PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Phases of Project Management Life Cycle : Project management is a rationally planned and
organised effort to attain a specific goal. It comprises of organising, coordinating and managing
different tasks and resources for successful completion of project. A project lasts for a definite
period of time and then finishes. Projects are usually made up of different diverse elements or minitasks that are completed separately and finally combined together to make the completed project.

1. Project initiation: Project initiation is the first step in the project development cycle, and
in simple terms: starting up the project. A project is initiated by defining its reason, business
goals, and scope. The cause for initiation and the suggested solution to be implemented
must be defined. A project team is put together to define early milestones, and preliminary
budget proposal. The information in project initiation assists in performing an end of Phase
study for getting a GO No GO decision.
2. Project planning: Once the project is defined and project team is assembled, the next
phase is the in-depth Project Planning phase. This includes developing the PMP (Project
Management Plan), for guiding the team throughout the project development stage. In this
phase the required skills of development team, non-labour resources, risks plan, detailed
action items and milestones are explained.
3. Project development: On the basis of inputs received in the shape of project feasibility
study, preliminary project evaluation, project proposal and customer interviews, the following
outputs are produced:
a System design specification
b Programme functional specification
c Programme design specification
d Project plan
4. Project implementation: In this phase, the requirements are built and programmed. The
product is presented for client acceptance and full implementation after the quality
assurance analysis. If the client has accepted the final product, the project is finished and
closed down.
5. Project closure: It includes giving the final output to the customer, handing the project
documentation, manuals, source code, and network layouts. At last a Post Implementation
Review is to be carried out to identify the extent of project success and document review
outcomes.

Economic feasibility of a project: The economic feasibility aspect of a project relates to

the earning capacity of the project. Earnings of the project depend on the volume of sales.
Here, the following important indicators are taken into consideration:
Present demand of the goods produced through the project i.e. market facility (or) getting a
feel of the market.
a Future demand of the goods. A projection may be made about the future demand. The
period normally depends upon the scale of investment.
b Determining the extent of supply to meet the expected demand and arriving at the gap.
c Deciding in what way the project under consideration will have a reasonable chance to
share the market.
d Anticipated rate of return on investment. If it is positive, the project justifies the economic
norm in the relationship between cost and demand.
The commercial feasibility of a project involves a study of the proposed arrangements for the
purchase of raw materials and sale of finished products, etc. This study comprises the
following two aspects:
a. Arriving at the physical requirement of production inputs such as raw materials, power,
labour, etc at various levels of output and converting them into cost. In other words, deciding
costing pattern.
b. Matching costs with revenues with a view to estimating the profitability of the project and
the break-even point. The possibility ultimately decides whether the project will be a feasible
proposition or not.
B) Need for project planning : The purpose of project planning is to identify various areas
of the project work and the influencing factors, and subsequently define the boundaries of
the project performance. In addition, scope of the project also needs to be explicitly
mentioned in the list project objectives. Further it serves as a guide through its well defined
directions to perform the project.
Planning is basic to all human activities and requires common sense. It is a trap laid down to
capture the future. It helps in bridging the gap between where you are to where you want to
be. In a way, the complexity of the process aids in identifying the implication of such a plan
and whether it relates to immediate future or a long term perspective.
Planning thus involves:
a. brainstorming on various possible alternative courses of action,
b. choosing the most appropriate one (or ones)
c. agreeing what you can expect to achieve
d. calculating the human and material resources needed to reach your objectives
e. anticipating possible problems, and
f. getting agreement among all concerned about clear targets and timetables for the work in
view.
Planning techniques can address many organisational problems and opportunities, including
institutional development of your organisation and planning of disaster preparedness
activities.
C) Diversity management : Diversity management is a management strategy to promote
and maintain a positive workplace environment in the organisation. It is crucial for growth in
todays competitive marketplace.
Diversity management works on the principle of acceptance. Diversity management
inspires the employees to recognise that everyone is different. They should not be afraid or
be biased about these differences. Employees are encouraged to live with the fact that there
are different interests, different values, and different physical and emotional characteristics
present in the organisation. Also, this does not have to obstruct the productiveness or
produce conflict strong diversity management programme encourages the development of
skills and talents of the employees. It boosts the communication among employees and in
the long run, increases the productivity of the department.
The Four Layers Model

1. Personality: this includes an individual's likes and dislikes, values, and beliefs. Personality
is shaped early in life.
2. Internal dimensions: these include aspects of diversity over which we have no control
(though "physical ability" can change over time due to choices we make to be active or not,
or in cases of illness or accidents).
3. External dimensions: these include aspects of our lives which we have some control over,
which might change over time, and which usually form the basis for decisions on careers
and work styles
4. Organizational dimensions: this layer concerns the aspects of culture found in a work
setting.
D) Rules for network construction : The rules to be observed in constructing the network
diagram are discussed below:
Every activity must have a preceding and a succeeding event. An activity is numerically
represented by the pair of preceding and succeeding events. In the dinner project, for
instance, the activity send invitations is designated as (1-2).
1. Each event must have a distinct number. The number specified to an event can be chosen
in any way, provided this condition is fulfilled. In practice, yet, events are numbered in the
manner that the number at the head of the arrow is greater than that at its tail.
2. There must not be any loops in the project network;
3. The preceding and succeeding events are not same for more than one activity. This
signifies that every activity is represented by a uniquely numbered arrow. To make sure that
each activity is uniquely numbered, at times it is necessary to introduce dummy activities. A
dummy activity is an imaginary activity that can be completed in zero time and it does not
consume resources. It is symbolised by a dashed arrow. A dummy activity is also be used for
representing a constraint, obligatory to show proper relationship between activities.

Network Diagram for the Project

Key steps for effective risk management?

Explain any FIVE risk identification techniques.
Key steps for effective risk management are:
Risk Management is a field of management that deals with the possibility that various future
events may cause harm or threat to the organisation. Risk Management comprises of

strategies and techniques to recognise and confront any threat faced by a business in
fulfilling its mission.
In risk management, the following steps should be considered for effective
risk management:
Step 1 Recognition of assets at risk: The foremost step in the risk management technique
is to carefully identify the assets which might generate risks in project operations. These
assets may fall under various groups, such as tangible and intangible assets, movable and
immovable assets etc.
Step 2 Valuation of assets: The assets identified and grouped in the previous step are to
be valued and categorised into different classes such as critical and essential.
Step 3 Identifying the intimidation: Threats can be distinct as anything that contributes to
the intermission or devastation of any service/product. Various compulsions can be grouped
into environmental, internal, and external threats.
Step 4 Risk consideration: The process of risk appraisal includes not only assessment as
to the provability of occurrence but also the assessment as to the impending severity of loss,
if risk materialises. This will support in determining the appropriate risk lessening strategy,
the residual risk, and the investment required to alleviate the risk.
Step 5 Emergent strategies for risk management: After risks identification and assessment,
one must apply various risk management techniques such as risk avoidance, risk reduction,
risk retention and risk transfer etc.
FIVE risk identification techniques are:
Risks must be defined in two parts. The first part must define the cause of the risk and the
other must define the impact of the risk. For example, a risk may be defined as "The supplier
not meeting deadline will mean that budget will exceed". If the above format is used, then it
would be much easier to remove duplicates, and understand the risk. For each class (phase
and point of view), we may use some proven risk identification techniques quoted in the
literature to identify the possible risks.
These techniques include:
Assumption analysis: Assumptions made in planning stage of the project are taken as
true, real, or certain. A closure scrutiny of these may reveal possible risks.
Brain storming: Brain storming is a useful tool to generate the possible risk events in
quick time. It is performed by a cross-function team following set procedures
Checklist: The checklist is developed based on past experience. It provides a useful guide
in listing foreseeable risks.
Delphi: Delphi study is carried out with the help of a group of experts. Since the experts
are people who have a deep insight into the system functioning, it is possible to gather
useful information in this way. There a facilitator distributes a questionnaire to experts;
responses are summarized (anonymously) & re-circulated among the experts for comments.
This technique is used to achieve a consensus of experts and helps to receive unbiased
data, ensuring that no one person will have undue influence on the outcome
Interview: Interview may be held with knowledgeable people to identify or to gain more indepth knowledge of certain risks or to create a list of control measures.
Answer 4:
a) Parametric estimating tool of cost estimating :
Budgeted costs of project activities are prepared by estimating scheduled activities and the
relative costs of the resources needed to complete each activity.
It is a technique that makes use of a statistical relationship between historical data and other
variables (e.g., square footage in construction, lines of code in software development,
requisite labour hours) to compute a cost estimate for a schedule activity resource. This
technique can generate higher levels of accuracy depending upon the sophistication, the
underlying resource quantity and cost data build into the model. A cost-related example

consists of multiplying the planned quantity of work to be executed by the historical cost per
unit to obtain the estimated cost.
b) Procurement process : An effective procurement process plays in important role in the
successful implementation of a project. A procurement process starts with the identification
of the required materials and equipments.
A project procurement process covers the following functions:
Request to invite bids or tenders: This covers the listing requirements of equipment,
preparing specifications, and sending request to invite bids.
Shortlist suppliers: This includes identifying the required number of suppliers out of the
possible ones.
Invite bids: This element covers the invitation of bids to receiving them.
Evaluate, negotiate, and choose bid(s): This involves making comparative statement of
various elements of price, negotiate technical and commercial aspects including price, select
the lowest bidder(s), and get the approval of a competent person.
Prepare and place orders: This includes writing the purchase order which describe the
products and state all the commercial terms in simple and clear words.
Order fulfillment: This includes monitoring the progress of manufacturing of equipment, its
quality, packaging, and associated documentation.
Transport and shipping: This covers all the formalities needed to get the equipments
from the supplier to the project site.
Receive, inspect and store equipment at site: This includes activities like general
inspection, marking the identification number, and inspecting and storing it at a secure place.
c) Project teams responsibilities in project execution:
The project team members are expected to assist in the management of the project as well;
albeit, at a more functional level. The critical project management elements for the project
team to provide assistance with include:
i. Performance monitoring: Implement an execution plan to measure the actual
performance as compared to planned performance. For example, the actual project
schedules will need to be reviewed periodically and compared to baseline schedules in order
to discern if the project is performing according to plan. If the project is not performing
according to baseline, steps will be taken to get the project back on track. The same
monitoring and analysing should take place on budgets, quality, risks, scope, etc.
ii. Provide project status: While the project manager is responsible for relaying project
status to parties outside the project team, the project team is expected to report the status to
the project manager. This includes communicating information both on a formal and an
informal basis.
d) Project termination: Project termination is one of the most serious decisions of a project
management team and its control board. The decision of project termination affects all the
stakeholders of the project and can put some negative impact on the organisations growth.
So it is important to critically evaluate all the aspects before taking the decision. The project
manager and his or her team members will feel that they personally failed. It can also put a
negative impact on the team members motivation level and their productivity.
The following are the key reasons to terminate a project:
i. Technological reasons
ii. Results of project requirements or specifications are not clear or impractical
iii. Fundamental change in project requirements or specifications, so that the underlying
contract cannot be changed accordingly
iv. Lack of project planning, especially risk management
v The planned result or product of the project turn into obsolete, is not any longer needed
vi Sufficient human resources, tools, or material are not accessible
vii. The increase in project cost leads lower profit than expected

viii The parent organisation do not exist longer

ix The change in strategy of parent organisation, leads towards the project does not support
the new strategy
x Essential conditions disappear
xi Lack of management support
xii Insufficient customer support
Quality planning is the process of identifying the quality standards that are related to the
project and determining how to these standards can be achieved.
It is one of the significant processes of project planning and should be performed on a
continuous basis and in parallel with the other project planning processes. A good quality
planning process starts with a clear definition of the goals of the project. What is the product
or deliverable likely to achieve? What does the product look like? What functions will it
perform? How do you evaluate customer satisfaction? What determines the success of a
project? Answering these questions will help you in identifying and defining quality goals. It
will also allow you to discuss the approach and plans required to accomplish those goals.
This includes measuring the risks to success, setting high standards, documenting
everything, and defining the methods and tests to attain, control, forecast and validate
success.
Inputs to quality planning:
a. Quality policy: Quality policy refers to the overall intentions and direction of an
organisation pertaining to quality, as formally expressed by top management.
b. Scope statement: The scope statement comprises the key objectives of the project that
are needed by different stakeholders.
Product description: It includes the details of technical issues and other concerns which
may influence quality planning.
c. Standards and regulations: The project management team must acknowledge all the
relevant standards or regulations that may influence the project.
Tools and techniques to quality planning
a. Benefit/cost analysis: The quality planning process should acknowledge benefit/cost
trade-offs. The benefits should cover higher productivity, lower cost and high customer
satisfaction.
b. Benchmarking: In this, we compare actual or planned project practices to practices of
other projects to produce ideas for improvement and to find a suitable standard to measure
performance.
c. Flowcharting: It is a diagram that depicts how different elements of a system relate to
each other.
d. Design of experiments: It is an analytical technique that helps identifying which variables
affect the overall income the most.
Outcomes from quality planning
a. Quality management plans: It provides input to the overall project plan and must deal
with quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement for the project.
b. Operational definitions: It particularly explains what something is, and how it is
measured by the quality control process.
c. Checklists: It is a structured tool that helps in verifying if a set of required steps has been
performed.
d. Inputs to other processes: The quality planning process may discover a need for further
activity in some other area.

Answer 6: Performance evaluation is an important tool for the assessment of a system or

service according to the measurements specified. We can define it as the systematic
process of assessment of effectiveness against predetermined norms, standards, or
expressed goals. In management evaluation of any service, process or activity typically
refers to "determining its worth".
Types of project performance evaluation techniques
The following are the types of project performance evaluation techniques:
(i) Process (or implementation) evaluation: It is also called formative evaluations which
are designed to improve the implementation of a program, policy or strategy as it unfolds. In
this type of evaluation we measure the level to which a program is effective as it was
planned. It usually considers the program activities conformance to statutory and regulatory
requirements, program design, and professional standards or customer expectations.
(ii) Outcome evaluation: It is also called summative evaluations which are designed to
judge a program, policy or strategys relevance, success and/or cost-effectiveness which
includes its relative contribution to the intended outcomes. This type of evaluation measures
the level to which a program attains its outcome-oriented objectives. It mainly focuses on
outputs and outcomes including unintended effects to evaluate program effectiveness but
may also consider program process to understand how outcomes are produced.
(iii) Impact evaluation: This is a type of outcome evaluation that measures the net effect of
a program by evaluating program outcomes with an estimate of what would have happened
in the absence of the program. This type of evaluation is used when external factors are
known to influence the programs outcomes, in order to isolate the programs contribution to
achievement of its objectives.
(iv)Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses: Cost-benefit and cost effectiveness
analyses compare a programs outputs or outcomes with the costs (resources expended) in
order to produce them. When applied to existing programs, they are also regarded as a
variety of program evaluation. It measures the cost of meeting a single goal or objective,
and can be used to identify y the least cost alternative to meet that goal. This analysis aims
to recognize all relevant costs and benefits, generally expressed in dollar terms.
FOUR benefits of performance measurement and evaluation
It is tools to develop management and improve decision making at all levels. Participatory
approaches, on the other hand, can assist to build capacity for ongoing improvement at local
levels.
Benefits of Performance

Measurement and Evaluation

Policy and programme planning

and development

Results may confirm policy and programme

direction or identify gaps that need to be
addressed.
Finding out what works well/not so well can
be used to guide future funding
decisions/priorities.
At the outset, developing a road map
clarifies goals, explains the big picture and
ensures that everyone shares a common
focus.
Enables monitoring and if required, permits
adjustments to be made along the way.

Decision making about funding

Clarifying goals

Tracking progress