According to the PMBOK Guidelines, a project is a temporary work to create a unique product, service or result. That is to say, a project is a one-time task with specific goals under specific conditions. It is a general term for a number of related tasks that meet a series of specific goals within a certain period of time.

1.1 Definition of the Project

  • The project is a work to be completed, and has a specific environment and requirements;
  • Within a certain organizational structure, using limited resources (human, material, financial, etc.) to complete the work within the specified time;
  • Work to meet certain performance, quality, quantity, technical indicators and other requirements.

1.2 Features of the project

According to the definition of the project, the project is unique, temporary and gradual in detail (pay attention to the separation and control of scope spread).

1.2.1 uniqueness

Uniqueness is also called disposable. One-time is a project versus other repetitive operations. The biggest difference in operational work. Uniqueness is reflected in the objective, environment, conditions, organization, process and many other aspects of the project. However, we should not overcompensate. Emphasizing the uniqueness of projects does not necessarily mean that there are no similarities between two projects. We can summarize the lessons learned from each project (organizational process assets) and use them for subsequent similar projects.

1.2.2 temporary

The temporary nature of the project is that the project has a definite start and end time. It will not continue indefinitely. It will be terminated one day, and the termination must go through the established approval process.

Because the project is a temporary, one-time, so project team also has the temporary commonly, it is likely that the project is started in the various functional departments, the other teams, other institutions, or by social recruitment project team, but when the end of the project, project team will face dissolution to release resources. Of course, team members (stakeholders) will face different outcomes depending on the project’s organizational structure. It will be analyzed in detail when I study the organizational structure type of the project in the future.

However, although the project is temporary, the results of the project often have a sustainable long-term vitality and may have a long-term positive or negative impact on the natural or social environment.

1.2.3 Progressive detail

Gradual detail refers to that the goal of the project is completed gradually, because the product, achievement or service of the project cannot be seen in advance, and only a rough project definition can be made in the early stage of the project, which can be gradually improved and accurate with the progress of the project. This feature is especially prominent in large, complex projects.

Due to the gradual detail of the requirements of the project, the project manager should pay attention to clear the scope of the current project at the very beginning, so as to avoid the scope spread due to the change of requirements during the implementation process. But there are also many aspects that need to be adapted to progressive detail, such as:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Project scope (beware of scope creep)
  • Project objectives

1.3 Project Objectives

The goal of the project may be to create business value or to drive organizational change. From a business perspective, a project is designed to move an organization from one state to another to achieve a specific goal.

PMI defines business value as the quantifiable net benefits derived from business operations. The benefits can be tangible or intangible.

The objectives of the project include both achievement goals and binding goals (management goals).

Achievement goals of a project refer to the products, systems, services or results developed through the project to meet customer requirements.

Binding goals of a project are the time, cost and quality required to achieve the project’s outcome goals.

Project objectives should follow SMART principles:

  • It is Specific.
  • Measurable
  • Please Agree to it at all times.
  • Realistic
  • Time-oriented (with a limited Time limit)

1.3.1 Project objectives have different priorities

Project objective triangle:

The four are closely linked together, and there will be certain conflicts between projects, meet and rely on each other, mutual restraint.

In practice, the priority between them is often determined by management (the level above the project manager) rather than by the project manager.

1.3.2 Project objectives are hierarchical

Hierarchy is reflected in the project has both high-level strategic objectives and low-level specific objectives. Clearly defined goals at a certain level are usually used as the initial project scope benchmark and provide the most direct and effective basis for further scope demarcation.

1.3.3 Efficiency and effect

To achieve the project goal, on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the project product can play the established function. Scope, schedule, cost and quality are the organic unity of the project goal. On the one hand, there is also the efficiency of achieving a balanced project.

1.4 What is project management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the requirements of the project.

  • The objects of project management are projects or things that are handled as projects.
  • The thought of system engineering runs through the whole process of project management.
  • The organization of project management has special characteristics.
  • The method of project management is management by objectives.
  • Project management system is a kind of individual responsibility system based on team management.
  • The point of project management is to create and maintain an environment in which projects can proceed smoothly.
  • Project management methods, tools and tools have the advantages of being proactive and open.

1.5 Project Set Management and Portfolio Management

A project set is a set of projects, subsets, and project set activities that are interrelated and coordinated to achieve benefits that cannot be achieved by managing them separately.

1.5.1 Project set management

Project set management is the centralized and coordinated management of a project set to achieve the strategic objectives and benefits of the project set. Compared with projects, project sets have the following characteristics:

  • A project set may include related work that falls outside the scope of the projects under which it belongs, and that work itself may be considered as projects.
  • The project set is sustainable for the long term, that is, the implementation of various projects.
  • Some ongoing day-to-day operations can be viewed as a set of projects that are then broken down into many projects for the adoption of project-based management.

Because project sets are larger and more complex than projects, they are more difficult to manage. Therefore, its management mode is also different, the project set management is more focused on the interface between projects and integration management.

Key responsibilities of the project set manager include identifying and monitoring the interdependencies between projects, addressing recurring issues in the management of the project set, and tracking the contribution of each project and other non-project work to the overall revenue of the project set. Therefore, the essence of project set management process integration is to coordinate the processes for each project or project set.

1.5.2 Portfolio Management

Portfolio refers to the projects, project sets, subportfolios, and operational efforts that are managed together to achieve strategic objectives. Portfolio management is a methodology that ensures that all projects in an organization are analyzed and balanced with risks and benefits.

Risk assessment and resource utilization are two essential elements of portfolio management.

The objectives of portfolio management are as follows:

  • To guide the organization’s investment decisions and improve their transparency.
  • Choose the best combination of project sets and projects to achieve strategic objectives.
  • Prioritize the allocation of team and physical resources to improve the likelihood of achieving the expected return on investment.
  • Achieve centralized management of integrated risk forecasting for all components.
  • Determine if the portfolio fits the organization strategy.

A “Break Even Point” is the Point at which sales revenue equals total costs and the project is neither losing money nor making a profit.

// TFC: Total Fixed Cost // P: Unit Selling Price // VC: Unit Variable Cost BEP = TFC/(P-VC)

The role of portfolio management:

  • Introduce an agreed project evaluation and selection mechanism within the organization.
  • Achieve financial and non-financial benefits of the project and maintain a competitive advantage.
  • Balance all the projects in the organization.
  • Allocate resources to projects across the organization.

Project selection and prioritization

Structured methods of project selection and prioritization include decision criteria techniques, financial analysis, and DIPP (project performance index) analysis. Decision table technology and financial analysis are suitable for the selection and prioritization of projects at the beginning of a project, while DIPP method is suitable for the comparison between projects at different stages.

DIPP is defined as: DIPP = EMV/ETC

EMV(Expected Monetary Value);


ETC(Estimate To Completion)

1.6 Project and Strategy

Strategic management refers to specifying decisions about the future direction of an organization and implementing those decisions. It can be broken down as follows:

  • Strategy formulation
  • Strategy implementation
  • Strategic monitoring and evaluation

1.7 Project and operation

Operations also become day-to-day business or operations, which are recurring events that occur repeatedly within an organization.

The main difference between projects and operations is that operations are continuous and repetitive, while projects are AD hoc and unique. There is a fundamental difference between the goal of a project and the goal of an operation. The goal of a project is to achieve the goal to close the project. The goal of an operation is to maintain the business.

1.8 Project Manager

According to the definition of PMI, a project manager is an individual assigned by the executing organization to lead the team to achieve project objectives.

Project manager skills, known as PMI’s talent triangle: technical project management, leadership, strategy, and business management.

In short, by PMI’s definition, a project manager is a saint with idol baggage.

conclusion

These are some highlights from the first chapter of PMBOK’s sixth edition, which will be updated as we go along.