Project Management - Chapter 4

Primary methods for determining the projected financial value of projects

- Net present value - return on investment - payback analysis

Developing a Project Charter

- business case - benefits management plan - agreements - enterprise environmental factors - organizational process assets

NPV calculations

- determine estimated costs and benefits for the life of the project and the products it produces - determine the discount rate - calculate the npv

Main processes of project integration management

- developing the project charter - developing the project management plan - directing and managing project work - monitoring and controlling project work - performing integrated change control - closing the project or phase

Using Software to Assist in Project Integration Management

- documents can be created with word processing software - presentations are created with presentation software - tracking can be done w/spreadsheets or databases - communication software can facilitate communications - project management software can pull everything together and show detailed and summarized information

Project Execution Tools and Techniques

- expert judgement - meetings - project management Information systems

Basic types of project knowledge

- explicit knowledge: easily explained using words, pictures, or numbers and is easy to communicate, store, and distribute - tacit knowledge: difficult to express and highly personal

Methods for Selecting Projects

- focusing on broad organizational needs - categorizing IT projects - performing net present value or other financial analyses - using a weighted scoring model - implementing a balanced scorecard

Common elements of a project plan

- intro/overview - description of how the project is organized - management and technical processes used on the project - work to be done - schedule and budget information - references to other project planning documents

Categorizing IT projects

- respond to a problem, opportunity, or directive - how long will it take to do and when is it needed - overall priority of the project

Identifying potential projects

... is the start of project initiation

Project Charter

A document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the project's objectives and management.

Project Plan

A document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help a project's execution and control.

Net Present Value Analysis

A method of calculating the expected net monetary gain or loss from a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time - positive NPV is good - projects with higher NPVs are preferred

Return on Investment

Calculated by subtracting the project costs from the benefits and then dividing by costs. The higher the ROI, the better.

Change Control on IT Projects

Former view: the project team should strive to do exactly what was planned on time and within budget Modern view: project management is a process of constant communication and negotiation Solution: changes are often beneficial and the other project team should plan for them.

Performing Integrated Change Control

Influencing the factors that create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial. Determining that a change has occurred. Managing actual changes as they occur.

Who needs to sign a project charter?

Key stakeholders need to sign it to acknowledge agreement on the need and intent of the project.

Project Integration Management

Project managers must coordinate all of the other knowledge areas throughout a project's life cycle. NOT the same thing as software integration.

Change Control Board (CCB)

a formal group of people responsible for approving or rejecting changes on a project.

Change Control System

a formal, documented process that describes when and how official project documents may be changed

Weighted Scoring model

a systematic process for selecting projects based on many criteria identify criteria, assign weights to it, assign scores to each criterion, and multiply the scores by the weights and get the total weighted scores.

Strategic Planning

involves determining long-term objectives - analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization - studying opportunities and threats in the business environments - predicting future needs - projecting the need for new products and services

Projects that address broad organizational needs are much more....

likely to be successful because they will be important to the organization. (example: improve safety or increase morale)

Important criteria for selecting projects

need, funding, will

Aligning IT with business strategy

organizations must develop a strategy for using IT to define how it will support the organization's objectives

Major section headlines for project management plans

overview. project organization. managerial process plan. technical process plans. supporting process plans.

Payback Analysis

payback period is the amount of time it will take to recoup, in the form of net cash inflows, the total dollars invested in a project. Occurs when the net cumulative discounted benefits overtake accrued and continuing costs.

Global Issues

rapid changes in technology, such as increased use of mobile roaming for communications, often cause governments around the world to take action. - incompatible hardware, software, and networks can make communications difficult in some regions, and lack of competition can cause prices to saor.

Closing Project or Phases

to close a project, you must finalize all activities and transfer the completed or cancelled work to the appropriate people. This include main inputs such as project charter, etc.