CHAPTER TWO: PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS

• Presentation contents
a) Introduction Project Management Aspects
b) Management Functions
c) Roles of Project Manager
d) The role of the Project Management Unit (PMU)
e) The leadership role of the project manager
f) Rules/principles of project management
g) Project Environment
h) Project Management System
i) Project Management Structures
j) The Project Management Knowledge Areas
 INTRODUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASPECTS

Project management is the application of

knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder
needs and expectations.
It also utilizes the four general management
functions of planning, organizing, directing and
controlling, but within a project process. “All
managers, including project managers, are
responsible for universally accepted managerial
functions of planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling”.
 Management Functions
 Planning (What are we aiming for and why?)
– Develop project objectives, goals and strategies
– Develop precedence diagrams to establish logical relationship of
project activities and milestones (Log frame)
– Develop time-based schedule for the project based on the time
precedence diagram (work plan)
– Plan for resources support of the project (budgeting)
 Organizing (What’s involved and why?)
– Establish organizational structure for the team.
– Identify and assign project roles to members of the project team
– Define project management policies, procedures, and techniques
– Project management charter and other delegation instructions
– Establish standards for the authority, responsibility and
accountability of the team.
 Management Functions cont.
Motivation (What motivates people to do their best work?)
• Determine project team member needs
• Assess factors that motivate people to do their best work
• Provide appropriate counseling and mentoring as required
• Establish rewards program for project team members
• Conduct initial study of impact of motivation on productivity.
Directing (Who decides what and where?)
• Establish “limits” of authority of decision making for allocation of
project resources
• Develop leadership style
• Enhance interpersonal skills
• Prepare plan for increasing participative management techniques in
managing the project team
• Develop consensus decision making techniques for project team
 Management Functions cont.
Control (Who judges results and by what
standards?)
• Establish cost, schedule, and technical
performance standards for the project
• Prepare plans for the means to evaluate project
progress
• Establish a project management information
system for the project
• Prepare project review strategy
• Evaluate project progress.
 Roles of Project Manager
• the Project Manager (PM) is responsible for the
overall completion of the different components
of the project, in a coordinated manner, within
the cost, time, and quality parameters defined
for the project from time to time.
• The PM ensures that the overall project and
component plans, schedules, and budgets fit
together and will accomplish the project’s
objectives
 Roles of Project Manager
In summary, the project manager plays the role of;
• Clarifying objectives
• Project managers are expected to marshal resources to complete a defined project on time, on budget
and within specifications.
• PMs are the direct link to the customer and must fulfill the customers’ expectations while staying
within the project specifications.
• Preparing plans, schedules, and budgets
• Arranging commitment of resources
• Approving all changes in plans and scope.
• Chairing periodic PT meetings (preferably monthly) for implementation coordination
• Taking operational decisions that flow from review and monitoring meetings on subjects such as
delays and plans to make up lost time, and cost overruns.
• Follow-up on previous decisions in review and monitoring meetings of PT.
• Recruiting and hiring staff.
• Supervising the management of the computerized database for the project monitoring system.
• Supervising the monitoring and evaluation system
• Set up control system to measure progress versus plan for schedule and budget.
• Prepare budget and financial and schedule reports
• Developing and maintaining files
• Managing the procurement function through the procurement officer
• Arranging training
 The role of the Project Management Unit (PMU)

The PMU provides the following services:

• Coordination and monitoring
• Project accounting
• Procurement for the identified components of
the overall project
• Maintenance of the computerized PMS,
measuring progress versus plan for schedule,
cost, and performance and issuing reports and
revised plans as necessary and when directed
by the PM.
 The leadership role of the project manager

• Leadership has been described as ‘doing the

right thing’ under conditions of change
(Whetten and Cameron, 1995). Management
on the other hand has been defined as ‘doing
things right’ under conditions of stability.
• To be an effective manager both leadership
and management are inseparably required
(Cleland, 1994, Whetton and Cameron, 1995).
As the project progresses through the phases
of the project life cycle, changes are taking
place with varying implications to stakeholders
The leadership role of the project manager

• . A project needs a constituency and the project manager

ought to identify and recognize supporters and win over
those whose support is lacking. This can be done through a
number of ways key of which is networking which involves:
 Developing a system of interconnected relationships
 Gaining support in the form of encouragement,
recognition, and coalition building
 Gaining access to individuals and organizations
 Acquiring information about available resources and
potential problems
The leadership role of the project manager
• The project manager’s paramount role is to build and maintain
support for the project by forming networking relations with all
stakeholders.
• Some of the important relations are with;
1. Sponsors or top management who commit resources and funding
2. Champions or advocates who can influence over other
stakeholders
3. Experts and consultants who help to develop and review project
work.
4. Customer group, suppliers, vendors, contractors, project team
members etc. who are all vital for the project success.
 Leadership role of project Manager

• Experienced Project Managers believe there are two key factors in

determining the success of a project:
1.Recruitment and selection of suitably qualified project members to
relevant project positions is essential. Recruiting of project team
members should be handled with the same discipline and rigour as
the recruitment of new employees to fulfil the ongoing positions in
the business.
2. A well documented methodology that is kept simple and easily
adaptable to different sizes of projects is a critical foundation for
ensuring project success. This documented methodology needs to be
communicated to project team members as part of the initiation
stage. This will ensure such things as everyone having a clear
understanding of how to progress and what is expected at each stage
and that the methodology is adapted to the specific needs of the
project being undertaken.
 Leadership role of project Manager
• Aside from understanding the methodology, there
are other characteristics to keep in mind for
successful project management. Given that any
project is involved with a project team as well as
the stakeholders, a good Project Manager needs
to have not only excellent time management skills
but also good people skills such as:
Excellent communication skills
The ability to be a team player
Excellent interpersonal skills
The ability to negotiate
Leadership role of project Manager
• The project manager’s paramount role is to build and maintain
support for the project by forming networking relations with
all stakeholders. Some of the important relations are with;
 Sponsors or top management who commit resources and
funding
 Champions or advocates who can influence over other
stakeholders
 Experts and consultants who help to develop and review
project work.
 Customer group, suppliers, vendors, contractors, project team
members etc. who are all vital for the project success.
 Rules/principles of project management
• Clearly defined purpose
• Teamwork and team building
• Effective stakeholder management
• Effective planning, design and control
• Principle of not being optimistic or pessimistic: Being realistic
• Systematic problem solving approach
• Effective change management
• Being proactive
• Principle of success
• Principles of input-output relationship in project lifecycle
• Principle of documentation
• Principle of viability and target beneficiaries
 Project constraints
• The 6 project constraints are similar to this 6 legged robot.
• Each leg represents a constraint, and an issue with any of the
constraints may impact the entire project –
 Project Management Triangle
These constraints are interrelated, so a strain on one of the constraints will
affect one or more of the other constraints. The image below shows classic
triple constraint triangle

•In this Figure :

• Impact on any of Scope, Time (Schedule) and Cost may have an impact on Quality of
deliverable-.
•The same thing happens when any of these 3 core constraints – scope, time (in other
words, schedule) and cost, are strained. Each will influence the other two – and may
result in poor quality of the product
 Project Environment

 Environment consists of forces that influence the project’s ability to achieve its objective.
Projects operate in a dynamic environment. Project environment can be classified into:
Internal Environment:
Internal environment is located within the project. It is Controllable by the project. It provides
strengths and weaknesses to the project. The forces in the internal environment consists of:
Project Objective
Constraints
Structure
Resources
Task Environment
The task environment of a project is made up of stakeholders. They are either involved in the
project or their interests are affected by the project. The elements of task environment are:
Customer 
Contractor 
Consultants
Suppliers
Competitors
Labour Unions 
 Project Environment cont.
External Environment
It is located outside the project. It cannot be controlled by the
project. The project can indirectly influence it. It provides
opportunities and threats to the project. It is sometimes
called PEST Analysis or PESTLE Analysis. The forces in the
external environment are:
Political
Economic
Socio-cultural
Technological
Legality
Environmental
 Project Management System
This consists of seven components or subsystems i.e.
• Human component
None of the tools of project management are of any value if you cannot get
people to use them. For this reason, PMs need very good interpersonal/human
relations skills, team building skills, good communication, and an
understanding of how to handle decisions in a project and knowledge of how
to motivate team members when necessary.
• Method system
Every project makes use of certain techniques and methodologies to get work
done. If proper methods are not employed in a project, objectives may be hard
to achieve. This include participatory methods, Critical Path Method and
among others.
• Culture component
The culture of an organization is the combined effect of the value, beliefs,
attitudes, traditions and behaviors of members. “We do not do it that way
around here”. Such statements are common. To violate the cultural
expectations of the members of the organization is to invite trouble.
 Project Management System
• Organization system
In order to coordinate the efforts of people, an organization is established that must
define the limits of authority, responsibility and accountability of participants. If
members of the project team have no authority, then they will feel no responsibility
for their actions and the project manager will have to make all decisions. 
• The planning system
If a poor plan is developed, it may be impossible to execute the project successfully, no
matter how effective a manager’s skill will be. Therefore, proper planning must be
put in place to mobilize human and non-human resources.
• The information system
This gathers data that must be available so that the PM knows whether the project is
on target or not. That information must be timely.
• The control system
Control of a project is one of the major responsibilities of a PM. The primary purpose
of managing is to control the application of scarce resources and to achieve desired
organization’s objectives. To do so, the PM must use data on project status to
determine whether the project progressing according to plan and initiate corrective
action if there is a significant discrepancy.
 Project Management Structures
There are three different project management structures commonly
used by organizations to implement project management namely;
• i) Functional organization
In this structure, a project is managed within the existing functional
hierarchy of the organization. The different segments of the project
are delegated to the respective functional units
• ii) Dedicated project teams
These teams operate as separate teams from the rest of the parent
organization. Usually, a full time project manager is designated to pool
together a core group of specialists who work full time on the project.
• iii) The matrix organization
This is a hybrid organizational form in which a horizontal project
management structure is over laid on the normal functional hierarchy.
There are two chains of command; one along the functional lines and
the other along project lines.
 The Project Management Knowledge Areas

The project management knowledge areas, describe project management

knowledge and practice in terms of its component processes. These processes
have been organized into nine knowledge areas as described below.
1. Project integration management: Describe the processes required to ensure
that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consists of
project plan development, project plan execution, and overall change control.
2. Project scope management: Describes the processes required to ensure that
the project includes all the work required to complete the project successfully.
3. Project time management: describes the processes required to ensure timely
completion of the project. It consists of activity definition, activity sequencing,
activity duration estimating, schedule development, and schedule control.
4. Project cost management: describes the processes required to ensure that the
project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of resource
planning, cost estimates, cost budgeting and cost control.
5. Project quality management: describes the processes required to ensure that
the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It consists of
quality planning, quality assurance and quality control.
 
 The Project Management Knowledge Areas
6. Project human resource management: describes the processes required
to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It
consists of organizational planning, staff acquisition, and team
development.
7. Project communication management: describes the processes required to
ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination,
storage, and ultimate disposition of project information. It consists of
communications planning, information distribution, performance reporting
and administrative closure.
8. Project risk management: describes the processes concerned with
identifying, analyzing and responding to project risk. It consists of risk
identification, risk quantification, risk response development, and risk
response control.
9. Project procurement management: describes the processes required to
acquire goods and services from outside the performing organization. It
consists of procurement planning; solicitation planning, source selection,
contract administration, and contract close out.