🏭Production and Operations Management Unit 9 – Project Management

What's This Unit About?

• Project management focuses on planning, organizing, and managing resources to successfully complete specific project goals and objectives
• Involves applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
• Consists of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing projects
• Aims to deliver projects on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards
• Requires effective communication, collaboration, and coordination among project stakeholders
• Utilizes various tools and techniques to plan, schedule, and control project activities
  • Gantt charts visually represent project schedules and timelines
  • PERT charts show task dependencies and critical paths
• Addresses risks and uncertainties associated with projects through risk management processes
• Ensures efficient allocation and utilization of resources (human, financial, and material)

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Project a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
• Project management the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements
• Project manager the person responsible for leading the project team and ensuring project success
• Project scope the total work that must be done to deliver a product, service, or result with specified features and functions
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team
• Critical path the longest sequence of activities that must be completed on time for the project to meet its deadline
• Resource allocation the process of assigning available resources to project activities
• Risk management the process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risks

Project Management Framework

• Project management framework provides a structured approach to managing projects
• Consists of five process groups initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing
• Initiation defines project objectives, identifies stakeholders, and authorizes project commencement
• Planning establishes project scope, defines tasks, estimates resources, and develops project schedule and budget
  • Involves creating a project management plan that guides project execution and control
• Execution carries out project activities according to the project management plan
  • Involves coordinating people and resources, managing stakeholder expectations, and performing project work
• Monitoring and controlling tracks project progress, identifies deviations, and takes corrective actions
  • Involves measuring project performance, reporting status, and managing changes
• Closing formally concludes the project, obtains stakeholder acceptance, and documents lessons learned

Planning and Scheduling Techniques

• Planning and scheduling techniques help project managers develop realistic project timelines and allocate resources effectively
• Gantt charts a bar chart that visually represents project schedule, showing tasks, durations, and dependencies
  • Helps identify task relationships, milestones, and critical path
• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) a network diagram that shows task dependencies and estimates task durations
  • Helps determine the critical path and identify potential schedule risks
• CPM (Critical Path Method) a technique used to identify the longest sequence of dependent tasks (critical path) in a project
  • Helps focus on critical tasks that directly impact project completion date
• Resource leveling a technique used to adjust project schedule based on resource availability and constraints
  • Helps resolve resource overallocation and optimize resource utilization
• Milestone planning identifies significant events or achievements in the project lifecycle
  • Helps track project progress and communicate key deliverables to stakeholders

Resource Allocation and Management

• Resource allocation assigns available resources (human, financial, and material) to project activities
• Involves identifying resource requirements, determining resource availability, and allocating resources to tasks
• Resource management ensures efficient utilization of allocated resources throughout the project lifecycle
• Includes monitoring resource performance, tracking resource costs, and adjusting resource assignments as needed
• Resource leveling techniques help resolve resource overallocation and optimize resource utilization
  • Involves adjusting project schedule based on resource availability and constraints
• Resource smoothing techniques help maintain a consistent level of resource usage throughout the project
  • Involves adjusting task durations or start dates to minimize resource fluctuations
• Effective resource management requires close collaboration with functional managers and project team members
• Utilizes resource management software tools to plan, allocate, and track project resources

Risk Assessment and Mitigation

• Risk assessment identifies, analyzes, and prioritizes project risks
  • Involves determining the likelihood and impact of potential risks on project objectives
• Risk identification techniques include brainstorming, checklists, and expert judgment
• Risk analysis assesses the probability and impact of identified risks
  • Qualitative risk analysis prioritizes risks based on their relative importance
  • Quantitative risk analysis numerically estimates the probability and impact of risks
• Risk mitigation develops strategies to reduce the likelihood or impact of identified risks
• Risk response strategies include avoidance, transference, mitigation, and acceptance
  • Risk avoidance involves changing project plans to eliminate the risk
  • Risk transference shifts the impact of the risk to a third party (insurance)
• Risk monitoring and control continuously tracks identified risks and identifies new risks throughout the project lifecycle
• Utilizes risk registers to document and communicate project risks and their associated response strategies

Project Monitoring and Control

• Project monitoring and control involves tracking project progress, identifying deviations, and taking corrective actions
• Monitoring techniques include status reports, progress meetings, and performance reviews
  • Status reports provide regular updates on project progress, issues, and risks
  • Progress meetings bring project team members together to discuss project status and address concerns
• Earned Value Management (EVM) a technique used to measure project performance against planned scope, schedule, and cost
  • Compares planned work with actual work completed and actual costs incurred
• Change control manages changes to project scope, schedule, and budget
  • Involves reviewing change requests, assessing impacts, and approving or rejecting changes
• Quality control ensures project deliverables meet specified quality standards
  • Involves inspections, testing, and audits to identify and correct quality issues
• Corrective actions address identified deviations and bring the project back on track
  • May involve adjusting project plans, reallocating resources, or modifying project scope

Tools and Software in Project Management

• Project management software tools assist in planning, scheduling, resource allocation, and monitoring and controlling projects
• Gantt chart software (Microsoft Project, GanttPro) creates and manages project schedules and timelines
• PERT chart software (Lucidchart, SmartDraw) visualizes task dependencies and estimates project durations
• Resource management software (Mavenlink, Workfront) plans, allocates, and tracks project resources
• Collaboration and communication tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams) facilitate team communication and information sharing
• Document management systems (Google Drive, Dropbox) store and organize project documents and deliverables
• Time tracking software (Toggl, Harvest) tracks time spent on project activities and generates productivity reports
• Risk management software (Resolver, LogicManager) identifies, assesses, and monitors project risks
• Earned Value Management software (Deltek Cobra, EcoSys) measures project performance against planned scope, schedule, and cost

Real-World Applications and Case Studies

• Construction project management applies project management principles to construction projects (buildings, infrastructure)
  • Involves coordinating architects, engineers, contractors, and suppliers to deliver projects on time and within budget
• IT project management manages the development and implementation of information technology solutions (software, hardware)
  • Utilizes agile project management methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) to deliver projects incrementally and adapt to changing requirements
• New product development projects bring new products from concept to market
  • Involves cross-functional collaboration among marketing, engineering, and manufacturing teams
• Event management projects plan and execute events (conferences, weddings, festivals)
  • Requires coordination of venues, vendors, speakers, and attendees
• Aerospace and defense projects manage the development and production of aircraft, spacecraft, and military equipment
  • Involves strict quality and safety requirements and close collaboration with government agencies
• Case study NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover project successfully landed a rover on Mars in February 2021
  • Utilized project management techniques to coordinate the efforts of multiple NASA centers and international partners
  • Delivered the project on time and within budget despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic