fundamentals of project management assignment

Project Management

(16 reviews)

Adrienne Watt

ISBN 13: 9781774200131

Publisher: BCcampus

Language: English

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Reviewed by Carolyn McGary, Associate Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/2/23

From a project management process standpoint, it covers at a high level the majority of what a starting student would need to know. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

From a project management process standpoint, it covers at a high level the majority of what a starting student would need to know.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Principles are pretty universal, so accuracy still seems good.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

A few of the examples in the book are becoming outdated, and could use an update to ensure continued relevancy.

Clarity rating: 5

Written in a straightforward manner, with good separation of topics. Feels clear and provides adequate context.

Consistency rating: 5

Flow was logical, and chapters seem to be consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

Felt the chapters were easily divisible if needed.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Structure and flow seem to be logical.

Interface rating: 5

Did not see any significant issues with navigation or interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Did not see any significant grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I did see a variety of examples for the topics. I did not notice anything insensitive, but I could be biased to that.

Overall the book has good data, I like the flow and the content. I would look at updating some of the examples and if possible update some of the graphics and tables for visual effect. I did like that there have been some improvements in 2019, 2021 and 2022 including some reformatting for accessibility. I have adapted portions of this text for my own Construction Project Management course.

Reviewed by Megan Hamilton, Faculty- Coordinator of Civic Engagement Projects, Emory and Henry College on 6/30/23

It covers all the major points that I want my students to understand when learning about the craft of project management. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

It covers all the major points that I want my students to understand when learning about the craft of project management.

While this book does address that project management is applicable to many sectors and careers, it doesn't provide as much a of a non-profit lens on project management as I would like my students to understand. This text is meant to apply to any type of project management though, which is important for my students to understand even though this specific class is about project management in the non-profit world.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

It is very up to date and would be easy to update in the future.

It's very easy to read.

Yes, this text provides consistency in the terminology it uses.

One of the reasons I picked this text besides that it was comprehensive and an easy read was because I could easily divide it up into smaller sections to help support our in class learning sessions.

It is organized well and in a thought out manner.

There were no issues when I read this text.

No major grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

There is nothing that jumped out at me reading this text that would be culturally sensitive, but I wasn't reading looking for that either.

This book does a good job of covering all the aspects of project management. It keeps things simple and basic, which is great for students who are just now learning about the craft of project management.

Reviewed by Michael Botyarov, Lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 7/24/22

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of project management, including associated processes and tools. This introductory text can be an excellent supplement to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) given the flow and structure of the chapters. That being said, project management has evolved over the last several years where a discussion of new methodologies, such as Agile and Critical Chain, could provide additional benefit to readers.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The textbook accurately describes project management fundamentals and provides accurate definitions of terms.

The fundamentals of project management are unlikely to shift much given the relevance of traditional waterfall approaches. Given that the purpose of the PMBoK, and other introductory texts such as this, is to provide a set of best practices for the field, the material will stay relevant. That being said, new methodology such as Agile is becoming increasingly common, so readers should keep that in mind and review newer methodologies on their own.

The textbook is very clear, providing definitions of key project management terms where needed. Additionally, case study examples provide insight into practical application(s) of the discussed topic, further elaborating on key terms and providing more clarity.

Throughout the entire textbook, the same terms are used and the formatting of chapters is similar such that the reader can get comfortable with the flow of material.

Modularity rating: 4

The textbook does an excellent job of decomposing project management topics into easy-to-digest sections, which the reader can comfortably read in one sitting. That being said, the textbook could benefit from sample exercises or problems after each chapter so the reader could apply the new knowledge in a practical way to enhance retention.

All topics in the textbook are presented in a logical way, similar to the sequence in an actual project, where you begin with stakeholder analysis and conclude with project completion. This organization further allows the reader to understand the structure of project management processes.

The textbook has clear examples, with graphics as needed, that are free from errors and are clearly displayed.

The textbook does not contain any evident grammatical errors and is therefore easy to read and digest.

Given the nature of the textbook and the way material is presented, it is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

This textbook provides an excellent introduction to project management by decomposing relevant structure and processes. I would highly recommend this textbook to students seeking to learn the fundamentals of a dynamic field. Supplemental material regarding Agile, and other new project management processes, can be provided separately to further guide class discussions.

Reviewed by Smita Singh, Lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 5/13/22

The textbook is pretty comprehensive and covers all aspects of project management. The book is well - organized and provides power points and audio files in the end of each chapter. However some of the chapters are not much in detail. For... read more

I did not identify any accuracy issues.

The book is recommended for a senior level class. All the topics can be introduced in the junior sections, and thereafter, can be reintroduced in the senior sections.

The book is consistent with industry standards.

Consistency rating: 4

Some of the topics in this book are inconsistent and don't follow PMI standards. For instance, the phases of the project lifecycle can be reframed.

All the chapters can be divided into smaller reading sections and the language is very easy to understand.

No issues with the organization of this book.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

The book provides basic understanding of the project management discipline in a global environment and is politically correct.

Few of the chapters can be updated with the upcoming trends in the project management discipline.

Reviewed by Abdullah Oguz, Visiting College Lecturer, Cleveland State University on 7/4/21

The text covers all project management knowledge areas and process groups. The table of content shows all of the topics in an organized way. However, I think some chapters are short, and therefore they should include more content. For example, Chapter 3 “The Project Life Cycle (Phase)” consists of four main phases with limited information for each of them. This chapter can be considered as a summary. There is a lack of clarification regarding the structure of the text after this chapter. Agile project management is addressed with only the Scrum framework in Chapter 4. One important advantage of this OER is that it provides PowerPoint presentation files and audio files for each chapter.

The content looks accurate. However, some parts need more explanation with exercises and case studies.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The book was published in 2014. There are three updates in 2017 and 2019. However, they are mostly related to the formatting, not the content. Although the book covers the main topics in project management, there have been updates in the primary body of knowledge guide (PMBOK Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The sixth edition was published in 2017, and the seventh edition will be released in August 2021. Besides, in the meantime, new and emerging technologies changed the corporate and social environment with new opportunities, and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the understanding of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The content cannot be considered obsolete, but updates are required throughout the chapters.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is well-written, and it can be understood without ambiguity. However, a lack of explanation for some chapters and topics may leave doubts in many students’ minds.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The text was structured for modularity with 19 chapters and sections inside each chapter. Therefore, it can be easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections although some chapters such as Chapter 19 cannot be considered a chapter, but a short conclusion.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The chapter titles emphasize planning. Actually, planning is the most important part for a project manager. However, in project management, project monitoring and control, as well as execution (implementation), should be highlighted separately beside the planning. Therefore, it can create a perception that undermines the importance of other phases and process groups.

Interface rating: 4

Although chapter titles are available in the Table of Content, sections of chapters are not provided. The quality of the images is good in general. However, several figures such as Figure 1.1 don’t have a good resolution.

I did not find any grammatical errors. However, this issue should be addressed by an expert in this field.

In parallel with the global nature of project management discipline and diverse teams, the book provides examples of the implementation of projects in other cultures. For example, the “Project Management Expertise” section in Chapter 2 has a subsection “Understanding the Project Environment”. The last paragraph of this section reads “Project managers in multicultural projects must appreciate the culture dimensions and try to learn relevant customs, courtesies, and business protocols before taking responsibility for managing an international project. A project manager must take into consideration these various cultural influences and how they may affect the project’s completion, schedule, scope, and cost.” This positive approach is implemented throughout the book.

I found this book very helpful and included it in my two summer courses as a supplementary resource.

Reviewed by Debbie Austin, Part Time Faculty, Portland Community College on 1/11/21

This text is a comprehensive overview of the basic functions and processes of project management. It is not an in-depth study in any one area of project management but does a great job of covering the end to end process for a survey or basics course. read more

I found the text to be accurate and sufficient for project management topics.

I like this text for the coverage of project management topics for a basic understanding of project methodology. Because it is a basics book, it does not cover agile methods sufficiently or address non-standard approaches to project management that could make it more relevant for today's project environments.

I really like this book for it's easy to understand language and straightforward layout. Students seem to be able to navigate and understand this book and are able to follow the direction that references the textbook.

This book is very consistent throughout with nicely structured chapters that are easy to digest in a single sitting.

This text has equally weighted chapters that are named appropriately and easy to understand. Within the chapters, there are section headers that make it easy to follow the content progression.

I use this book because it is so well organized. The chapters are clear and follow standard project management practice. They are structured by topic so it is easy to assign chapters that align to the content of the course.

The text is well designed with supporting images and examples that make the content more clear.

I have not found any grammatical issues.

I have not found any issues related to cultural sensitivities.

This is my go-to book for basic project management course needs. It is easy to read, understand, and use and I love the basic coverage of project management practice that it provides. This would not be a text for any specific project management topics that need more depth but it is a great basics book for those just starting out in project management. I highly recommend this text.

Reviewed by Andrea Peterson, Faculty: Lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 8/5/20

This text is perfect for a beginner's level course in Project Management. read more

This text is perfect for a beginner's level course in Project Management.

The text includes all the standard body of knowledge components making up the traditional framework of project management.

As the text is organized according to this traditional framework, it is readily adaptable to updates of current examples and processes.

The text is definitely easy to read and at a level commensurate with a beginner's course.

The text is consistent in its use of terminology true to the body of knowledge of project management.

The text contains 16 chapters which readily fits the format of most college-level courses of 15-16 weeks of study. Additionally, chapters can be easily combined for a more topical study and/or a compressed delivery.

The text follows the traditional methodology of study of the phases of project management and remains true to the body of knowledge required.

The text includes clickable links for some images and figures making it highly interactive.

No grammatical errors were found in this text as it is written in a very professional manner.

There are no cultural issues within this text.

The examples used in this text for explanation of the difficult subject of precedence planning and diagramming are that of planning a wedding, making this a highly valuable text for the hospitality industry and specifically meeting and event project management.

Reviewed by Keivan Sadeghzadeh, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on 6/27/20

This textbook covers many topics in the area but could include more such as "Communications Management" and ... read more

This textbook covers many topics in the area but could include more such as "Communications Management" and ...

I found the textbook error-free and unbiased ...

The textbook is almost up to date but there are rooms for improvement such as numerical examples and case studies. Using more interested real-word examples id recommended ...

Clarity rating: 2

The textbook lacks adequate context for many technical terminologies and concepts specifically quantitative methods such as CPM and PERT. Many project management techniques are not discussed and explained in details and major improvement in this category (clarity) is required ...

Terminology and framework are almost consistence but minor reorganizing in topics using the order of the project management areas according to the standards and guidelines is suggested ...

More breakdown in chapters is suggested specially in chapters 10 to 16. These chapters require developed structure using different level to make the concept and content clear and easy to understand ...

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

As mentioned in "Consistency", using the order of the project management areas according to the standards and guidelines in order to apply minor reorganizing could be effective ...

More graphical presentation and visualization techniques are required. Many areas of project management could benefit table, figures, and charts to present the context in a clear fashion ...

I don't see any errors ...

The textbook is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way ...

Reviewed by Jonathan de Alderete, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell on 6/10/20

This book is an excellent high level overview perfect for both business majors and engineers who are learning the ropes for staging a project. read more

This book is an excellent high level overview perfect for both business majors and engineers who are learning the ropes for staging a project.

This is a standard overview. I would have liked to see a bit more in depth on the techniques for planning but it is laid out in a similar way to how industry tackles problems.

Luckily barring a major industry overhaul, this is a well established workflow.

The book was written in an approachable non-technical fashion, with minimal use of jargon. Additionally lighthearted graphics increase the engagement.

The table formatting is a bit jarring at times (Colors, styles and fonts) which can be distracting.

The chapters are about the right length for a student to read before class, these would go well with a comprehensive case study.

There is a bit of a jump toward the end of this book (From project development to implementation is a bit glossed in my opinion), and I would have loved to see some implementation case study, but otherwise clear.

While the book does play some service to other cultures, I think a little more expansion on how regions can effect deliverable items as well as expectations is a major player. This won't be an issue to students or to the book, but I would add it as a consideration.

Overall this is a great primer on project management. I plan to use this book with Senior mechanical engineers to drive context on project planning.

Reviewed by Elaine Luther, Professor, Point Park University on 9/5/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

Table of Contents should provide short description of content for each Chapter. Would like to see more Business Examples, since this was listed under Business Area. Missing major projects such as; New Product Development/Acquisition, Capital Expenditures, Business Plans, Administrative Projects (Health Care Choices, etc.) Also, examples were confusing; some were project types, while others were job types, in C2. The Preface had 5 elements of Project Management, but then C3 only had 4, missing Control. That should be the structure for the textbook, and it should be consistent. Communication Planning should be an earlier Chapter rather than C15. Too late by then. Good coverage of Group Dynamics, Gantt Charts, Budgeting, Quality Conrol, Risk Management, and Implementation. Would like to see links to Excel for NPV calculations. It would also be nice to have a case study of a project that flows through all of the Chapters. ,

As referenced above, there was a discrepancy in steps in Project Management; preface listed 5, C3 only had 4 - dropped Control. I assume this is a country of original difference, but Third Party Contracting is often used over Outsourcing. Same with Charter versus Contract. Not sure. It seemed to be well edited.

It has been around for a long time, but history should be more current/relevant - with examples students could understand. Perhaps steps to develop the iPhone?

Planning a wedding might not be a good example for business. Even planning a vacation or building a tiny home would be more relevant.

I prefer more lists, rather than long paragraphs.

Also, there could be concrete examples.

Have links or examples for finding budget details - trade organizations, franchises, etc.

Chapter 10 and 11 seem to cover the same steps of preparing timelines.

I think there should be an overview chapter that describes the process from start to finish, perhaps with an outline or workbook.

C15 Communication should be up front. Have Overview Chapter.

Interface rating: 2

I could not find the slides. I could not get the audio files to open. Each time I tried, there was no back button, and I had to reopen the PDF and scroll down to the page.

Do PDF's have a find or go to page option?

It was well written. Very clear.

I would skip the wedding example for a business textbook. Event planning could be a substitute.

I was looking for a textbook that I could use with a Capstone course where senior develop a business plan. I wanted a stronger business focus. However, this is close. Thanks.

Reviewed by Micheline Al Harrack, Visiting Faculty, Marymount University on 7/26/19

This book covers all the topics relevant to Project Management. It outlines an overview of Project Management, the Project Life Cycle, and covers all knowledge areas as identified in the PMBOK 5th edition. It does not integrate using a software like Microsoft Project. The book references Implementation instead of Executing even though it mentions Execution as an alternative. It goes briefly over Integration, and Monitoring and Controlling. It can be used as a textbook to be supplemented with a software package and the changes in the PMBOK 6th edition.

The book is accurate and in line with the PMBOK 5th edition.

The book is relevant and covers the principles of Project Management. It can be used as a basic reference even after the PMBOK 6th edition is out.

This book is clear. The style is simple, easy, and to the point.

The book is consistent in terminology and framework.

The chapters can be easily divided and assigned as readings and reference materials in a course. The chapters are short, to the point, and simple to read and understand.

The book is organized. It starts with the overview, the project life cycle, framework, stakeholder management then moves to the initiation phase and dedicates 9 chapters to planning the different knowledge areas. It covers the Executing phase very briefly in the "Project Implementation Overview" chapter and the Closing phase in the "Project Completion" chapter.

The book interface is clean. It is easy to navigate. Even though the charts are small, they are clear. I did not identify any problems in the display features.

The text is free of grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive. Most examples are universal. None are offensive, in my opinion.

This book is a good Project Management book. The style is clean and far from verbose. The text can be revised at a certain point to align the terminology with the PMBOK .

Reviewed by Paul Szwed, Professor, Massachusetts Maritime Academy on 4/21/19

The textbook offers a broad look at project management and provides a high-level treatment of most areas of project management. It would be a good introductory book on the subject, but due to its relatively abbreviated length, it does not go into... read more

Like most general texts on the subject, it provides an accurate view of what is commonly referred to as the traditional (or waterfall) framework for project management. There are alternative frameworks (e.g., agile) and other than a short mention in chapter 4, this text does not cover such alternative methods.

Most of the content in this text is useful and will benefit students in courses with introductory project management modules, or even entire introductory courses in project management. However, without additional support, the select tools and techniques described may not be in sufficient detail to enable a student to effectively apply them as a project manager.

The text is narrative in style and will be accessible and approachable from students of virtually any background or discipline. The text is not written for a specific discipline and adopts only jargon / technical terminology used broadly across project management professions.

The text lacked a bit of internal consistency in that the order of presentation of the chapters did not follow the framework for project management that was put forward in chapter 4 at the beginning of the book.

While I found the text to be a bit too abbreviated for my semester-long course, the chapters themselves were sufficiently short to be easily consumed by my undergraduate students. The text lacked any ability to easily decompose chapters further into sections or subsection, such that they might be adopted into specific modules.

Perhaps because I come from a PMI / PMP orientation and bias, I found the order of presentation to be slightly disorienting. It not follow the PMI order (mentioned in chapter 1 and illustrated partially in Table 4.1) nor did it necessarily follow the typical chronology of a project. Instead project phases were interspersed within project knowledge areas. For example, there was an extended section on project selection (NPV, ROI, etc.) in chapter 7 that typically proceeds initiation. Also, there was an extended section on interpersonal skills (e.g., personality, conflict resolution, meeting management, leadership) contained in chapter 11 on resource planning - this is usually separated from the technical skills of project management processes and could have easily been presented in a separate chapter or appendix.

The interface was simple and easy to navigate.

Overall, it was well-written and easily understood.

I think the text is acceptable, however when it is updated, the selection of examples could be more global and varied. There was a chapter devoted to culture that would provide an opportunity for readers to think more deeply about their own perspective and biases.

This is a decent textbook for project management, particularly when it is intended to be introductory. If educators are interested in developing technical project management competencies of its students, it may require supplemental materials. The next edition would also benefit from additional interactivity to further engage readers. Thank you to the authors and contributors for their solid work in putting forward one of the foremost OER texts in the discipline of project management.

Reviewed by Deborah Hommer, Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State University Altoona on 2/1/18

I feel the book touches upon all the topics of a typical Project Management Book except use of a software tool like Microsoft Project. The book does not go into great detail on many of the project deliverables identified by PMI or PMD. Also... read more

Also recommend: Chapter 12-take slide 8 and add formulas and add to text content.

I believe because it is high level, it will remain relevant. Additionally, the level will negatively impact it use in higher level classes (400-level).

I believe it is well written with nice examples.

I found the book to be consistent within and with industry information.

The chapters are assignable as smaller reading sections. They are in fact very small, high level information which I would augment with case studies.

This books is organized like most other Project Management Books-Project Life Cycle.

I did not experience any issues with the interface when reviewing this text. Limited graphics used had no issues displaying. Might recommend more graphics.

I feel the book is well written with no grammar errors.

I did not note any cultural issues with this text.

I think this would be good for a 100 or 200 level Project Management class. I would like to see some case studies and depth to be added so it could be used for a 400-level course.

Reviewed by Sang-Phil Kim, Assistant Professor, Winona State University on 6/20/17

Project management has soft skills and hard skills. Though the text covers all area and ideas of the subject it seems too concise, especially on hard/quantitative skills, such as critical path method (CPM), earned value analysis (EVA), and risk... read more

It can be used a supplementary material.

Content is accurate.I didn't find any error.

Content is up-to-date. The text is written and arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be easy and straightforward to implement.

The text is written in clear, accessible prose. It provides enough explanations for jargons.

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The text has 19 chapters. It is easy to divide, to modify, or to rearrange.

The text has a logical structure/organization.

The text has no significant interface issues. The figures and tables are too small, but it can be seen in large version if a reader clicks the figure/table. I reviewed PDF version, but not sure in different formats.

I didn't find any grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive.

More contents for technical/quantitative skills and examples.

Reviewed by Ziko (Ziad) Rizk, Computer Systems Faculty, LinnBenton Community College (LBCC) on 6/20/17

The book covers the project management topic very well. The author begins the book with why businesses should leverage project management, then moves on to the project definition, the project life cycle, the Project Management Institute (PMI) and project methodologies, and finally to each phase of the project life cycle (initiation, planning, implementation, and closing). The book does include an index, a slide set for each chapter, and is available in several different formats (HTML, PDF, etc.)

The book is accurate, up-to-date, and unbiased. The implementation chapter is light. I think a complete chapter on monitoring and controlling would have added much value to the book.

The book content is up-to-date. While the project management field continue to evolve, and core processes and knowledge areas are mature and stable. The book is written in such a way that corrections and revisions will be straightforward to implement. Speaking of revisions, the author covers the five PMI process areas (initiation, planning, executing/implementation, monitoring and controlling, and closing); however, the implementation chapter is light with brief mention of the monitoring and controlling activities. A good chapter on monitoring and controlling would have add much value.

The book is easy to read and follow. While the author used many of the project management technical terminology, she did not go overboard. The majority of the chapters cover the content well.

The book is mostly consistent. The one inconsistent, I think, that requiring refinement is the project management processes. While the author used initiation, planning, implementation, and closing, the PMI uses initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. I think, it would be best to stay consistent with PMI.

The book is modular. The book consists of 19 different chapters. Each chapter focuses on a different project management topic. 9 of the 19 chapters focus on planning the different project management knowledge areas, which in my opinion, is appropriate.

The book is well organized and structured. The 19 chapters’ flow well. The content of flow of each chapter is also good. I already stated the implementation chapter is light and a separate chapter of monitoring and controlling would have added value.

The book interface is very good. As far as I can tell, there are no interface and navigation problems. The images and charts are clear and readable. A few of the images are busy and still readable.

The book grammar is very good. While I was not focusing much on grammar, no grammatical errors stood out.

The book is politically correct. I think, I would have noticed if the book was culturally insensitive.

I think, this is a good project management book. I think the implementation chapter should be renamed to executing and beefed up. I also think a new chapter on monitoring and controlling should be added. Finally, the planning chapters could be adjusted to align with the PMI knowledge areas.

Reviewed by Dave Amato, Adjunct Instructor, Portland Community College on 6/20/17

I think the book does a pretty good job of this although I think the representative graphics were difficult to view as part of the book content. They are too small and required enlargement if you wanted to try to get anything out of them. read more

I was pleased with this aspect of the book.

As long as there are projects to manage, this book will be relevant. As an elementary guide to the process of project management it does a good job.

Many text books are pedantic and verbose. This one is not. Basic language drives to the elemental point.

I think the author did a very good job with her organization of the material, sequential steps and references.

The graphics are poor. I think there should be more use of charts and flow charts. The graphics provided are difficult to interpret or even see in the PDF version.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Very little opportunity in the subject matter to deal with cultural relevance. I found no insensitive or offensive references of any kind.

The graphics provided were frustrating. Given the nature of this subject, I believe more graphics should be provided; flow charts, story boards, scheduling forms, etc. I am a visual learner and find subjects like this are easier to grasp with visual aids and case studies. Some examples were used but I think following an actual, completed project; supported by photos of the product of the project management effort would be helpful in keeping the learners interest.

1. Project Management: Past and Present
2. Project Management Overview
3. The Project Life Cycle (Phases)
4. Framework for Project Management
5. Stakeholder Management
6. Culture and Project Management
7. Project Initiation
8. Overview of Project Planning
9. Scope Planning
10. Project Schedule Planning
11. Resource Planning
12. Budget Planning
13. Procurement Management
14. Quality Planning
15. Communication Planning
16. Risk Management Planning
17. Project Implementation Overview
18. Project Completion
19. Celebrate!
Appendix 1: Project Management PowerPoints
Appendix 2: Chapter Questions
Appendix 3: Chapter Audio Files
About the Author
Versioning History

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This book covers the basics of project management. This includes the process of initiation, planning, execution, control and close out that all projects share.

About the Contributors

Adrienne Watt holds a Computer Systems Diploma (BCIT), a Bachelors in Technology (BCIT) and a Master’s in Business Administration (City University).

Since 1989, Adrienne has worked as an educator and gained extensive experience developing and delivering business and technology curriculum to post-secondary students. During that time she ran a successful software development business. In the business she worked as an IT Professional in a variety of senior positions including Project Manager, Database Designer, Administrator and Business Analyst. Recently she has been exploring a wide range of technology related tools and processes to improve delivery methods and enhance learning for her students.

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7 Project Management Fundamentals You Need to Learn

Shelby Golding

Apr 29, 2022

Successful projects don't just happen. They're born from the blood (papercuts), sweat, and tears of skilled project managers and their teams. And without a good understanding of project management fundamentals, projects don't succeed nearly as often.

Project management fundamentals include process groups, cost management, risk management, task management, and project constraints. They help make each project work, no matter what project management framework or template you go with.

This guide covers the project management fundamentals that every project manager (PM for short) needs to know. These fundamentals will form the foundation of every project you complete and set you up for success.

7 Project Management Fundamentals

If you know your project management fundamentals, a.k.a your competencies, you'll be prepared for anything the business world throws your way. And when that happens, fasten your cape — you're "Super Manager," a hero who stops scope creep and miscommunications before breakfast. ? But we'll focus on explaining the seven project management skills highlighted below and leave the wardrobe choices up to you.

1. Process Groups

The project management life cycle consists of five process groups or phases. Each project management process group represents one phase of the project.

The initiation phase is designed to help you define the project and transform it from an idea into an attainable goal for your stakeholders to review and approve. It begins with a project initiation document (PID) or project charter that defines details like the business case, project scope, deliverables, objectives, estimated budget, constraints, goals, and expected timeline. You can use a PID template to make this process easier.

The planning phase is where you'll flesh out your project plan and infrastructure and help your team better understand the project's vision. During this phase, you'll develop project control elements like:

Budgeting and forecasting
SMART and CLEAR project goals
Communication plan
Deliverables
Initial project schedules
Project management plan
Project team organization
Risk analyses
Risk management and response plan
Work breakdown structure (WBS) and Gantt chart

With most methodologies other than Agile and its subsets, the planning phase will likely take up a large amount of your project's timeline. By the end, your project team will have a clear picture of the steps they need to follow for project success.

The execution phase is where your project team will do the actual work and spend most of your budget. It's all about producing deliverables, putting your project plan into action, and reaching your goals. Your role will be managing your teams and orchestrating milestones to make your plan a success and stay on schedule. You'll also need to maintain communication and collaboration between stakeholders to keep everyone on the same page.

The monitoring phase is pretty self-explanatory — you'll keep an eye on the project progress and key performance indicators (KPIs), so you can correct issues as they arise. Some common KPIs include:

Cost and effort tracking
Deliverables and objectives
Performance and progress

It doesn't matter how good at planning you are — you'll need to monitor your KPIs at the progress at every step, track it, and be vigilant about reporting.

The closure phase initiates when the project is complete. Before you start partying, you'll formally close out the project. During this time, you'll terminate contracts with external parties, review the project, perform a final budget check, and create a detailed report that covers every complete and incomplete task.

Most PMs hold a post mortem meeting to evaluate successes and failures before releasing the team. Then, it's time for a wrap party, which is a fun way to celebrate and acknowledge your team's hard work.

2. Cost Management

Cost management is essential throughout the project's lifecycle, and without it, you're unlikely to stay within budget. And if your project runs over budget, it's not 100% successful regardless of whether you bring the vision to life. Cost management involves resource planning, estimation, budgeting, and control.

3. Risk Management

Risk management is one of the most critical project management fundamentals, and you'll inevitably get blindsided without it. It's all about understanding risks so that you can ensure a proper response, and the steps usually include:

Identify and analyze potential risks.
Assign ownership over these risks to the appropriate team members.
Prioritize each project risk based on severity and how likely it is to occur.
Plan your responses to each risk and respond to them accordingly.
Monitor your risk management strategy and adjust when needed.

While these steps might make risk management sound simple, risk always involves an unpredictable element. And project managers must be able to respond to unpredictable risks with agility and thought.

4. Task Management

All projects are made up of tasks that your team must complete to succeed. As you might imagine, this means that task management is one of the most essential pillars of project management. It involves identifying, monitoring, and orchestrating the tasks that must be completed every day. Online project management programs like Asana and ClickUp can make this easier.

5. Project Constraints

Every project comes with constraints — the three most common include cost, time, and scope. These three are often known as the project management triangle , and they're almost impossible to avoid.

Cost: The cost constraint requires you to manage the project's budget to keep it within the predetermined financial resource limits.
Time: Managing the time constraint means planning, monitoring, and controlling the project schedule. A Gantt chart can make this easier.
Scope: The scope constraint requires you to define a clear project scope at the beginning of the project, create a process for any scope changes, and regularly communicate the scope to stakeholders. This helps prevent the dreaded scope creep.

Each of these three constraints is connected, so you'll have to manage each element to keep things on track. For example, you'll likely need a bigger budget and more time if the scope is increased.

6. Project Communication Management

Poor communication can cause any project to fail, which is why project communication management is so essential. First, you'll need to outline how communication will work across your teams and projects with a communication plan to use for every message. Standard steps include:

Purpose: Define the intention of your communication, whether it's a status update, authorization request, or timeline change.
Audience: List your stakeholders and anyone else you'll be communicating with — think sponsors, project team members, and customers.
Message: Decide the content of the message and what components are being shared, such as budgets, schedules, and deliverables.
Channel: Choose how you'll communicate the message, whether via email or an informal meeting.
Timeline: Determine when you need to deliver the message.

Communication management allows you to ensure everything runs smoothly, preventing issues that could delay your project.

7. Change Management

They say that the best-laid plans often go awry, and it couldn't be more true in project management. That's where change management comes in — it's all about maintaining control when change strikes and figuring out solutions to keep the project on schedule. A change control plan will help you anticipate, react, and introduce changes as the project progresses.

How to Improve as a Project Manager

Sure, reading about project management fundamentals is great, but how do you actually improve? Unfortunately, no project manager starts off knowing their way around all of these essential skills, and a lot of it comes down to practice.

That said, there are a few things you can do to get an edge:

Education and Certification

Ongoing education is always the surest way to sharpen your project management skills. Depending on where you're at in your career journey, this might mean:

College and training courses: If you haven't yet, enrollment in a college-level project management program can help you learn, and a degree can grant access to new opportunities. And if college isn't where it's at for you right now, instructor-led training courses can help you master the fundamentals. (Hint: Look for targeted course content, like a fundamentals course!)
Certifications: The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers numerous project management training and certification programs. Two of the most popular include the Project Management Professional PMP certification and the Certified Associate in Project Management CAPM certification. Certification programs can help you improve in specific areas, and they can help you earn PDUs , or professional development units.
PMBOK Guide: The PMBOK Guide is PMI's guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Many project managers consider the current edition of the PMBOK Guide essential reading, and it can help you stay current on the fundamentals.

Master the Fundamentals of Project Management

As you apply these project management fundamentals, they'll become second nature. When that happens, you're basically a PM superhero. You might not get away with wearing a mask and cape to work (Unless you work from home!), but you'll be saving the day on a pretty regular basis.

To make saving the day easier, it's crucial to have helpful tools that allow you to be fully present with all of your tasks. Anchor AI is designed to make your meetings easier by recording a full transcript, complete with action items, keywords, speakers, and decisions made.

1. Introduction

1.1 overview of management.

Management is about achieving results through people. This involves the processes of planning, organizing, and directing the activities of employees, in combination with other resources, to accomplish organizational goals. Understanding the fundamentals of managing and leading people is an important place to begin the study of project management.

Depending on the nature of the organization and the industry in which it operates, managerial responsibilities can vary widely. However, general managerial responsibilities typically include long-range planning, environmental scanning, supervision, coordination, customer relations, community relations, internal consulting, and monitoring of products and services. As seen in Exhibit 1.1 , these responsibilities are best viewed by considering the three major types of roles managers play within organizations: 1) informational , 2) interpersonal , and 3) decisional roles.

fundamentals of project management assignment

The extent of each of these roles depends on the manager’s position within the organizational hierarchy. As shown in Exhibit 1.2 , different skills (conceptual, human, and technical) are required for different levels of the managerial hierarchy. Success in executive positions requires far more conceptual skills and less use of technical skills in most (but not all) situations. In contrast, first-line managers generally require more technical skills and fewer conceptual skills. Lastly, middle managers may require to be well-rounded in all three skills. Note, however, that human relations skills, or “people skills,” remain important for success at all three levels in the hierarchy.

In addition, the extent of the roles also varies by department and function. Significant differences can be found in accounting, human resources, manufacturing, and sales, just to name a few. A key differentiator is the emphasis of each role. For instance, managers in the accounting function spend little time, if any, resolving customer service issues. However, managers in the sales, marketing, and service functions spend a considerable amount of their time ensuring those issues are effectively and efficiently resolved.

A lot has changed in the field of management. 21 st -century managers differ from their predecessors in four key ways. They have become global strategists, masters of technology, good internal/external advocates, and premier leaders-motivators.

The focus in this text is on the role of the project, program, and/or portfolio manager. The unique emphasis of these roles naturally leads to a discussion of what a project, program, and/or portfolio are and why a focused emphasis on leading change is required. In addition, we will look at the unique technical and soft skills that successful project management professionals must possess.

1.2 What is a Project?

A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. 1

Organizations often choose to manage a related group of projects in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control unachievable by managing projects individually. When this occurs, it is known as program management. 1

As an organization grows and matures, change becomes necessary to its sustained viability. Understanding the drivers of a change is the first step in understanding how the project should be managed. Some changes are mandatory. This is often the case with changing legislation and regulations. Mandatory changes often have compliance deadlines and penalties for non-compliance. Operational changes seek to address deficiencies in the day-to-day operations of an organization and can involve repairing or replacing equipment and facilities. Lastly, strategic changes are optional but once pursued, help take the organization to the next level of performance in the marketplace.

Regardless of the underlying driver(s) for a project, all projects have unique objectives. These unique objectives lead to specific and measurable time, as well as cost and performance requirements. Projects end when their objectives have been met, as well as when they are no longer desirable and/or achievable. In contrast, operational work is not temporary. Operational activities are ongoing and are performed to sustain the organization. The daily processing of sales transactions is a good example of an operational activity. In contrast, replacing the system that processes daily sales transactions is a project.

1.3 How is Project Management a Unique Discipline?

Disruption is the new normal. At the time of writing this open educational resource, humans were experiencing life in the midst of a pandemic. The impact of the pandemic has been profound and prolonged. The pandemic began against a backdrop of extraordinary change driven by new technologies, a push for governments and organizations to demonstrate a deeper commitment to social accountability, and rapidly evolving customer expectations. So much is at stake and unfortunately, many organizations have not survived the economic conditions brought about by these forces of change.

Government, non-profit, and business leaders alike know that continued success depends on an agile mindset. Organizations need highly adaptive people to deliver on bold ideas with equally bold and big projects. Before we examine why project management is a unique discipline, it is time for an introduction to the two major organizations with worldwide impact on the practice of project management: Project Management Institute (PMI), with world headquarters in the United States, and the International Project Management Association (IPMA), with world headquarters in Switzerland. This text follows the approach taken by PMI and will remain aligned with PMI as their best practices evolve.

PMI is a non-profit project management professional association. It i s the most widely recognized association for those who consider a project, program , or portfolio management as their profession. Founded in 1969, PMI works in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, improve organizational success , and further the project management profession through globally recognized standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses , and networking opportunities. With a membership of more than three million people, it has proven its ability to help organizations deliver successful change initiatives.

PMI defines project management as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements . 1 Project l eaders are evaluated on how effectively they apply their project management knowledge, skills, tools , and techniques to a change in a functional area(s) and how effectively they prepare the functional area(s) to sustain the change. They ask themselves questions such as, “ W ill this change add value to the organization ? ” As a team, they may ask , “ W ill we deliver solutions when they are needed, within the funding parameters available in the organization , and will we meet the expectations of the end – user community ? ” T hey also frequently ask, “ A re the stakeholders, including the impacted functional leaders, still supportive of the changes to be delivered ? ” Answers to these questions guide the project team’s work.

To help keep project management terms and concepts clear and consistent, PMI introduced the book “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” (PMBOK Guide) in 1987. It was updated in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2013, and most recently in 2017 as the sixth edition. A seventh edition is on the way in 2021.

PMI’s 2020 Pulse of the Profession 2 revealed that in organizations with mature project delivery practices, an average of 11 percent of the investments made in change was wasted due to poor project performance. Further, organizations that undervalue project management as a strategic competency for driving change report an average of 67 percent more of their projects failing outright. 2 On a global scale, this translates into billions of dollars wasted. In these turbulent times, failures of this magnitude can lead to disastrous outcomes for organizations already struggling to survive. For those that do survive their failed change attempts, many find themselves forced to reimagine what they do and how they do it.

This new decade has introduced us to the “Project Economy.” 2 Organizations are constantly searching for ways to adapt and thrive. This means high-stakes projects are frequently launched with a variety of titles, executed through a variety of approaches, and are focused on delivering financial and societal value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcO0CLt_Ylc

In the Project Economy, change is introduced rapidly, and some organizations call upon their functional managers to deliver low complexity change into their environments. These functional managers are often successful in leading these change initiatives when they have the needed skills and capacity to apply the appropriate project management tools and techniques while overseeing the daily operational activities of their teams. In addition, simple changes with a well-defined solution and a low level of complexity can be successfully introduced using predictive ( also known as w aterfall) development approaches.

However, if a functional manager lacks the skills required to manage a project or finds themselves frequently putting out fires started by product/service performance issues, unreliable suppliers, aggressive competitors , and/or ongoing human resource issues, a project management professional is often asked to lead the change. Furthermore, when the change requires cross-functional teams to understand the needs of the end customer and deeply explore these needs before building a solution, project management professionals are better suited for these types of change initiatives.

In the Project Economy, a growing number of executives are embracing professional project management. According to PMI’s 2020 Pulse of the Profession, t hese 21 st -century leaders know that technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can be “the difference between a breakthrough year and just an okay one. ” However, these leaders also know that these technologies are only as smart as the people behind them. Successful project leaders of the 21 st century truly understand that their people skills are just as valuable as their technical skills. PMI’s research on the skills most valued by employers has led to the creation of the Talent Triangle .

Exhibit 1.4 : PMI’s Talent Triangle. The three points of the triangle (which represents the ideal triad of skills) are technical project management, strategic and business management, and leadership. PMI

Additional reading:

Technical project management skills:

Technical project management skills are about successfully tailoring the tools, techniques and processes used. This domain also includes the ability to thoroughly plan, prioritize and effectively manage the scope, schedule, budget, resources and risks associated with a project.

This text explores the technical management skills that are required for project management. The required knowledge varies by process group, and this will be highlighted as we explore how projects are initiated, planned, executed, monitored, and ultimately closed.

Strategic and business management skills:

Strategic and business management skills are about communicating a project’s organizational aspects, develop delivery strategies and maximize business value.

Some projects require specific organizational and/or industry knowledge. This knowledge can be defined by industry group (pharmaceutical, financial, etc.), department (accounting, marketing, legal, etc.), technology (software development, engineering, etc.), or management specialty (procurement, research and development, etc.). These application areas are usually concerned with disciplines, regulations, and the specific needs of the project, the customer, or the industry.

It is important for project leaders to embrace a life-long learning mindset as internal and external environments often change very quickly. During the first phase of a project’s life cycle, known as the “initiation phase,” project leaders assess the strategic and business management knowledge they have and its value to the new project underway. If necessary, effective project leaders seek to close their knowledge gaps through their own research and by seeking the support of mentors.

Lastly, it is important for project leaders to understand the organization’s vision, mission, and strategies. The importance of this will be discussed in Section 2.1.

Leadership skills:

Leadership is about using one’s interpersonal skills in order to guide, motivate and direct a team.

In the sixth edition of the PMBOK Guide, PMI identified a very comprehensive list of the skills and attributes needed by project leaders. All the skills and attributes are important. For purposes of this text, the following key skills and attributes will be highlighted:

This is by no means a complete list of all the skills and attributes required to be a successful p roject l eader . Moreover, the nature and complexity of a project can help identify which of these skills will be more instrumental to project success than others. PMI is committed to helping project management professionals develop their skills in all the key areas . One of the ways this is done is by encouraging certification. There are many certification opportunities, including the PMP (Project Management Professional) and the CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management). Once certified, project management professionals have access to a wealth of ongoing professional development resources aligned to all areas of the Talent Triangle.

Additional reading:

Successful p roject l eaders know how to uniquely apply the knowledge and skills they ha ve learned to each project by tailoring the tools and techniques they use. The complexity of a project has a big impact on the tools and techniques required throughout the project lifecycle. PMI has identified five phases in the project lifecycle and offers the following definitions of each phase:

Exhibit 1.6 : Project phases (accessible version)

In addition, project management tools and techniques have been developed from the 10 different knowledge. These knowledge areas reflect the cross-functional skills and teams required to deliver transformational change in an organization. These knowledge areas are applicable to solutions developed using a predictive (waterfall) delivery framework and an adaptive delivery framework. Depending on the delivery framework used, the knowledge and skills applied may be for the entire project or for a particular release/phase.

The sixth edition of the PMBOK offers the following definitions for each of these knowledge areas:

Integration management

“The processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify and coordinate the various processes and activities with the process groups.”

Projects involve all types of different synchronous and asynchronous tasks.

Scope management

Schedule management.

“The processes required to manage the timely completion of the project.”

Projects have a definite beginning and end.

Cost management

“The processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so the project can be completed within the approved budget.”

Projects consume resources.

It is important to understand the financial benefits of the project and compare them to the costs incurred. If the costs (representing the organization’s investment in transformation) are greater than the benefits, the project may not be financially justified.

Quality management

Resource management.

“The processes to identify, acquire and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project.”

Resources include the people, supplies, and materials required to produce the outcomes.

Communications management

“The processes involved to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring and ultimate disposition of project information.”

Projects typically impact a lot of people.

Risk management

“The processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, response implementation and monitoring risk on a project.”

Projects are a discovery-driven process; uncovering new customer needs and identifying critical issues not previously disclosed often occur during a project’s lifetime.

This creates a lot of uncertainty and uncertainty creates risk; when unexpected events occur, risk becomes an issue.

Procurement management

“The processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team.”

When outside vendors are engaged in a project, there is a need to determine how these vendors are selected and effectively managed throughout the project’s duration.

Stakeholder management

“The processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution.”

Along with communication, stakeholder management is a critical success factor in project management.

Lastly, project leaders who are able to effectively understand the environment in which they are operating can not only refine their approach to tailoring the tools and techniques required, they can also significantly increase the likelihood of successfully delivering change.

There are many factors that need to be understood within a project environment.

The cultural and social environments consider people, demographics, and education. The international and political environment is about understanding the cultural differences of unique countries and the impact that local and national governments have on organizations. The physical environment is about working conditions and locations. Delivering a project that has global impacts is much more challenging than delivering a project that only impacts the local environment.

Of all the factors, the physical ones are the easiest to understand, and it is the cultural and global factors that are often misunderstood or ignored. How we deal with clients, customers, or project members from other countries can be critical to the success of the project. For example, North American cultures value accomplishments and individualism, and tend to be more informal, calling each other by first names, even if having just met. Europeans tend to be more formal, using surnames instead of first names in a business setting, even if they know each other well. In addition, their communication style is more formal than in the North American setting, and while they tend to value individualism, they also value history, hierarchy, and loyalty.

How a product is received can be very dependent on international cultural differences. For example, in the 1990s, when many large American and European telecommunications companies were cultivating new markets in Asia, their customers’ cultural differences often produced unexpected situations. Western companies planned their telephone systems to work the same way in Asia, as they did in Europe and the United States. But the protocol of conversation was different. Call-waiting, a popular feature in the West, is considered impolite in some parts of Asia. This cultural blunder could have been avoided had the team captured the project environment requirements and involved the customer.

Project leaders in multicultural projects must appreciate the cultural dimensions and try to learn relevant customs, courtesies, and business protocols before taking responsibility for managing an international project. A project leader must take into consideration these various cultural influences and how they may affect the project’s completion, schedule, scope, and cost.

PMI also identifies another key consideration in understanding project environments – organizational process assets (OPAs). OPAs include operational and project management processes, policies, procedures, success metrics, and knowledge repositories. The degree to which they are utilized in a project, as well as the expectations surrounding their use, have a big impact on how projects are delivered.

1.4 Digitization of Project Management

The digital age.

We live in an era characterized by accelerating exponential change driven by a cluster of technologies, such as the internet, social media, mobile, big data/analytics, artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics. Beginning with the introduction of the very first personal computer in the seventies, today, with an Internet connection, one can use video and audio to communicate and transact anytime, anywhere, and anyplace. We live in a digital realm in what is loosely described as “cyberspace,” in which information is exchanged and shared in a space that is virtual. Though these digital technologies have been developing for many years, it is only in the past decade or so that their cumulative impacts have become so deep-rooted, extensive, fast-changing, and profoundly impactful as to herald the dawn of a new age – the “Digital Age” or the Digital Economy. The cluster of technologies driving this is varyingly referred to as digital technologies or digital forces.

The role of digital technologies will continue to expand. This will occur because more devices are accessing the Internet; an ever-increasing number of people are using digital services and more value chains are being digitally connected. Therefore, access to digital technologies is a source of major competitive advantage for organizations, particularly when paired with the ability to use them to transform the way value is delivered to the market. In the education sector for instance, despite the challenges due to COVID-19, virtual learning environments have made it possible for academic institutions to continue seamlessly with their academic programmes.

The Organizational Response – Digitization, Digitalization, and Digital Transformation

The onset of the Digital Age and the availability of new technologies have been the enabling factor in organizational change and innovation. Organizations have been putting in place strategies and launching projects to become agile, profitable, and smart in order to cope with an increasingly competitive environment and the unpredictability of markets.

Given this, companies have been in a rush to become digital and they are going about it in different ways. Some of them are implementing digital technologies to engage in new ways with customers and others are completely transforming their way of doing business or creating an entirely new business model. To understand this, let us consider a simple process like performance reporting. Such reporting systems have moved from paper to spreadsheets to smart applications with digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics.

However, to reach the maturity of “smart reporting,” one would have to reimagine the way reporting is done in terms of the reporting formats, the periodicity, the flexibility in the use of variables, the application on which the reports are developed, and finally, the way the reports are presented. Such a move in reporting systems would also mean new ways in which we engage our customers who would be receiving, in real-time, such reports all laden with infographics.

To elaborate this further, historically, businesses kept handwritten or typed paper-based records. During this time, business data was in a stage which is referred to as analog , and if you wanted to move or share this data or information it was done through the physical movement of papers and documents.

When computers went mainstream, most businesses started converting all those paper records to digital computer files. This stage was called digitization , which is the process of converting information from analog to digital. Through the process of digitization, finding and sharing information became much easier, but the ways in which businesses used their new digital records largely imitated the old analog methods. Computer operating systems and thumbnails were even designed around icons of file folders to feel familiar and less intimidating to new users. Digital data was exponentially more efficient for businesses than analog had been, but business systems and processes were still largely using analog-era ideas about how to find, share, and use information.

Then organizations began the process of digitalization , which is the use of digital data to simplify the way work is done. A good example would be how call centres would use digitized data and information to provide customer service. Digitalization would enable call centres to provide better service by making customer records easily and quickly retrievable via multiple devices. The basic methodology of customer service did not change, but the process of fielding an inquiry, looking up the relevant data, and offering a resolution became much more efficient. In summary, digitalization is about the way business operations employ transformative digital technologies and information.

With digital technologies continuing to evolve and newer technologies becoming available, strategists have started generating ideas for using these digital technologies to improve existing ways of doing business, but more importantly, new ways of doing business. That is when the concept of digital transformation began to take shape. Organizations were now able to change their fundamental business models. Uber, for example, heavily incorporated digital transformation to change the way we rideshare.

Digital transformation is about changing the way business gets done and, in some cases, creating entirely new classes of businesses. With digital transformation, organizations are taking a step back and revisiting everything they do, from internal systems to online and in-person customer interactions. The questions being asked are, “Can we change our processes in a way that will enable better decision-making, increase efficiencies, enhance customer experience, empower personalization, and, most importantly, boost profits?”

Therefore, the organizational response to the capabilities provided by the Digital Age is to embark on a strategy of digital transformation of their businesses. Most organizations are integrating their digital strategy with their overall strategy to disrupt the marketplace.

Digital Transformation in the Educational Sector

Digital transformation has impacted every industry. The education industry is also realizing the benefits of technology through digital transformation and the rise of educational technology. The way instruction is delivered, the assessments, the physical make-up of the classrooms – all of these and more have undergone a transformation.

Educational technology is succeeding in making virtual learning collaborative and interactive. Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality are examples of transformative technology that enhance teacher instruction while simultaneously creating immersive lessons that are exciting and engaging for the student. Virtual reality has the capability of bringing the outside world into the classroom and the other way around. Chromebook sales now account for more than half of all devices sold for U.S. classrooms. The onboarding of technology has enabled the use of SMARTboards instead of chalkboards and pods of SMARTdesks instead of individual seating. The use of AI in higher education has already proven useful. In one university, IBM Watson was used to create a virtual student advisory service that was available 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Watson’s virtual advisors fielded more than 30,000 questions in the first trimester, freeing up the actual advisors to handle more advanced issues.

Another use for AI includes chatbots which have been deployed to clear queries around assignments, help students through a paperwork process, such as financial aid or paying bills, and ease the workload of the people who would normally serve these roles. Other applications of AI in education include personalizing learning, evaluating the quality of curriculum and content, and facilitating one-on-one tutoring with the use of Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Gaming technology is another area that makes learning difficult subject matter more exciting and interactive. 3

Impact on Project Management

With a major percentage of organizations embarking on a strategy of digital transformation and disruption being the new norm, project leaders are becoming even more essential as organizations recognize that strategy is implemented through projects and programs.

So how exactly are the Digital Age and digital transformation changing project management? The impact is seen broadly at three levels in terms of skills, approaches to the delivery of projects, and the use of next-level tools and approaches that work. This creates both challenges and opportunities for project management and those who manage projects.

According to a recent PMI survey and subsequent study called, “The Project Manager of the Future – Developing Digital-Age Project Management Skills to Thrive in Disruptive Times,” project management will require organizations and individuals alike to embrace a full spectrum of competencies and approaches, along with a wide range of titles and methodologies.

From a skills and competencies perspective, project leaders will continue to need a thorough combination of technical and project management skills, leadership skills, and strategic and business management skills, which are already part of the PMI Talent Triangle introduced earlier in this chapter. In addition to this important triad of skills, organizations will need project leaders to learn and keep pace with existing and emerging technology. In the reality of the “Digital Age,” a new digital overlay has been given to the PMI Talent Triangle to emphasize how digital transformation is impacting every aspect of our work.

Success in today’s digital environment requires a combination of skills, some of which include data science (data management, analytics, big data), an innovative mindset, security and privacy knowledge, legal and regulatory compliance knowledge, the ability to make data-driven decisions, and collaborative leadership. The crux of it is that technical skills are not enough on their own and must be paired with leadership, as well as strategic and business management, in order to support the longer-term strategic objectives of organizations.

With regard to project delivery, organizations have been using a spectrum of approaches— predictive, iterative, incremental, agile, hybrid, and whatever approach will come next to change how work is carried out. Most organizations have embraced the entire value delivery landscape to deliver their projects and programs. Project leaders in organizations see disciplined agile delivery and design thinking as the growing approaches or processes that will be needed.

Exhibit 1.8: Approaches currently used or being considered by project leaders to manage disruptive technologies PMI

The cluster of technologies available in the Digital Age is cutting-edge and disruptive. Organizations must be able to not only understand these technologies, but also to integrate these technologies and tools into their organization. Regarding projects being carried out, leaders and team members must embrace the next-level tools and technologies, applying and integrating them into their project work.

These tools and technologies are a combination of collaborative work management tools, as well as traditional tools, including spreadsheets and traditional project management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project and Portfolio Management, Accolade, etc.), collaboration platforms (e.g., IBM Watson Workplace, Slack, etc.), agile planning tools (e.g., Atlassian, CollabNet, VersionOne, etc.), and collaborative work management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Trello, etc.). 4

Exhibit 1.10 : Tools project leaders use to deliver disruptive technology initiatives PMI

In addition to these tools and technologies, p roject l eader s are also relying heavily on technologies that enable effective cross-team communication. Traditional tools , such as email, are cumbersome when it comes to collaboration, as they are n o t designed for real-time dialogue. Important information is easily buried within endless email chains, and constant email overload negatively affects productivity. On the other hand, c ollaborative work management software allows team members and co-workers across departments to engage, connect, and interact in real-time, significantly cutting down on email clutter and saving loads of time in the process. But more than just increasing the efficiency of intra-work communication, these technologies are improving its effectiveness as well. When team members are freed from filtering through hundreds of emails a day just to keep up with a project’s status, they a re able to spend more time talking about project strategy — which is precisely where the bulk of your team’s conversation need s to be focused.

Along with facilitating more efficient, strategy-focused communication, modern work management technologies are making it easier for teams to truly collaborate. With the right platform in place, executives, project leaders, and team members can add comments, assign tasks, organize dashboards, approve assets, and handle just about everything else related to the project all in one convenient solution. This deep level of collaboration inevitably leads to a greater sense of shared ownership from teammates and helps foster a cooperative, synergistic environment. Workers who feel they are part of a collaborative effort have been shown to have greater engagement, lower fatigue, and higher success rates than those who are isolated from peers.

As digital transformation automates workflows and coordinates traditional project management tasks like scheduling, Project leaders are getting more time to focus on strategy optimization and project delivery. In fact, the PMI predicts that as digital transformation continues to touch companies across every industry and vertical, Project Leaders will be viewed more as strategic leaders in their organizations: With more digital tools and automated processes at their disposal, Project leaders are homing in on the best ways to align each project with the business’ strategies and goals — and delivering more successful outcomes in the process.

Digital transformation is providing project leaders with the analytical technology to make data-driven decisions, break down patterns and trends, and ultimately enhance project outcomes and success rates. This access to deep data also assists executives and managers in making better-informed decisions faster and easier than ever before. Robust analytic reports help managers keep projects on track and on budget with real-time cost and labour analyses. In-depth data sets can also be easily broken down for stakeholders and executives, giving them precise insight into business impact and return on investment (ROI) on every project and helping them strategically plan future initiatives.

As technology continues to advance at exponential rates, organizations must adapt to the digital landscape or risk getting left behind. Companies that have implemented a digital transformation strategy have been shown to increase performance and revenues. A project leader who is mandated to deliver projects for organizations carrying out digital transformation would need to focus on streamlining communication, improving collaboration, and shifting focus from project processes status to strategy and outcomes. 5

Future Scenario – Industry 4.0

In a sense, the Digital Age is spilling over and building up into the early stages of what is termed as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” or “Industry 4.0.” We are on the cusp of another technological revolution – one that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before and we do not yet know just how it will unfold. The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics, information technology, and digitalization to automate production. Now, a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third and is characterized by a fusion of technologies that are blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

There are three reasons why today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the Third Industrial Revolution, but rather the arrival of a Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.

References

1 Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute.

2 Project Management Institute. (2020) . Ahead of the curve: Forging a future-focused culture. www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2020

3 Newman, D. (2017, July 18). Top 6 digital transformation trends in education. Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2017/07/18/top-6-digital-transformation-trends-in-education/

4 Project Management Institute. (2018). Developing digital-age project management skills: The project manager of the future. www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/digital-pm-skills.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en

5 McAbee, J. (2019, October 9). 4 ways digital transformation is changing project management . Wrike. www.wrike.com/blog/digital-transformation-changing-project-management

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Fundamentals of Project Management, Sixth Edition

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Enables project managers to understand priorities, maximize resources, and minimize risks in order to complete projects on time and on budget.

For close to three decades, Fundamentals of Project Management has helped managers tackle the complexities of the job. Succinct and easy to read, this handbook simplifies concepts, answers questions, and helps tame the chaos that can erupt as projects move from planning to completion.

The Sixth Edition of this trusted bestseller offers the practical guidelines and tools project managers have come to expect, along with new information explaining changes to the PMBOK® Guide, 7th Edition. Updated tools, techniques, examples, and exercises clearly explain how to:

Clarify project goals and objectives.
Manage stakeholders in the planning process.
Develop solid estimates.
Produce a workable schedule and communication plan.
Lead the project team effectively in any setting, in-person or virtual.
Control and evaluate progress at every stage and manage project recovery.
Close the project and review lessons learned.
And much more.

Project crises are all too common, but often easy to avoid and respond to. With its practical, step-by-step approach, this book gets both new and experienced managers up to speed. Start with the fundamentals, manage your projects accordingly, and be equipped for success throughout your career

Print length 288 pages
Language English
Publisher HarperCollins Leadership
Publication date August 30, 2022
Dimensions 5.45 x 0.95 x 8.35 inches
ISBN-10 140023526X
ISBN-13 978-1400235261
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A new “Project Recovery” chapter that addresses the project world of the 2020s;
An enhanced “Working with Virtual Teams” section that offers tools and tactics for effectively leading collocated project teams and communicating in a virtual environment;
Expanded focus on the “Pulse of the Profession Report 2021” as presented by the Project Management Institute; and
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Fundamental of Project Management -PM Assignment Solution Sample

FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents

II. Executive summary

1. Overview of the project:

2. Planning techniques of project development

3. Tools and techniques for initiation and closing

4. Negotiation skills to achieve project objectives

III. Definition of the projec t

1. Objective, rationale an d project deliverables

2. Roles of stakeholders and team members

3. Project organizational chart:

4. Life cycle of the project

IV. Application of project management planning techniques

1. Project scope

2. Project schedule plan

3. Cost and budget estimation

4. Human resource plan

5. Communication to stakeholders

6. Procurement plan

7. Identification and managing risk

8. Stakeholder management

9. Quality planning

10. Control change

V. Application of project management knowledge, tools, and techniques

1. Project initiation

2. Project execution

3. Monitoring and controlling the project

4. Closing the project

VI. Application of negotiation understanding and skills to achieve a win-win solution

1. Issues during the project

2. Negotiation strategies to resolve the issues

VII. Conclusion

1. Outcome of the project

2. Recommendation

VIII. References

IX. Appendices

II. Executive summary:

This report is aimed to develop a project management plan for a sports tournament that is going to be organized at Edenz College . Project management team will communicate with the key stakeholders of the project and will the shareholders for approval of the project. Apart from that, a proper strategic planning will be done to drive the project successfully. The management team will use proper technique to analyse the techniques of assessing risks. Moreover, risk mitigation plan will also include in this project.

2. Planning techniques of project development:

Project planning should be done precisely. As stated by Papke-Shields & Boyer-Wright (2017), strategic planning is based on competitive theories that can help an organization to achieve the objectives of the project management plan. PMBOK is a project management method that can break the project work in five steps. As per the PMBOK guidelines, the project plan will be executed following the techniques named, initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing.

3. Tools and techniques for initiation and closing:

Project initiation phase can be considered as the most crucial phase of a project management plan. In this phase, the lifecycle and deliverables are decided. Among the entire phases project planning can be considered as the most important step (Tesfaye et al. 2017). In that aspect, as an initiation tool, Google docs can be used. Another effective tool that has used in this project is Gantt Project ( Sharon & Dori, 2017) . For closing the project data analysis is one of the most important parts.

4. Negotiation skills to achieve project objectives:

In order to drive a project successfully project management team has good negotiation skill. In order to develop this project plan for a football tournament, the management team should have the ability to set the goals and limits of the project. They need better communication skills and have to control their emotional state while working in a team.

III. Definition of the project

1. objective, rationale and project deliverables.

Objectives of the project are

To raise fund to donate
To raise awareness of sports
To attract young people

This project is aimed to increase awareness of sports among young people. In this current age young generation are getting engaged in technology-based lifestyle. In this aspect, this project is focused to attract young people to play football. Apart from that, it is a fundraising project too. Collected fund will be donated to an orphanage home.

Key deliverables of this project are to increase the awareness for sports among young generation along with implementing a social impact.

2. Roles of stakeholders and team members

In order to develop a project plan, stakeholders and team members can play a key role. As opined by Lin, Ho & Shen. (2017), stakeholder can influence the project plan and help the team members in decision making. The key stakeholders of a football tournament are, the participants, the spectators, sports governing bodies and the investors. As it is football tournaments, the participants and the spectators are the major stakeholders as without them the project cannot be completed. The sport’s governing body has the authority to approve the project plan and the money need for the tournament will be supplied by the investors. The project management team members are responsible for organizing the event and approaching the stakeholders to involve in the project.

3. Project organizational chart:

Figure 1: Project organisational chart

(Source: influenced from pmi.org, 2019)

4. Life cycle of the project

Table 1: Life cycle of the project

(Source: influenced by Stout et al. 2018)

IV. Application of project management planning techniques

1. project scope.

Table 2: Project scope

(Source: influenced form news.ibqmi.org, 2019))

2. Project schedule plan

[refer to appendix 1], 3. cost and budget estimation.

Table 3: Project budget

(Source: influenced from umsl.edu, 2019)

4. Human resource plan

Human resource is one of the most important things in order to develop a project management plan. As this project is focused to develop a fundraising football tournament, several human resource executives are required to execute the different part of the project plan. The project manager is responsible to supervise the overall project management plan. He is the key personnel who have the authority to approve the project plan.

The operational director will manage the performance of the team managers. They will check the day to day activities and growth of the project. The fundraising coordinators will be responsible to engage all the stakeholders and approaching the investors to invest in the tournament (as influenced by Kianto, Sáenz & Aramburu, 2017). They will be responsible to organise all the fundraising activities.

The compliance manager will be responsible to determine if there is any aspect of the project is in violation of the agreements with the authority.

The financial manager will look after the budget of the project. He will be responsible to identify the expenses of the project and according to that budget approach the investors.

5. Communication to stakeholders

Table 4: Communication plan

6. Procurement plan

The project plan will require procurement contracts from different vendors. The future of the project is depending on the skills and ability of the management team to procure all the materials of the project. The suppliers will be approached to supply the equipment need for the tournament along with the jerseys of the player, food and other additional requirements. As this is a fundraising project and this project has a social aspect, student and faculties of Edenz College must design the project in a way that can attract the investors (as influenced by Di Maddaloni & Davis, 2017). They have to be strategic to decrease the budget of the sponsors in order to influence them to invest money in this project.

7. Identification and managing risk

Identifying the risk of a project is an essential part of the project. As opined by Sgouras et al. (2018), the key factors of a risk management plan of a project include identification, qualification, monitoring, and controlling of the risk. In order to identify the risk, a risk register can be maintained by the project management team. In this project, the management team will prepare a risk breakdown structure that will help to categorize the risk. These risk breakdown structure will include, brainstorming, assumptions and constraints, interviews and historical information. Required information to analyze the risks will be collected from previous projects for football tournaments and fundraising.

8. Stakeholder management

Stakeholders are the key personnel in a project management plan. The project work cannot be continued without the participation of the stakeholders. Therefore, stakeholder management plan includes,

Identifying the key stakeholders: The project management team will identify their key stakeholders and will approach them to involve in the project.
Seeking feedback from the stakeholders: The project managers will approach the stakeholders and request them to provide their feedback on the project. This can help the project management team to identify the growth of the project along with identification of upcoming risks (as influenced by Parent, 2017)
Incorporate the feedbacks in the project plan: The project management team will incorporate the feedback from the stakeholders in their project management plan to improve their project work.
Report back: The project management team will communicate with the stakeholders on a regular basis to inform them about the progress of the project. They will inform the stakeholders by organizing meetings or using other communication media.

In order to maintain the quality of the project, the management team will monitor the project on a regular basis. Proper communication with the stakeholders and the team members will help the management team to identify the loopholes of the project and maintaining the quality of the project.

10. Control change

In order to change the project plan in between the project progress, the management team will have to prepare a proper document of the required change of the project. In that document, they will mention the need for the change and it’s important. The change document will send to all the key stakeholders and the change will be implemented with the approval of stakeholders.

V. Application of project management knowledge, tools, and techniques

1. project initiation:.

Google docs and Gantt project can be used as a project initiation tool for this project. Google docs can help the management team in creating a project charter including the requirements of the project. Gantt project tool can help the management team to develop the Gantt charts that help to design the project time table.

2. Project execution

Execution of a project plan can be considered as the most difficult part of a project management plan. In this aspect, management team of this project plan will involve the team members and project managers with high skill. The managers should have proper knowledge about organizing a football tournament. Apart from that, they have to be skilled enough in fundraising activity. The project will be monitored using advanced technologies.

3. Monitoring and controlling the project

Project monitoring can be done using several tools and techniques. In order to monitor the time schedule of the project, Gantt charts have used ( Thorat et al. 2018) . It is an effective tool for scheduling the project and setting the dependencies of the project. Email alerts have used to notify the team about their upcoming task and schedule changes ( Stout et al. 2018) . Apart from that reporting software has used to record the data of day to day work.

4. Closing the project

For closing the project a data analysis tool has used by the organizers. This tool has helped them to analyze the management data and regression data. The project closing tools have helped the project managers to analyse the effectiveness of the project and if the project has met their objectives of the project (as influenced by Kivilä, Martinsuo & Vuorinen 2017) . Therefore, data analysis technique can help a project plan to identify the success of the project. Moreover, the students and faculties of Edenz College have analyzed the effectiveness of fundraising activities in this section.

VI. Application of negotiation understanding and skills to achieve a win-win solution

1. issues during the project.

The major issue that was encountered during the project is communication problem among the team members. The project manager faced problems in collaboration between different members as they lacked a proper shared vision. According to Muriana & Vizzini (2017) ), lack of proper communication slows down the progress of the project and often leads to termination as well. Team members are required to be tailored with proper job training so that they can ensure the success of the project. Similarly, Edenz College students seemed to lack proper communication that seemed to delay the project tasks.

Another challenge that was faced by the project organisers was finance management. Though it is a fundraising program for donating to a child care home, the organisation of the vent required a considerable amount of cost. Arranging for this had been a huge issue for the members as most of the involved members are students and not paid workers. There had been extreme difficulty in finding sponsors for the tournament. As the project did not have a proper promotional plan, it failed to attract sponsors.

2. Negotiation strategies to resolve the issues

In order to overcome the first challenge, one of the faculty members of the university (Project Manager) established a new communication plan whereby meeting was organized between classes to communicate the issues to the members. In addition, rewards were also promoted for these students who would manage the project efficiently and help in the fundraising program.

The second challenge was solved by one of the students who had the knowledge of website development. An attractive and informative website was developed for promoting the project among the sponsors (as influenced by Lu, Huang & Duan, 2017) . The details of the tournament expected outcomes, and estimated exposures were clearly stated. Even few of the sponsors were contacted personally and explained about the need and cause of the tournament. This helped in attracting sponsors who were less interested until then.

VII. Conclusion

1. outcome of the project.

This project can be concluded as successful. The aim of the project was fundraising through a foot tournament. Apart from that, another objective of this project was to attract the young generation in sports. At the end of the project, it has seen that the collected fund has met the assumed amount. The collected fund has been handed over to the orphanage home. Therefore, it can be concluded that the outcome of the project is quite satisfactory.

2. Recommendation

This project can be executed in a better way if the project plan was developed taking enough time. The project management team was in a little bit hurry because of lack of time. Another important thing that should be taken under consideration while developing a project plan is the compatibility of the project plan. The management team could do more research before doing the plan. This plan could be done in a more strategic way.

VIII. References

Cleden, D. (2017). Managing project uncertainty . Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Kerzner, H., & Saladis, F. P. (2017). Project management workbook and PMP/CAPM exam study guide . Hoboken, New Jersey, United States: John Wiley & Sons.

apke-Shields, K. E., & Boyer-Wright, K. M. (2017). Strategic planning characteristics applied to project management. International Journal of Project Management , 35 (2), 169-179. Retrieved from: https://fardapaper.ir/mohavaha/uploads/2017/10/papkeshields2017.pdf

Di Maddaloni, F., & Davis, K. (2017). The influence of local community stakeholders in megaprojects: rethinking their inclusiveness to improve project performance. International journal of project management , 35 (8), 1537-1556. Retrieved from: https://fardapaper.ir/mohavaha/uploads/2017/11/The-influence-of-local-community-stakeholders-in-megaprojects-Rethinking-their-inclusiveness-to-improve-project-performance.pdf

haron, A., & Dori, D. (2017). Model ‐ Based Project ‐ Product Lifecycle Management and Gantt Chart Models: A Comparative Study. Systems Engineering , 20 (5), 447-466. Retrieved from: http://esml.iem.technion.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/A.Sharon_D.Dori_Model-Based-Project-Product-Lifecycle-Management-and-Gantt-Chart-Models.pdf

Kianto, A., Sáenz, J., & Aramburu, N. (2017). Knowledge-based human resource management practices, intellectual capital and innovation. Journal of Business Research , 81 , 11-20. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8347/989487daa1b69c6ba2457d14e1827c939a33.pdf

Kivilä, J., Martinsuo, M., & Vuorinen, L. (2017). Sustainable project management through project control in infrastructure projects. International Journal of Project Management , 35 (6), 1167-1183. Retrieved from: https://paperdownload.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/6208-sustainable-project-management-project-control-infrastructure-projects.pdf

Lin, X., Ho, C. M., & Shen, G. Q. (2017). Who should take the responsibility? Stakeholders’ power over social responsibility issues in construction projects. Journal of cleaner production , 154 , 318-329. Retrieved from: http://ira.lib.polyu.edu.hk/bitstream/10397/69925/1/Lin_Xue_2017b.pdf

Lu, F., Bi, H., Huang, M., & Duan, S. (2017). Simulated annealing genetic algorithm based schedule risk management of IT outsourcing project. Mathematical Problems in Engineering , 2017 . Retrieved from: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/mpe/2017/6916575.pdf

Mihalache, A. (2017). Project management tools for agile teams. Informatica Economica , 21 (4), 85-93. Retrieved from: http://revistaie.ase.ro/content/84/07%20-%20mihalache.pdf

Muriana, C., & Vizzini, G. (2017). Project risk management: A deterministic quantitative technique for assessment and mitigation. International Journal of Project Management , 35 (3), 320-340. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c8c4/e1c8c9bdd3e0e2ccb31791a55b2f71298522.pdf

Othman, I., Shafiq, N., & Nuruddin, M. F. (2017, December). Quality planning in Construction Project. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 291, No. 1, p. 012017). IOP Publishing. Retrieved from: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/291/1/012017/pdf

Sgouras, K. I., Dimitrelos, D. I., Bakirtzis, A. G., & Labridis, D. P. (2018). Quantitative risk management by demand response in distribution networks. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems , 33 (2), 1496-1506. Retrieved from: http://users.auth.gr/labridis/pdfs/Paper%2063.pdf

Tesfaye, E., Lemma, T., Berhan, E., & Beshah, B. (2017). KEY PROJECT PLANNING PROCESSES AFFECTING PROJECT SUCCESS. International Journal for Quality Research , 11 (1). Retrieved from: http://d.researchbib.com/f/7nq3q3YzydpKVhozI0Y2ciqKWhLJjiqwRkYJ4kYmRjYaOxMt.pdf

Thorat, A., Rahate, S., Jaiswal, I., & Gadhave, H. (2018). A Proposal for Final Year Project Monitoring and Assessment System. Retrieved from: http://ijsrcseit.com/paper/CSEIT1833261.pdf

Online articles,

Parent, M. M. (2017). The organizing committee’s perspective. In Routledge handbook of sports event management (pp. 61-82). Routledge. Retrieved on: 1 st February 2019 from: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203798386.ch3

Stout, A., Wood, S., Namagembe, A., Kaboré, A., Siddo, D., & Ndione, I. (2018). Designing a global monitoring system for pilot introduction of a new contraceptive technology, subcutaneous DMPA (DMPA-SC). Evaluation and program planning , 68 , 185-193. Retrieved on: 1 st February 2019 from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718917302537

news.ibqmi.org (2019). Five Challenges faced by Project Managers. Retrieved on 3rd March 2019 from https://news.ibqmi.org/five-challenges-faced-by-project-managers

pmi.org (2019). Programme management initiation. Retrieved on 2nd March 2019 from https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/program-management-initiation-10176

umsl.edu (2019). Project Management: Tools & Techniques. Retrieved on 3rd March 2019 from http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/488_f02_papers/ProjMgmt.html

IX. Appendices

Appendix 1: Project Schedule

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Project management, fundamentals of project management | assignment help, introduction.

The following project management assignment aims to study project management fundamentals, project integration and scope, time and cost management. In this assignment, project management methodologies and approaches will be compared and discussed to analyze the retained benefits of project management approaches through personal experience.

A project is defined as an inimitable, temporary based endeavor that begins with a definite objective and set of goals. Project management is defined as a set of application of skills, knowledge, techniques to initiate the activities needed to meet the project requirement (Joslin and Müller, 2015). However, there are a variety of project types and organizational structures that require a different approach to project management. Therefore, each project demands a different project management approach to be successful (Svejvig and Andersen, 2015). There are various project management approaches that are commonly being used contemporarily, such as Agile project management, Waterfall project management, Scrum, PRINCE2, Pert, Kanban, and PMBOK.

In the contemporary business world, organizations are found increasingly outsourcing their projects or hiring the professionals to manage the projects effectively. Due to industrial change, it has become difficult to look for the qualified professional to manage project efficiently. Therefore, organizations consider the relative pros and cons of a project management approach. Regardless of the size, all businesses do not find it easy to manage all type of projects by themselves. Some projects require specialized skills, tools and resources that become difficult for businesses to manage successfully.

Part A – Compare Project Management Methodologies

Pros and cons of using project management approach.

The following section discusses the advantages and drawbacks of the project management approach adopted by the organisation.

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PRINCE2 – “Projects in Controlled Environments”

PRINCE2 is a commonly used project management approach throughout the world. It is a process-based approach that emphasis on control and organisation throughout a project. It ensures that every project starts with a clear and proper project plan. PRINCE2 project management is constructed 7 key principles (Figure 1).

Figure: 7 Principles of PRINCE2 (KnowledgeTree, 2015)

Each of the PRINCE2 principles offers smooth ground for efficient project management from beginning to end. PRINCE2 is the most suitable management approach for the businesses regardless of size and industry (Lianying, Jing and Xinxing, 2012). Through PRINCE2, organisation look for saving money and time and improved quality in project management.

During my work experience as an assistant project manager, my organisation highly relied on the agile method (Scrum) in its project management. Agile project management methods solely focused on the project team and the suppliers (Ahimbisibwe, Cavana and Daellenbach, 2015). The project manager used to concern with the shorter deadlines and fulfilling the customer needs to have continuous feedback. Throughout the management, experienced that the project manager completely omits wider questions regarding the project’s vulnerability, worth and benefits. Instead, the manager only focuses on delivering product and maintaining the quality on a constant cycle of prioritizing customers’ needs and gathering feedbacks. Nevertheless, if my organisation has focused on the wider approach in project management using PRINCE2, the project would be able to cover wide-ranging project management themes other than organisation and quality.

Combining PRINCE2 and Agile (Scrum) Model

It is evident from the study of Lianying, Jing and Xinxing (2012), that PRINCE2 model is often known for its predictive approach. While on the other hand, Agile approach focus on short-term, and definite achievement of the project. If an organisation combines both approaches, it can enjoy features of both management approaches. Thereof, PRINCE2 is not particularly concerned with the project team organisation. It simply defines the interface between customer requirement in a project for which they pay and specialized project team.

Realizing the differences and usefulness of both project management approaches, it is evident that projects can enjoy benefits from both, PRINCE2’s predictive approach and Agility methods’ adaptive approach (Tomanek and Juricek, 2015). Combining both of these approaches, projects can offer the product to customers timely, and responsibly while ensuring the astute of the project investment.

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f Value is the ultimate indicator of project success. f Value can be realized throughout the project, at the end of the project, or after the project is complete. f Value, and the benefits that contribute to value, can be defined in quantitative and/or qualitative terms. f A focus on outcomes allows project teams to support the intended benefits
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The fundamentals of project management are unlikely to shift much given the relevance of traditional waterfall approaches. Given that the purpose of the PMBoK, and other introductory texts such as this, is to provide a set of best practices for the field, the material will stay relevant. That being said, new methodology such as Agile is ...
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by the Project Management Institute found that, by the year 2027, employers will need 87.7 million people to fill project management-related roles. As the workplace continues to grow and evolve, project managers serve as a pivotal piece of an organization's ability to adapt and remain agile. Project managers are natural problem-solvers.
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For close to three decades, Fundamentals of Project Management has helped managers tackle the complexities of the job. Succinct and easy to read, this handbook simplifies concepts, answers questions, and helps tame the chaos that can erupt as projects move from planning to completion. The Sixth Edition of this trusted bestseller offers the ...
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A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. 1. Organizations often choose to manage a related group of projects in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control unachievable by managing projects individually. When this occurs, it is known as program management.1.
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Project Management Plan. 21 The main aim of a project risk management process should be to _____ idenƟfy project risks and then manage them appropriately. idenƟfy all project risks and transfer them immediately. idenƟfy all the things that are threats or opportuniƟes on a project. saƟsfy the organisaƟon's project management process. 22
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