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Topic: Project Management
Key Points
Four generic processes applied at each phase of the life-cycle:
_- Starting or initiation process
- Defining and planning process
- Monitoring and control process
- Learning and closing process_
Projects: Timebound and unique – use project management techniques Deliver outputs Capital funded Uses a range of specialist skills Risk aware – mitigate only high priority risk BAU: Repetitive operations – uses process management techniques Uses outputs to deliver outcomes and benefits Revenue funded Uses (one or two) functional skills Risk averse – tend to mitigate all risks
Topic: Programme Management
Key Points
A group of projects with related business benefits Aligned to an overall strategy Benefits integrated during the life of the programme May be inter-project dependencies Delivers outcomes Benefits of Programme Mgt:
_- Focus on strategic objectives
- Focus on transition management_ _(making outputs into outcomes)
- Focus on benefits management
- Manage inter project dependencies,_ _focus resource where it is needed most
- Risk and change handled at_ strategic level
Programme Manager responsibilities:
_- Planning and controlling
- Managing project interfaces
- Defining governance
- Managing the budget
- Resource management
- Managing communications, risks_ and issues
Topic: Portfolio Management
Key Points
Analysis of projects and programmes Prioritisation and/or selection of projects and programmes Continued monitoring of the portfolio Adjustment of the portfolio with regard to current circumstances Portfolios managed at different levels (organisational, programme or functional level)
The Green Zone: Getting going
Topic: Methods and Procedures
Key Points
Constructed around the life-cycle - Beginning, middle, end Need to be adapted to each project context - not a “one size fits all” Guidance rather than rules Example Contents
_- Process descriptions for each phase
- Inputs and outputs of the process
- Documentation guidelines and_ templates
- Procedures for:
- Business case management - Organisation structure
APM PMQ revision pack
_- Planning
- Monitoring and control
- Risk
- Quality
- Change control
- Configuration management
- Issue management_ Benefits
- _Consistency of approach
- Improved governance
- Creates environment for continuous improvement
- Common understanding and language
- Increased chance of projects succeeding_ PRINCE2®^ is a method used globally
PRINCE2® is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited.
Topic: Project Lifecycle
Key Points
Project Lifecycle: Concept, Definition, Development, Handover & Closeout Life cycles will differ across industries and business sectors Structure and approach for progressively delivering the required outputs Product life-cycle includes Operations and Termination Extended Life-cycle includes Benefits Realisation which runs in parallel with first part of the Operations Phase Benefits:
- _Facilitates rolling wave planning
- Ensures next phase of work is_ _understood
- Better estimating (shorter durations)
- Early identification of resource_ _and improved resource utilisation
- Limits risk as risks in the short term_ can be accurately identified and mitigated - Funds allocated in “chunks” - Go/No Go decisions - Flexible to suit different industries/business sectors - Early phase success reinforces stakeholder commitment - Lessons learned can be applied to future phases
Topic: Business Case
Key Points
Documents the justification Cost vs Benefits Provides basis upon which ongoing viability can be judged
Typical content:
- _Reason (the current situation)
- Business options reviewed and the_ chosen option (to resolve the current _situation)
- Benefits
- Success Criteria
- Constraints
- Dependencies
- Major risks
- Issues
- Investment Appraisal
- Cost benefit analysis_
Produced at the end of Concept Updated during Definition Reviewed for validity throughout Development Benefits reviewed during Operations Phase
The Blue Zone: Background
APM PMQ revision pack
Owned by Sponsor Input/Information from PM, Users, Suppliers, Financial experts Investment Appraisal
_- Payback Period
- Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
- Net Present Value (NPV)
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR)_
Topic: Project Environment
Key Points
Refers to the environment within which a project is undertaken Strategic goals PESTLE Pestle analysis can identify stakeholders, risks, issues, constraints, assumptions, areas of scope, key dependencies
Topic: Project Management Plan
Key Points
What, Why, When, How, Where, Who, How much, What if, How good for a project Written by Project Team Read by the stakeholders. Owned by the Project Manager Approved by the Sponsor
The Pink Zone: People and projects
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Organisation
Key Points
Functional
- Advantages - Staff flexibility - Technical expertise - Peer learning - Career development - Communication _- Functional problems solving
- Disadvantages_ - Remote from client - One project many PMs - Many points of contact - Function superiority - Inward looking - No overall responsibility - ‘Chinese Walls’ - Functional loyalty Matrix - Advantages - Single point of contact - Global resources - Shared resources - Consistent “rules” - Tailoring to project - Rapid response to changes - Disadvantages - Resources conflict between function and projects. Double reporting (line and project management) - Conflicting loyalties - Career path: functional department or project? - Overloading of individuals - “Ring fencing” of preferred personnel Project - Advantages - PM line authority - Strong ‘team’ identity - Goal oriented - Project skills - Disadvantages - Concurrent projects - Isolation - Development of functional skills - Continuity of employment - Group think - Expensive
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Topic: Stakeholder
Management
Key Points
All those who have an interest or role in the project or are impacted by the project or can impact it Identification (internal, external, direct, indirect)
Identify area of interest (T, C, Q) Assess Power/Interest, +/- Plot on a grid Decide on management actions Prepare communications plan Ongoing management (checking for changes to stakeholders, feedback on effectiveness)
INVOLVE/ ENGAGE
INVOLVE/ ENGAGE PARTNER
INFORM CONSULT CONSULT
INFORM INFORM CONSULT
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW
LOW MEDIUM HIGH (^) POTENTIAL INTEREST
POTENTIAL INFLUENCE
The Pink Zone: People and projects
APM PMQ revision pack Card 2 of 2
Topic: Communication
Key Points
Communications Media
_- Visual - Oral - Body language
- Written - Electronic_ Screens or Barriers to Communication _- Perception
- Level of education
- Region of experience
- Personality and interests
- “Deaf ear” to unfamiliar or boring topics
- Attitudes, emotions and prejudices
- Receiver hearing what he wants to hear
- Sender and receiver having different_ _perceptions
- Receiver evaluates the source before_ _accepting the communication
- Words meaning different things to_ different people How To Improve Communication _- Obtain feedback
- Establish multiple communication_ _channels
- Use face to face if possible
- Find out how sensitive the receiver is_ to your communication
Topic: Conflict
Management
Key Points
Conflict over project priorities Conflict over administrative procedures Conflict over technical opinions and performance trade-offs Conflict over manpower resources Conflict over cost Conflict over schedules Personality conflict
Competing Collaborating
Avoiding
Compromising
Accommodating
Extent of attempts to satisfy other’s concerns
Extent of
attempts
to satisfy
own
concerns
Conflict Management Process
_- Diagnose
- Discuss
- Achieve ownership
- Agree
- Reinforce
- Remove (from the team)
- Exit (from the organisation)_ - Communicate at the proper time - Use simple language - Say it in different ways Communication Plan - Stakeholder list and contact details - Information required by each stakeholder (group) - Source of information - Format of information - Frequency of information - Method of distribution
Topic: Time Scheduling
Key Points
Network diagrams
The Purple Zone: Planning
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Estimating
Key Points
Subjective estimating Comparative estimating Parametric estimating Bottom-up (analytical) estimating 3 Point Estimating
_- Lowest
- Highest
- Most Likely -_ PERT Estimating Techniques _- Activity Breakdown
- Experience
- Phase Breakdown
- Experts
- Formulae
- Statistics
- Archives_
Topic: Scope Management
Key Points
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Basis of schedule Advantages of Structures
_- Helps team think about the work
- Gains agreement
- Ensures all know what they are_ _supposed to do
- Reduces risk of overlooking_ _something
- Identifies deliverables
- Makes workload allocation simpler
- Relates costs to “cost centres”
- Aids communication
- Provides a numbering system
- Provides basis for activity networks
- Provides basis for Earned Value_ Analysis
Critical Path – longest path through the network Total float – the amount of slippage a task/path has before the end date is affected. Free float the amount of time a task can slip without affecting the start of any subsequent task Milestone Charts Gantt Charts
Earliest start time
Latest start time
Earliest finish time
Duration
Latest finish time
Total float
Activity number/name
Topic: Resource Scheduling
Key Points
Unlimited resources, fixed time
- Use Time-limited Scheduling - Known as Resource Smoothing Limited resources, flexible time - Use Resource-limited Scheduling - Known as Resource levelling Resource Histogram Cumulative S Curve – basis of Earned Value – also known as Planned Cost
The Purple Zone: Planning
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Budgeting & Cost
Management
Key Points
Prime costs Overheads Profit Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS)
_- Labour
- Materials
- Plant and equipment
- Subcontract
- Management
- Overhead and administration
- Fees and taxation
- Inflation
- Other contingency
- Allocate to a Cost Centre_ Commitment - Placement of order for work, money removed from the budget to represent the order Accrual - Work done for which payment is due but not yet made Actual expenditure - Monies already paid
SPI/CPI greater than 1 - early or under budget Efficiency = CPI x100%
Formulae CPI = EV/AC SPI = EV/PC CV = EV - AC SV = EV - PC Final Cost = BAC/CPI Final Duration = Planned Duration/SPI % complete = (EV/BAC) *
Forecast out-turn costs _= Actual costs + Commitments
- Accruals + Work not yet started_ Cost Commitment Profile
- Cumulative cost v cumulative revenue
Topic: Earned Value
Key Points
Compares:
_- Planned Costs(PC) - What I planned to do
- Actual Costs (AC)- What I paid
- Earned Value (EV) - What I achieved_ Benefits of Earned Value _- How well are we doing?
- How well will we do assuming that_ _factors continue?
- How well could we do?
- Identify areas of under achievement
- Provides data for future estimates of_ _similar work
- Development of standard curves to assist_ with target setting for future projects Cost Variance (CV) Schedule Variance (SV) Cost Performance Index (CPI) Schedule Performance Index (SPI) SPI/CPI less than 1 - late or over budget
The Red Zone: Stop and think
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Project Success and
Benefits Management
Key Points
Success Criteria - Specific
_- Time - Cost - Quality
- Met customer’s requirements -_ _Acceptance Criteria
- Business Case_ View from different perspectives - Customer - Supplier - Team - Others? Success Factors _- Personal drive, motivation and leadership
- Team motivation
- Management support
- Functional support
- Client support and commitment
- Project objectives
- Financial resource
- Communication and control
- Technical expertise_ Key Performance Indicators - Measurable indicator for each success _criterion
- Used to report progress
- Chosen to reflect the success criteria
- Clear and unambiguous_
Benefits
- Identify benefits _- Stated by the users and/or the sponsor
- Encapsulated in the Business Case_ - Can be positive or negative _- Can be tangible or intangible
- Maintain and manage_ - Through the life-cycle - When things change - Realise - Usually after the project finishes - Business as usual activity
Topic: Negotiation
Key Points
Preparation
_- Understand the issue/problem
- Study relevant material
- Learn about opponents’ objectives
- Anticipate opponents’ strategies
- Define own objectives and priorities
- Define own negotiating strategy
- Allocate roles and responsibilities_ Discussing Listening Proposing Signalling Conceding Agreeing
Topic: Project Quality
Management
Key Points
4 elements:
- Quality Planning
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Control
- Continuous Improvement Acceptance Criteria Techniques used in Control/Improvement
Minimum Cost
Cost
Low High
High Low
Number of Mistakes Standards
Cost of Control
Cost of Failure
_- Audits
- Ishikawa diagrams (Cause & Effect_ _Analysis)
- Pareto Analysis
- Sampling
- 100% testing
- Inspection
- Control Charts_ Cost of Quality
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The Red Zone: Stop and think
APM PMQ revision pack Card 2 of 2
Topic: Health & Safety
Key Points
The main purposes of the Health & Safety At Work Etc. Act (1974)
- Secure the health, safety and welfare of _people at work
- Protect others from risks arising from_ _activities of people at work
- Control use and storage of dangerous_ _substances
- Control atmospheric emission of noxious_ or offensive substances The Employer’s General Duty of Care _- A safe place of work
- Safe means of access and egress
- Safe system of work
- Safe appliances, equipment and plant
- Competent and safety-conscious fellow_ _employees
- Protection from unnecessary risk of injury_ Duties of Employers _- Publish a safety policy
- Provide adequate instruction and training
- Establish a safety committee if_ union-appointed health and safety representatives so request Duties of Employees - While at work, all employees have a duty to: - take reasonable care - co-operate with employer
HASAW Legislation Relevant to Projects Construction (Design & Management) Regulations These regulations and the Approved Code of Practice apply specifically to the construction industry. They apply if the work is greater than 30 days duration or require more that 500 person days and these projects must be reported to the HSE. The regulations also detail specific responsibilities for:
- Client, Designer, CDM Coordinator, Principal Contractor, Contractors The regulations require that a Health and Safety Plan is in place and a Health and Safety File should be kept which is handed to the client when the work is complete so that it can be referenced during the operational life of the products, for example, when maintenance work is being undertaken. Risk assessment process _- Step 1: Identify the hazards
- Step 2: Decide who might be harmed_ _and how
- Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on_ precaution - Step 4: Record your findings and implement them - Step 5: Review your assessment and update if necessary A typical H&S plan should cover the following topics: Introduction Overview of the project and its health and safety context Health, safety and environmental management - Details of how these matters will be addressed including any industry specific matters Organisation - Who will take the specific roles such as CDM coordinator Health and safety risk assessment - Details of the Risk assessment Training - Details of how all staff and visitors will be trained Auditing and Reporting - Details of how audits will be undertaken, their frequency and details of reporting arrangements (make specific reference to relevant industry standards)
Topic: Procurement
Key Points
The Basic Steps
_- Establish user's need
- Survey market place
- Specify realistic requirement
- Seek tenders for supply
- Assess tenders and choose supplier
- Accept goods into service
- Support equipment during use
- Decommission and dispose_ Acquisition Strategies _- Off the Shelf Buys
- ‘Key’ Point Specifications
- Partnering Arrangements
- PPP, PFI_ Contract Types _- One comprehensive contract
- Sequential contracts
- Parallel contracts
- Sub contracts
- PPP, PFI_ Payment Arrangements _- Firm price/Fixed price
- Target cost
- Maximum price
- Cost reimbursement
- Unit rates
- Mixed terms
- Milestone payments/activity schedules_
The Orange Zone: Sunset
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Project Reviews
Key Points
Stage Review (regularly throughout the project)
_- Evaluate the processes being used
- Establish any lessons learned and_ _actions arising
- Identify concerns and agree_ _corrective action
- Establish likely technical success_ _of the project
- Validate progress against time, cost,_ _quality, scope and resources
- Consider stakeholder relationships_ and perceptions Gate Reviews - Undertaken at the end of phase or _stage
- Determines whether project should_ _proceed or not
- Major decision point for senior_ management Audits - Undertaken by group outside the team - Project Office - Internal auditors _- External auditors
- Used to provide objective evaluation and assessment of the management of the project_ Post Project Review _- Part of handover, before closeout
- Used to assess “did we do it right?”
- Evaluate against success criteria
- Determine what went well, what went badly, what could be done differently, separating cause from effect
- Recognise individual and team performances
- Evaluate the project processes and any tools or techniques used_ Benefits Realisation Review _- Undertaken some time after the products are in use
- Perhaps more than one?
- Have the benefits been realised?
- Have any unexpected benefits been realised?
- Any problems caused by the new products?
- Responsibility of the sponsor_ Circulate reports of all reviews to key stakeholders
Topic: Information Management
Key Points
Collection, Storage (analysis), Dissemination, Archive, Destruction Written formal or informal Oral formal or informal Vertical/Horizontal Manual filing systems Project management and design software Project meetings Shared access to networked databases Hard-copy document distribution Fax and E-Mail Video conferencing Exception reports Weekly reports Monthly reports Project closure reports Project Report Structure
_- Schedule status - Cost status
- Quality status - Risk status
- Issue status_ Project Archiving _- A repository for historic records
- Audit Trail
- Important part of an organisation’s_ _forecasting and estimating capability
- Project manager’s store of experience
- Capture experience in a form usable by_ others
Topic: Handover and Closeout
Key Points
Prepare a handover and closeout plan as part of the PMP Final testing against acceptance criteria Pass the deliverables to the sponsor and the user and obtain acceptance Handover to operational maintenance and support and obtain acceptance Prepare for benefits realisation and review PM Responsibilities
- Dispose of surplus materials, _infrastructure and facilities
- Finalise contracts and purchase orders
- Finalise project accounts
- Complete and archive all documentation
- Undertake a post-project review
- Operational review on the way the_ _project was managed
- Create and distribute lessons learned_ _report
- Complete performance appraisals of_ _project team staff as appropriate
- Recognise individual and team_ performance
The Orange Zone: Sunset
APM PMQ revision pack
Topic: Handover and Closeout
Inform stakeholders of stage entry
Brief project team
Finalise release preparations
Prepare for project closure
Release decision
Release
Complete project work scope
Handover & closure of project
PROJECT CLOSED
END
Post Project Review
Guidance for learners
Use this study card in conjunction with the ILX APM PMQ podcasts. Study its contents and try to recall the key points under each section.
About this document...
This document is part of an ILX study pack. It has been designed to assist your study for the APM’s project management qualification examination. It forms part of comprehensive portfolio of materials designed by ILX Group to assist learners in their exam preparation.
