Module#1 Basic definitions
- Projects
- Sub projects
- Operations
- Programs
- Business strategy
- Portfolio management
- Project management office (PMO)
- Contract
- Statement of work (SOW)
- Enterprise environmental factors
- Organizational process assets
- Stakeholders
Projects
- Projects are temporary in nature
- Are performed by people. At the end of the project the team is dismantled
- Have start and end dates
- Constrained by limited resources of time, cost and scope
- Are progressively elaborated. That means, when we start a project we have very less information about the project and as the project progresses we gain more insight into the project.
- Projects deliver unique products or services as output
If the work under consideration satisfies all these conditions, then it can be considered as a project, and we can apply project management tools and techniques to manage them.
Sub projects
For ease of management, a large project can be boken down into smaller projects (sub-projects).
Operations
- Operations are continuous in nature, where as projects have specific start and end dates.
- Operations deliver standard products and services, where as projects deliver unique products and services.
- Like projects, operations are also performed by people.
- Like projects, operations are also constrained by limited resources of time,cost and scope.
Setting up a factory is an example of a project, where as running the plant (production planning, production and running of shifts) is an example of operations.
Programs
Program is a set of inter related projects, when done together gives you more value than doing them one after the other.
Most of the product companies manage their product development as a program, which comprises of multiple projects (hardware, software, firmware, marketing, support, localization), all contributing to the product.
Business strategy
Inorder to achieve their business goals, organizations develop their business strategies like;
- Develop a new product for the already known market
- Develop a new product for a new market
- Market an existing product in a new market
- Market an existing product in the known market
The implementation of these strategies are supported by projects and programs.
Portfolio management
Organizations have only limited resources to deploy on their new initiatives (projects), which support their business goals, and at the same time are in alignment to the organization’s value system. The whole process of selecting the right projects (which give the maximum benefits), which are in true alignment to the organization’s strategy for growth, then tracking their alignment during execution and finally comparing their real benefits against the forecasts (post implementation) is known as project portfolio management (PPM). A project portfolio is always linked to business goals. A project portfolio can contain projects, programs and other work.
PMO – Project Management Office
Is a centralized function within organizations who provide tools, templates, procedures, guidelines to project teams. In some organizations all project managers will be reporting to this function.
Contract
A contract is a legally binding agreement signed between a customer and supplier.
Statement of work (SOW)
Is a high level definition of work to be prepared, which is generally prepared before project initiation.
Enterprise environmental factors
Before deciding on the projects to be executed, one has to study and evaluate the environmental factors, which can be impacted positively or negatively by the project and include but not limited to;
- Labor laws of the country of project execution
- Waste disposal norms
- Impact on environment in any form (farm land, tribals, nuclear)
- Religious beliefs
Organizational process assets
Include but not limited to
- Policies, procedure, guidelines of your organization and your customer’s organization, which the project must follow.
- Any intellectual property of your’s or any other stakeholder of the project.
Stakeholder
Anyone, who is affected positively or negatively, by doing a project or by not doing it is a stakeholder.
Example;
- Project manager
- Sponsor
- Team members
- Customer
- End users
- Competitors
