Project Efficiency and Effectiveness: The IT Project Management

The two primary objectives of project management are that the project should be effective and efficient. Most projects confound effectiveness, efficiency and effort to create a more efficient task, ignoring effectiveness, resulting in project breakdown.

Projects being successful imply projects to produce effective effects, but at other end being efficient implies producing consequences with minimum effort or the caliber to carry out actions promptly.

Efficiency of the Project:

Project Efficiency and Effectiveness: The IT Project Management

Efficiency of the project is the determinant or a ratio of the out puts from a process activity in relation to the resource inputs, as a measured by the volume of output achieved for the input used. The project can be described as efficient if all stages, maturity, delivery, initiation and implementation are accomplished within the constrains identified at its beginning, in terms of workforce, cost, time and objectives.

Success: If the project is able to exploit the resources of the members of the project group and the user time to the fullest, avoiding unnecessary idle time, delays or wasted time brought about by undertaking tasks or activities.

Furthermore, the project will be effective if integration of activities of the members of the project team, and the interaction with dependences through other parties outside the project team are capable of apt delivery of resources including hardware, software services and training.

Besides, proper time management of resources also signifies efficiency of the project, as resources arrive before they are required, this may lead to problems, deterioration, unexpected fluctuation in planned cash flows and a proportion of the warranty period elapsing before equipment has been used.

Effectiveness of the Project:

Effectiveness of the project is a measure of how well or complete a project task will carry out. A project can be described as effective if it meets with established objectives including the required needs of the user producing quality standards that have been specified to satisfy the needs.
Furthermore, a project can be considered effective if it is able to integrate within the existing organizational system structures and processes with sufficient flexibility; in addition, if it is capable of responding to the changes in the environment in which the system will operate accordingly to the change in the requirement of the user.

Two terms can occur, effectiveness in subjective concept and efficiency in objective impression, in brief; project efficiency is the ratio of the resource inputs and the outputs, while effectiveness can be gauged with objective achievements of the project.

Project Efficiency and Effectiveness: The IT Project Management
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Author: Bharat Bista - Edited by Bruce Cullen

Reference: Project Management [http://www.surrex-project-management.com/] -IT Project Management Solutions [http://www.surrex-project-management.com/project-management-solutions.html] -IT Project Management Tools [http://www.surrex-project-management.com/project-risk/project-management-tools.html]

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Project Management - Risk Management

There are some factors to consider when identifying risk in a project. A risk is known as some future happening that results in a change in the environment. It has associated with it a loss that can be estimated, a probability that the event will occur, which can be estimated, and a choice on the projects manager's part as to what to do, if anything, to mitigate the risk and reduce the loss that will occur.

During the project planning process, the risk assessment which is normally completed during the development of the Business Case is reviewed and updated by the project team. Risk assessment is formalized subjective assessment of the probability of project success. Risk assessment has an obvious impact on the management style, team structure, use of methodology, strategies for system development, and, most importantly, the business decision to approve the project.

Simply, the greater the risk of the project, the higher the probability that estimates, schedules, and planning will be incorrect and that the project will move "out of control". The risk of a project can be established by considering the following criteria;

Project Management - Risk Management

What are the risks? What is the probability of loss that results from them? How much are the losses likely to cost? What might the losses be if the worst happens? What are the alternatives? How can the losses be reduced or eliminated? Will the alternatives produce other risks?

The business decision is to assess how the expected loss compares to the cost of defraying all or some of the loss and then taking the appropriate action.

It is mandatory that, throughout the system development process and especially during project planning, the project manager consider these project risk criteria using a formal questionnaire and develop a risk mitigation list. If the project manager considers the combination of any of these factors is significant and contributes to the degree of risk of the project, he or she is encouraged to consider the following actions;

Take steps to limit the scope of the project to reduce its complexity Document the areas of complexity in the Project Plan and allow for additional time/resources Raise a formal Risk Memorandum that details the high-level factors, identifies their possible impact and actions/options available to reduce that impact or reduce the risk factor.

It is imperative that the management of project risk is seen as a proactive process. For example, prior to the commencement of the full development cycle, the project manager should negotiate with the Steering Committee, key stakeholders and sponsor to minimize the high-risk factors.

To increase the likelihood of project success, the project team must put in place a program that identifies risks and steps to mitigate that risk. The management and minimization of project risk is the responsibility of all involved parties in the project.

Project Management - Risk Management
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CER1projectmanagement has been involved with Project Management since 1996, and has completed many varied and complex projects for both small and large organisations.

http://www.cer1projectmanagement.com provide informative articles, templates and other resources on everything you'll ever need to know about Project Management.

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What is Project Management Approach?

Project management (PM) is a well planned approach for a process from start to end. It is concerned with the planning and guiding of the project from start to finish. Any process needs to be guide in usually five stages. They are initiation, planning, execution, controlling and closing. PM can be applied to almost all type of projects but especially it is applicable in software development projects to control the complex process. It is an organized effort and it is planned very carefully. To accomplish a specific project, PM is essential.

PM is handled by project manager to implement the project successfully towards its goal. For successful completion of any project it is necessary to have a proper PM. The main objective of the PM is to attain its goal successfully.

Numbers of approaches are there to manage the activities of the project. They are:

What is Project Management Approach?

The traditional approach-This approach aims towards the completion of the project in sequence or in traditional manner. For the completion of the project there are five stages in this approach. They are:

* The stage of initiation
* The stage of design or planning
* The stage of production or execution
* Monitoring and controlling systems
* The stage of completion

Extreme PM- To execute project task, the critical chain project management give more emphasis to human and physical resources. By this method of planning and managing projects all the constraints are exploited and priority is also given to it. In critical chain project management all the projects are planned and managed only when the resources are ready.

Extreme PM- Complex type of project is handled in extreme PM. In this PM experts always try to identify the different models which is 'light weight' such as Agile Project Management.

Scrum techniques and extreme programming for the development of software are used in this method. It is the combination of management of human interaction and process modeling.

Event chain methodology- The complement to the critical path method and the methodologies of critical chain project management is another method that is Event chain methodology. This PM deals with the model of uncertainty. The main focus of this management is towards identifying and managing the events or the chain of events which will affect the schedule of the project. Event chain methodology follows the following principles:

* Event chains
* Tracking with events
* Probabilistic moment of risk
* Tracking with events
* Event chain visualization

What is Project Management Approach?
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Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project

Creating a Killer Work Breakdown Structure with Microsoft Project

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project objectives into deliverable-oriented tasks that are executed by the project team to accomplish the overall project goals. The WBS forms the backbone of all the project planning activities. The WBS divides the scope of the project work into smaller, manageable work packages for maintaining better control of the project activities. As you move from the higher levels of the WBS to the lower levels, the definition of the project works gets more detailed with the upper levels representing the major phases of the project. It is imperative to remember that the WBS represents 100% of all the work defined in the project scope. Anything that is not included in the WBS is considered out of scope for the project.

Uses of the WBS

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project

The WBS addresses the following requirements of the project:

· Defining the project scope in terms of deliverables and components

· Providing the framework on which the project status and progress reports are based

· Facilitating communication regarding the project scope, schedule, risk, performance, cost etc with the stakeholders throughout the project life cycle

· Providing inputs for other project management processes like estimation, scheduling, risk assessment etc

While creating the WBS, it is important to ensure that the WBS format is standardized across an entire portfolio of projects. This will ensure that data from a specific project can be easily retrieved and a repository comprising project data can be formed for future reference over a period of time.

Components of the Work Breakdown Structure

The essential components of a WBS are detailed below:

· WBS Levels: All the work to be done on the project is categorized into hierarchical levels with the upper levels depicting the major deliverables for the project and the lower levels depicting the granular level activities needed to be performed towards achieving the deliverable. The number and complexity of the WBS levels is dependent on the size and nature of the project.

· WBS Dictionary: The WBS dictionary is an important part of the WBS and it further details the activities of each element of the WBS. It provides detailed information about the work to be done, activities, and milestones, cost estimates, resources required, and contract information for each element of the WBS. The basic purpose of the WBS dictionary is to remove any ambiguity regarding the scope of work.

· WBS Code numbers: The WBS code number is a unique identifier for each element of the WBS and should be such that it can be easily expanded to accommodate any future revisions to the WBS.

· Visual representation format: A WBS can be represented in a number of ways, depending on the ease of use for the project team and the organization. Typical formats for representing a WBS structure are:

o Outline view: In this format, the WBS is depicted using different levels of indentation, with an accompanying WBS code number for each element.

o Tabular view: In this format, the hierarchical structure of the WBS is represented with the help of the columns of a table.

o Tree structure view: In this format, the WBS is depicted using a tree structure with each child element connected to the parent element through a line. The parent depicts a higher level which is decomposed into the child element.

· WBS Element: Each component of the WBS and its attributes comprise a WBS element.

· Work Package: The lowest level WBS component for each branch of the WBS is known as the work package. The work package also includes the schedule activities and milestones to be accomplished to complete the work package deliverable. One of the main problems that project managers face while creating a WBS is deciding on the correct size for a work package. A work package that is too big would imply loose control on the activities. Similarly, if the work package is too small, it would consume a lot of effort in managing. The 8/80 rule commonly followed by project managers, propagates that the size of the work package should not be less than 1 hour and not greater than 80 hours.

Creating a WBS in MS Project using the Top- down Methodology

A WBS can be created by using a number of tools and methodologies. One of the commonly used methodologies for creating a WBS is the top-down methodology. The steps followed in the top-down approach are listed below:

1. Identify the final objective of the project. This involves a detailed analysis of the project scope document. In MS Project, type the name of the final objective in the Task Name field.

2. Evaluate the final deliverables that need to be created to achieve the objectives identified in step 1. Enter the list of final deliverables in the Task Name field. Indent all the sub-deliverables by using the forward arrow key in MS Project. Now, you will have the final deliverable comprising the sub-deliverables in MS Project.

3. Decompose the final deliverables into activities and continue this exercise till a level is reached (work package) where you can control and monitor the individual tasks. You should be careful to ensure that each work package contains only one deliverable. In MS Project, for each sub-deliverable, type the list of activities. Repeat this process till you reach the work package level. Make sure that you keep indenting each level. Indentation creates relationships between the deliverables and its component sub-deliverables. MS Project automatically creates the WBS codes in the Outline Number field, based on the outline structure of each task/activity. These outline numbers change when you move the task to a different level or location.

4. Re-evaluate the entire WBS after a thorough brainstorming session with the project team and key stakeholders. The objective should be to achieve a consensus on the feasibility of the success of the project planning exercise which in turn will ensure the success of your project.

The top-down method for creating the WBS is typically used when both the project manager and the project team have inadequate experience in creating the WBS or the project requirements are not thoroughly understood. This method enables the project manager and the team to progressively elaborate on the WBS after several meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Integration of the WBS in the Project Schedule

The WBS forms the backbone for a number of project management activities. It provides a valuable input for cost estimation, scheduling, and evaluating the progress of the project.

To integrate the WBS in the project schedule using MS Project, you need to add more information to the indented tree-structure of the WBS that you have already created. The important information that you need to add includes:

· Duration: The total time required to complete each task needs to be specified in the WBS.

· Task Dependencies: The relationship between tasks is specified. You can establish the dependency by using the network diagram analysis done in the scheduling phase.

· Constraints: You need to specify the constraints or limitations (if any) for each task. The constraints are also established in the schedule analysis phase.

· Task Start date and Task Finish date: When you specify the duration for each task, MS Project automatically calculates the Task Start and Finish Dates.

· Resource Names: You can specify the resources by clicking the Assign Resources button.

While integrating the WBS in the project plan, it is imperative to add the WBS dictionary. The WBS dictionary helps in integrating other project management processes with the project scope and serves as a useful tool for clarifying the exact project requirements in terms of the scope of work, cost, milestones etc.

A well-defined WBS can be a major contributing factor in ensuring the success of your project. It serves as the key integrating factor between different the project management processes and is considered to be the foundation stone for the project.

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure With Microsoft Project
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Mark Piscopo is the founder of FastProjectPlans.com, a website dedicated to advancing project management through the distribution of free project management tools, templates and educational material. Mr. Piscopo is a highly accomplished professional offering 20+ years of documented achievements in; Strategic Business Planning; Project & Program Management; Project Management Office (PMO); Team Building & Leadership; Change Management; Process Improvement; Cost Reduction; Risk Management; Partner & Customer Relationship Management; and Technology Advancements. Mr. Piscopo is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Visit www.FastProjectPlans.com to download free PMBOK based project management templates, tools and educational articles.

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