Introduction

• More technically oriented students can be impatient at having to

study something which keeps them away from their code.

• So why is it important to become familiar with SPM?

CONTENT
 Why do we need project management?
 Project and project management
 Project, program, and portfolio management
 Project manager
 Project management profession
Learning objectives
 Understand the growing need for better project
management, especially for information technology (IT)
projects
 
 Explain what a project is, provide examples of IT projects,
list various attributes of projects, and describe the triple
constraint of project management
 Describe project management and discuss key elements of
the project management framework, including project
stakeholders, the project management knowledge areas,
common tools and techniques, and project success
 Discuss the relationship between project, program, and
portfolio management and the contributions each makes to
enterprise success
 Understand the role of project managers by describing what they do,
what skills they need, and career opportunities for IT project
managers
 Describe the project management profession, including its history, the
role of professional organizations like the Project Management
Institute (PMI), the importance of certification and ethics, and the
advancement of project management software
ADVANTAGES OF USING FORMAL
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 Better control of financial, physical and human resources
 Improved customer relations
 Shorter development times
 Lower costs
 Higher quality and increased reliability
 Higher profit margins
 Improved productivity
 Better internal coordination
 Higher worker morale
WHAT IS A PROJECT?
 A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken

to create a unique product, service, or result”

(PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition, 2012)
 Operations is work done to sustain the business 
 Projects end when their objectives have been reached or
the project has been terminated 
 Projects can be large or small and take a short or long
time to complete
EXAMPLES OF IT PROJECTS
 A team of students creates a smartphone application and sells it online
 A company develops a driverless car
 A small software development team adds a new feature to an internal
software application for the finance department
 A college upgrades its technology infrastructure to provide wireless Internet
access across the whole campus
PROJECT ATTRIBUTES
 A project
◦ has a unique purpose
◦ is temporary
◦ is developed using progressive elaboration
◦ requires resources, often from various areas
◦ should have a primary customer or sponsor

– The project sponsor usually provides the direction and

funding for the project
◦ involves uncertainty
PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGERS

 Project managers work with project sponsors,

project team, and other people involved in a
project to meet project goals
PROJECTS CONSTRAINTS-TRIPLE
CONSTRAINTS
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
 Project management is “the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project
activities to meet project requirements” (PMBOK®
Guide, Fourth Edition, 2012)
 Project managers strive to meet the triple constraint
(project scope, time, and cost goals) and also
facilitate the entire process to meet the needs and
expectations of project stakeholders
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
 Stakeholders are the people involved in or
affected by project activities
 Stakeholders include
◦ the project sponsor
◦ the project manager
◦ the project team
◦ support staff
◦ customers
◦ users
◦ suppliers
◦ opponents to the project
 Stakeholders have different needs and expectations.
10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE AREAS

  Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that

project managers must develop
 Project managers must have knowledge and skills
in all 10 knowledge areas (project integration, scope,
time, cost, quality, human resource, communications,
risk, procurement, and stakeholder management)
 This text includes an entire chapter on each
knowledge area
 
 
Knowledge Areas
 
Define and manage all the work required to complete
Scope Management the project.
   

Time Management Estimate duration, develop schedule, time control.

   

Cost Management Prepare and control the budget.

  Ensure that the project will satisfy the stated or implied
Quality Management needs.
Human Resource  

Management Make effective use of people.

Communication Generate, collect, disseminate, and store project
management information
   

Risk Management Identify, analyze and respond to project risks.

Procurement Acquire or procure goods and service from outside of
Management the organization
Stakeholder Identify and analyze the stakeholder’s needs during the
Management process.
Integration  
management Overarching functions
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND
TECHNIQUES
 Project management tools and techniques assist
project managers and their teams in various aspects of
project management 
 Some specific ones include
◦ Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
◦ Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path
analysis, critical chain scheduling (time)
◦ Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
SUPER TOOLS
 “Super tools” are those tools that have high use and high potential
for improving project success, such as:
◦ Software for task scheduling (such as project management software)
◦ Scope statements
◦ Requirements analyses
◦ Lessons-learned reports

 Tools already extensively used that have been found to improve

project importance include:
◦ Progress reports
◦ Kick-off meetings
◦ Gantt charts
◦ Change requests
WHY THE IMPROVEMENTS
 "Thereasons for the increase in successful
projects vary. First, the average cost of a project
has been more than cut in half. Better tools have
been created to monitor and control progress and
better skilled project managers with better
management processes are being used. The fact
that there are processes is significant in itself.”*
PROJECT SUCCESS
 There are several ways to define project success:
◦ The project met scope, time, and cost goals
◦ The project satisfied the customer/sponsor
◦ The results of the project met its main objective, such
as making or saving a certain amount of money, providing
a good return on investment, or simply making the
sponsors happy
WHAT HELPS PROJECTS SUCCEED?
1. User involvement 
2. Executive support
3. Clear business objectives
4. Emotional maturity
5. Optimizing scope
6. Agile process 
7. Project management expertise
8. Skilled resources
9. Execution
10. Tools and infrastructure
WHAT WINNERS DO
 Recent research findings show that companies that
excel in project delivery capability:
◦ Use an integrated project management toolbox (use
standard/advanced PM tools, lots of templates)
◦ Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and soft
skills
◦ Develop a streamlined project delivery process 
◦ Measure project health using metrics, like customer
satisfaction or return on investment
CONCEPTS LEARNT IN THIS SECTION
 Project and Operation
 Project Attributes
 Project Constraints
 Project management
 Project Stakeholders
 Project Management Knowledge Areas
 Project management tools and techniques
 Reasons effecting project success
PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGERS

 Projectmanagers work with project sponsors, project

team, and other people involved in a project to meet
project goals
 Program: group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not
available from managing them individually (PMBOK®
Guide, Fifth Edition, 2012) 
 Program managers oversee programs; often act as
bosses for project managers
PROGRAM AND PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

A program manager provides leadership and

direction for the project managers heading the
projects within the program 
 Examples of common programs in the IT field
include infrastructure, applications development,
and user support
Project portfolio management

 As part of project portfolio management,

organizations group and manage projects and
programs as a portfolio of investments that
contribute to the entire enterprise’s success
 Portfoliomanagers help their organizations make
wise investment decisions by helping to select and
analyze projects from a strategic perspective
  Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a
management process designed to help an
organization acquire and view information about all
of its projects, then sort and prioritize each project
according to certain criteria, such as strategic value,
impact on resources, cost, and so on.
The objectives of PPM are similar to the objectives of
managing a financial portfolio: 
1) To become conscious of all the individual listings
in the portfolio
 
2) To develop a “big picture” view and a deeper
understanding of the collection as a whole.

3) To allow sensible sorting, adding, and removing of items

from the collection based on their costs, benefits, and
alignment with long-term strategies or goals.
4) To allow the portfolio owner to get the “best bang for the
buck” from resources invested.
Project management compared to project portfolio
management
Best practice
 Best practice “is an optimal way recognized by industry
to achieve a stated goal or objective”* 
 Robert Butrick suggests that organizations need to follow
basic principles of project management, including these
two mentioned earlier in this chapter:
◦ Make sure your projects are driven by your strategy. Be
able to demonstrate how each project you undertake fits
your business strategy, and screen out unwanted projects
as soon as possible
◦ Engage your stakeholders. Ignoring stakeholders often
leads to project failure. Be sure to engage stakeholders at
all stages of a project, and encourage teamwork and
commitment at all times
The role of project manager
 Job descriptions vary, but most include
responsibilities like planning, scheduling,
coordinating, and working with people to achieve
project goals 
 Remember that 97% of successful projects
were led by experienced project managers, who
can often help influence success factors
Ten most important skills and competencies for project managers

1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities
Importance of leadership skills
 Effective project managers provide leadership by
example
A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-
picture objectives while inspiring people to reach
those goals
A manager deals with the day-to-day details of
meeting specific goals
 Project managers often take on the role of both
leader and manager
Chapter summary
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result
 Projectmanagement is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way
 Project portfolio management involves organizing and managing
projects and programs as a portfolio of investments
 Projectmanagers play a key role in helping projects and organizations
succeed
 The project management profession continues to grow
and mature