Summary - Introduction to Project Management Topics

Let us quickly summarize what we learnt in the previous chapters about the basics of Project Management:

• The activities inside an organization are generally organized into groups, which fall into two categories: operations and projects.
• Operations usually consist of ongoing routine work, whereas a project has a goal to generate a unique product, service, or result in a fixed time frame i.e.,, it has a planned beginning and a planned end.
• Organizations launch projects for different reasons, such as to meet a business or legal requirement or to take on an opportunity offered by the market.
• A project, like anything else in an organization, needs to be managed.
• Project management is the application of knowledge and skills to project activities in order to meet the project objectives.
• It involves performing a set of processes that constitute nine knowledge areas of project management:
      o Communication management
      o Cost management
      o Human resource management
      o Integration management
      o Procurement management
      o Quality management
      o Risk management
      o Scope management and
      o Time management.
• Each process is part of a knowledge area and has a membership in one of the five process groups:
      o Initiating
      o Planning
      o Executing
      o Monitoring & controlling and
      o Closing.
• The process groups represent different stages of a project lifecycle.
• Each project has a set of individuals or organizations that it influences positively or negatively, and these individuals and organizations are accordingly called positive and negative stakeholders.
• Some of these stakeholders may influence the project. Therefore, you must identify all the project stakeholders, positive and negative.
• The different project stakeholders might have different and conflicting expectations, which you as the project manager need to analyze and manage.
• The project environment consists of elements such as organizational culture, organizational structure, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
• The structure of the performing organization could be functional, projectized, or matrix.
• In a Functional Organization project managers don't have much authority whereas in a projectized organization, the project manager is king. And there is the matrix organization which can be a combination of either extremes.
• Some organizations have a composite structure, which is a hybrid of these three basic structures.
• A project can be standalone or part of a program, which is a collection of interrelated projects and possibly non-project work.
• A project can also be part of a portfolio, which is a collection of programs, projects, and other related work.


Previous: Big Picture of Project Management

Next: Important Terms & Definitions

Chapter 10: Organizational Influences on Projects

In the previous chapters, we saw about the various stakeholders in a project and also about the most influential & important stakeholder of them all, you. In this chapter, we are going to take a look at the impact of organizational culture on a project and its operations.

So, lets get started!!!

Can an Organizations Culture affect a Projects Outcome?

A project is typically performed inside a company called the performing organization, which creates an environment for the project called the project environment. The projects are influenced by the project environment, which is shaped by many elements, such as organizational culture, organizational structure, enterprise environmental factors, organizational process assets, and the maturity of the organization.

To summarize, Yes the organizational environment within which a project is being executed can have a significant impact on the outcome of the project.

Understanding the Organizational Culture

Each organization often develops its own unique culture, which depends on many factors, such as the application area of the organization and the general management philosophy implemented in the organization.

The organizational culture includes the following elements:

1. Work environment - The organizational culture is reflected by work ethic and work hours. For example, do the employees work strictly from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or is the timing flexible so that employees can change their work timings to cater to some of their personal commitments. Ex: If a persons wife is pregnant and is experiencing morning sickness, he would have to support his wife atleast for an hour or so in the morning and hence he may not be able to make it to work @ 8:00 AM sharp. Would the organization be flexible enough to allow him to come in late say 9:30 AM and let him work till 6:30 to compensate for it?
2. Management style - Organizational culture also reflects authority relationships. Do the managers manage by authority or by leadership? How much feedback is taken from the employees in making management decisions? How do the employees view the authority of the management?
3. Policies - The organizational policies, methods, and procedures also reflect the organizational culture.
4. Values and vision - A significant part of organizational culture lives in the set of values, norms, beliefs, and expectations shared within the organization. This may be impacted by the organization’s mission and vision. For example, a nonprofit organization will have different values than a for-profit organization. Furthermore, one organization may encourage an entrepreneurial approach while another organization may be rigidly hierarchical and take an authoritarian approach to making decisions about what to do and what not to do.

At the beginning of this chapter, I had said that an organizations culture can have a significant impact on a project. Now that we know what is part of an organizations culture, let us see how an organizations culture can influence an project.

Organizational culture influences multiple aspects of a project. Some are:

1. Project selection - The organizational culture will creep into the selection criteria for projects and programs. For example, a rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian organization may not be very adaptive to programs and projects with high risk.
2. Project management style - The project manager should adapt the management style to the organizational culture. For example, an authoritarian style may run into problems in an entrepreneurial organization with a participative culture.
3. Team performance assessments - While making the team performance assessment, the project manager should keep in mind the established norms and expectations within the organization.
4. Project policies and procedures - The project policies and procedures will be influenced by the organizational policies and procedures because both should be consistent with each other.

The culture of an organization is greatly influenced by its structure.

From the perspective of a project, there are two kinds of organizations:
1. project-based and
2. non-project-based.

The project-based organizations fall into two subcategories, those that derive their revenue primarily from performing projects for others and those that do in-house projects to deliver products or services for customers. Project-based organizations are well aware of the importance of project management and generally have systems to support project management. Non-project-based organizations generally have a low appreciation for and understanding of the importance of project management and often lack systems to support project management.

The point here is that the type of organization and the organizational structure have a great influence on how the projects will be managed inside the organization. This is what we are going to learn in the next chapter.

Previous: Most Influential Stakeholder

Next: Understanding the Organizational Structure

Chapter 2: Introduction to Projects

Well, I am very excited to start writing this series of articles to help us prepare for the PMP Certification. We will be taking small steps one after the other and slowly reach our goal of the PMP certification. This is the first step in our pursuit.

So, lets get started!!!

What is a Project?

Anything and everything around us can be considered a project. For ex: building a nice home for you and your family is a project, same is the case if a government is trying to build a big power plant in your city. Irrespective of the size or the amount of money involved, both of them are projects.

What is common between these 2 examples? Your house and a power plant? Both involve, people, money and time. They both have a start and end and most importantly someone has to supervise the whole way to ensure that the project proceeds as planned and is completed on time and within budget.

The important point to note here is – someone has to supervise the whole way!!!

Yes, you read it right, any project has to be managed and controlled by an expert if it has to be a success. Failing which, the project will most probably be a failure.

Exam Trivia:
Miracles do happen. But, in terms of the PMP Exam, Miracles are like the UFOs. Everyone has a doubt, but no one will risk their life to prove their existence. Similarly, there might be a rare case where an ill managed project becomes successful, our goal is to manage a project properly and as per the guidelines laid down by the PMI Institute to ensure that the project we are managing is a Success.

Before we proceed any further, let me give you the technical definition of what a project is:

A project is a work effort made over a finite period of time with a start and a finish to create a unique product, service, or result. Because a project has a start and an end, it is also called a temporary effort or endeavor

The definition is simple, isnt it? Now recollect, building your house is a project. You start it with a Grihapravesham (The Initial Pooja’s you do before beginning the construction), then you identify a builder, start buying raw materials like cement, steel, bricks etc, and go step by step and at the end of 9 months, voila your new and beautiful house is ready.

Since, you will no longer be building your house after 9 months, it is a temporary Endeavour and has a finite end at the end of construction.

Now I guess you understand the definition :-)

What is meant by Managing a Project?

Managing a project means managing the lifecycle of the project, starting from the beginning (initiating) and going to the end (closing); this is accomplished using processes, which constitute what are called project management knowledge areas. Although you use your knowledge in terms of processes to manage the projects, the management will be greatly influenced by the environment in which the project runs, such as the structure and culture of the performing organization.

If you want a quick synopsis of the various stages in the life of Managing a Project, just go back to the previous chapter and read it…

Terms you need to understand to begin your preparation:

Well, we have started our preparation for the PMP Exam. In the course of this and subsequent articles, we will be using various important terms. Each has a meaning and purpose. Now, let us go through each of them one by one.

Exam Trivia:
All these terms are simple and very important. You need to understand them in order to make sense of the subsequent topics. So pay attention!!!

• Organization

An organization is a group of individuals organized to work for some purpose or mission. Computer companies, telephone companies (to whom you pay your phone bills), and cable companies are examples of organizations. An organization might offer products, such as books, or services, such as Internet access or online banking. A project is usually performed inside an organization. Organization is a very broad concept that includes groups for profit and nonprofit, public and private, and government and nongovernment.

• Project stakeholder

A project stakeholder is an individual or an organization that can be positively or negatively affected by the project execution. A project can have a wide array of stakeholders, like the project sponsor, the customer for whom you are executing the project, the end user who is going to use the system etc.

• Process

A process is a set of related tasks performed to manage a certain aspect of a project, such as cost or quality. Each process belongs to a knowledge area and corresponds to a process group. There are a bunch of set guidelines that can help you achieve a goal and they are usually termed as processes.

• Knowledge area

A knowledge area in project management is defined by its knowledge requirements related to managing a specific aspect of a project, such as cost, by using a set of processes. PMI recognizes a total of nine knowledge areas, such as cost management, human resource management etc.

• Performing organization

The performing organization is the organization that is performing the project.

• Project management

Project management is the usage of knowledge, skills, and tools to manage a project from start to finish with the goal of meeting the project requirements. It involves using the appropriate processes. Remember the Supervisor who is going to oversee your house construction

• Program

A program is a set of related projects managed in a coordinated fashion to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness and to obtain benefits and control that would not be obtained by managing them individually. For example, a program could be delivering a product (or service) that consists of sub-products (or service components) delivered by the constituent projects. Also, a program might include related work that is not included in the scope of any of the constituent projects.

• Program management

Program management is the centralized, coordinated management of a specific program to achieve its strategic goals, objectives, and benefits.

• Program management office (PMO)

The program management office is an entity in an organization that is responsible for providing centralized, coordinated support to the program managers managing programs and unrelated projects.

• Project management office

Project management office (PMO) refers to an entity in an organization that is responsible for providing centralized coordinated management and support for projects in the organization.

Exam Trivia:
Although both have the same abbreviation, PMO, the project management office and program management office are not identical. For example, only an organization that runs programs will have a program management office, whereas an organization that runs individual projects can have a project management office.

What is a Portfolio:

A portfolio is a set of projects, programs, and related work that is managed in a coordinated fashion to obtain business objectives in the strategic plan of the organization.
Portfolio management is the centralized management of one or more portfolios that includes identifying, authorizing, prioritizing, managing, and controlling projects, programs, and other related work in order to obtain specific business objectives in the strategic plan of the organization.

Now that we know the key terms that are required to continue our preparation, lets move on to the next topic…

Previous: Main parts in Managing a Project

Next: Understanding Projects