Project Management and Operations

What is a Project

As PMBOK says, A project is “a unique endeavor to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints”.

▪ Are unique in nature. They do not involve repetitive processes. Every project undertaken is different from the last, whereas operational activities often involve undertaking repetitive (identical) processes.

▪ Have a defined timescale. Projects have a clearly specified start and end date within which the deliverables must be produced to meet a specified customer requirement.

▪ Have an approved budget. Projects are allocated a level of financial expenditure within which the deliverables must be produced to meet a specified customer requirement

▪ Have limited resources. At the start of a project an agreed amount of labor, equipment and materials is allocated to the project

▪ Involve an element of risk. Projects entail a level of uncertainty and therefore carry business risk.

The purpose of a project, typically, is to improve an organization through the implementation of business change.

Project vs Operations

Project	Operations
Temporary	Ongoing
Output  : Unique	Output:   Repetitive
Purpose: Attain its objective and then terminate	Purpose: Sustain the business
Concludes when its specific objectives have been attained	Adopt a new set of objectives  and the work continues

Similarities

1. Performed by people
2. Constrained by limited resources
3. Planned, executed, and controlled

Why do Projects ?

There can be several reasons for a proect to be initiated by a Organization. The most common includes
1) To capitalize on a Business opportunity, market demands.
2) Fulfill legal obligations.
3) To utilize the benefits of change in technology and remain competitive in the market
4) To bring process improvement etc

Whatever is the reason , the Project Manager and stakeholders should be aware of the reason the Project is initiated and clear with its objectives. This is critical to make timely decisions and to prioritize conflicting requirements and interests.

What is a project Management

Project management is the art of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives, by applying the modern management techniques from start to finish, within the predetermined constraint of quality, time and cost, to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders.

What are the skills required for project Management?

1) Personal skills

 Because the project Manager is looked upon as the leader, it is essential, you as project manager has to be a good leader. That talks on Vision, Communication skill, Integrity, Passion, Creativity, Compassion, Knowledge ,Delegation,Team building ,Problem Solving and finally Manage by example.You stand as an example for your team. All your behaviors are closely watched and followed by your team!!

2) Technical Skills 

 There are  two opinion on the need for technical skills for Project Manager. Some organizations prefer to have a project manager with good and in-depth technical knowledge of the Project he manages. While the other option is,  Technical details/decisions of the project are better handled by Technical leads or Architects.

There is no clear hard-fast rule on which is better. All depends on the type of the project. 

In my point of view, the smaller the project size, it is generally good and also expected that the project manager involves technically . As the project grew in size, it is widely appreciated if the Project Manager has a "Broad" knowledge on the technical environment , able to understand the techniques and has the skill to rope in required resources to solve problems.

3)Management Skills

This essentially is the "Process/ techniques" I mentioned earlier and can be put in brief as 

• Project planning, initiation, and organization
• Accurate estimating and control
• Project execution, monitoring and control
• Identifying, Managing risks and making decisions
• Effective problem management
• Performance management
• Recruiting people and keeping them, Growing and sustaining a high-performance team
• Managing change within an organization

We will discuss this more in the coming chapters in the PMBOK way.

What is a Program?

A Program is a collection of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control which may not be available if the projects are managed individually. A project may or may not be part of a program but a Program will always have projects.

An example for Program could be starting a Retail shop in a new location where there can be several projects including 1)identifying location 2)identifying the merchandise suitable for the new store/location 3) IT project to include the new store in their central applications like forecast and distribution etc. 

What is Program Management 

Program Management is the centralized way of managing the related projects (i.e program) to realize the strategic objectives and benefits of the program. The main focus will be on the project interdependency, resolving resource constraints, resolving inter project conflicts etc. 

Project Management Office  

Project Management Office (PMO) is the department or group that defines and maintains the standards of process, generally related to project management, within the organization.

• Strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. 
• Is the source of documentation, templates, guidance, and metrics on the practice of project management and execution. 
• May help provide resources, manage interdependency between projects.

Why need a Project Management / PMO?

There are many reasons for a Project to fail.  As per a recent survey by KPMG, technology is not the most critical factor. Inadequate project management implementation constitutes 32% of project failures, lack of communication constitutes 20% and unfamiliarity with scope and complexity constitutes 17%. Accordingly 69% of project failures are due to lack and/or improper implementation of project management methodologies.

So, There is a strong trend to start PMO in many Organizations so as to help monitor and standardize the Project Management activities.  

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