Mastering Project Management Fundamentals

Posted on Jan 7, 2025 in Financial and Accounting Management

Kinds of Organizations

  • Functional Organization: There isn’t communication between functional managers and staff.
  • Weak Matrix Organization: Its problem is the degree of authority of the project manager. When they need something, they have to talk to the functional manager.
  • Balanced Organization: The project manager has more authority.
  • Strong Matrix Organization: The project manager has authority over the staff in charge.
  • Projectized Organization: Has an administrative staff helping the PM full time.

Project Success Factors

  • To succeed in a project, balance the competing constraints of:
    • Scope
    • Schedule
    • Budget
    • Quality
    • Risks
    • Resources
    • Customer Satisfaction

PMBOK Knowledge Areas

  • Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) areas of process management:
    • Integration
    • Scope
    • Risk
    • Time
    • Cost
    • Quality
    • HR
    • Stakeholders
    • Communication
    • Purchases

Reasons for Project Failure

  • Projects fail because of:
    • Enterprise environmental factors
    • Organizational process assets
    • Stakeholders

Planning Objectives

  • Planning objectives include:
    • Time
    • Cost
    • Scope

Objectives of Planning HR

  • Improve skills, competencies, and feelings of confidence and cohesion.
  • Achieve the best performance of the project.

Work Breakdown Structure

WBS: Work Breakdown Structure (scope area) is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the project deliverables.

Gantt and PERT Charts

Gantt and PERT Charts are used in the time management area.

Project Charter

Project Charter: A document that formalizes the existence of the project and authorizes the project manager to use resources of the organization in the activities of the project.

Includes:

  • Justification of the project
  • Measurable objectives and benefits
  • Description of the project
  • Deliverables
  • Preliminary risks
  • Summary of the milestone chronogram
  • Preliminary budget
  • Criteria of approval
  • Project manager
  • Stakeholders and sponsor name

Types of Power in an Organization

  • Formal
  • Rewards
  • Punishment
  • Expert
  • Referent

Soft Skills

  • General Skills: Leadership, communication, negotiation
  • Skills Towards People: Delegation, motivation, training
  • Skills Towards the Team: Development of the team, managing conflicts
  • Administrative Skills: Selection, labor relations, valuation of productivity

Stages in the Project Life Cycle

Planning of HR

  • Tools:
    • Organizational Chart
    • RACI Matrix
    • Networking (promote informal interaction to detect interpersonal factors that concern the management of the personnel)
  • Skills:
    • Global vision
    • Analytical skills
  • Output:
    • HR Plan (Project HR should be: defined, staffed, managed, and released)
    • Roles and responsibilities
    • Organizational chart
    • Staffing Management Plan (outputs):
      • Staff acquisition
      • Resource calendars/Histogram
      • Staff release plan
      • Training needs
      • Recognition and rewards
      • Compliance
      • Safety

Executing

Acquire

  • Tool: Negotiation, acquisition, multicriteria decision
  • Skill: Negotiation, communication
  • Output: Resource calendars, assignments

Develop

  • Tool: Colocation, training, team-building activities, recognition and rewards, ground rules, assessment tools, interpersonal skills, stages of team development (Bruce Tuckman)
  • Skill: Motivation, leadership, team development
  • Output: Assessment

Manage

  • Tool: Techniques of motivation (Maslow’s Pyramid, need theory), conflict management, 360-degree feedback
  • Skill: Motivation, leadership, conflict management, influence, effective decision-making
  • Output: Continuous improvement