ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN YOUR PROJECTS BY USING PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CONCEPTS & TECHNIQUES

By Timothy Wright, PMP

Every company develops initiatives to improve their sales, operations and bottom line. These initiatives require planning and dedication to achieve their objectives. Employing a strong Project Management approach can greatly improve the chances of success and achieving the project goals. Project management basics include concepts and techniques that are needed to succeed regardless of the project requirements. In addition, having a project manager with strong communication skills, providing trustworthy advice and actionable solutions, reduces errors from occurring. No matter the project, issues arise. An experienced project manager is able manage the scope, time and cost to minimize disruption of the project lifecycle. Whether your company is implementing a new system or taking on a process improvement initiative, it is important that the project manager understands how scope, time and cost are interrelated. Project Management Professionals (PMP) refers to this as the “triple constraint” to quality. The triple constraint states that anytime a project is modified, the project manager must understand how the change affects the other elements of the project. For example, if project funds are lower than planned, the schedule and scope may be compromised by eliminating activities. With the right amount of preparation and project execution, scope, time and cost can be properly managed and controlled.

SCOPE - How to Control the Project Scope?

The project scope statement is one of the first documents developed after the project sponsor has issued the project charter. The scope statement defines the project’s objectives, requirements, deliverables, constraints and assumptions. These are key elements when developing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which identifies the tasks needed to complete specific deliverables. By developing these and other supporting documents, a project manager is able to effectively manage the scope of a project. In addition, using project management techniques such as variance analysis, re-planning and scope verification, the Project Manager (PM) can ensure the scope remains reasonable. Anytime changes to the scope are requested it is important that the PM prevents scope creep from occurring. Scope creep happens when a change is made to the project but the change causes other changes to occur. To avoid this, the PM must thoroughly evaluate all changes to the scope through the defined change control system.

TIME - How to Control the Project Schedule?

Developing a complete schedule of events is important to the success of any project, but before a PM can develop a schedule he or she must define the activities, estimate resources, create a logical sequence and identify activity durations. Once the schedule has been finalized and the project is underway, keeping the schedule documents up to date will reduce the chance that issues will occur. Project management techniques that assist in controlling the schedule include project management software such as Microsoft Project, which organizes and helps analyze the information needed to evaluate the schedule of the project. Progress Reporting is the most commonly used technique PM’s use to communicate milestones, completed tasks, and remaining activities. A PM familiar with Performance Measurements can also use two calculations that help gauge the project schedule; Schedule Variance (SV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI).

• SV = Earned Value – Planned Value
• SPI = Earned Value / Planned Value

The rule is, if the Schedule Variance is positive or the Schedule Performance Index is greater than 1.0 the project is ahead of schedule. A graphical representation of this shown below:

COST - How to Control Project Costs?

Developing estimates, creating a project budget baseline and formulating cost control procedures will help control the project budget. During the cost control process, there are two techniques a successful PM can utilize: Cost Performance Measurements and Project Forecasting. Similar to schedule performance measurements, cost performance measurements are comprised of Cost Variance’s (CV) and Cost Performance Index’s (CPI).

• CV = Earned Value – Actual Cost
• CPI = Earned Value / Actual Cost

The rule is, if the Cost Variance is positive or the Cost Performance Index is greater than 1.0 the project is Under Budget. A graphical representation is shown below:

POST IMPLEMENTATION

After the project has been implemented it is important that your company ensure your investment is maintained. Conducting quality assurance assessments and tracking progress towards your initial goals after the final deliverable has been completed is highly recommended. This process is part of a continuous improvement business assessment/strategy. During the assessment, the company identify areas of weakness such as improper use of the new system. Continuous improvement can impact the ongoing success of the completed project and ultimately lead to lower expenses and capital expenditures down the road.

SUMMARY

In summary, scope, time and cost directly impact total project quality, which is why these three elements are important for a PM to manage individually and control concurrently throughout the project lifecycle. The most successful project managers understand this concept. They are diligent in their assessments and calculate all project changes before implementing. By having a PM understand the triple constraints will provide improved project performance. This coupled with the basic project management concepts and techniques will improve the chances of a successful project completion.

Timothy Wright is a Project Management Professional and Senior Manager for Clear Thinking Group.