Robert K. Wysocki - Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme

Part I

Understanding the Project Management Landscape

The purpose of Part I is to introduce the complex and uncertain world of projects and their effective management. As you will see, it is a challenging landscape that will capture your full and continual attention. If you expected to learn a magic recipe that works for all projects, nothing could be further from the truth. Being an effective project manager is a creative experience that challenges you in every way.

So you will proceed from basic and fundamental principles. Chapter 1 defines a project. On the one hand it is a very simple definition that tells you what a project contains and how to recognize that you have a project. But on the other hand it is complex as well, because there are many types of projects that populate the landscape. It is in that complexity of projects that the real challenges to effective management will arise. Project management is not a cookie-cutter experience; rather, it is a challenging and creative experience.

To be called a project, an undertaking must meet a specific set of conditions. If an undertaking meets those conditions, then it must follow the prescribed project management methodology defined by the organization. A formal definition is put forth and the characteristics of the project are explored. Project management methodologies are often defined for specific types of projects. Project classification rules are explored.

With the definition of a project in hand, Chapter 2 introduces project management. You will quickly learn that this is not a one size fits all adventure. Projects are unique. They have never happened before under the same set of circumstances and will never happen again. So why would you expect their management to be the same? Wouldn't it be reasonable that the project's most effective management process would also be unique? If you think so, you would be right. In fact, the best-fit project management process will be a function of several variables that span the external business environment, the enterprise itself, and a host of variables defining people, processes, and technology. And even further, the best-fit process will not remain the same over the course of a project. Changes in the external and internal characteristics might prompt a change in the choice of best-fit process.

In the past 10 years, project management has undergone significant change. Chapter 2 introduces contemporary project management at a high level. Rather than having just one approach, you now have a variety of approaches, all based on the characteristics of the project. So in effect, the uniqueness of the project translates into the uniqueness of the best-fit approach for managing it. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a landscape that categorizes projects and then define project management life cycle (PMLC) models that align with each type of project. The taxonomy I use allows all known project management approaches to be classified in this landscape.

Fortunately, you will have some help as you work in this complex landscape. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has just released the 5th edition of its A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide, Project Management Institute, 2013). In Chapter 3, you learn about the 10 Knowledge Areas, 5 Process Groups, and the 44 processes that populate the PMBOK Guide. However, don't expect the PMBOK Guide to be your silver bullet. It isn't. Rather, the PMBOK Guide describes processes not methodologies. You, or your management, must define the methodology or methodologies you will use to manage your projects, programs, and portfolios. PMI shares its wisdom through the PMBOK Guide.

Things are not always what they seem.

Phaedrus, Roman writer and fabulist

To put projects into perspective, you need a definitiona common starting point. All too often, people call any work they have to do a project. Projects actually have a very specific definition. If a set of tasks or work to be done does not meet the strict definition, then it cannot be called a project. To use the project management techniques presented in this book, you must first have a project.

Projects arise out of unmet needs. Those needs might be to find a solution to a critical business problem that has evaded any prior attempts at finding a solution. Or those needs might be to take advantage of an untapped business opportunity. In either case, a sponsor or customer prepares a business case to advocate approval to pursue the appropriate project. The formal definition of that effort follows.

This is a commonly accepted definition of a project and tells you quite a bit. I want to take a look at each part of the definition.

A project comprises a number of activities that must be completed in some specified order, or sequence. For now, an activity is a defined chunk of work. Chapter 5 formalizes this definition.

The sequence of the activities is based on technical requirements, not on management prerogatives. To determine the sequence, it is helpful to think in terms of inputs and outputs. The output of one activity or set of activities becomes the input to another activity or set of activities.

Specifying a sequence based on resource constraints or statements, such as Pete will work on activity B as soon as he finishes working on activity A, should be avoided because this establishes an artificial relationship between activities. What if Pete wasn't available at all? Resource constraints aren't ignored when you actually schedule activities. The decision of what resources to use and when to use them comes later in the project planning process.

The activities in a project are unique. Something is always different each time the activities of a project are repeated. Usually the variations are random in naturefor example, a part is delayed, someone is sick, or a power failure occurs. These random variations are the challenge for the project manager and what contributes to the uniqueness of the project.

The activities that make up the project are not simple, repetitive acts, such as mowing the lawn, painting the rooms in a house, washing the car, or loading the delivery truck. Instead they are complex. For example, designing an intuitive user interface to an application system is a complex activity.

Connectedness implies that there is a logical or technical relationship between pairs of activities. There is an order to the sequence in which the activities that make up the project must be completed. They are considered connected because the output from one activity is the input to another. For example, you must design the computer program before you can program it.