A Practical Approach to Project Management

By Albert Garriga

Do you find usual project management guides too theoretical?Do you find it difficult to apply theory to real projects? YES.

 

You will like this book!!! This is not a typical book about project management theory; it is a practical and direct approach to project management in the context of small and medium-sized projects. it includes editable templates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Garriga
• Release date: Dec 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9788409469031

Albert Garriga

Industrial Engineer by Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya Diploma in Business Administration from Universidad Oberta de Catalunya Master in Project Management by la Salle BES. PMP certified. Several years of experience in engineering and project management positions in international companies which has allowed me to work in different types of projects, in different countries, and with a wide variety of clients and suppliers. For some time now, I have been combining my work as a project manager with the creation and management of the websites with the purpose of helping other colleagues by sharing my experience and training. https://www.Resourcesenprojectmanagement.com/ https://www.forprojectmanagers.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertgarrigarodriguez/

Book preview

A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Albert Garriga Rodriguez

Published by Albert Garriga Rodriguez

Translated by The Spanish Group

Copyright 2022 Albert Garriga Rodriguez

ISBN: 978-84-09-46903-1

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATES INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK AT:

https://www.forprojectmanagers.com/download-templates/

Password: Book0015421

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. General concepts in project management

1.1. What is a project?

1.2. Why do companies do projects?

1.3. The project manager within the company and his/her roles

1.4. Life cycle of a project

1.5. Phases of a project

2. Techniques and tools for project management.

2.1. Communication within the project

2.2. How projects start

2.3. Stakeholder management

2.4. Scope definition

2.5. Creating the task list and diagram

2.6. Defining resources

2.7. Time and cost estimation

2.8. Identification and quantification of risks

2.9. Estimation and definition of margins

2.10. Creation of the schedule

2.11. Budget and cost baseline.

2.12. Adjusting the schedule

2.13. Monitoring and controlling the project

2.14. How to manage changes

2.15. Risk monitoring and control

2.16. Acceptance

2.17. Project closure

3. First steps as project manager

3.1. From team member to project manager

3.2. What you should learn quickly

3.3. How to learn it and from whom

3.4. Improving leadership skills

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INTRODUCTION

Do you find the usual guides too theoretical?

Do you find it difficult to apply theory to your real projects?

Do you manage projects but are still not clear on how to do it?

Would you like to manage projects, but the challenge scares you?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, this book is for you.

As you will see, this is not a typical book about project management theory; it is a practical and direct approach to project management techniques.

In it, I present these techniques in the context of a medium-sized project, which is the most common for most of us, and in the order in which they are needed as the project progresses. I incudes examples to facilitate understanding, and links so you can expand your knowledge and download templates to support the techniques explained.

Although this guide does not follow the same approach as other books on project management theory, it does not fall into bad practices or unprofessional ways of doing things; rather it defends a professional way of working but adjusted to the reality of the resources and time you will have to do your work.

For those readers who want to or are starting to manage projects, the third section is an accompaniment to take on this new role. It explains the functions of a project manager, the skills you should develop for this role, and how you can achieve them.

And if you answered NO to the questions, which means that you are already an experienced project management professional, I hope this book will give you a different view on the practical application of project management theory.

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1. GENERAL CONCEPTS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

In the next section of the book, I will explain project management techniques, but first it is worthwhile to put projects and project management in the context of the company and its organizational system; this will be useful for the following reasons:

1_ Understanding the characteristics of a project will allow you to know the main functions of its manager.

2_ The functions of the project manager are affected by the structure of the company; knowing this structure will help you to know what is expected of you and to better adapt to your position.

3_ Knowing the role of projects within a company will allow you to make better decisions, considering a broader point of view, outside of project management itself.

1.2. WHAT IS A PROJECT?

You have surely been working on projects for some time, but have you ever wondered what a project is?

It seems like an obvious question, but as you will see, it is not. All projects share a number of characteristics that make their management different from operations management or that of a company; knowing them will allow you to better understand the role of the project manager.

Let's go back to the question: what is a project?

There are several definitions of a project, all of which have in common that it is a job or assignment with a defined and unique scope, and subject to a series of constraints. This definition has a number of implications that have a great impact on project management and the need for a project manager.

Scope defined

The scope of the project is that which is intended to be achieved at the end of the project, whether it is a new product, a new service, implementing an organizational change, etc. In all cases the scope is defined, since we do not want just any product, service or organizational change.

Knowing this scope and its characteristics is an indispensable point for the project manager, since its achievement will be a criterion that will define the success or failure of the project. Therefore, part of your job will be to achieve the necessary level of definition so that there is no ambiguity on this point.

Example.

Imagine you work in a car manufacturing company, and you are asked to develop a new model. We all know what a car is, don't we, but you think this word means the same thing if the project is requested by Rolls-Royce or Ford; both brands make cars, but with very different characteristics. So: can we consider it a success to deliver a Rolls-Royce with the features of a Ford? Obviously not.

Therefore, in this assignment, one of your first objectives would be to define the characteristics of this car: such as size, power, finishes, performance level, etc.

In the second section of this book there is a chapter dedicated to techniques for defining the scope. Keep reading.

Unique scope

Unique project scope means that there are some features that are new or different from what has been done before. This does not mean that everything is new. These features can be both in terms of the product and in terms of the conditions or constraints affecting the project.

Consequently, all projects need prior analysis and planning, since these singularities, however small they may be, affect their development. Likewise, this is the characteristic that separates project management from operations management.

Example.

If we return to the example of the development project of a new car. It is obvious that for a car manufacturer, designing a car is not something new; but a new model may include improvements or technologies that had never been used in previous models, which implies a degree of novelty that will require rethinking and modifying what has been done before (new tests, need for people with different knowledge, new tools, new validation tests, new suppliers, etc.).

Once this new model has finished its development phase and starts its mass production, the production of each unit will not imply a new project; because each model manufactured in the line will be the same as the ones manufactured before; therefore, the unique characteristic will cease to exist, and we will be talking about operations management.

Restrictions

How happy we project managers would be if we had all the resources we needed, when we needed them, and could finish the project at any time. The bad thing is that in this case we would have no work because companies would not need us.

Project management arises from the need to achieve the scope of the project while respecting, or even optimizing, its constraints. Among these constraints we can highlight the delivery deadline, available resources, budget, legal or administrative restrictions, etc.

As shown in later chapters, these constraints play a very important role when planning the project; since planning consists of finding a feasible way to achieve the scope while respecting the constraints. If this is not possible, we say that the project is not feasible.

However, from the project definition itself we can extract the main functions of the project manager. During the planning phase, your role will be to find a feasible way to achieve the scope while respecting the project constraints. Once you have managed to define this planning, the execution will start, where you will have to follow and control the project so that it follows this planning, applying the necessary countermeasures when it deviates.

In the following section I will explain the techniques, theoretical basis, tips and tools so that you can define the scope well and carry out the planning and control of the project correctly.

Back to table of contents

1.2. WHY DO COMPANIES DO PROJECTS?

Now that you know what a project is, other questions may arise, such as: Why do companies do projects? What is the motivation behind them? What is the purpose of a project?

These questions seem far removed from project management, but they are not. Knowing the answers is very important to be able to deal with change requests, or when you have to propose cutbacks or countermeasures because achieving the initial scope is no longer feasible.

The project within the company

Different types of activities can be identified within a company: productive activities, which are those that are part of the company's operations and its value chain; projects, which respond to specific needs; and non-productive or support activities, which are necessary to maintain and manage the company. The question is to see how projects are integrated with the rest of the activities, which is represented in the following graph:

The upper box represents the organization where the activities are executed, which carries out its activity within a certain environment, and has a strategy and objectives. Based on these, the organization identifies opportunities and analyzes them to see which are feasible and profitable.

The approved opportunities are those that give rise to projects, which generate as a result a series of deliverables that are incorporated into the organization's operational activities. And the organization uses them within its normal activity to generate benefits that return to the organization.

Example.

Continuing with the example of the development of a new car, the opportunity could be to occupy a space in the market where the company had no presence; or to include an electric model in the catalog, taking advantage of the growing demand for this type of vehicle. And the deliverable would be the car developed and ready for mass production.

Therefore, projects are the way in which companies take advantage of opportunities and incorporate them into their operations to generate profits.

This may not seem to be applicable in the case of engineering companies that carry out projects for third parties; since the difference