Program Management An overview

Jan 18, 2013

Contents
What is a Project
Project and Program Management
Why project or program management?
Project Life Cycle
Project Phases
Process Groups
Key Program Management Tools
Reference and Contact details

What Is A Project ?
Project
A project is a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end, creates a unique product, service or result and is
progressively elaborated.
The end is reached when the
Project objectives have been achieved
Project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met
When the need for the project no longer exists
Examples of Projects include
Developing a new product or service
Effecting a change in structure, staffing or style of an organization
Developing or acquiring a new operating system
Constructing a building or infrastructure
Implementing a new business process or procedure

Project & Program Management

Project Management
A project management is the act of applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet the
project deliverables.
Managing a project typically includes
Identifying requirements
Addressing various needs, concerns and expectations of the stake holders as the project is planned and carried
out
Balancing the competing project constraints including but not limited to
- Scope

- Risk

- Quality

- Budget

- Schedule

- Resources

The relation among these factors is such that if any one factor changes, at least one other factor is likely to be affected

Program Management
A program is defined as a group of related projects centrally coordinated to achieve the programs objective(s).

Why Project or Program Management ?

Reasons as to why effective project or program management is becoming more and more important in todays ever
changing competitive environment are listed below
Rate of change of technology
Competitive need for speed
It works
There is often no other way to achieve our objectives

Value Provided

Representative Cycle
Times
Western

Japanese

Sales order & distribution

16 24
days

6 8 days

Vehicle manufacturing

14 30
days

2 4 days

4 6 years

2.5 3 years

New vehicle design and

introduction

The new pace of competition; Source : Competing against time Free Press (1990)

Median age of product

Time late to market

(months)
Potential loss of profit

5 years

3 years

33%

25%

18%

12%

7%

3%

Impact of Time and Delay on profitability, Program management ; University of Warwick Module Notes

Project Life Cycle

A project lifecycle is a collection of generally and sometimes overlapping project phases whose name and number are
determined by management of the organization or organizations involved in the project. No matter how large or small,
simple or complex, all projects can be mapped to the following life cycle structure

Organizing
and
preparing

Carrying out the work

Closing
the
project

Cost and Staffing Level

Starting
the
project

Project Management
outputs

Project
charter

Project
management
plan

Accepted
deliverables

Achieved
Project
documents

Time
The cost & staffing levels are low at the start, peak as the work is carried out and drop rapidly as the project draws to
closure
Stakeholder influence, risk and uncertainty are greatest at the start of the project and decrease over the life of the project
Ability to influence the final characteristics of the projects product without significantly impacting cost is highest at the
start
of the project and decreases as the project progresses towards completion

Project Phases
Project phases are divisions within a project where extra control is needed to effectively manage the completion of a major
deliverable. These are typically completed sequentially, but can overlap in some project situations.
Single phase project Installing a water heater
Monitoring & Controlling process

Initiation
process

Planning
process

Executin
g
process

Closing
process

Installing Water Heater

Two phase project Travelling from Bangalore to Chicago

Monitoring & Controlling process

Initiation
process

Planning
process

Executin
g
process

Monitoring & Controlling process

Closing
process

Initiation
process

Executin
g
process

Planning
process

Bangalore to London

Closing
process

London to Chicago

Overlapping phases Building a new Factory

Monitoring & Controlling process

Initiation
process

Planning
process

Executin
g
process

Closing
process
Initiation
process

Design Phase

Monitoring & Controlling process

Planning
process

Executin
g
process

Closing
process

Construction Phase

Key Program Management Tools

Work Breakdown Structure
Risk Management
Project Schedule
Critical Path
Responsibility Matrix (RACI)
Communication Plan
Monitoring and Control (Issue Tracker)
Project Cost Management
Project Status Report
Intermediate Scope / Change management
Project Signoff / Closure Report
Composition of a Project / Program Manager

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the
project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
Each descending level of the WBS represents an increased detailed definition of the project work

Risk Management
Project Risk is an uncertain event or condition, if when occurred, could have a positive or negative effect on at least one or
more project objective(s); Namely, time, cost, scope or quality.

Potential
Damage to
Project

(Mitigate

Create a Plan B, etc.)

(Accept)

(Avoid

(Mitigate

Eliminate the cause)

Create a Plan B, etc.)

Likelihood of Risk Occurring

Project Schedule
Project Schedule is a formal approved document that details
The sequence of tasks
Planned start and finish dates
The interdependencies between them

Critical Path
Critical path is generally the sequence of scheduled activities that determines the duration of the project. It is the longest
path through the project and has zero float / allowance attached to it.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI)

A responsibility assignment matrix, also known as RACI matrix describes the participation by various roles in completing tasks
or deliverables for a project. It is useful in clarifying roles and responsibilities in cross-functional/departmental projects and
processes.
RACI is an acronym that was derived from the four key responsibilities : Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.

Communication Plan
Communication Plan is the timely & appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval and ultimate disposition
of project information.

Type

Target Audience

Communicatio
n method

Purpose

Desired outcome

Frequen Durati
cy
on

Timing

Who is
responsib
le

Communication to
leadership 3rd
Executive
Communicate project
Project schedule & Cost
Thursday
PR
Internal
Executive Leadership Leadership
status to Executive
Monthly 30 min
Status, Resources /
of the
Kulkarni
Templates
Leadership
priority decisions not
month
resolved at lower level
Resolve any issues within
Leadership
2nd & 4th
Status Reporting
Leadership span of
(ISC / Quality / M&PE
Issue escalation and
Fortnightl
Wednesday
PR
Internal
Template with
control. Elevate issues
60 min
Engineering / Program
resolution
y
of the
Kulkarni
Rolling agenda
impacting project
Management)
month
schedule, delivery or cost
Communicate program
Functional
status to functions &
Review status of overall
Team Managers
Status Reporting
prioritize activities.
program with input
Every
PR
Internal
(ISC /Quality / M&PE / Template with
Identify leading indicators Weekly 60 min
from all functional team
Monday
Kulkarni
Engineering / Program Rolling agenda
of deviation to plan.
members
Management)
Elevate issues to
leadership as required
Project planning /
Resolve any issue within
Functional Team Leads
communication at a
Status Reporting
the functional span of
(Engineering, Sourcing,
functional or cross
PR
Internal
Template with
control. Elevate issues
Daily
30 min Every day
Quality, ME, M&PE,
functional level. Project
Kulkarni
Rolling agenda
impacting project
Program Management)
status and resource
schedule or cost
prioritization
Review technical
Updating planning tools
Functional Teams
performance for prior
with tactical issues not
Functional
(Engineering, Sourcing, Templates /
day. Review critical
Internal
resolved within the past
Daily
30 min Every day
Team
Quality, ME, M&PE, white boards
issues which impact
24 - 48 hrs (ownership &
Leaders
Program Management)
schedule compliance.
timing)
Identify resource gaps

External

Customer/ Supplier

Status Reporting Review critical issues

Template with
which impact schedule

Identify leading indicators

of deviation to plan.
Identify resources required

Weekly

Customer/
Wednesday
Supplier
60 min 7:30 pm

Monitoring & Control (Issues Tracker)

Issues tracker is running action item list. It is used to list the issues, assign responsibility and define deadline to the
appropriate recourse on the project / program

Project Cost Management

Planned value (PV) : It is the authorized budget assigned to the work to be accomplished for an activity or WBS
component

Earned value (EV) : It is the value of work performed in terms of the approved budget assigned to that work for an
activity or WBS component

Actual Cost (AC) : It is the total cost actually incurred and recorded in accomplishing work performed for an activity or
WBS component

Schedule Variance (SV) : It is a measure of schedule performance on a project. SV = EV PV

Cost Variance (CV) : It is a measure of cost performance on a project. CV = EV AC
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) : It is a measure of Schedule Efficiency on a project. SPI = EV / PV
Cost Performance Index (CPI) : It is a measure of Cost Efficiency on a project. CPI = EV / AC
For SPI & CPI, if the ratio is 1, it is good. If it is < 1, then it is a concern and needs attention

Project Status Report

Scope Change Management

Scope change is any change to the project. This will always require an adjustment to project cost or schedule.
When this occurs, a scope change document should be prepared that shall detail the points listed below and authorized by
the sponsor
Rationale for Change
Brief overview of the impact of this change on

Project schedule

Quality of deliverables

Costs

Stakeholders and/or core team members

Other deliverables, including amount and quality

Change approved by (signatures)

Sponsor

Project Manager

Others (as required)

Project Signoff / Closure Report

Composition of a Project / Program Manager

1. Communication Skills
(84%)
- Listening
- Persuading

2. Organization Skills
(75%)
- Planning
- Goal Setting
- Analyzing

3. Team Building Skills

(72%)
- Empathy
- Motivation

4. Leadership (68%)
-

Sets example
Energetic
Vision (Big Picture)
Delegates
Positive

5. Coping Skills (59%)

-

Flexibility
Creativity
Patience
Persistence

6. Technology Skills (46%)

- Experience
- Project knowledge

Reference and Contact details

Reference book and material for this presentation
A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), IV Edition. Project Management Institute
Module notes from MSc program at University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Authors experience

Contact details
Email : pr_kulkarni@yahoo.com
Phone : 9900046633

Appendix

Process Phases
Initiation
Sl
#

Action

Results

Demonstrate
Project Need and
Feasibility

A document confirming that there is a need for the project deliverables

and describing in broad terms
The deliverables
The means of creating the deliverables
The costs of creating and implementing the deliverables
The benefits to be obtained by implementing the deliverables

Obtain Project
Authorization

A go/no go decision is made by the sponsor

A project manager is assigned
A project charter is created that
Formally recognizes the project
Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high
enough organizational level to meet project needs
Authorizes the project manager to apply resources to project
activities

Obtain
Authorization for
the Phase

A go/no go decision is made by the sponsor that authorizes the

project manager to apply organizational resources to the activities of a
particular phase
Written approval of the phase is obtained that
Formally recognizes the existence of the phase
Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high
enough organizational level to meet project needs

Statement of project scope

Scope management plan
Work breakdown structure

Describe Project
Scope

Process Phases
Planning
Sl
#
1

Action

Results

Define and
Sequence Project
Activities

Estimate Duration
for Activities and
Resources
Required

Develop a Project
Schedule

An activity list (list of all activities that will be performed on the

project)
Updates to the work breakdown structure (WBS)
A project network diagram
Estimate of duration (time required) for each activity and assumptions
related to each estimate
Statement of resource requirements
Updates to activity list
Project schedule in the form of Gantt charts, network diagrams,
milestone charts, or text tables
Supporting details, such as resource usage over time, cash flow
projections, order/delivery schedules, etc.

Estimate Costs

Cost estimates for completing each activity

Supporting details, including assumptions and constraints
Cost management plan that describes how cost variances will be
handled

Build a Budget and

Spending Plan

A cost baseline or time-phased budget for measuring/monitoring costs

A spending plan that tells how much will be spent on what resources,
at what time

Create a
Formal Quality Plan

Quality management plan, including operational definitions

Quality verification checklists

Create a Formal
Project
Communications
Plan

A communication management plan, including:

Collection structure
Distribution structure
Description of information to be disseminated

Process Phases
Planning
Sl
#

Action

Results

Organize and
Acquire Staf

Role and assignments of responsibility

Staffing plan
Organizational chart, with details (as appropriate)
Project staf
Project team directory

Identify Risks and

Plan to Respond

A document describing potential risks, including their sources,

symptoms, and ways to address them

Plan for and

Acquire Outside
Resources

Procurement management plan describing how contractors will be

obtained
Statement of work (SOW) or statement of requirements (SOR)
describing the item (product or service) to be procured
Bid documents, such as an RFP (request for proposal), an IFB
(invitation for bid), etc.
Evaluation criteriameans of scoring contractors proposals
Contract with one or more suppliers of goods or services

10

11

Organize the
Project Plan

A comprehensive project plan that pulls together all the outputs of the
preceding project planning activities

12

Close Out the

Project Planning
Phase

A project plan that has been approved, in writing, by the sponsor

A green light or permission to begin work on the project

13

Revisit the Project

Plan and Re-plan,
if
Necessary

Assurance or confirmation that the detailed plans to execute a

particular phase are still accurate and will efectively achieve the
results as planned

Process Phases
Executing
Sl
#
1

Action
Execute Project
Activities

Results

Monitoring and Controlling

Sl
#
1

Action
Control Project
Activities

Results

Closing
Sl
#

Action
Close Out Project
Activities

Work results (deliverables) are created

Change requests (i.e., based on expanded or contracted project) are
identified
Periodic progress reports are created
Team performance is assessed, guided, and perhaps improved
Bids/proposals for deliverables are solicited, contractors (suppliers) are
chosen, and contracts are established
Contracts are administered to achieve desired work results

Decision to accept inspected deliverables

Corrective actions such as rework of deliverables, adjustments to work
processes, etc.
Updates to project plan and scope
List of lessons learned
Improved quality
Completed evaluation checklists (if applicable)

Results

Formal acceptance, documented in writing, that the sponsor has

accepted the product of this phase or activity
Formal acceptance of contractor work products and updates to the
contractors files
Updated project records prepared for archiving