line-staff project managers who reported to a division manager had no authority or control over the parts of a project in other divisions; that is, the project manager in the engineering division could not manage the activities in the production division.
PURE PRODUCT (PROJECTIZED) ORGANIZATION
The last significant drawback of this organizational form is control over premises and equipment. This is usually achieved by defining certain projects as strategic, tactical or operational – the same definitions usually given to plans.
MATRIX ORGANIZATIONAL FORM
This rapid response is the result of the project manager's authority to commit company resources, provided that scheduling conflicts with other projects are eliminated. The advantages of the matrix structure eliminate almost all the disadvantages of the traditional structure.
MODIFICATION OF MATRIX STRUCTURES
Engineering directors usually require the project engineer to be vertically sound to provide technical direction. If the contract is awarded, this person, although not in the project engineering department, may fulfill the roles of project manager and project engineer and still report to the manager of the mechanical engineering department.
CENTER FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE
MATRIX LAYERING
Caspe, »An Overview of Project Management and Project Management Services«, Project Management Institute Inc., Realities in Project Management: Proceedings of the 8th Annual Seminars and Symposium, Chicago, Illinois (1977). Caspe, »An Overview of Project Management and Project Management Services«, Project Management Institute Inc., Realities in Project Management: Zbornik 8. letnih seminarjev in simpozija, Chicago, Illinois (1977).
SELECTING THE ORGANIZATIONAL FORM
Many problems can be easily resolved through the chain of command, depending on the size of the organization and the nature of the project. The size of the organization is important because it can limit the amount of technical expertise in the economies of scale.
STRUCTURING THE SMALL COMPANY
The company concluded that a major cause of this change was the project groups [see note 26 to the reference article]. However, from the perspective of an external customer, the company has a dedicated project manager and dedicated to the project.
STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT (SBU) PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SBU Ford
SBU GM
SBU Chrysler
TRANSITIONAL MANAGEMENT
Transition management requires understanding the new goals, objectives, roles, expectations and fears of employees. In addition to training, executives said the following fifteen challenges must be considered during the transition:
Platform Platform
3–25 The biggest problem in choosing the organizational form of the project is the placement of the project manager. Of the twenty-three departments in the company, his will be the only one with formalized project management.
Organizing and Staffing the Project Office and Team
- INTRODUCTION
- THE STAFFING ENVIRONMENT
- SELECTING THE PROJECT MANAGER
- SKILL REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAM MANAGERS
- SPECIAL CASES IN PROJECT MANAGER SELECTION
- SELECTING THE WRONG PROJECT MANAGER
- NEXT GENERATION PROJECT MANAGERS
If the project is small (in duration or cost), a part-time project manager may be selected. The project manager's efforts are now very much oriented toward the integration of 158 OFFICE AND PROJECT TEAM ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING.
Prob
Today, line managers are technical experts and do most of the planning and redesign within their line.
Solv
Skills
Planning and Replanning
Integration Management
- DUTIES AND JOB DESCRIPTIONS
- THE ORGANIZATIONAL STAFFING PROCESS
- THE PROJECT OFFICE
- THE FUNCTIONAL TEAM
- THE PROJECT ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
The project team consists of the project manager, the project office (whose members may or may not report directly to the project manager), and the functional or interface members (who must report horizontally and vertically for information flow) . Most of the time, star employees are found in the line organization, not in the project office.
