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Project Framework defined

The Quality Management System

Project phases (stages) and gateways Criteria for moving from one stage to the next The Project Lifecycle Progressive Elaboration Role of the Project Manger Project Stakeholders defined

Organizational Models & Attributes

General Management Skills Review Questions and Answers
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Project managers operate within the project framework to coordinate all of the activities and to move the project toward completion. A project gains momentum by completing the project phases throughout the project lifecycle. The project lifecycle corresponds to the project management framework and provides several benefits:

Each phase results in some type of deliverable. Phase completion shows accomplishment and progression. Phase completion allows time for review to determine if the project should move forward. Phases allow projects to move forward in a progress manner.

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Cost and resource requirements are lower at the beginning of a project, but grow as the project progresses. Once the project moves into the final closing process, costs and resource requirements taper off dramatically. Generally, projects fail at the beginning, not at the end. Projects are more likely to fail near their beginningand more likely to succeed near the end of their lifecycle due to the nature of return on investments. The further the project is from completing, the higher the risk of project termination. Risk and doubt decrease (or confidence levels increase) as the project moves closer to fulfilling the project vision.
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The Plan, Do, Check, Act Cycle is a basic principle of both Quality Management and Project Management.

ACT

PLAN

Check

DO

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The Quality Management System (QMS) is an essential part of the framework for successful project delivery.
QMS contributes the following to the project:

It defines the Project Management Organisation and its relationship with other functions with in the company. The systems and procedures which project team members and mangers work to realise the project deliverables. The quality control and assurance of Project Deliverables.

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Phases, Stages, and Gateways

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The project manager will be accountable for the following at the end of each project phase:

The performance of the project to date. The performance of the project team to date. Proof of deliverables in the project phase. Verification of deliverables in alignment with the project scope.
Project Lifecycle
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

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Project phases are also known as stage gates.

Stage gates are used often in both manufacturing and product development as a decision point on whether a project should continue. The decision is based on a review of performance and deliverable review against a set of predefined metrics. If the deliverables meet the predefined metrics, the project is allowed to continue. If the deliverables do not meet the metrics, the project may not be allowed to continue. In these cases, the project may be terminated or sent through revisions to meet the predetermined metrics.

Project Lifecycle
Phase 1
Phase 2 Phase 3

Stage Gates

Phase 4

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The completion of a phase may also be known as a phase exit. A phase exit requires the project deliverables to meet some predetermined exit criteria. Exit criteria are typically inspection-specific and are scheduled events in the project schedule.

Exit criteria can include many different activities, such as:

Sign-offs from the customer. Regulatory inspections and audits. Quality metrics. Performance metrics. Security audits. The end of a project phase.
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Project Lifecycles are comprised of phases and move the project along. Project Lifecycles allow for the determination of several aspects about the project, such as:

What work will be completed in each phase of the project? What resources, people, equipment, and facilities will be needed within each phase? What are the expected deliverables of each phase?

What is the expected cost to complete a project phase?

Which phases contain the highest amount of risk?

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Changes are easier and more likely at the early phases of the
project lifecycle than at the completion.

Changes at the beginning of the project generally cost less and have lower risk than changes at the end of a project.

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Projects result in a unique product or service through progressive elaboration. Progress elaboration is simply developing in steps and continuing by increments. Progressive elaboration is an iterative process designed to correctly and completely fulfill the project objectives. Progressive elaboration is the process of taking a project concept through to the project plan.
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Project customer

The customer is the person or group that will utilize the project deliverable.

Project sponsor

The sponsor authorizes the project. This person or group ensures that the project manager has the necessary resources, including monies, to get the work done. The project sponsor is someone within the performing organization that has the power to authorize and sanction the project work, and is ultimately responsible for the projects success.

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Project manager

The project manager is the person who:

Is accountable for managing the project. Guides the team through the project phases to completion.

Project team

The project team is the collection of individuals that will, who work together to ensure the success of the project. The project manager works with the project team to guide, schedule, and oversee the project work. The project team completes the project work.

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Performing organization

The performing organization is the entity that employs the people responsible for completing the project work.
In some instances, the performing organization can be a supplier whose project team is completing the project work on behalf of that supplier or the customer.

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. The Executive Layer sets the vision and strategy of the organization. The business layer asks, Why is the project important to our organization? Our vision? Our strategy? The Functional Management Layer of the pyramid must support the Executive Layers objectives. Specifically, the Functional Management Layer is concerned with tactics to accomplish the vision and strategy as set by upper management. The Functional Management Layer asks, What is the project purpose? What business processes are affected?

Vision & Strategy Answers Why

Executive
Tactics Answers What

Functional Management Operations

The Operational Layer of the pyramid supports the Executive and the Functional Management layers. This layer is concerned with the specifics of getting the work done. The Operational Layer asks, How can the work be accomplished?

Day to Day Answers How

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A company that organizes itself by job activity, such as sales, accounting, information technology, and other departmental entities is a functional environment. A matrix structure allows project managers some authority. However, the project managers and project team members still answer to a functional manager. A company that manages itself by projects may be called a projectized company.
Organization Structure Functional Project Characteristics Project Managers Authority Resource Availability Who controls the Project budget Project Managers Role Project Management Administrative Staff Little or None Weak Matrix Limited Balanced Matrix Low to Moderate Strong Matrix Moderate to High Moderate to High Project Manager Full-Time High to Almost Total High to Almost Total Project Manager Full-Time Matrix Projectized

Little or None Functional Manager Part-Time

Limited Functional Manager Part-Time

Low to Moderate

Mixed Full-Time

Part-Time

Part-Time

Part-Time

Full-Time

Full-Time

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The organizational culture (the mindset) of a company can have a direct influence on the success of a project. Organizational culture includes:
Purpose Values Organization policies and procedures Type of business Maturity of business

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The following are key General Management Skills:

Communication Skills Meeting Management Skills Negotiation Skills Problem Solving Skills Political Savvy

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Project Communication can be summed up as who needs what information and when. Project managers spend much of their time communicating with others. This must be balanced with their time for other important responsibilities. Project Managers must be good communicators, promoting a clear, unambiguous exchange of information. Communication is a two-way street; it requires listening skills as well as speaking skills.

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Types of Communication:

Listening and speaking, Written and oral.

Internal to the project, such as project team member to team

member.
External to the project, such as the project manager to an external

customer.
Formal communications, such as reports and presentations. Informal communications, such as e-mails and hallway meetings. Vertical communications, which follow the organizational flow chart.

Horizontal communications, such as director to director within the

organizational flow chart.

Other variables include recipient feedbacks, surveys, checklists, and

confirmation of the sent message.

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Media selection:

Based on the audience and the message being sent, the media should be in alignment.
Style, tone, structure, and formality of the message being sent should be in alignment with the audience and the content of the message. For presentation of formal presentations, the presenters oral and body language, visual aids, and handouts all influence the message being delivered.

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Meeting Management:

Meetings are forms of communication.

How the meeting is led, managed, and controlled all influence the message being delivered. Agendas, minutes, and order are mandatory for effective communications within a meeting. Signatures of agreement of the meeting minutes is important.
Later in the project, when questions are raised about who said what

during a meeting, signed copies of meeting minutes will help clarify the answers.

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In any project, the project manager, the project sponsor, and the project team will have to negotiate with stakeholders, suppliers, and customers to reach a level of agreement acceptable to all parties involved in the negotiation process. Negotiation proceedings typically center on:
Priorities.
Technical approach. Project scope. Schedule. Cost.

Changes to the project scope, schedule, or budget.

Supplier terms and conditions. Project team member assignments and schedules. Resource constraints, such as facilities, travel issues, and team members with highly specialized skills.
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Active Problem Solving:

The key to problem solving is problem definition and root cause.

Problem definition is the ability to discern between the cause and the effect of the problem. Treating only the symptoms of a problem rather than its cause, allows the symptoms to spread and continue throughout the project lifecycle. Root cause analysis looks beyond the immediate symptoms to the cause of the symptomswhich then allows opportunities for solutions. Solutions can be presented from suppliers, the project team, the project manager, or various stakeholders.

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Project managers must understand all of the unspoken influences at work within an organizationas well as the formal channels that exist.

Understanding the balance required between the implied and the explicit will allow the project manager to successfully take the project from launch to completion.

Politics within organizations are usually looked at with disdain. However, politics can work in favor of a project.

Politics can be used as leverage to align and direct people to the project goal.
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On an international project, the project manager must manage and lead the project team effectively to cover the following concerns:

Language barriers

Time zone differences

Currency differences Regulations

Laws
Social influences Cultural influences
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Project managers operate within the project framework and QMS to coordinate all of the activities and to move the project toward completion.

A project gains momentum by completing project phases. Project phases, stages, and gateways comprise the project lifecycle.

The project lifecycle corresponds to the project management framework and provides several benefits:

Each phase results in some type of deliverable.

Phase completion shows accomplishment and progression.

Phase completion allows time for review to determine if the project should move forward. Phases allow the project to be progressively elaborated.
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Before projects can move into the implementation there must be a project plan.

A project plan details what the project will accomplish and how it will be accomplished. Project plans, like project deliverables, pass through progressive elaboration. The project manager and the stakeholders work together to determine the priorities of the project requirements, the project constraints, and the project assumptions.

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Projects must operate with the organization structure.

Organizational structures control how the project manager can obtain resources, the level of authority the project manager can expect, and the participation of the project team.
There are five organizational structures:
Functional
Weak matrix Balanced matrix Strong matrix Projectized

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The project management framework is like the skeleton of any project.

It makes up the bones that support the project and provides strength and rigidity. The project management framework holds up the project and allows it to operate in the environment within which it was created.

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