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Fundamentals of Project Management
by James P. Lewis
AMACOM Books
ISBN:
0814478352
Pub Date:
01/01/95
Search this book:
Chapter 1—An Overview of Project Management
Chapter 2—A General Approach to Project Planning
Chapter 3—Developing the Project Mission, Goals, and Objectives
Chapter 4—Using the Work Breakdown Structure to Plan a Project
Chapter 5—Scheduling Project Work
Chapter 6—Scheduling Computations
Chapter 7—Project Control and Evaluation
Chapter 8—Project Control Using Earned Value Analysis
Chapter 9—Managing the Project Team
Chapter 10—How to Make Project Management Work in Your Company
 Fundamentals of Project Management
by James P. Lewis
AMACOM Books
ISBN:
0814478352
Pub Date:
01/01/95
Search this book:
Preface: Successful Project Management
Although managing projects has been going on for thousands of years, the practice has only recently been
recognized as a discipline in its own right. Suddenly master’s-level degree programs are springing up at
schools throughout the world, and certificate programs are being offered as well. Not only that, but some
organizations have begun to ask their contractors to provide only project managers who have been certified as
professionals by the Project Management Institute, the professional society for practitioners.
In today’s fast-paced world, organizations that practice sound project management methods have a
competitive advantage over those who fly by the seat of the pants. Why? Because competition is rapidly
becoming
time-based
as well as
cost-based
. That is, if you can get a product or service to market faster than
anyone else, you have an edge on your competition. Further, if you can control the costs of your work better
than others, you can sell your products or services at lower margins; “sloppy” management requires that
goods be sold at higher margins in order to make sure the business is profitable.
What if you aren’t dealing in products or services? The same principle applies. If you are nonprofit or a
government agency, you face competition from others who might be able to do your work more efficiently
(and at lower cost). In short, we must all learn to work smarter, not harder, in order to survive into the
twenty-first century. Managing projects better is one way to achieve that result.
This book gives you a fast-track approach to managing your own projects. You will learn the essential steps in
setting up project plans, scheduling your work, and monitoring progress/exercising control to achieve desired
project results.
The approach outlined in this book is based on what is considered best practice by experts in the field. If you
follow the methods presented here, you will increase the probability that you can meet critical performance,
cost, and schedule targets. Admittedly, there is a lot more to project management than can be presented in this
short book, but if you learn the essence of the tools, you can go on from there to increase your skill.
 Fundamentals of Project Management
by James P. Lewis
AMACOM Books
ISBN:
0814478352
Pub Date:
01/01/95
Search this book:
Chapter 1
An Overview of Project Management
A
project
is a job that is done once.
WHAT IS A PROJECT?
What is the difference between project management and managing in general? Aren’t they really the same?
The answer, of course, is no. A project is done only once, whereas most jobs are ongoing or repetitive, and
managing one-time jobs is different from managing ongoing ones. For one thing, the people who work on a
project may be reassigned to other jobs once the project is completed, so the team is temporary. Often the
team members do not report to the project manager on a regular basis, meaning that the project manager has
no direct authority over them, a situation that presents its own set of problems.
Quality expert Dr. J. M. Juran defines a project as a problem scheduled for solution. This definition forces us
to recognize that projects are aimed at solving problems and that failure to define the problem properly is
what sometimes gets us into trouble. Interestingly, when you tell project team members that you want to begin
planning a project by writing a problem statement, they tend to say, “We don’t need to do that. We all know
what the problem is.”
In my younger days, I was sometimes intimidated by that response. Not any more. My rejoinder is, “If that is
true, it will only take five minutes, so let’s do it.” I have never yet gotten a group to write a problem statement
in five minutes, because seldom do people really understand or agree on what the problem is. This failure to
achieve a consensus definition of the problem leads to developing the right solution to the wrong problem or
to a paralyzing bickering about goals.
“A project is a problem scheduled for solution.”
—J. M. J
URAN
To help a team at this point, I offer a definition of a problem. A desired objective is not a problem by itself.
 The key to a problem is that there is an obstacle that prevents you from closing the gap (achieving your
objective) easily. Problem solving consists of finding ways of overcoming or getting around obstacles.
A problem is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, with an obstacle that prevents easy
movement to close the gap.
To help flesh out the definition, answer the following questions:
•
What is the desired end state or outcome?
•
What prevents or makes achieving it difficult?
•
How will you know when you have achieved the desired result?
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
Project management is the planning, scheduling, and controlling of project activities to meet project
objectives. The major objectives that must be met include performance, cost, and time goals, while at the
same time you control or maintain the scope of the project at the correct level.
Ideally, the scope of a project should remain constant throughout the life of the job. Naturally, this seldom
happens. In most cases the magnitude (scope) of the work increases as a result of overlooked details,
unforeseen problems, or an inadequately defined problem. The most common reason for scope changes is that
something is forgotten.
project management:
The planning, scheduling, and controlling of project activities to meet project
objectives.
Scope generally increases. In fact, about the only time project scope decreases is when the budget is cut and
some of the originally planned work is put on hold. The problem with scope changes is that they tend to be
small and incremental; if a number of them occur, the project budget or schedule may suffer. This is a fairly
common cause of project failures.
A project manager should advise stakeholders (especially customers) of the impact on the project of a change
in scope so that decisions can be made about how to handle such changes. If a customer is told that a
requested change will result in a 20% increase in project costs, the customer may opt to defer the change. If
the impact is not made clear, the customer may ask for the change, thinking the costs will not increase
significantly, and be very dismayed at the end of the job to learn of the true impact. A project manager has a
responsibility to keep stakeholders informed about the impact of scope changes on the project, protecting
them from surprises at the end of the job and protecting the project manager from being evaluated on original
targets rather than on revised ones.
performance:
The quality of the work being done.
cost:
The cost of project work, directly related to the
human and physical resources applied.
time:
The schedule that must be met.
scope:
The magnitude of the
work to be performed.
The four project objectives are related to each other by the following equation:
What the equation says is that cost is a function (
f
) of performance (
P
), time (
T
), and scope (
S
). As
P
and
S
increase, cost generally increases. The relationship between time and cost, however, is not linear. As a rule,
cost increases as the time to do the project decreases below a certain optimum time. That is, there exists a
project duration that results in the best performance of all resources. If the duration is shortened, it is often
necessary to pay premium labor rates as a consequence. Further, worker errors often increase, resulting in
costs for corrections, and productivity often declines. Studies have shown that if a knowledge worker spends
twelve hours of overtime on a job, the actual increase in output is equivalent to that normally obtained in two
hours of regular work.
In addition, if project work extends beyond an optimum time, costs increase because people are not working
efficiently. This relationship is shown in Figure 1-1.
Some senior managers believe that if enough people are thrown at a project, it can be completed in whatever
time is desired. This is simply not true, but the idea is the cause of many project fiascos.
Figure 1-1Cost time curve.
THE HUMAN SIDE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Many factors affect the success of a project. How well was it planned? Was the problem well defined? Was
the deadline realistic? Experts agree that there are about ten principal causes of project failure. But what about
factors leading to success?
One of the key ingredients is having the right people on the job and managing them appropriately. Note the
two elements: having the
right
people and managing them
appropriately
. Both conditions are frequently
violated.
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