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56-411: Business cases can range from comprehensive and highly structured, as required by formal project management methodologies , to informal and brief. Information included in a formal business case could be the background of the project, the expected business benefits, the options considered (with reasons for rejecting or carrying forward each option), the expected costs of the project, a gap analysis and

112-417: A business case. In the public sector, the business case is argued in terms of cost–benefit analysis , which may include both financial and non-financial cost and benefits. This allows the public body concerned to take social and environmental benefits into account, allowing a more comprehensive understanding of economic impacts. Project management Project management is the process of supervising

168-421: A few. Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was actually constructed. This is referred to as change management. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record is made on the contract documents – usually, but not necessarily limited to,

224-426: A project to requirements might be agreeing to deliver a computer system that will process staff data and manage payroll, holiday, and staff personnel records in shorter times with reduced errors. Under BRM, the agreement might be to achieve a specified reduction in staff hours and errors required to process and maintain staff data after the system installation when compared without the system. Critical path method (CPM)

280-417: A project. With the correct documentation, a project's success can be tracked and observed as the project goes on. If performed correctly documentation can be the backbone of a project's success Monitoring and controlling consist of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control

336-459: A significant exploratory element (e.g., research and development ), these stages may be supplemented with decision points (go/no go decisions) at which the project's continuation is debated and decided. An example is the Phase–gate model . Project management relies on a wide variety of meetings to coordinate actions. For instance, there is the kick-off meeting, which broadly involves stakeholders at

392-430: A very different discipline. For example, project managers have a key role in improving the translation even when they do not speak the language of the translation, because they know the study objectives well to make informed decisions. Similarly, research study management can also apply a project manage approach. There is public project management that covers all public works by the government, which can be carried out by

448-422: Is PRINCE2 . Traditionally (depending on what project management methodology is being used), project management includes a number of elements: four to five project management process groups, and a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project management processes or stages of development will be used. Major process groups generally include: In project environments with

504-438: Is a compilation of all information collected during enterprise analysis and the business case process. The key objective is to provide evidence and justification for continuing with the investment proposition. A business case can include details such as strategic alignment , return on investments , risk exposure assessment, feasibility study , expected Key Performance Indicators , evaluations and alternative measures. Here

560-402: Is an algorithm for determining the schedule for project activities. It is the traditional process used for predictive-based project planning. The CPM method evaluates the sequence of activities, the work effort required, the inter-dependencies, and the resulting float time per line sequence to determine the required project duration. Thus, by definition, the critical path is the pathway of tasks on

616-473: Is an example of a report structure for a business case: At various stages in the project, the business case should be reviewed to ensure that: The result of a review may be the termination or amendment of the project. The business case may also be subject to amendment if the review concludes that the business need has abated or changed, this will have a knock on effect on the project. Many public sector projects are now required to justify their need through

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672-401: Is an extension to the theory and practice of EVM. In critical studies of project management, it has been noted that phased approaches are not well suited for projects which are large-scale and multi-company, with undefined, ambiguous, or fast-changing requirements, or those with high degrees of risk, dependency, and fast-changing technologies. The cone of uncertainty explains some of this as

728-523: Is based on a project as a production system view, in which a project transforms inputs (raw materials, information, labor, plant & machinery) into outputs (goods and services). Product-based planning is a structured approach to project management, based on identifying all of the products (project deliverables ) that contribute to achieving the project objectives. As such, it defines a successful project as output-oriented rather than activity- or task-oriented. The most common implementation of this approach

784-414: Is easy to see whether or not a project's requirement has been met. To go along with that, documentation provides information regarding what has already been completed for that project. Documentation throughout a project provides a paper trail for anyone who needs to go back and reference the work in the past. In most cases, documentation is the most successful way to monitor and control the specific phases of

840-470: Is famous for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool (alternatively Harmonogram first proposed by Karol Adamiecki ); and Henri Fayol for his creation of the five management functions that form the foundation of the body of knowledge associated with project and program management. Both Gantt and Fayol were students of Frederick Winslow Taylor 's theories of scientific management . His work

896-426: Is happening to keep a project on track. This can help to reduce the risk of a completed project being a failure by delivering agreed upon requirements (outputs) i.e. project success but failing to deliver the benefits (outcomes) of those requirements i.e. product success. Note that good requirements management will ensure these benefits are captured as requirements of the project and their achievement monitored throughout

952-521: Is referred to as IT project management and which specializes in the delivery of technical assets and services that are required to pass through various lifecycle phases such as planning, design, development, testing, and deployment. Biotechnology project management focuses on the intricacies of biotechnology research and development. Localization project management includes application of many standard project management practices to translation works even though many consider this type of management to be

1008-479: Is the forerunner to modern project management tools including work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource allocation . The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era, where core engineering fields came together to work as one. Project management became recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline with the engineering model. In the United States, prior to

1064-525: Is to increase the flow of projects in an organization ( throughput ). Applying the first three of the five focusing steps of TOC, the system constraint for all projects, as well as the resources, are identified. To exploit the constraint, tasks on the critical chain are given priority over all other activities. Earned value management (EVM) extends project management with techniques to improve project monitoring. It illustrates project progress towards completion in terms of work and value (cost). Earned Schedule

1120-508: Is to produce a complete project which complies with the client's objectives. In many cases, the objective of project management is also to shape or reform the client's brief to feasibly address the client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are established, they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project– for example, project managers, designers, contractors and subcontractors. Ill-defined or too tightly prescribed project management objectives are detrimental to

1176-426: The management of such distinct production approaches requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies. Until 1900, civil engineering projects were generally managed by creative architects, engineers, and master builders themselves, for example, Vitruvius (first century BC), Christopher Wren (1632–1723), Thomas Telford (1757–1834), and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859). In

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1232-415: The methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the overall project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all participants and stakeholders . Benefits realization management (BRM) enhances normal project management techniques through a focus on outcomes (benefits) of a project rather than products or outputs and then measuring the degree to which that

1288-408: The 1950s, organizations started to apply project-management tools and techniques more systematically to complex engineering projects. As a discipline, project management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense activity. Two forefathers of project management are Henry Gantt , called the father of planning and control techniques, who

1344-413: The 1950s, projects were managed on an ad-hoc basis, using mostly Gantt charts and informal techniques and tools. At that time, two mathematical project-scheduling models were developed. The critical path method (CPM) was developed as a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. The program evaluation and review technique (PERT),

1400-531: The Iron Triangle or Triple Constraint in order for projects to be considered a success or failure. For each type of project management, project managers develop and utilize repeatable templates that are specific to the industry they're dealing with. This allows project plans to become very thorough and highly repeatable, with the specific intent to increase quality, lower delivery costs, and lower time to deliver project results. A 2017 study suggested that

1456-402: The construction industry's maintenance of correct documentation has caused an increase in the need for document management systems. Master builder (occupation) A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a combination of a modern expert carpenter, construction site supervisor, and architect / engineer ). Historically,

1512-414: The crude materials which make up the strength, the harmony, the beauty, the stateliness of the edifice which grow in his hands from a made foundation to a magnificent habitation. The term has also been applied to more broadly include "designers and builders of large-scale construction work who learned their trade in a more formal way than the builders of primitive forms in pre-technological societies... from

1568-549: The decisionmaking process. A project is a temporary and unique endeavor designed to produce a product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, often constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations) , which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice,

1624-405: The design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, "as built." The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts. Construction document management is a highly important task undertaken with the aid of an online or desktop software system or maintained through physical documentation. The increasing legality pertaining to

1680-471: The execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan. Monitoring and controlling include: Two main mechanisms support monitoring and controlling in projects. On the one hand, contracts offer a set of rules and incentives often supported by potential penalties and sanctions. On the other hand, scholars in business and management have paid attention to

1736-442: The expected risks . Consideration should also be given to the option of doing nothing including the costs and risks of inactivity. From this information, the justification for the project is derived. Business cases are created to help decision-makers ensure that: The business case process should be designed to be: A good business case report brings confidence and accountability into the field of making investment decisions. It

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1792-642: The first integrated process for portfolio, program, and project management ( total cost management framework). In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in the USA. PMI publishes the original version of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) in 1996 with William Duncan as its primary author, which describes project management practices that are common to "most projects, most of

1848-409: The government agencies or contracted out to contractors. Another classification of project management is based on the hard (physical) or soft (non-physical) type. Common among all the project management types is that they focus on three important goals: time, quality, and cost. Successful projects are completed on schedule, within budget, and according to previously agreed quality standards i.e. meeting

1904-672: The initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail (see an example of a flowchart ). The main purpose is to plan time, cost, and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully accomplishing its goals. Project planning generally consists of Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for

1960-475: The network diagram that has no extra time available (or very little extra time)." Critical chain project management (CCPM) is an application of the theory of constraints (TOC) to planning and managing projects and is designed to deal with the uncertainties inherent in managing projects, while taking into consideration the limited availability of resources (physical, human skills, as well as management & support capacity) needed to execute projects. The goal

2016-405: The objective, participant list, and facilitation methods. The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business' needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into

2072-512: The organization. For example, when working on a brick-and-mortar design and construction, projects will typically progress through stages like pre-planning, conceptual design, schematic design, design development, construction drawings (or contract documents), and construction administration. While the phased approach works well for small, well-defined projects, it often results in challenge or failure on larger projects, or those that are more complex or have more ambiguities, issues, and risks - see

2128-442: The other hand, allows for stochastic activity times; the times at which each activity will be carried out are uncertain or varied. Because of this core difference, CPM and PERT are used in different contexts. These mathematical techniques quickly spread into many private enterprises. At the same time, as project-scheduling models were being developed, technology for project cost estimating , cost management and engineering economics

2184-511: The parodying 'six phases of a big project'. The incorporation of process-based management has been driven by the use of maturity models such as the OPM3 and the CMMI (capability maturity model integration; see Image:Capability Maturity Model.jpg Project production management is the application of operations management to the delivery of capital projects. The Project production management framework

2240-549: The planning made on the initial phase of the project suffers from a high degree of uncertainty. This becomes especially true as software development is often the realization of a new or novel product. These complexities are better handled with a more exploratory or iterative and incremental approach. Several models of iterative and incremental project management have evolved, including agile project management , dynamic systems development method , extreme project management , and Innovation Engineering®. Lean project management uses

2296-523: The principles from lean manufacturing to focus on delivering value with less waste and reduced time. There are five phases to a project lifecycle; known as process groups. Each process group represents a series of inter-related processes to manage the work through a series of distinct steps to be completed. This type of project approach is often referred to as "traditional" or " waterfall ". The five process groups are: Some industries may use variations of these project stages and rename them to better suit

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2352-572: The project into compliance with the project management plan. Project maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes: In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems are resolved. Over the course of any construction project, the work scope may change. Change is a normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value engineering, and impacts from third parties, to name

2408-488: The project management plan's deliverables are executed accordingly. This phase involves proper allocation, coordination, and management of human resources and any other resources such as materials and budgets. The output of this phase is the project deliverables. Documenting everything within a project is key to being successful. To maintain budget, scope, effectiveness and pace a project must have physical documents pertaining to each specific task. With correct documentation, it

2464-446: The project's initiation. Project meetings or project committees enable the project team to define and monitor action plans. Steering committees are used to transition between phases and resolve issues. Project portfolio and program reviews are conducted in organizations running parallel projects. Lessons learned meetings are held to consolidate learnings. All these meetings employ techniques found in meeting science , particularly to define

2520-466: The project, and holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable. For new product development projects, conceptual design of the operation of the final product may be performed concurrent with the project planning activities and may help to inform the planning team when identifying deliverables and planning activities. While executing we must know what are the planned terms that need to be executed . The execution/implementation phase ensures that

2576-404: The project. In addition, BRM practices aim to ensure the strategic alignment between project outcomes and business strategies. The effectiveness of these practices is supported by recent research evidencing BRM practices influencing project success from a strategic perspective across different countries and industries. These wider effects are called the strategic impact. An example of delivering

2632-423: The project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them. The initiating stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas. These areas can be recorded in a series of documents called Project Initiation documents. Project Initiation documents are a series of planned documents used to create an order for the duration of the project. These tend to include: After

2688-532: The role of integrators (also called project barons) to achieve a project's objectives. In turn, recent research in project management has questioned the type of interplay between contracts and integrators. Some have argued that these two monitoring mechanisms operate as substitutes as one type of organization would decrease the advantages of using the other one. In multi-phase projects, the monitoring and control process also provides feedback between project phases, to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring

2744-507: The same work, Camden writes: And Peter is as sure a gate, for them to passe thereby. This is a rocke remaining firme: a Master builder hee... Like other trades, master builders were initially trained through lengthy apprenticeships to persons already having that status, often beginning in boyhood, and the "secrets of the Master Builders were often jealously guarded, and treated as sacred knowledge". A 1926 source stated: To become

2800-454: The success of any project depends on how well four key aspects are aligned with the contextual dynamics affecting the project, these are referred to as the four P's : There are a number of approaches to organizing and completing project activities, including phased, lean, iterative, and incremental. There are also several extensions to project planning, for example, based on outcomes (product-based) or activities (process-based). Regardless of

2856-470: The term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the Middle Ages or Renaissance period", with an 1887 source describing the status as follows: A master builder is recognized as such, not only for his ability to rear a magnificent structure after plans prepared by the architect for his guidance, but because of his ability to comprehend those plans, and to skillfully weave together

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2912-574: The time." Project management methods can be applied to any project. It is often tailored to a specific type of project based on project size, nature, industry or sector. For example, the construction industry, which focuses on the delivery of things like buildings, roads, and bridges, has developed its own specialized form of project management that it refers to as construction project management and in which project managers can become trained and certified. The information technology industry has also evolved to develop its own form of project management that

2968-691: The times of the Egyptians and Sumerians until (and in some cases beyond) the Industrial Revolution". The phrase has been in use since at least 1610, when William Camden wrote in his Britain, or a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Ilands adjoyning, out of the depth of Antiquitie of "those Wings in Architecture, which the great Master builders tearme Peroma". Later in

3024-418: The work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation , created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope , time and budget . The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet predefined objectives. The objective of project management

3080-535: Was developed by the U.S. Navy Special Projects Office in conjunction with the Lockheed Corporation and Booz Allen Hamilton as part of the Polaris missile submarine program. PERT and CPM are very similar in their approach but still present some differences. CPM is used for projects that assume deterministic activity times; the times at which each activity will be carried out are known. PERT, on

3136-601: Was evolving, with pioneering work by Hans Lang and others. In 1956, the American Association of Cost Engineers (now AACE International ; the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering ) was formed by early practitioners of project management and the associated specialties of planning and scheduling , cost estimating, and project control. AACE continued its pioneering work and in 2006, released

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