After you have mastered the material in this chapter, you will be able to: Understand how projects differ from routine operational work, develop an understanding of the background to project management, understand at a broad level the concept of a project life cycle, make the link between an organisation’s strategy and the need for projects.
Trang 1CHAPTER 1
Modern Project
Management
Trang 2Copyright © 2013 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
Learning Elements
1.1 Understand how projects differ from routine
operational work
1.2 Develop an understanding of the background
to project management
1.3 Understand at a broad level the concept of a
project life cycle
1.4 Make the link between an organisation’s
strategy and the need for projects
Trang 3What is a Project?
Characteristics
• An established objective
• A defined lifespan with a defined beginning
and end (temporary)
• Usually the involvement of several
departments and/or professionals
• Typically doing something that has never
been done before (unique)
• Specific time, cost and performance
requirements
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
What is not a Project?
• Routine, repetitive work
• Ordinary daily work that typically
requires doing the same, or similar work, over and over
Trang 5Comparison of Routine Work and Projects
Routine, repetitive wor k
• Taking meeting notes
• Daily entering sales
receipts into the
accounting ledger
• Responding to a
supply-chain request
• Practising scales on the
piano
• Routine manufacture of
an Apple iPod
Projects
• Writing a book.
• Setting up a sales kiosk for a professional
accounting conference
• Developing a supply-chain information
system
• Writing a new piano piece
• Designing a new media player
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
Program versus Project
• A program is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet specific requirements.
• A program obtains benefits and control not available by managing projects individually.
Trang 7Portfolio versus Program
• Portfolios provide an overarching
umbrella for an organisation to manage
all investment activity.
• Portfolios may be managed as a mix of
programs and/or major projects.
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
The Project Life Cycle
Trang 9The Project Manager
• Marshals resources for the project and relates
directly to the customer
• Provides direction, coordination and integration to the project team
• Is responsible for the performance and success of the project
• Must induce the right people at the right time to
address issues, make decisions and carry out the project’s activities
• Addresses the right issues and makes the right
decisions
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
The Importance of Project Management
• Compression of the product life cycle
• Complexity
• Triple bottom line (planet, people, profit)
• Corporate downsizing
• Increased customer focus
• Organisational change management
• Small projects represent big problems
Trang 11Project Management Today:
A Holistic Approach
Integrative approach
• The big picture: how organisational resources are being used
• An assessment of the risk to their portfolio of
projects
• A rough metric for measuring the improvement of managing projects relative to others in the industry
• Linkages to senior management
• Performance management of projects
• A clear definition of benefits
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
Alignment of Projects with Organisational Strategy
Trang 13• Project selection
• Monitoring aggregate resource levels and skills
• Use of best practices
• Balancing projects in a portfolio
• Improving communication among all stakeholders
• An organisational perspective, beyond silo thinking
• Improving management of projects over time
Project Management Today:
A Holistic Approach (cont.)
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Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
The Technical and Socio-cultural
Dimensions of the Project
Management Process
Trang 15Common Pitfalls in Project
Management
• Not being aligned to organisational strategy
• Lack of top management or sponsor support
• Political discord or disagreement
• Poor or inadequate estimating
• Working backwards from a given drop-dead
date
• Inexperienced project management personnel
• Fragmented team and team values
Trang 16Copyright © 2013 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Pearson, Larson, Gray, Project Management in Practice, 1e
Common Pitfalls in Project
Management (cont.)
•Poorly/vaguely defined requirements (Scope)
•Lack of user (customer) involvement
•Unrealistic requirements or expectations
•Scope creep
•Poor communication or lack of communication
•Ignoring project warning signs
•Poor governance
Trang 17Key Terms
•p
roject
•p
rogram
•p
ortfolio
•p
roject life cycle
•s
trategic alignment
•s
ocio-technical perspective
•c