Project Management ARticle on planning Process

8/13/2019 Project Management ARticle on planning Process

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Impact of the Project Manager on Project Management

Planning Processes

ABSTRACT

A projects successful completion depends upon planning and the execution. As

planning proceeds execution, proper planning is of the utmost importance. Since the

project manager is fully accountable for the success of the project, he is responsible for

verifying that all planning processes are properly executed.

The objective of the study reported in this paper is to evaluate the impact of the project

manager on the quality of project planning processes within the nine nowledge areas

defined by the !"#$%.!articipants in the study were requested to evaluate their planning procedure on five

liert scale questionnaire& the results of the study reveal '(is "anagement) and

'*ommunications) as the ones with the lowest planning quality. Analysis of the results

indicates that the poor quality in these areas is a result of the insufficient now+how of

the project manager and the functional managers. mproving the poor quality planning

processes requires the development of new tools in areas such as communications, as

well as organi-ational training programs designed for the functional managers.


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INTRODUCTION

!roject success is measured as the ability to complete the project according to desired

specifications, and within the specified budget and the promised time schedule, while

eeping the customer and staeholders happy. or proper project completion both

planning and execution need to be properly implemented.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the actual impact of the project manager on

the quality of project planning processes and to resolve how his decisions can be more

effective. The methodology used in this study is based on the !roject "anagement

#ody of %nowledge / !"#$%.

According to the !"#$% a project manager is concerned with nine different nowledge

areas. The processes are grouped into the following four life cycle phases0 initiation,

planning, execution and closure. This study concentrates on the planning phase. These

processes can be well defined by this table.

Knole!ge Area Planning Processes Other Processes

ntegration !roject !roject !lan 1evelopment !lan 2xecution,

ntegrated *hange *ontrol

Scope Scope !lanning,

1efinition

nitiation,

Scope 3erification,

Scope *hange *ontrolTime Activity 1efinition,

Activity Sequencing,

Activity 1uration

2stimating,

Schedule 1evelopment

Schedule *ontrol

*ost (esource !lanning,

*ost 2stimating,

*ost #udgeting

*ost *ontrol

4uality 4uality !lanning 4uality

Assurance,

4uality *ontrol

5uman

(esources

$rgani-ational !lanning,

Staff Acquisition

Team 1evelopment


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*ommunications *ommunications !lanning nformation 1istribution,

!erformance (eporting,

Administrative *losure

(is (is "anagement

!lanning,

(is dentification,

4ualitative (is Analysis,

4uantitative (is Analysis,

(is (esponse !lanning

(is "onitoring 6 *ontrol

!rocurement !rocurement !lanning,

Solicitation !lanning

Solicitation,

Source Selection,

*ontract Administration

$ut of the 78 processes listed, 9: are identified by the !"#$% as related to planning. f

a project is to be properly planned, these 9: processes have to be properly executed.

Research Metho!olog"#


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A field study was conducted to evaluate the extent of the project managers involvement

in the planning processes and to evaluate their quality.

!articipants in the study were project managers and others who are involved in project

management activities. The 9; participants were ased to complete the survey.

*onvenience sampling was used in this study.

The following scale was used for evaluating the intensity of use of the different products0

< / The product is always obtained

= / The product is obtained quite frequently

7 / The product is obtained frequently

9 / The product is seldom obtained

: / The product is hardly ever obtained

; / do not now whether the product is being obtained

Res$lts % &in!ings#

A simple mean and standard deviation method is used to find out the results.

Knole!ge Area Planning Processes Mean S'D

ntegration !roject !roject !lan

1evelopment

= :.:

Scope Scope !lanning,

1efinition

7.> ;.8

Time Activity 1efinition,

Activity Sequencing,

Activity 1uration

2stimating,

Schedule

1evelopment

7.8 ;.?

*ost (esource !lanning,

*ost 2stimating,

*ost #udgeting

7.7 .:

4uality 4uality !lanning

4uality Assurance,

9.8 :.9


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5uman

(esources

$rgani-ational

!lanning,

Staff Acquisition

7.? .8

*ommunications *ommunications

!lanning

9.7 :.:

(is (is "anagement

!lanning,

(is dentification,

4ualitative (is

Analysis,

4uantitative (is

Analysis,

(is (esponse

!lanning

9.7 :.9

!rocurement !rocurement

!lanning,


7.7 :.9

(igh )$alit" areas, to which ntegration, Scope, Time, and 5uman (esources belong.

The score for this group is around =.

Me!i$m )$alit" areas, to which *ost, 4uality, and !rocurement belong. The score for

this group is around 7.

Poor )$alit" areas, to which (is and *ommunications belong. The score of both is

around 9.7.

ANA*+SIS AND DISCUSSION

Assuming that for successful completion of a project, all processes in the nine

nowledge areas should be of high quality, we should discuss ways to improve the poor


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performance areas. !erformance in a specific area is a function of the project

managers now+how of that area, the now+how of other professionals, such as

functional managers, who are involved in the specific process, and with the project

managers ability to affect the area and its attendant processes.

n general, functional managers are accountable for the proper execution of the specific

wor pacages assigned to them, whereas the project manager is responsible for

integration and infrastructure+related wor pacages and activities. !rocess now+how

means being familiar with the required inputs, the tools and techniques used, and the

desired outputs of the process. f this is not the case, then ris management, or any

other relevant processes, cannot be effectively handled on a wor pacage level or on

the integrated level.

,$alit" Knole!ge Area Planning Processes Other Processes5igh ntegration !roject !roject !lan

1evelopment

!lan 2xecution,

ntegrated *hange

*ontrol

5igh Scope Scope !lanning,

1efinition

nitiation,

Scope 3erification,

Scope *hange

*ontrol

5igh Time Activity 1efinition,Activity Sequencing,

Activity 1uration

2stimating,

Schedule

1evelopment

Schedule *ontrol

"edium *ost (esource !lanning,

*ost 2stimating,

*ost #udgeting

*ost *ontrol

"edium 4uality 4uality !lanning

4uality Assurance,

4uality *ontrol

5igh 5uman

(esources

$rgani-ational

!lanning,

Staff Acquisition

Team 1evelopment


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!oor *ommunications *ommunications

!lanning

nformation

1istribution,

!erformance

(eporting,

Administrative

*losure

!oor (is (is "anagement

!lanning,

(is dentification,

4ualitative (is

Analysis,

4uantitative (is

Analysis,

(is (esponse

!lanning

(is "onitoring 6

*ontrol

"edium !rocurement !rocurement

!lanning,


Solicitation,

Source Selection,

*ontract

Administration

CONC*USION

As the person who is fully accountable for the success of the project as a whole, the

project manager is responsible for overcoming the difficulties encountered in

guaranteeing that all planning processes are properly executed. n order to resolve the

problems, the project manager should identify the events that have a negative impact


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on the successful completion of the project and develop explicit mitigating plans to

accommodate them.

n some areas, such as '*ommunications) and '4uality), the project management

community should develop better tools and techniques to support the project managers

efforts. n other areas, such as '(is) and '*ost), more emphasis should be placed on

the training of functional managers in the use of the relevant tools and techniques. n

other words, the functional manager should also get intensive, but adapted project

management training. The agent for such a fundamental change in the organi-ational

culture cannot be the project manager alone. t is essential that it be sponsored at a

high level of the organi-ation, and even treated as a project by itself.

References#

:. !roject "anagement nstitute, A @uide to !roject "anagement #ody of

%nowledge, !roject "anagement nstitute, ewton Square, !ennsylvania, BSA,

9;;;.


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9. Catson, C. 2. 6 #ehne (. (., 'Application of 2xpectancy Theory and Bser

$bservations in dentifying actors which Affect 5uman !erformances on

*omputer !rojects), Dournal of 2ducational *omputing (esearch, 3ol. ?, o. 7,

:88:, pp. 7E7+7?E.

7. leming, 4. C. 6 %oppelman, D. "., 'The 2arned 3alue #ody of %nowledge),

!"2Twor, "ay :88


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!lease fill the questionnaire by using following scale

< / The product is always obtained

= / The product is obtained quite frequently

7 / The product is obtained frequently

9 / The product is seldom obtained

: / The product is hardly ever obtained

; / do not now whether the product is being obtained

Planning

Product

ever Always 1onot

now

Project Plan : 9 7 = < ;Project

Deliverables

: 9 7 = < ;

Work

Breakdown

Structure

: 9 7 = < ;

Project

Activities

: 9 7 = < ;

Activity

Duration

Estimates

: 9 7 = < ;

Activity Start

and End Dates

: 9 7 = < ;

Activity

Required

Resources

: 9 7 = < ;

Quality

ManaementPlan

: 9 7 = < ;

!ommunications

Manaement

Plan

: 9 7 = < ;

Risk "ist : 9 7 = < ;


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Risk

Manaement

Plan

: 9 7 = < ;

Ta1le of Content#

Abstract. ;:

ntroduction. ;9

Fiterature (eview ;7

(esearch "ethodology. ;7

Analysis ;


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*onclusion. ;?

(eferences. ;>

Impact of the Project Manager on

Project Management Planning

Processes

S$1mitte! To#

Dr' &aisal Tehseen Shah


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S$1mitte! B"#

Changai. Khan

CIIT2&A334MSPM45632*(R

COMSATS Instit$te of Information Technolog"

*ahore'

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Project Management ARticle on planning Process