Project Integration Management
Describe an overall framework for project integration management as it relates to the other PM knowledge areas and the project life cycle. Explain the strategic planning process and apply different project selection methods. Explain the importance of creating a project charter to formally initiate projects.
Describe project management plan development, understand the content of these plans, and review approaches for creating them. Explain project execution, its relationship to project planning, the factors related to successful results, and tools and techniques to assist in project execution. Describe the process of monitoring and controlling project work.
Understand the integrated change control process, planning for and managing changes on information technology projects, and developing and using a change control system. Explain the importance of developing and following good procedures for closing projects. Describe how software can assist in project integration management.
Project Integration Management involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project s life cycle. There are six main processes involved in project integration management: Developing the project charter. Developing the project management plan. Directing and managing project execution. Monitoring and controlling project work. Performing integrated change control. Closing the project or phase.
Develop the project charter: working with stakeholders to create the document that formally authorizes a project the charter. Develop the project management plan: coordinating all planning efforts to create a consistent, coherent document the project management plan. Direct and manage project execution: carrying out the project management plan by performing the activities included in it.
Monitor and control the project work: overseeing project work to meet the performance objectives of the project. Perform integrated change control: identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the project life cycle. Close the project or phase: finalizing all project activities to formally close the project or phase.
Strategic Planning involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services. Organizations often perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to aid in strategic planning.
As part of strategic planning, organizations: Identify potential projects. Use realistic methods to select which projects to work on. Formalize project initiation by issuing a project charter.
A group of four people want to start new business in film industry They create SWOT analysis as follows: Strengths: We have numerous contact in the film industry. Two of us have strong sales and interpersonal skills. Two has strong technical skills and familiar with SW tools. We all have impressive samples of completed projects. Weakness: No accounting/financial experience. No clear marketing strategy for product and services.
Little money to invest in new projects. No company website and limited use of technology. Opportunities Current client has mentioned a large project. Film industry continues to grow. Two major conferences this year where we could promote our company. Threats Other companies can provide services we provide. Customers prefer well established organization. High risk in film business.
Identifying Potential Projects: Find an external accountant to help run the business. Hire website developer. Develop a marketing plan. Develop a strong proposal to get the large project of the client. Plan to promote the company at two major conference this year.
Mind Map: is a technique that uses branches radiating out from a core idea to structure thoughts and ideas. Mind map helps in identify potential projects. The following mind map shows the SWOT Analysis of the previous example.
Organization often follow a detailed process for project selection. There are four-stage planning process for selecting information technology projects: First, develop an information technology strategic plan in support of the organization s overall strategic plan. Next, perform a business area analysis. Then, define potential projects, build the business case. Finally, select IT projects and assign resources.
There are usually more projects than available time and resources to implement them. Methods for selecting projects include: Focusing on broad organizational needs. Categorizing information technology projects. Performing net present value or other financial analyses. Using a weighted scoring model.
Top managers must focus on meeting their organization s many needs when deciding what projects to undertake, when to undertake them, and to what level. Projects that address broad organizational needs are much more likely to be successful. Three important criteria for selecting projects: There is a need for the project. There are funds available. There s a strong will to make the project succeed.
One categorization is whether the project addresses: A problem, undesirable situations that prevent an organization from achieving its goals. An opportunity, chances to improve the organization. A directive, new requirements imposed by management, government, or some external influence. Another categorization is based on the time it will take to complete a project OR the date by which it must be done. Another is the overall priority of the project, high-, medium-, or low-priority based on the current business environment.
Financial considerations are often an important consideration in selecting projects. Three primary methods for determining the projected financial value of projects: Net present value (NPV) analysis. Return on investment (ROI). Payback analysis.
Net present value (NPV) analysis is a method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time. Only projects with a positive NPV should be considered if financial value is a key criterion. Positive NPV means the return from project exceeds the cost of capital. The higher the NPV, the better.
Steps to determine Net present value (NPV) : Determine estimated costs and benefits for the life of the project and the products it produces. Determine the discount rate. A discount rate is the rate used in discounting future cash flow. Calculate the NPV by: 1. Use the built-in function in Microsoft Excel. 2. Use mathematical formula for calculating NPV: NPV = t=0..n A t / (1 + r) t Where (t) equals the year of the cash flow. (n) is the last year of the cash flow. (A) is the amount of cash flow each year. (r) is the discount rate.
First way using built-in function in Microsoft Excel. Here we should compute cash flow before applying the built-in function: Cash flow = benefits - costs Notes: Some numbers in the table surrounding with braces which mean negative number. Negative numbers mean loss, and Positive numbers mean gain.
Second way, use Mathematical Formula to calculate NPV NPV = At / (1 + r)t 1. Calculate Discount Factor using this formula [1/(1+r) t ] 2. Multiply the costs and benefits each year by the discount factor. 3. Get the total of the discount costs and discount benefits separately. 4. Subtract the total discount benefits from the total discount costs.
Second way, use Mathematical Formula to calculate NPV
Examples of some calculations on NPV from the previous slide: Calculate discount factor for each year = 1 / ( 1 + r ) Year0 : discount factor = 1 / ( 1 + 0.08) 0 = 1 Year1 : discount factor = 1 / ( 1 + 0.08) 1 =.93 Year2 : discount factor = 1 / ( 1 + 0.08) 2 =.86 Year3 : discount factor = 1 / ( 1 + 0.08) 3 =.79 NPV = discount benefits - discount costs = 516,000 243,200 = 272,800
Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by subtracting the project costs from the benefits and then dividing by the costs. ROI = (total discounted benefits - total discounted costs) total discounted costs ROI = NPV / total discount costs. The higher the ROI, the better.
Calculate ROI of example at slide (25): Step 1: determine discount factor for each year. Step 2: calculate discounted benefits and costs. Step 3: calculate ROI ROI = (total discounted benefits - total discounted costs) total discounted costs ROI = ($516,000 - $243,200) / $243,200 = 112%
Payback Analysis is the amount of time investment takes to recover its initial cost. Payback occurs when the net cumulative discounted benefits equals the costs. Track the net cash flow across each year to determine the year that net benefits overtake net costs. Many organizations want IT projects to have a fairly short payback period (< 1 year).
Project 1 payback occurs sometime during year 4 Project 2 payback occurs sometime during year 3
A weighted scoring model (WSM) is a tool that provides a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria. Process to create WSM: Identify criteria important to the project selection process. Assign weights (percentages) to each criterion so they add up to 100%. Assign scores to each criterion for each project. Multiply the scores by the weights and get the total weighted scores. The higher the weighted score, the better.
After deciding what project to work on, it is important to let the rest of the organization know. A Project Charter is a document that formally authorizes the work to begin on a project and provides an overview of objectives and resource requirements. Key project stakeholders should sign a project charter to acknowledge agreement on the need and intent of the project.
Basic information must be included in a project charter: The project titles and date of authorization. The project manager s name and contact information. A summary schedule. A summary of the project objectives. Project success criteria. A summary of the planned approach for managing the project. A role and responsibilities matrix. A sign-off section for signatures of key project stakeholders. A comments section.
A Project Management Plan is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project s execution and control. Plans created in the other knowledge areas are subsidiary parts of the overall project management plan. These plans should greatly assist the project manager in leading the project team and assessing project status.
Introduction or overview of the project. Description of how the project is organized. Management and technical processes used on the project. Work to be done, schedule, and budget information.
Project execution involves managing and performing the work described in the project management plan. The majority of time and money is usually spent on execution. The application area of the project directly affects project execution because the products of the project are produced during execution.
Project planning and execution are intertwined and inseparable activities. Those who will do the work should help to plan the work. Project managers must solicit input from the team to develop realistic plans.
Project managers must lead by example to demonstrate the importance of creating and then following good project plans. Organizational culture can help project execution by: Providing guidelines and templates. Tracking performance based on plans. Project managers may still need to break the rules to meet project goals, and senior managers must support those actions.
Expert judgment: experts can help project managers and their teams make many decisions related to project execution. Project management information systems: there are hundreds of project management software products available on the market today, and many organizations are moving toward powerful enterprise project management systems that are accessible via the Internet.
Changes are inevitable on most projects, so it s important to develop and follow a process to monitor and control changes. Monitoring project work includes collecting, measuring, and disseminating performance information. A baseline is the approved project management plan plus approved changes.
Involves identifying, evaluating, and managing changes throughout the project life cycle. There are three main objectives: Influencing the factors that create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial. Determining that a change has occurred. Managing actual changes as they occur.
Former view: the project team should strive to do exactly what was planned on time and within budget. Problem: stakeholders rarely agreed up-front on the project scope, and time and cost estimates were inaccurate. Modern view: project management is a process of constant communication and negotiation. Solution: changes are often beneficial, and the project team should plan for them.
A Change Control System is a formal, documented process that describes when and how official project documents and work may be changed. It also describes who is authorized to make changes and how to make them.
A Change Control Board is a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes on a project. The primary functions of a CCBs are to provide guidelines for preparing change requests, evaluate change requests, and manage the implementation of approved changes. Includes stakeholders from the entire organization.
CBBs can have some drawbacks, one drawback is the time it takes to make decisions on proposed changes. CCBs often meet only once a week or once a month and may not make decisions in one meeting. Some organizations have policies in place for time-sensitive changes: 48-hour policy allows project team members to make decisions; then they have 48 hours to reverse the decision pending senior management approval. Delegate changes to the lowest level possible, but keep everyone informed of changes.
To close a project or phase, you must finalize all activities and transfer the completed or cancelled work to the appropriate people. Main outputs include: Final product, service, or result transition. Organizational process asset updates.
Several types of software can be used to assist in project integration management: Documents can be created with word processing software. Presentations are created with presentation software. Tracking can be done with spreadsheets or databases. Communication software like e-mail and Web authoring tools facilitate communications. Project management software can pull everything together and show detailed and summarized information. Business Service Management (BSM) tools track the execution of business process flows.
Project integration management involves coordinating all of the other knowledge areas throughout a project s life cycle. Main processes include: Develop project charter. Develop project management plan. Direct and manage project execution. Monitor and control project work. Close the project or phase.