Project management (ENG)

ID: EN-MNG-18-11-418

Module annotation

PM = Project + Management

If you are like most people, you are “pretty sure” you know what projects are, and you “think” you know what project management is (and what a project manager does), but there’s always a varying amount of uncertainty in those perceptions. This is in contrast to the operations of an organization.

The word „project“ is a very common word, however there are several approaches how to implement, manage and complete projects in the real (personal and business) life. Some of them are more traditional, the others are dynamic and agile. Project differs from process, however to management (of project) is a process.

A project is the work performed by an organization one time to produce a unique outcome. By “one time,” we mean the work has a definite beginning and a definite end, and by “unique,” we mean the work result is different in one or more ways from anything the organization has produced before. Projects are less predictable and are constantly impacted by the dynamic, uncertain nature of most organizational environments.

When we say “managing” projects we mean applying both the science and art to planning, organizing, implementing, leading, and controlling the work of a project to meet the goals and objectives of the organization. We mean the process of defining a project, developing a plan, executing the plan, monitoring progress against the plan, overcoming obstacles, managing risks, and taking corrective actions. We mean the process of managing the competing demands and trade-offs between the desired results of the project (scope, performance, quality) and the natural constraints of the project (time and cost). We mean the process of leading a team that has never worked together before to accomplish something that has never been done before in a given amount of time with a limited amount of money.

The PMBOK Guide, as it is known, attempts to define the core competencies of effective project professionals. It identifies nine areas of project management competence. The first four are obvious - project management professionals should be competent in the areas of scope management, time management, cost management, and human resource management. No surprises here. The second five areas of competence - risk management, quality management, procurement management, communication management, and integration management - reveal that project management has moved beyond its traditional concern with the famous triple constraints of time, budget and specifications and that the skills and insights required of effective project personnel are far broader today than in the past. Personnel must know how to assess risk, produce quality goods and services, operate in a contracting environment, and communicate competently with their managers, customers, vendors, and staff.

Traditional PM

Traditional project management seems to be broken. One deficiency is its inattention to the importance of customers. Most energy is directed toward satisfying the famous triple constraints of time, budget, and specifications. Success and failure are typically assessed against meeting schedules, budgets and specifications, not against achieving full customer satisfaction.

Another problem with the traditional approach to project management is its single-minded focus on a fixed set of tools for dealing with scheduling, budgeting, and resource allocation. These tools are well known. A reality of project management is that projects seldom fail because a PERT/CPM system crashes. However, they frequently fail for nontechnical reasons such as lack of commitment on the part of staff, po- litical gaffes, and the inability to communicate ideas effectively.

Thus three arguments are central to the new project management:

• project management must become more customer-focused,
• it must explore the use of new management tools,
• it must redefine the role of project managers.

Agility/agile – approach to PM

Agility is all about self-directed teams, feedback, light documentation, and working software with short development cycles. Agility is also about values, principles, and terminology, and its popularity is increasing and is here to stay. The role of the project manager with agile differs from tra- ditional project management in that there is minimal up-front planning.

Traditional project management is not as quick as the agile method with its 47 grouped processes and 5 process groups. In the case of agile, there are 4 values, 12 agile principles and the Declaration of Interdependence (DOI) for Agile Project Management and its additional principles that tie together “people, projects, and value.”

The agile approach is not for every project. The agile approach is not better than traditional project management. It is an alternative project management approach. Agile methods can increase business profits because they focus more on the portions of the product or service that is the most valuable to the customer. This results in increased business value. Agile methods are quicker than traditional project management methods because they are based on values and principles rather than processes and process groups which take longer to execute. Agile methods are more adaptive and support change in a less costly fashion than traditional project management.  

With the agile approach, the project management role is actually shared among three roles:

• the servant leader,
• the customer,
• the development team.

In traditional project management, the project manager’s role is usually a demanding balancing act between the project’s triple constraints of cost, scope, and schedule. The benefits of agile are fewer surprises, lower costs, and a more quickly delivered product.  

PRINCE 2

PRINCE2 actually stands for PRojects IN a Controlled Environment. PRINCE2 defines project as a temporary organization that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed business case. PRINCE2 is a project management method that can be used for any project, from running a one-day event to building a nuclear power plant. PRINCE2 is widely recognised, can be used in both the public and private sectors. The PRINCE2 method is in the public domain therefore it is free to use and it also offers non-proprietorial best practice guidance on project management. PRINCE2 is a structured method that gives a clear but very flexible approach to running projects and builds in the things that work well. PRINCE2 helps you do the job of running a project, and also helps you avoid messing up.

Context, hard, soft

To have a basic overview, to know context, main approaches and perspectives about and towards project and project management is important for managers at all levels, not only for PM professionals. In such case they are able to support project work and achieve results and goals in more effective way.

Project management has both „soft“ and „hard“ perspective, many areas of knowledge (= body of knowledge) and international supporting and certification bodies and organization PM is a dynamic multi-perspective discipline which is still evolving and has many “touch points” to other management disciplines (strategy, human resources, leadership, finance, law, communication etc.).

Content of the module

Due to time allocation for the course, content of the module is based on providing introduction and main overview about project management (PM) fundamentals and about few perspectives and approaches for PM. For students it is necessary to understand what the project is, what are people which influence it, how to think about project life cycle and what are popular way how to approach project results. PMI approach is chosen as a base, with its body of knowledge, following a discussion about agile approach, rooted in software development and about modern PRINCE2, which is mentioned too. Therefore substantial among of self-study is necessary, according to specific needs and perspectives for the student, in the context of his/her professional, working, personal or/and study intentions.

Module goal

To help participants acquire the basic knowledge they need to apply the key project management principles, tools and processes so that they can support the project activities and carry out the project administration functions within their organizations. In addition to help them gain an understanding of content, terminology, and application principles dealing with the project management efforts.

The aim of this course is to develop overview and provide basic knowledge and skills required for project management, which will help the students to manage projects more efficiently. After completing this course with some self-study and reading literature the students will gain in depth knowledge on how to plan and organize project, allocate resources, implement risk management technique, estimate and schedule task work.

Related topics and “keywords”

• Innovation (see Module annotation for this study subject)
• Start-up / Lean Startup
• Design / Design Thinking
• Agility, Scrum
• PMI, IPMA, PMP, PRINCE2 (and their Bodies of Knowledge, exams guides and guidelines etc.)
• Venture capital, business angels
• Strategy (see Module annotation for this study subject)
• Sustainability
• Risk management
• CX – Customer experience, UX – User experience
• PM in public sector, research
• Sectoral PM – construction, IT…
• …

Module structure

• Project management intro
• Overview of main approaches to PM – PMI, PRINCE2, agile, IPMA
• Basics of project lifecycle(s)
• People (and stakeholders) around the project
• Overview of PM Body of Knowledge (PMI)
• Project execution, monitoring, and control

Literature available for students as e-books

• COLE, Rob, SCOTCHER, Edward. Brilliant Agile Project Management: A Practical Guide to Using Agile, Scrum and Kanban. Harlow: Pearson, 2015. 187 s. ISBN 978–1-292–06358–4.
• COOPER, Dale a kol. Project Risk Management Guidelines: Managing Risks in Large Projects and Complex Procurements. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. 384 s, ISBN 0-470-02281-7.
• GRAHAM, Nick. Passing the PRINCE2 Exams for Dummies. Chichester: John Willey & Sons, 2013. 330 s. ISBN 978-1-118-34962-5.
• KERZNER, Harold. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 12. vyd. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2017. 814 s. ISBN 978-1-119-16545-4.
• LESTER, Albert. Project Management Planning and Control. Managing Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing Projects to PMI, APM and BSI Standards. 7. vyd. Oxford: Elsevier, 2017. 628 s. ISBN 978-0-08-102020-3.
• MARTINELLI, Russ, J., Milosevic, Dragan, Z. Project Management ToolBox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager. 2. vyd. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2916. 459 s. ISBN 978-1-118-97312-7.
• McBRIDE, Melanie. Project Management Basics: How to Manage Your Project with Checklists. San Francisco: Apress, 2016. 153 s. ISBN 978-1-4842-2086-3.
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. PMBOK® Guide. 6. vyd. Newton Square: PMI, 2017. 756 s. ISBN 978-1-62825-184-5.
• SANGHERA, Paul. PMP® in Depth: Project Management Professional Certification Study Guide for the PMP® Exam. 3. vyd. San Francisco: Apress, 2019. 679 s. ISBN 978-1-4842-3909-4.
• STALLMAN, Andrew, GREENE, Jennifer. Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban. Sebastopol: O‘Reilly Media, 2015. 397 s. ISBN 978-1-449-33192-4.
• STALLMAN, Andrew, GREENE, Jennifer. Head First Agile: A Brain-Friendly Guide. Sebastopol: O‘Reilly Media, 2017. 490 s. ISBN 978-1-449-31433-0.
• VARDY, Adam. Scrum! The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Mastering Scrum to Boost Productivity & Beat Deadlines. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, 126 s. ISBN 978-1-530-07655-0.

Links to international PM standards (for deeper study and professional courses towards PM certification)

• https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards (PMBOK® Guide and Standards)
• https://www.ipma.cz/certifikace/ (IPMA – certification)
• https://www.ipma.world/ (international IPMA)
• https://www.prince2.com/eur (international PRINCE2®)
• https://agilemanifesto.org/ (international - Manifesto for Agile Software Development)
• https://www.agilealliance.org/ (international - Agile Alliance)

Digest of other relevant literature (please seek other resources in English language)

• BENTLEY, Colin. PRINCE2™ A Practical Handbook. 3. vyd. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2010. 315 s. ISBN 978-1-85617-822-8.
• CANTY, Denise. Agile for Project Managers. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2015. 209 s. ISBN 978-1-4822-4499-1.
• DINSMORE, Paul, C. CABANIS-BREWIN, Jeannette. The AMA Handbook of Project Management. 4. vyd. New York: AMACON, 2014. 579 s. ISBN 978-0-8144-3339-3.
• GARG, Gaurav. A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK Guide). 2016 ed. Phoenix: SCRUMstudy, 2016. 322 s. ISBN 978-0-9899252-0-4
• HILL, Gerard, M. The Complete Project Management Methodology and Toolkit. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2010. 394 s. ISBN 978-1-43980154-3.
• HOPKIN, Paul. Fundamentals of Risk Management: Understanding, Evaluating and Implementing Effective Risk Management. 4. vyd. London: Kogan Page, 2017. 462 s. ISBN 978-0-7494-7961-9.
• HORINE, Greg. Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Project Management. 2. vyd. Indianapolis: Que Publishing. 408 s. ISBN 978-0-7897-3821-0.
• KERZNER, Harold. SALADIS, Fran, P. What Executives Need to Know About Project Management. New York: International Institute for Learning, 2009. 287 s. ISBN 978-0-470-50081-1.
• KERZNER, Harold. SALADIS, Fran, P. What Functional Managers Need to Know About Project Management. New York: International Institute for Learning, 2009. 244 s. ISBN 978-0-470-52547-0.
• KEYES, Jesicca. Implementing the Project Management Balanced Scorecard. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2011. 397 s. ISBN 978-1-4398-2718-5 .
• SUTHERLAND, Jeff. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time. New York: Crown Business, 2014. 248 s. ISBN 978-0-385-34645-0.
• WERZUH, Eric. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. A Practical Handbook and Reference. 5. vyd. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2016. 510 s. ISBN 978-1-119-08667-3.
• WILLS, Kerry. Essential Project Management Skills. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2010. 208 s. ISBN 978-1-4398-2716-1.
• Wysocki, Robert, K. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme. 7. vyd. Indianapolis: John Wiley & Sons, 2014. 726 s. ISBN 978-1-118-72916-8.
• YOUNG, Trevor, L. The Handbook of Project Management: A Practical Guide to Effective Policies, Techniques and Processes. 2. vyd. London: Kogan Page, 2007. 295 s. ISBN 978-0-7494-4984-1.

Overview of relevant publications in Czech language

• BENTLEY, Colin. Základy metody projektového řízení – PRINCE2®. vyd. Bratislava: Inbox, 2010. 311 s. ISBN-978-0-9576076-2-0.
• DOLEŽAL, Jan. Projektový management: komplexně, prakticky a podle světových standardů. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2016. 418 s. ISBN 978-80-247-5620-2.
• DOLEŽAL, Jan, KRÁTKÝ, Jiří, CINGL, Ondřej. 5 kroků k úspěšnému projektu: 22 šablon klíčových dokumentů a 3 kompletní reálné projekty. Praha: Grada, 2013. 181 s. ISBN 978-80-247-4631-9.
• DVOŔÁK, Drahoslav. Project Portfolio Management. Brno: Computer Press, 2017. 248 s. ISBN 978-80-251-4893-8.
• KŘIVÁNEK, Mirko. Dynamické vedení a řízení projektů. Systémovým myšlením k úspěšným projektům. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2019. 208 s. ISBN 978-80-271-0408-6.
• MYSLÍN, Josef. Scrum: průvodce agilním vývojem software. Brno: Computer Press, 2016. 167 s. ISBN 978-80-251-4650-7.
• ŘEHÁČEK, Petr. P3M: řízení projektu, řízení programu, řízení portfolia. Jesenice: Ekopress, 2019. 219 s. ISBN 978-80-87864-49-1.
• SVOZILOVÁ, Alena. Projektový management: systémový přístup k řízení projektů. 3. akt. a rozš. vyd. Praha: Grada, 2018. 421 s. ISBN 978-80-271-0075-0.
• ŠOCHOVÁ, Zuzana, KUNCE, Eduard. Agilní metody řízení projektů. 2. vyd. Brno: Computer Press, 2019. 223 s. ISBN 978-80-251-4961-4.