6c.Common_PM_Project Monitoring (CPMPERT)

• Project management


  Application of knowledge, skill, tools and techniques in the project environment to realize objectives through systematic planning and careful implementation
• Project


  A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service or result
• Project


  A unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective confirming to specific requirements, including the constraints of time, cost and resource
• Examples of projects


  • Developing a watershed
  • Creating irrigation facility
  • Developing new variety of a crop
  • Developing new breed of an animal
  • Developing agro-processing centre
  • Construction of farm building
  • Setting up of a concentrated feed plant
• Project characteristics


  • Unique in nature
  • Have definite objectives (goals) to achieve
  • Requires set of resources
  • Have a specific time frame for completion with a definite start and finish
  • Involves risk and uncertainty
  • Requires cross-functional teams and interdisciplinary approach
• Project performance dimensions


  • Scope
  • Time
  • Cost
• Relationship between project performance dimensions


  Any change in one dimension would affect the other two
• Successful completion of the project requires accomplishment of specified goals within scheduled time and budget
• Stakeholder satisfaction


  A fourth dimension added to project performance in recent years, though some argue it is inherent in the scope of the project
• Project life cycle


  The phases a project goes through from conception to completion, typically: Conceptualization, Planning, Execution and Termination
• Conceptualization phase


  • Identification of the product/service, Pre-feasibility, Feasibility studies and Appraisal and Approval
• Planning phase


  • Identification of activities and their sequencing
  • Time frame for execution
  • Estimation and budgeting
  • Staffing
• Execution phase


  • Communicating with stakeholders
  • Reviewing progress
  • Monitoring cost and time
  • Controlling quality
  • Managing changes
• Termination phase


  • Agreed deliverables are installed and project is put into operation with arrangements for follow-up and evaluation
• Project life cycle paths

  • "S" shaped
  • "J" shaped
• "S" shaped project life cycle


  Slow progress at the starting and terminal phase, fast progress in the implementation phase
• "J" shaped project life cycle


  Slow progress in the beginning, fast progress as time moves on
• Project classification


  • Industrial projects
  • Developmental projects
• Industrial/Commercial projects


  • Undertaken to provide goods or services for meeting the growing needs of customers and providing attractive returns to investors/stakeholders
  • Can be demand-based or resource/supply-based
• Developmental projects


  • Undertaken to facilitate the promotion and acceleration of overall economic development, acting as catalysts
• Differences between Industrial and Developmental projects

  • Scale of project
  • Promoters
  • Investment
  • Gestation period
  • Profitability
  • Finance
  • Source of funds
  • Interest rates and repayment period
• Project management


  A distinct area of management that helps in handling projects, with three key features: a project manager, the project team, and the project management system
• Project management system


  • Comprises organization structure, information processing and decision-making, and procedures that facilitate integration of horizontal and vertical elements of the project organization
• Benefits of project management approach

  • Handling complex, costly and risky assignments through interdisciplinary approach
  • Handling assignments in a specified time frame with definite start and completion points
  • Providing task orientation to personnel in an organization
• Project management techniques


  • Bar charts
  • Networks
• Bar charts


  Pictorial representation of various tasks required to be performed for accomplishment of the project objectives
• Gantt chart


  A bar chart developed by Henry L Gantt around 1917, specifying the start and finish time for various tasks to be performed in a project on a horizontal time-scale
• Limitations of Gantt chart

  • Difficult to handle large number of tasks
  • Does not indicate the inter relationship between the tasks
• Milestone chart


  An improvement over the Gantt chart by introducing the concept of milestone, represented by a circle over a task to indicate completion of a specific phase
• Limitations of milestone chart

  • Does not show interdependence between tasks
  • Does not indicate critical activities
  • Does not consider the concept of uncertainty in accomplishing the task
  • Very cumbersome to draw the chart for large projects
• Steps for network analysis

  1. Prepare the list of activities

  2. Define the inter relationship among the activities

  3. Estimate the activity duration

  4. Assemble the activities in the form of a flow diagram

  5. Draw the network

  6. Analyze the network i.e. compute EST and LST; identify critical events, critical path and critical activities
• Activity


  A recognizable work item of a project requiring time and resource for its completion
• Dummy Activity


  An activity that indicates precedence relationship and requires no time nor resource
• Critical Activity


  Activities on the critical path having zero slack / float time
• Critical Path


  The longest time path connecting the critical activities in the project network. The total time on this path is the shortest duration of the project
• Event


  An instantaneous point in time signifying completion or beginning of an activity
• Burst Event


  An event which gives rise to more than one activity
• Merge Event


  The event which occurs only when more than one activity are accomplished
• Expected Time (TE)


  The weighted average of the estimated optimistic, most likely and pessimistic time duration of a project activity
• Earliest Start Time (EST)


  The earliest possible time at which the event can occur. The EST also denotes the Earliest Start Time (EST) of an activity as activities emanate from events. The EST of an activity is the time before which it can not commence without affecting the immediate preceding activity