Computer Project Management
Part 1: Compare and contrast the IT Project Management and Engineering Project Management. Explain the unique challenges of both.
Definition of Project Management
Project Management is a management science that has been implemented in many leading private and public sector organizations. Due to the increasing successful integration aspects of many different fields that are used to achieve the successful completion of a project, many organizations are moving towards a project-centric work environment.
Project work is becoming as common as functional work and the demand for project management to be implemented in almost all aspects of everyday work. Projects in these organizations range from business oriented projects to technically oriented projects, The scope and nature of these projects also vary over a spectrum, requiring organizations to implement formal training and workflow methodology to manage these projects.
So how can one differentiate a Project work and a Functional Work? Functional work is work, which are on-going on a daily basis without a definite end in sight. They usually maintain status quo and there is a Standard Operating procedures that the Function Teams will have to adhere to. There is a formal authority in place for the team to follow in order.
A Project work is usually temporary which means there are a definite beginning and an ending date. It involves a lot of planning and cross-function deployment of staff and skills. There is also a need to prepare a milestone to charter progress and monitor budget and other expenditure. A project will face more conflicts and a lot of compromising is needed as compared to a normal functional work. In a project, there is no formal authority as all team members are important in making sure a project is a success or a failure.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines a project as a “temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. Each project is unique as it is each offering different services or products at the end of the project. In general, there are two main aspects of project management to consider, the technical and people aspects that we shall discuss in more details later.
Definition of IT Project Management
The “Scope Management” of a project will define a project to be either IT or not. It is defined as making, manufacturing or producing a service that is intangible to the customers. An example of this service would be an application program. The products or services are not comprehensive, exhaustive & limited to only software. It can also include & in most cases incorporating hardware such as routers, switches, networking products and other equipment.
IT projects can be further elaborated by defining examples of projects such as the improvement or the development of new IT systems. The implementation of the ‘improved & developed' IT systems is also seen as an IT project. Apart from some of the IT projects examples that are stated above, here are a few more examples: hardware and software development, system integration, information processing and training & development. The running and the continuous maintenance of an IT system is a functional work and not defined as an IT project management.
IT Project Management will have a different Management as compared to other projects. The delegations and distribution of job scopes, responsibilities, deliverables are among the different aspects an IT project will have to consider. The overall framework will have to incorporate the many different management methods such as prototyping, testing and information modeling.
Definition of Engineering Project Management
Engineering Project Management as compared to IT project management is defined as making, manufacturing or producing services which are in this case tangible to the customers. If we were to define the word ‘engineering' in particular, it means the ‘art or science of making practical of the knowledge of pure sciences, as physics or chemistry'
A few examples of engineering project management include the construction of car, aircraft, ship, refrigerator, computer, crane, dock, dam and buildings.
Every engineering project disturbs the status quo of an item. This inherent characteristic of engineering does not fit with the beaucratic administrative convenience that decisions are precedents that establish rules for solving a category of problems.
In Engineering Project Management, the scope is well defined from the beginning, which is unlike an IT project. This helps the Team to have a clear and tangible target to aim for.
An example would be an engineering project to construct a new university with full sports facilities. Firstly, the engineers need to come up with a blueprint of the university the engineers may use much different software to come up with a blueprint. The construction builders will then refer to this blueprint to construct the university together with the sports facilities. This helps the Project Team to know what is expected of them and the use of software is essential to “draw” up a plan for all the Team to see what are the end results they are targeting.
Comparing IT Project Management with Engineering Project Management
As to allow us to compare the different needs of an IT -related and engineering project, we shall look into the many different project components.
Project & Project Structure
An engineering project is usually not integrated with most business functions. It is basically to build a tangible and visible end product. On the other hand, an IT project are linked to the business processes and organizations systems. Although the end results are not as visible as an engineering project, the outcome is at most times more important in the sense of impact it has on the organization as a whole. The project structures also differ. For engineering projects, it is usually on a stand-alone basis where the progresses of other projects are not having a concern for the project team as they are targeted in reaching the end product. An IT project are mostly dependant on other multiple projects so as to allow them the time and knowledge to adjust their projects to ensure proper integration with other IT related projects both old and new.
Scope & Change Control
The scope and change control of an engineering project is well defined and easy to control. Proper approvals on changes are documented and the physical change is easy to differentiate from the original plans. For an IT project, the scope is less defined and is normally subject to changes as the project develops. This is due to unforeseen requests and feedbacks from both customer and because of technology restrictions. The change control for an IT project is documented but is harder to trace since it is only affecting certain sections of the program. This could cause a serious problem if a change is not broadcasted to all relevant parties since it will have an impact on the overall quality and completion of the IT project.
Stakeholders
There are fewer stakeholders in an engineering project. They are usually the sponsors, the Higher Management and the Team. As such, it is easier to gain approval for changes in a project's many different needs, as they are easier to identify. For an IT project, there are more stakeholders such as users and other IT programs related to the project. As there are more people involved, it is difficult to identify all the necessary inputs for a change to be implemented.
Resources & Staffing
The resources such as staffs and vendors are mostly on a full time basis depending on an organizational structure for an engineering project. They are employed from the beginning of a project until the completion of the project. As such, most are in the loop of the project's progress from start till end. For an IT project, the staff are usually part-timers who are employed when their skills set is required on the project. They are usually the specialists who are mostly independent workers.
Large Projects
Large projects are divided by organization or establishing stand-alone units for engineering projects. This is to allow each area to be headed by different project teams to spread the work around. It will help the different teams to focus on their tasks at hand and not to worry about the other aspects of the project handled by other teams. For an IT project, they are allocated by specialty (risk areas) across organizational lines. This is because, those identified as risky are usually paid more attention to by the Project team as these are usually the critical areas which can make or break an IT project.
Risks
Risks are always present in any type of projects be it big or small. The differences between an engineering project and an IT project is that the risks are more easily identified. Even if there are areas of poor management of risks, it will not have a too big of negative impact on the overall success of the project. The difference for an IT project is that the risks are difficult to identify and if the risks are poorly handled, it could cause a high project or organizational impact which could cause losses and other negative impacts to the team.
Metrics documentation & Lessons learnt
In engineering project, the metrics documentation and lesson learnt are usually poorly or fairly documented. This is because, when teams are faced with problems, they will study and make changes to ensure the project success, however, with dealing with the problems at hand, they will not document it down for other teams to use as reference. To them, after fighting the fire, they have no need to find out the cause of it to prevent it. This is a bad practice that is quite common. This quite similar for an IT project with the only difference is that the documentations on the metrics changes are properly done. However, the lessons learnt are not documented properly and thus losing the benefit of learning from the mistakes they made earlier.
Challenges of IT Project Management
There are many challenges that are unique to an IT project management team. We shall discuss o n some of the challenges here.
Lack of clarity in the scope of project
The IT project will always be “flexible” on its scope. This is both a pro and a con when viewed from different angles. The benefit of being flexible is that the project team can recommend changes to the IT software development as long as the project reaches its intended purpose. However, being “flexible” will open up requests for different changes during different stages of the projects. For example, imagine a construction project that have build the building up to storey 10. Suddenly, a change request is made for the 5th floor apartment to change its design and layout. It will be almost impossible to cater the changes. Even for an IT project, the change in the scope can cause a major overhaul and waste of resources and man-hours previously done.
Are the user requirements still applicable? Do the amendments cancel out or make any test cases irrelevant? Do new test cases' programming codes have to be integrated and re-written? Do the other relevant departments and stakeholders agree with the change? Do they even realize that there is going to be a change? In conclusion, software development project is very simple to change and the ability to make amendments during a particular project can be a boost and a competitive advantage. With that in mind, changes and amendments have to be managed and this is an additional burden and responsibility that comes with IT project management.
Educating the Project Sponsors
Most IT project sponsors are very influential people in Management. However, not all are well versed in the aspects of IT project management. As such, it is imperative for the IT Project management team to educate and inform the Sponsors on the advantages and disadvantages of certain directions being preferred by the Sponsors. As they are not sure of the impact they can deliver, it is best if the team gives them a complete picture on the choices they made for present and in the near future.
When the sponsors understand thoroughly, they will tend to support the budget and resources needs of the project team, which will be beneficial to the project team. Even though Sponsors are not managing the day-to-day details of the projects, the information they received will help to ensure common understanding and purpose.
Making IT projects visible
The very nature of IT projects tends to be seen as “small” since it is not visible such as the construction of something physical such as buildings, cars, airplanes, etc. This is a huge challenge as an IT projects can be very large such as the implementation of the world-wide-web which requires a huge amount of resources in terms of people and equipment and the collaboration of many countries and network companies to bring about the benefits and convenience that the people have today.
IT projects, in particular software developments is a very smart and interactive product compared to a, let us say a physical product. These so called products categorized under ‘intellectual' are abstract, intangible and often unseen. The results, it makes the project management more demanding & challenging. This is because both the software and programs, and the methods for creating the software are difficult to go through with all of our five human senses.
Challenges of Engineering Project Management
Rigidity of an engineering project
Being an engineering project, there is no way that the project manager can alter or amend the project when it is set in motion. Due to its nature, project manager and the team members need to re-look at the scope and objective if they are planning to do some changes or amendments. It will be time consuming and the level of difficulty is significant when there are changes that need to be made. This is in complete contrast to an IT project that is very flexible and changes are made along the way even at the later stages of the project.
For example, let us use the construction of a new highway in town. The main entrance to the highway was originally planned to be connected at the 5.8km mark location. This decision was made because of accessibility from the major roads. But upon commencement of the project, the engineers find out that, it is not feasible to construct at that particular location due to probably, erratic soil movement. Because of the above reasons, the engineers need to source for another suitable location. These changes will consume more time and money. In general, rigidity is one of the challenges for engineering projects and the project team really needs to dedicate themselves during the planning process to avoid any major changes during the course of the project implementation.
Operating and Raw materials
Next on the challenges of engineering project management is the operating conditions. Examples would be the obtaining of raw materials, supply and power. For engineering projects, raw materials account to a significant percentage towards its success. The prompt arrival, amount and quality of the raw materials are some of the few factors that contribute to the success of the project. Are you able to imagine when the project is ready to go but key ingredients such as the raw materials are not delivered yet? It is as good to say that the project is not ready to go. Other ingredients such as supply and power also play a part towards the success of the project.
During the planning for the construction of the indoor stadium, the engineers will need to liaise with the procurement section on the type of raw materials such as cement, sands and steel structure, the amount to be procured and the arrival of these raw materials. Only after they have reached a consensus and understanding that the project is good and ready to go. The example stated above shows how raw materials play a very important part in contributing towards the success of the project.
Environment and safety risks
The environment can play a huge challenge to an engineering project. Since the construction of a building or a vehicle is to use in the open environment, it is imperative that the environment factor is considered into the engineering project. For example when building a sports stadium in an area where the land is known to be soft, it is important to take note of the current buildings around the area. The construction of the sports stadium should not cause movement of the soil such that it could damage the nearby buildings in the area. As this is very difficult to predict, it is a huge challenge as to proceed with the project or to move the location further.
Safety is always important in a project. The huge numbers of people involved together with the tones of different materials involved is a big hazard. To counter such hazards, it is important that all the safety aspects, rules and regulations are done to minimize the chances of any accidents occurring during the project. The rules and regulations are to be broadcasted to all involved in the project. It is also important to follow up and ensure all the safety rules and those working in the project do not flout regulations.
In summary, there are many risks some unique to an IT project and some for an engineering project management. It is important to plan before the commencement of a project to identify the main challenges in each project. The identification and subsequently the solutions for the challenges faced shall ensure a higher chance of the project being smooth and facing lesser difficulties in the successful completion of the project.
Part 2.1: Explore the reasons for project failure and how the application of a project management methodology reduces its likelihood.
There are many different reasons for project failure. No matter the size or budget of a project, the planning and checks during a project progress will ensure a higher chance of completing the project successfully. However, the many hours and people spent to plan, initiate and executing of a project, we may still faced other unforeseen challenges. Below are some of the points for us to take note of that causes project failures. It is important that we recognize these common mistakes and remind ourselves not to incorporate such mistakes during our own project management.
Poor project initiation
This is the most common reason that causes a project to fail. Before embarking on a project, it is important for the project team to define the project deliverables that is matching to what the users requested for. Failing to plan is planning to fail. As such it is a wise investment to put in time and clarifying with the users on the scope of the project. Other causes are failure to reach a common agreement with the rest of the stakeholders or failing to create a feasible plan to the stakeholders. To avoid this problem, the project initiation has to be correctly submitted and agreed upon. Failure to do so will cause a lot of errors and disagreement during the different stages of the project, which will undeniably, causes friction and worse time and money to rectify the situation.
Not engaging project sponsors in project activities
As mentioned earlier, a project sponsors and the key stakeholders are very important in the success of a project. They may not be dealing in the day-to-day progress of the project but it is important to explain to them the nature of the project and to gain their support. With their support, the project will receive their backing when it comes to budgets and solving problems faced during the progress of the project. Thus, it is imperative that they are kept in the loop of the progress to ensure project success.
Following strictly to the milestone
The importance of time management and discipline is essential in the successful completion of a project on schedule. It is thus important to let all team members know of the strict completion of project milestone using a Gantt chart. Inform all team that in order to finish this project successfully, all have to play a key part in ensuring their areas are done well and on time.
Lack of quality resources
Imagine cooking up a meal but realizing you are short of a few main ingredients that are essential for the meal. Cooking chicken curry without the curry powder? It will be impossible! The same theory applies when you are doing a project. The right quality of materials and people with the right skills are essential in ensuring the quality product at the end of the project. We should employ the right people for the different jobs in the projects. This can be achieved by hiring on a contract basis just for the period of the project. The extra cost will result in a better quality end product for the project. So it pays to invest in the right quality of people and materials.
Delegation of Authority
Project Managers are very skillful in dealing with planning, processes, people and facing unexpected situations that arises from a project. All these skills are useful when handling a project. However, a project manager tends to be power-hungry and will like to have final say on all the decisions to be made on the project. This is unhealthy, as the project manager will have to be responsible on the thousands of decisions faced in the progression of a project. When you delegate authority to your team member, it will help to remove some burdens of responsibilities off your shoulders. This will increase the moral of the team members and empower them to make the correct decisions for the benefit of the project. This will help to save time and allow team members to grow into the project themselves.
To stop planning, once the project commences
Many a times, once the project is started, we all begin to “fire-fighting” our way through. Although this is an important skill which allow us to solve problems faced along the way, it is also good to go back to the drawing board every now and then to take stock of the changes that happened an to draw out a new plan to necessitate the progress and direction of the current project. This flexibility will ensure a smooth transaction when there are surprises that happened to the project along the way.
Motivating the Team
This is an often forgotten process during a project. A team of people is humans who need to be motivated to remain at their best performance. It is important that the Team Manager focuses on issues and not personalities to create a holding environment. A simple way is to hold mini-celebrations when certain milestones of a project are reached. This can be as simple as giving a lunch treat or going out for drinks after work. A human appreciated will perform better and this will foster a strong team bonding that will work hard to ensure the success of the project.
Part 2.2: From your own experience or research discuss one example of project success and one of failure (need not be total failure, but significant enough to create disillusionment among key stakeholders and users.)
Project success: PM2S -People Management System 2
The People Developer Management feels that the current civil service people management system have a lot of room for improvement. Currently, each ministry handles their own staff management in application of leaves, applying for training, updating of personal information, updating on portfolio and many other aspects of people management.
The Big Idea
The concept they had was to centralize the whole of Singapore Civil Service into one IT software application called PM2S which allows all civil servants across all the different ministries to access their relevant information in a shared database. A comprehensive study was done in mid 2003 and completed only in mid 2004.
The Development
A tender was called to assist them in this project. The staff then worked with the vendor by telling them the scope of the projects and what was expected. The team worked together by checking with all the ministries on their current practice and by making sure all the needs is compiled in the program.
The vendor managed to integrate all the necessary information into the new PM2S application. Trials were done on People Developer staff and were very successful. Although it was a success, they still monitor and attain feedback form users to enhance and make the necessary changes to the application program. The continuous effort and conscientious efforts by all in the Project Team allow problem-free applications that were to be rolled out soon.
Launching of PM2S online across all ministries
Before launching it online, all the trainers in the different Ministries were given training on how the application works. The simplicity and user-friendly interface gave the confidence of most staff on this new application. After getting positive feedbacks from all ministries, the PM2S was launched fully online in mid 2005 just as scheduled.
PM2S's Success
PM2S is used daily now across all ministries. The positive feedback and lack of problems faced while using the application ensure a smooth transition from the many different methods used previously. The continuous daily maintenance done on the application ensures a smooth experience for all users when using the PM2S.
Project Failure: The implementation of Automated Inventory System (AIS) in Singapore Police Force (SPF)
This project is based on my work experience during my part as a Project Team member of SPF trying to introduce this AIS system into the whole of SPF.
The Big Idea
Previously, any items requested by the different divisions and units are indented using stand-alone software that sends out requests to the Division's Store. The store officer will try to fulfill in the requests using the stocks available. When there is a shortage of stocks, the Store Officer will contact the main Logistics store and requests for more stocks. This is a time consuming process. In 2002, it was decided by SPF higher management to integrate the requests system into a shared IT database, which allow users to see the balance of stocks beforehand. This system are to allow each user to place orders of items individually rather than having to get their Store officers to place the orders for them.
The Development
A tender was called in 2002 asking for vendors to participate in this project. NESS was selected at a cost of almost $2million to design and program this new database. After having discussions with selected users, NESS came up with a proposal on how the systems will work. After a lot of fine-tuning, the AIS system was prepared and are to be rolled out in stages. The whole system was to be online by end 2006 but as of now, it is only about 70% on-line with the rests still under construction due to the ever-changing needs and change of policies that happened in between.
The Technology
NESS worked with Oracle to provide the server and shared platform for the AIS System. The collaboration of these two established companies are thought to be safe and the project is thought to be in good hands. However, there was a big problems trying to find a common understanding on what the system should be based on and the different needs and changes requested by the SPF management causes a lot of problems between the two companies who are incurring high costs in trying to meet the changes requested.
A number of SPF users especially those lacking in IT skills are having problems using the AIS system for their personal needs. The supposedly simple database is becoming more complicated with more functions and more details incorporated into it. The many training classes done seems to be forgotten by users once they returned to their own offices causing a lot of calls for assistance as they are unsure on how to navigate the systems.
AIS Failure
Although the system is almost 100% online, the significant delay of the launch is significant to cause staff to be demoralized with a system that is actually hindering their productivity. The AIS system is launched much later than expected and the costs exceeded the initial budget due to the many change requests made and the extra training sessions that had to be done to familiarize users with the new system.
Part 2.3: Contrast the reasons for both projects ending up as they did.
Project success: PM2S -People Management System 2 versus Project Failure: The implementation of Automated Inventory System (AIS) in Singapore Police Force (SPF)
Definition of project objectives
The People Developer Project (PDP) Team is able to establish, define and communicate clear objectives for their PM2S project to both the Vendors and the users. This helps to make all parties understand what their project deliverables are.
As for the AIS Project Team (APT), APT was vague when clarifying their deliverables and as such causing the Vendors difficulties when trying to integrate the many different areas that was asked of them in the later part of the projects.
Risks
PDP was able to identify most major risks that they will face when doing this project. By being able to identify and then isolating or preparing a solution for these risks, their project progress was smooth sailing.
The APT was not thorough during their risks identifying and did not consider the many changes in Standard Operating Procedures between the launch of the project and the completion of the project. As such, not enough resources and time were set aside for changes to be made to the AIS system.
Project Planning
PDP managed to incorporate the right amount of balance for planning and ensure that the project are not too detailed such that it takes up a lot of time and the plans were to become out of date and irrelevant.
APT planned but failed to prepare for the unexpected, which is the loss of Key Project Team Members and the many different changes requested by users and the time needed for vendor to implement the change.
Time and Money
PDP managed to estimate the right amount of budget for their project and the smoothness of the progress and completions ensure that there budget are met.
APT had to, due to the unexpected changes and delays it encounters had to request for extra funding to continue the progress of the project which was both time consuming and was behind schedule.
A committed Project Team
PDP was able to generally have the same project Team and the same Vendor Team to work on its project. The continuity of information ensures that there was no information leakage due to replaced personnel. As such, good progress was ensured on the project.
APT faced key Project Members being transferred to other Divisions and needing a replacement. This is unhealthy as the new replacement had to start from scratch on the understanding of the project and knowledge of the system. Due to the many problems faces, quite a few number of Vendor Teams resigned and are replaced with fresh staff who need sometime before getting up to speed with the progress the AIS system have made.
It is important to have the same committed team to stay until the end of the project to ensure continuity and knowledge management.
Representations in Decisions
PDP managed to get the right people involved in giving feedback on the project they are doing and as such allow them to cater to the majority needs of the people. This ensures their project will not face much resistance when it is launched.
APT only managed to get a small sample size of feedbacks and as a result when the initial training was launched a lot of negative feedbacks and changes was given by many users. This prompted the APD to make further changes to the AIS system before it was deemed ready to be launched and thus causing more delays.
Communications
PDP managed to have a good communication system in place between all project members, the many users in different ministries and the Vendors. This ensures that all feedbacks are documented and are taken into consideration when designing the application. PDP also managed to communicate well with the Vendors so that they understand exactly what they are to produce for PDP.
APT failed to communicate well with the users and also vendors thus causing miscommunications on many levels. This is a major mistake on the part of APT as a project on such a big scale had to have a proper communication flow to ensure that all parties are informed and feedbacks are generated and taken into considerations.
Using Past Experience
PDP comprises of staff who also were involved in their own Ministry PMS application a couple of years before. As such they have the relevant experiences to carry forward into the PM2S project this time around. Their experience is useful in ensuring a proper progress and successful project for the upgraded application that was implemented across all Ministries.
The APT however, comprises of staff that have not much prior experience in an IT project on such a big scale as this. This shows when they faced a lot of problems which a more experienced team could have avoided or handled in a much better way.
Adapting to external changes
The PDP was able to adapt quickly to the changes requested by the users and make the necessary changes. This helps to ensure a final application program that is widely accepted across the Ministries.
The APT however was slow to react upon receiving feedbacks. They were hoping that the users will come to familiarize with the new AIS system sooner rather than later. Instead of being proactive, they decided to try their luck and hope for the best. This is a poor judgment call as the repercussions were far worse.
Training
PDP managed to train the trainers from all ministries and also gave out a comprehensive training package for them to bring back to their workplace. These ensure all staff are trained and are equipped with a simple to read manual for them to go through if they faced problems while navigating the application.
APT conducted training that was too complicated and many different manuals that are too wordy and technical. This discouraged the people from reading the manuals when they faced problems. Thick manuals with many technical jargons are a turn-off for most people.
Part 3.1: Reflect on the failed project discussed in Part 2. Analyse and suggest how failures could have been avoided, relating it to how the relevant 9 areas of Project Management in the PMBOK could have helped.
The “failure” faced by the AIS Systems Project Team are not a total failure. However, it was significant enough to create disillusionment among key stakeholders. In hindsight, these are some of the relevant areas from the nine areas of project management in the PMBOK that could have helped in avoiding such difficulties that the AIS Systems Project Team faced.
Integration Management
The AIS Team should prepare a project plan development that should include all the processes required to ensure that the various elements are properly coordinated. For example, all the different functions that are required to be in the AIS systems are to be studied and establish if they can be integrated into the new system as one. All the inputs are then analyzed to see if there are any available tools or techniques that are currently available to processed it into the desired output. A project plan execution is then prepared to ensure the project have the necessary project plan, supporting detail, organizational policies and corrective actions.
And as mentioned, there are a few key elements that needs to be known to make good use of Integration Managemen; the role of project manager as integrator, project plan development, contents of a project plan, project plan execution. Under the section of Integrated change control; change management systems/processes, Importance of historical information/risks in collecting data, Corrective actions/preventive actions, Project plan updates and revisions, Project plan approval, Project plan baselines, Change control board - CCB, Kick off meeting, Work authorization system, Change requests, Configuration management, Project management information system, Earned value management system - Variations of earned value calculation and Project planning methodology. These are some of the tools that the project manager can make use of to integrate the process of Development, Execution and Integrated Change Control.
Scope Management
It is a necessity for the AIS Project Team to understand clearly the main objective and deliverables of the project. To prevent poor planning, it is important to ensure that there is a proper plan in place before commencing on the development and the implementation. The project team members have to pay special attention when they are coming up with the scope planning under the scope management. Other factors that contribute to the failure of the project include repeated changes in specification.
These are some of the key pointers to practice good project scope management. They are the work breakdown structure, project initiation, project charter. Other elements include scope definition and decomposition, which are qualities of good scope definition that was missing in the AIS system project. After preparing the initiation, the scope planning, definition, verification and change control are to be put in place. A good project scope will allow all the parties involve in AIS to have a clear picture and a common target to achieve.
Time Management
The AIS Team should prepare a milestone and adhere strictly to the timeframe of the activities it has. According PMBOK, the activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development and schedule control are the processes, which interacts with each other and with the processes in the other knowledge areas as well. Each process may involve effort from one or more individuals based on the need of the project. During the project execution, a schedule control should be implemented to monitor the schedule.
Keeping to the timeline, a project will always be on schedule and any delay in the completion in certain areas can be identified easily and efforts should be made to recover the loss time as soon as possible. The delay in the launch of AIS not only costs more money and waste time, it also affects the confidence of the stakeholders in the success of the AIS project.
Cost Management
Project Cost management is primarily concerned with the cost of the resources needed to complete project activities. Resource planning that should be followed by both costs estimating and budgeting. It is important that an element of cost control is in place to make sure that the project does not spiral out of control in terms of cost. However, project cost management should also consider the effect of project decisions on the cost of using the project product. For example, limiting the number of training sessions of AIS system to save cost can affect the users understanding and productivity will have a negative impact.
Besides, different stakeholders may measure project costs in different ways and at different times. It is therefore important to have enough training sessions and at the beginning more time and money spent on the research and feedback from potential users of the AIS systems to ensure that the program is designed with their feedback taken into considerations since they will be our main customers.
Quality management
As in most work processes, the Quality planning, assurance and control are so necessary to ensure the right quality of product/outcome in the final deliverables of the project. For AIS, since it is a new project, the Team should use projects done by previous project teams and also the current market development to have a realistic quality control spelled out clearly from the very beginning.
This shall ensure that the final AIS application meets the targeted users groups and allow maximum usage of AIS without many problems. The AIS Team failed, as they did not spelled out clearly the expected quality to the Vendors since they are not sure themselves. Early decision on the quality expected can help the Team to zoom in on the AIS system and not be reactive to request for changes, which came in later.
Human Resource Management
A project team is important to the success of a project. To increase the chances of success, it is important that the organizational planning is done properly. This will give a clear guide to the Team on each member's roles and responsibilities. If done right it could be the most important blueprint for success. The staff acquisition is important, as they are the people who will contribute to the success or failure of the projects. Getting onboard responsible and dedicated people will allow your project being handled well. In AIS systems, the problems faced with the ever-changing personnel in the Vendor's Team cause a disharmony to the project. People who are asked to replace those who left are usually negative since they pictured the project to be a failure for dragging on and needing a lot of changes.
The Team Development area is essential to the quality of the project. Just like any other workers, given the right training and skills upgrade, the Team can work better and produces better quality results. For example, the AIS Team was sent for training after the project was launched. As such, their knowledge increases and they are able to give inputs and directions to ensure a better application program for the end users.
Communications Management
Communications is important in all aspects of life. In Project management, it is critical to either make or break the project. The 4 areas are Communication planning, Information distribution, performance reporting and Administrative closure. Why are these important? The planning ensures that a proper workflow of information travel is put in place. This ensures feedbacks from the end users reaches the Project Team and is forwarded to the Vendor during the design of the AIS system. The information distribution ensures all those stakeholders are kept in the loop of the progress of the project. Performance reporting is to ensure that the progress are on schedule and are on track towards the project target. The Administrative closure is the final process before a project comes to a complete close. This is where lessons learnt and important data are tabulated and kept for future references.
Risk Management
Risks are threats to a project progress. In PMBOK, there are 4 areas to tackle in Risk management. They are Risk identification, Risk Quantification, Risk Response Development and Risk Response Control. For AIS, the risk was designing a system, which is user friendly and integrated with the many different items available in SPF that are considered as inventory items. The many risks are first identified and then quantified as to how big a threat each risk are. For example, the integrating of the different items such as clothes, vehicles, equipments and stationary are considered high since we are planning to integrate the data from many different stores into one system. The risk response helps to plan for when risks are threatening to go out of control. In AIS, a backup server for all the information is made to prevent data loss. Then Risk Response will take over to solve the problems faced.
Procurement Management
The final area is the Procurement Management. It is basically procurement planning, Solicitation planning, and the 4 areas during execution: - solicitation, source selection, contract administration and contract close out. In AIS, once the tender was called, we chose a Vendor to work with us. However, the contract administration was not smooth as we faced difference of opinions on quite a few issues. This is because the scope was not spelled out in full and thus causing frictions later. Since the project is still running the project closeout is not yet activated during this project.
Part 3.2: Is the application of these 9 areas a cast iron guarantee that every project using them would succeed? Why and why not? Discuss your thoughts briefly in a few paragraphs or tabulate them if you wish.
YES, WHY?
The PMBOK is recognized as an international standard in project management. Companies, big or small, all over the world have at sometime or other refers to the PMBOK when they are doing their projects. Why? Is it a guarantee to success?
The PMBOK is a detailed Project Management Guide that helps the Sponsors or Project Leaders have an overview on the many important and usually forgotten aspects of running a successful project. The breakdown of each of the nine areas during the different stages of the project's progress is handy for a quick reference during projects. There are 5 stages of a project according to PMBOK, the Project initiation, Preliminary Project planning, Advance Project planning, the Project execution and lastly the Project closeout.
All the 9 areas of project management are important. I would like to highlight a few areas from which I think the PMBOK is useful and stand out from other project management theories.
The Scope Management is often a forgotten aspect of a project. Teams usually have a rough idea on what they ear planning to achieve and proceed to stat the project. As we know different people have different understanding on ideas. A tall building could be a 10-storey building to one man but to another man it has to be at least 50-storey high. The scope if left unclear or unwritten, could cause a difference of target being achieved. The scope helps all those involved in the project to understand clearly what are the intended results from the project they are in. It helps to instill a constant and common target to all those involved in the project.
Time Management is also useful as the traditional triple constraints faced by all projects are the Time, Quality and Scope factors. Poorly managed projects can cause extra costs and time wasted on the project than what was planned. Worse, it could result in the abortion of project! That is very serious loss as it could result in having to pay damages to the necessary part due to our failure to meet the project deadline. Preparing a realistic timeframe allows those involved in the project to be comfortable and able to work well since they are not rushed or pushed quickly into their tasks. The importance of meeting the time frame should be the responsibility of all involved in the project. The Project Manager will have to oversee the progress and ensure the project is on schedule.
Risk Management helps the Project to identify and quantify the risks involved in the project. The good think is PMBOK also indicate to the project team to make recommendations on the possibility of the risks coming into the picture. This helps the project team to prepare beforehand what are their available options and agree on the next move together. This will help to prevent a chaotic moment where the problems that arise were unexpected and causing high level of stress and panic among the project team on what will be their next move.
One of the most important aspects of the PMBOK 9 areas is the Communications Management. It is important to maintain communications at all levels of the project as to avoid any problems being hidden under the carpet, which could turn up as a much bigger problem if not stop at its bud. It is important to remind ourselves that although project members have their roles and responsibilities well defined and explained, as they are Human after all. People will need to be motivated and encouraged throughout the tenure of their work. Failing to address the emotional side of a human can result in unsatisfactory work outputs. It is also important not to get emotionally involved with disagreements between project team members, as it is normal to have difference of opinions on certain matters of work.
In general, a project team that uses PMBOK 9 areas of project management can confidently state that they have covered most aspects of a project management. Since the 9 areas is pretty wide in the areas of coverage, it is good to maintain constant check and monitoring o progress throughout as the planning should not stop once the project begins. Although it is not a 100% guarantee it is the highest chance of a project to be successful if followed correctly and wisely.
NO, WHY?
In life, there is nothing that is certain except for death. That is the reality of life. Even with a supposedly 100% guarantee, things do not always fall in place all the time. Remember the Titanic? “Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. That was the claim made by the manufacturer of the Titanic. What happened during its maiden journey? Yes, it sank!
This PMBOK although is a good “guide”, it still needs the right people and the proper application of its methods for it to work well. Remember that Humans have emotions and if kept unchecked could cloud their perspective on matters at hand.
For example, The AIS Team knows that early feedback from the users on the complicity and difficult user interface of the software. If accordance to the PMBOK, rectifying actions were to be implemented immediately. However, if the Team were to ignore and hope that the program will grow on the users, it will cause problems at the later stages of the project as what happened in this case.
It is also important that the set deliverables are realistic and not over-ambitious. Even if you religiously follow the 9 areas of Project Management by PMBOK, unrealistic deliverables will be almost impossible to achieve. For example, wanting the IAS users to be familiar with the almost 300 pages of manual to be familiar with the AIS system. It will be very difficult to achieve.
In conclusion, there is no cast iron guarantee that projects that use the nine areas of Project Management from PMBOK will be a success. Although it must be admitted that using the nine areas greatly increases your project success rate tremendously.
Importantly, discipline and good people management are just as essential when doing a project as adhering to the nine areas of PMBOK. However, in life nothing is guaranteed to work. It is up to all individuals in the Team to help make the Project a success.
Acknowledgements and References
I would like to thank my work colleagues, Mr Mervin Singh, Mr Shahid Samat and Mr Andrew Ng for sharing their experience and information on project management. Their different understanding and views assisted me in coming up with this assignment report.
I would also like to thank my lecturer, Mr Victor Tan for allowing the class being filled with openness and two ways discussion to share related experiences and sharing of information. He has been very patient and readily answers the many questions brought up by fellow classmates.
Without these references too, would I not be able to have an understanding and insight of the project requirements. Listed below are the references of the books and websites;
Engineering Project Management by Nigel J Smith (2001)
Information Technology by Kathy Schwalbe (2004)
Smith N.J. (2003) Engineering Project Management
Field M. and Keller L, (1998) Project Management
Successful Project Management (Civil Service College)
AIS Training Guide (SPF)
PM2S - The Project that Matters (PDP)
http://www.skcom.com/projects_success_stories.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Management_Body_of_Knowledge
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