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4E1 Term 1:Project Management

Introduction:The Importance of Project

Management (PM)

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Lecture Objectives

At the end of this lecture you should know:• the objectives of this part of the module and how it is organised

• the topics which will be covered

• where to find out more information

You should understand:• why PM is important to engineers

• the relationship of soft issues to PM

• the basic career roles for an engineer

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Course Organisation

Eighteen lectures/demonstrations • Two 50-minute lectures with a 10-minute break

• Slides available in advance of each lecture at www.cs.tcd.ie/Simon.McGinnes

Handouts as required• Case studies, exercises, case material

Software used will be Microsoft Project (any recent version)

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Texts

We will be closely following:• Lock, D (2003) Project Management (8th Ed.), Gower.

• (earlier editions ok - a shorter version is called “The Essentials of Project Management”)

There are also 200+ books on project management in the library

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Module Objectives

To give you • a broad understanding of PM

• a good grounding in key techniques

• a solid foundation for further developing your skills in this area

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Overview of Topics

Intro• Definitions, why projects fail, objectives of PM

Project organisation• Structures, roles, project definition, work breakdown, packages, responsibilities

Budgeting• Evaluation, appraisal, costing, estimating

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Overview of Topics (cont.)

Planning & scheduling • Network analysis, critical path, PERT

Other topics• Risk management, contingency planning

• Consolidated plans, management, adjustment

• PM software, Microsoft project

• Purchasing, Admin

• Legal aspects, Contracts

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The 7 Stages of a Project

1. Wild enthusiasm

2. Diminished expectations

3. Growing concern

4. Panic

5. Search for the guilty

6. Punishment of the innocent

7. Promotion of the uninvolved

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Tales of Woe

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BAE Defence Contracts (2003)

Nimrod (plane) project• Production delayed until performance of first three aircraft demonstrated

Astute (submarine) project• Effort needed to turn computer designs into reality greater than anticipated

Original budget £5bn

Overrun £750m

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CIE (2000)

£15.7m signalling system project• Two years late

• Overrun estimated £44m

Consultants questioned role of four execs who handled contract and then moved to company carrying out the work

CIE attributed overrun to:• Change in Iarnrod Eireann safety requirements

• Upgrade in system specifications

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Luas (2003)

Original plan (1996)• Budget: €279m

• Due 2001

Final cost estimated €800-1,000m

Delayed 4 years

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Ireland’s Biggest Computer Overrun?

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Dublin Port TunnelEarly 1990s First proposed

Mar 1996 £130M (€165M) cost proposed to DCC

Dec 1999 Government agrees £204M (€260M)

Dec 2000 £353M (€448M) design contract

Jun 2001 Work starts

Jan 2003 Cost now €625M

Apr 2004 Cost ‘could rise’ to €780M

Nov 2006 Estimated completion €752M

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Airbus A380

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Why Do Projects Fail?Unforeseen technical problems

• The Kildare snail, Metal fatigue

Over-optimistic forecasts• LUAS

Labour problems• Disputes, Illness

Planning objections• The M50

Changes of requirements• Moving goalposts, New requirements

Changes in cost base

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Why Do Projects Fail? (cont.)Political interference

• Political ego trips, eco warriors, …

Regulatory problems• EPA/EU/conservation, etc.

Inadequate contracts• The N11

Changes of personnel• Loss of key staff, learning curves

Aggressive underbidding (“winner’s curse”)

Professional incompetence

…and so on and on

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On-Time, Every Time?

Tiny 1 15% 83% 2% 0%

Small 10 11% 81% 6% 2%

Modest 102 6% 75% 12% 7%

Medium 103 1% 61% 18% 2%

Major 104 0% 28% 24% 48%

Large 105 0% 14% 21% 65%

Average 6% 57% 14% 24%

% of IT projects which are:

Source: Capers Jones

Size (Function Points) Early On-Time Delayed Cancelled

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The 8 Laws of PM

1. No major project is ever installed on time, within budget or with the same staff that started it. Yours will not be the first.

2. Projects progress quickly until they become 90% complete, then remain at 90% complete for eternity.

3. One advantage of fuzzy project objectives is that they let you avoid the embarrassment of estimating the corresponding costs.

4. When things are going well, something will go wrong. When things cannot get worse, they will. When things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something.

The following are (only part in jest) from the American Production & Inventory Control Society:

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The 8 Laws of PM (cont.)

5. If the project content is allowed to change freely, the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress.

6. No system is ever completely debugged. Attempts to debug a system produce new bugs that are even harder to find.

7. A carelessly planned project will take three times longer than expected. A carefully planned project will take only twice as long.

8. Project teams detest progress reporting because it all too vividly highlights their lack of progress.

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And Never Forget

Murphy’s Law

O’Leary’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law

Fetridge’s Law of Frustration

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Silly Soft Stuff?

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Some Soft Issues

Management

Leadership

Politics

Communications

Interpersonal dynamics

Group dynamics

Personal psychology

Group psychology

Power

Organisation

Decision-making

Judgement

Risk

Relationships

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Why Study Project Management?

Civil• Channel tunnel

• Luas

• Port Tunnel

• N11

Mechanical• Eurofighter (most military

projects!)

• GM X car

Electrical/Electronic• Iarnrod Eireann signalling

system

• IBM bubble memory project

Software• Irish League of Credit

Unions

• Health Services Executive

A catalogue of disasters and overruns:

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Why Study PM?

A great deal of engineering is about projects (including the most interesting bits)

Top class project managers are rare and therefore they tend to be well paid

A sizeable number of you will end up in management

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Dealing With the Intangible

“Managers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes. Managers do not solve problems: they manage messes.”

Russell Ackoff

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Three Career Roles

TheFunction Manager

The Professional

TheProject Manager

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Summary – Key Points

Much engineering takes the form of projects

Projects can go wrong – often spectacularly

All engineers need some knowledge of PM • Many need a reasonable knowledge of PM

• Some (including many of you) spend most of their working lives in PM

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Summary – Key Points (cont.)

We have to confront soft issues• PM is not just about numbers and algorithms

• This is sometimes difficult for engineers

How important this is will, to some extent, depend on your career path